I stayed there once and vowed never to return. It's a dump. Just my opinion. If you are an HGI lover, you might like it, but to me it was glorified motel with a couple of HGI amenities.

The Westin Palo Alto and the Four Seasons Palo Alto are the only really nice options in that area. But they will both be out of your budget. Even that HGI has high rates in that area.

The problem in that area is the traffic if you have a morning meeting, starting before 9:30am - 10:00am. The main backup in that area is traveling north on 101 through the 101/85 interchange, so you don't want to have to commute North on 101 in the morning. So basically that means one of the places on El Camino, or the Sheraton Palo Alto if you can get it at a decent rate, or the Westin or Four Seasons Palo Alto, and even then you'll have a bit of traffic on 101 but it should be doable unless there's an accident. The Sheraton Sunnyvale might also work for you, though I've never stayed there so can't comment on it. Rates are probably not cheap there either, but you should be able to navigate your way to the campus without getting on 101.

-David