Spent Wednesday night at the W Silicon Valley Hotel. Doesn't that sound like it would be a happening hotel in downtown Palo Alto or something?

Turns out it's not. It's located in a parking lot in a marsh on the eastern shore of the San Francisco Bay. There's nothing around it. The building looks like they built a Four Points by Sheraton and at the last minute decided to decorate it as a W by adding throw pillows and some dark curtains.

Having written all that, my room was comfortable and quiet.

Actually the front desk clerk cracked me up when I checked in. As is my custom, I asked if there were any room upgrades available. The clerk said, "yes," in fact they had already upgraded me from an "awesome" room to a "spectacular" one. I don't speak "W" so I don't know what the difference in the categories are -- but he did successfully shut me up.