Four Seasons Hotel Silicon Valley at East Palo Alto
"Stepping into the dark lobby of warm Douglas fir and African Mekore cherry wood feels like visiting Mother Nature at her Manhattan address. It takes a few passes past fresh orchids and primitive woven baskets to pick up on the subtle nature theme, but once you do, you'll find it everywhere: from moss colored carpets to the barely perceptible leaf prints on the light fixtures in the hallways. The low-slung buff-colored rooftop lap pool deck feels like a desert oasis, with sand colored chaises, billowing cabanas and the narrowest sliver of a green-tinged lap pool. Downstairs, at night, the lounge is moody, dark and cavelike, with rough hewn limestone walls, and waiters shaking bracing martinis right at your roomy table or in front of the fireplace. The bar funnels into Quattro, the only restaurant, where dinner goes Vegas, with creative lighting highlighting swank wine bottle room dividers and dramatic 3-D white plaster sculptures of ordinary people that balance the soaring two story window walls. Guest rooms are designed to appeal to your industrious nature: more stay busy than get busy. A narrow laminated wood desk, full wall workspace, discreet data port panels and large flat screen TV dominate, as though the company conference room was hastily converted to sleeping quarters by adding an Italian-linen draped bed. Heavy boardroom doors shrink already small marble bathrooms furnished with Acca Kappa White Moss soaps and shampoo. If you stay, book an odd numbered room that faces in; exterior rooms, while triple-glassed, still overlook Highway 101, which is always busy."
