Nobu Hotel Palo Alto

Palo Alto’s got money, and for that reason it’s got representatives from a few of the established luxury hotel brands. But Silicon Valley’s unofficial college town tends to run just a bit short on cool. No wonder the blossoming Nobu boutique hotel brand saw an opportunity. The Nobu Hotel Palo Alto is the product of a partnership between the stylish restaurant/hospitality group and the high-tech design firm IDEO, and the result is not just an epiphany but possibly the epitome of the tech-friendly boutique hotel.

Hence the emphasis on blending, rather than balancing, work and life. The rooms are stylish, sunny, and more than a little luxurious, with must-haves like 47+-inch televisions, very functional desks, wireless streaming entertainment systems and Illy espresso machines. But the point of the place is its shared spaces — the fully equipped Tinderbox boardroom, the Accelerator breakout room and terrace, the rooftop hospitality suites. It’s a hotel where, for all the fun trappings, some serious business gets done. As well it should — this is downtown Palo Alto, after all, just blocks from Stanford, a short drive from Silicon Valley proper, and not all that far from San Francisco, while you’re at it.