Review of Cowper Inn 3*

I am lying in my bed in Room 36 after spending all night being woken by noise coming from upstairs. My room as well as and perhaps others, were built in the basement of this old house (the Cowper Inn). There is NO sound proofing. This bed and breakfast is like staying at some old relative's house which is old and noisy. And you're doing it because it's too late to make up an excuse to go elsewhere. Bathrooms are tiny. There are no closets in my room. My wife and I are jumping around our half-open suitcases trying to find clothes without actually opening them, as there is no space for that. The window has no black out, so as soon at 6 am we had light in our room. I also can hear a lot of noise from a nearby train. Basically if you liked "My Cousin Vinnie", the Cowper Inn at Palo Alto is where you can make believe that you are the couple in the movie, which can't sleep at night due to a passing train that wakes them up every night. (The character played by Joe Pesci, is a lawyer from NYC and the joke is that they are in the deep South like fish out of water. ). There is such train here as well that wakes you up. I ended up here because I came to give a talk at Stanford University and some clueless admin (maybe not so clueless, as this is the cheapest joint in Palo Alto) booked me here. This is my first and last night at the Cowper Inn. The reason for posting is (a) to vent a little (b) to prevent others from suffering the same miserable night as I did this past night. The U-S has great hotels, so does California. This, folks ain't one of them. Caveat Emptor. Do yourself a favor and pay up to the Sheraton or somewhere else.