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Kitchen

User kitchens are located at the top of the main stairwell in Building 120, near BL9 and on the mezzanine level of Building 131. All food stored in the kitchen and/or refrigerator should be dated and clearly marked with your name. There are soda and snack food vending machines in the Bldg. 120 kitchen and a Starbucks coffee machine in the BL9 area kitchen. Clean up after yourself!

Users are reminded that the consumption and/or storage of alcoholic beverages is prohibited on the entire SLAC site without the written approval of the SLAC director.

User Lending Library

There is a small collection of books in the user lounges next to the kitchen which users are encouraged to borrow from or add to while at SSRL.

Lodging

Users can book lodging at the beautiful new SLAC Guest House by calling 650-926-2800 or via the internet at http://www.stanford.edu/dept/hds/SLAC/. Please specify that you are an SSRL user/guest upon check-in.

If the Guest House is full, a list of  local accommodations is available from the User Administration Office. Some commonly used Palo Alto motels are:

Creekside Inn 
3400 El Camino Real
(650) 493-2411*
Cardinal Hotel 
235 Hamilton Avenue
(650) 323-5101**
Dinah's Garden Hotel 
4261 El Camino Real
(650) 493-2844 /
800-227-8220***
Hotel California 
2431 Ash Street
(650) 322-7666
Oak Motel 
4279 El Camino
(650) 493-6644
TownHouse Inn 
4164 El Camino Real
(650) 493-4492
 
*Government Rate available if booked through the Housing Office.
**This is an "old-fashion" style hotel in downtown Palo Alto which might or might not catch your fancy.

Housing

The SLAC Housing Office, (650) 926-3111 or housing@slac.stanford.edu can help with short-term housing arrangements for SSRL users. The Creekside Inn offers a government rate if booked through the SLAC housing office.
 

Restaurants

Guides to local restaurants can be found in the information bins on the wall outside the Building 120 kitchen.
 

SLAC Cafe

The SLAC cafeteria is open from 6:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. Hot entrees and daily specials are served between 6:30 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. for breakfast and 11:00 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. for lunch. Continental Service is provided between 9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.; "Grab and Go" lunch between 1:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. Menus are posted to the SLAC Cafe web page and in the Bldg. 120 mailroom.
 

SLAC Library

The SLAC library is located on the second floor of the SLAC Central Lab Building. Users are welcome to use it. The hours are 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. The library phone extension is 2411. There is a reading room with daily newspapers.
 

Stanford University Guest Card

Users wishing to gain access to Stanford libraries may be issued a Guest Card. The Guest Card provides access to many of the libraries on campus for courtesy, on-site use, but does not allow borrowing privileges unless an exception is granted by the library privileges desk.

Users can also access Stanford recreation facilities by taking the Guest Card to the Arrillaga Family Sports Center (2nd floor) and obtaining an orange athletic ID card from the Department of Athletics. Athletic ID card holders may use all Stanford athletic facilities (except for the golf course) and are also entitled to attend athletic events after paying the required fees, without the benefit of a discount. See Michelle Steger in the User Research Administration Office for details.
 

Transportation

Shuttle Service
Marguerite is a free shuttle service that operates every half-hour between SLAC, the Stanford campus, Stanford Shopping Center and the Palo Alto train station. Pickup at SLAC is in the parking lot in front of the Central Lab. Schedules are posted on the receptionist's bulletin board.
 
Bus/Train Schedules
Check with Michelle Steger for assistance with Bay Area bus and train schedules or call:

 
CalTrain 800-660-4287 Operates train service between San Jose and San Francisco with stations in Palo Alto and Menlo Park
SamTrans   800-660-4287 San Mateo County Bus Routes
Santa Clara County 
Transportation Agency
408-321-2300 Bus and Light Rail Routes

SSRL Users' Organization

The SSRL Users' Organization has an Executive Committee elected at the annual SSRL Users' Group Meeting in the fall. The role of the executive committee is to bring the users' interests to the attention of the SSRL Administration. The committee is also interested in fostering the use of synchrotron radiation. Cathy Knotts serves as the secretary for the Committee and can be contacted to transmit matters of concern that users would like to see the committee discuss. The 2006-2007 Chair is Chris Kim (Chapman University).