Mei Lin is a wonderful hostess, with a delightful family. Their location is amazing. For $4.75 you get from either San Jose or San Francisco airports to within 6/10 of a mile of Mei Lin's home. Stanford and the downtown are adjacent to that train station, so all is close.

She has three small guest rooms with a shared bathroom for them; a large family room with large screen TV, a medium-large work table, and a printer to share; and a small refrigerator in the laundry room for guests to share. These are all in the basement, but this is Palo Alto and it doesn't feel or smell damp. You are welcome to come up and make yourself coffee or tea and hang in the kitchen/dining area, to use the patio and lovely fenced-in yard with gardens out back, and to borrow a bicycle, so long as you bring a lock!*

The town is incredibly bicycle friendly, with separate paths some places, clearly marked lanes other places, and polite motorists on the residential roads that are quieter and don't have a dedicated lane. They are also laid back about using bikes on sidewalks, with the expectation that we will yield to pedestrians. All is pretty well marked, which is easier in a town with no snow. ; )

The atmosphere is very friendly, and staying with such interesting people - Mei Lin's family and her guests - is far more rewarding than staying in a hotel where interesting people are around but you don't generally connect.

I wouldn't want someone to make assumptions about what Mei Lin could do to help your stay, but she offered me two much-appreciated rides. All in all, she made my stay marvelous!

*Bicyclists note: These are the kind of bikes that many people in Palo Alto ride around town as transportation or recreation, but not racing or serious fitness, and not in lycra, as some seats have tears that could snag. The bikes have normal pedals without cages. If you are a size that fits one of the bikes available to use (I am 5'7", and one with an adjustable quick-release stem for the saddle worked great for me), it is incredibly easy to not worry about having to get back before your rental is due back at the shop, in addition to the $ savings. Some of the bikes have not been used in a long time, so tires may be squishy. They may not have a portable pump for the bike they lend you, and no patch kit, etc., so you may want to see if you can figure out in advance what to bring from home. It was perfect for me with my limited "down" time, to cruise around Stanford by bike Saturday AM and to bike to church Sunday.