I'm surprised at the great reviews for this place. It is a motel but with a fantastic view. We paid…read more$500 for a tiny room with a great view. I felt ripped off. Yes, you get breakfast, a cookie and wine if you want it but I think it's to distract you from how much money you are paying for a tiny little room. And oddly, there no glasses in the room to even have a glass of water. Bathroom door was a strange sliding door that didn't close properly. A certain lack of privacy.No air conditioning. Definitely a lovely view - no question - but is it worth $500? Not to me.

Let's start with this place is very cute and well kept, especially the main hotel part. The…read morebreakfast option was great. They advertised with the promise of a "view of the ocean from every room" this is probably true for every room but ours. We stayed in the cottage studio for a weekend which was fine but also not cheap - however needed with our kids and wanted the large patio/balcony. We booked directly on their site and saw the photos and they did not include the reality. Instead of an ocean view we had large plants blocking every part of the view except for the far edges. We were the only balcony with this. It was frustrating as there was no hanging out with a nice view while there. There is also no beach access and the walk up and down the hill to the pier access is steep and tedious. Just fyi. So if you just want to chill and don't care about seeing the ocean stay in the cottage studio, I'm sure you'll enjoy it. We were disappointed.

We had an amazing time here. Resting on the deck watching the waves crash. Very peaceful. Foos…read moreserved hot on the deck was fun and easy and Jason, our bartender was friendly and knees us by name!!

I've been wanting to give the Dream Inn a go for a long while. Recently, all of the parts fell into…read moreplace to host our program retreat here ~ and I'm so glad we did! It was just perfect for our small staff gathering, with their Cove Meeting Room right off their on-site restaurant, Jack O'Neill, and the package with breakfast, lunch, beverages and snacks along with the meeting room all included. The rooms are comfortable and every one of them has a wonderful view of the beach and Santa Cruz Wharf (and the Boardwalk a bit farther away down the beach). Love that they offer a complimentary selection of e-books, audio books, meditations and podcasts (QR code to scan right on the bedside table) and that they've eliminated all single-use plastic water bottles on their property. The weather was perfect during our visit in early February. Staff were all friendly and helpful ~ special shout outs to Elaine and Shannon for all of their help leading up to our stay. Would return in a heartbeat!

We had a wonderful stay here at Bella Notte. We were looking for a place that was dog friendly…read moresince we had our 11 yr old Pikachu (Pekingese/Chihuahua mix) ESA -Emotional Support Animal with us. Our room was very Spacious and felt Luxurious. The location is perfect since the Beach and some restaurants were walking distance away. Downtown and the Boardwalk was only about 15 minutes driving distance. Their Hospitality was excellent and were just a phone call away. Enjoyed our stay and would highly recommend! Thanks again Bella Notte

Place is clean, staff freindly and location is conveninent…read more The only con is that it just needs to be updated a bit. The shower curtain has a funky smell. Otherwise, it's a decent place to sleep.

We absolutely love Beach Street Inn & Suites! The location is incredible--right across from the…read morebeach and within easy walking distance of the Santa Cruz Boardwalk, restaurants, and shops. It is the perfect place for families who want to enjoy everything the area has to offer. The hospitality is exceptional. The staff members are always warm, welcoming, and helpful, and they truly make guests feel at home. The heated pool is wonderfully warm and comfortable, which makes swimming enjoyable even when the coastal weather is cool. Our children could happily stay in it for hours! The complimentary snow cones are another amazing touch and are always a huge hit with the kids. It is thoughtful details like these that make every stay feel extra special. We are always excited to return and highly recommend Beach Street Inn & Suites to families looking for a beautiful location, outstanding hospitality, and a fun, relaxing getaway!

Great ocean view and an unbeatable location, right across from the beach, within walking distance…read moreto the pier and the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. Super convenient for everything. The service was excellent as well. They offer complimentary hot chocolate, snow cones, popcorn, coffee, and tea for both kids and adults, which was a really nice touch. Would definitely come back!

Cozy ambiance, spacious well designed and well kept rooms. AMAZING staff, genuinely have never felt…read moreso well taken care of in a hotel in my life. I wouldn't stay anywhere else in Santa Cruz. Short walk to downtown and the boardwalk. Nothing comes close in any regard until you're spending about 3 times what this hotel costs, and even then it's a tie at best. Feels too good to be true. No need to look further, stay here when you're coming to Santa Cruz!

Terrible hotel to stay at. The AC in my room was leaking water and it was all over the floor…read more Manager or staff said someone would come and fix it and wipe the floor. NO One came! Very noisy AC . Loud ppl above me and flies everywhere in the hallway . First time staying here and my last. Definitely not worth the $$$$ I paid for! The area is pretty sketchy too. Homeless ppl around. Beware!

We spent a Sunday evening at Hyatt place Santa Cruz. First off, we arrived early and were met by a…read morestellar valet. I truly have never met a valet who was more friendly and helpful. He parked our car, and since we had brought our bikes with us, the valet told us where the car was parked, and how to enter the garage to put our bikes back on the rack and lock them up. He told us that if they were locked on our car, they would not be stolen and it was a safe garage. That was so helpful! Since we had struck up conversation, we asked him where to have dinner. He had several recommendations, and we asked about a local place nearby, which said was one of his favorites. After we had taken our bikes and gone for a long long bike ride, we returned and saw the valet outside the hotel. He questioned us on our ride and wondered how our afternoon had been. Super thoughtful person. Our room was clean and large and very much in line with an expectation from a Hyatt place. Considering this Hyatt place isn't very old, some of the furnishings and fixtures were quite worn. Also, considering that this was a Sunday, the hotel was full. I imagine that this is an often used hotel and many families stay here. The breakfast was as expected, but there was only one hostess, and she really could not keep up the amount of people eating the food. Often, the food was low and the coffee was out three times while we were eating breakfast. When informed, she did replace and replenish things. She was very overworked, and they really needed two people doing this job. I would recommend staying at this Hyatt place. If you are looking to go to the boardwalk or downtown or any place walking or biking in Santa Cruz, this is a good location.

We stayed here in room 103 for a staycation. It was lovely! I was worried about the proximity of…read morethe room to the pool (with a window facing the pool) but with a sound machine and the hours being 10-10, we had no issue. The bed was comfortable and everything seemed clean. The only minor problem was maybe a cleaner smells it smelled like grapefruit and not a great smell. But you got used to it after a bit. The pool was warm and the hot tub was hot! One bummer was that four dumbbells were missing from the dumbbell set. In the case that someone stole them...so dumb. They were two 25s, a 30, and a 35. The breakfast buffet had a large assortment of foods- eggs, sausage, pancakes, oatmeal, yogurt, fruit, bagels etc. Only valet parking available!

I can't say enough about this place!…read more Mary our hostess was so nice welcoming and helpful. She made us feel like we were staying at a friend's house. Our room had an incredible view. I can't believe the description was a partial view. It definitely was more than a partial view. We had a soaking tub with whirlpool jets. A king size bed and a fireplace. A miniature refrigerator, and bathrobes to use while we were there. They have a wine and cheese hour from 4:30-5:30 every evening and it also had chocolate chip cookies and veggie tray. The breakfast in the morning was so delicious with an assortment of breads, homemade granola and muesli, fresh fruit, quiche and fresh baked cake (lemon, banana, and blueberry were the flavors the days we stayed). The location is walking distance to the pier, boardwalk, and downtown. Depending on how far you like walking we walked to Natural Bridge State Park and it was 2.7 miles. The view along the way is spectacular

Five stars. No question... Five stars. After years of being disappointed with accommodations in…read moreSanta Cruz, I stumbled on West Cliff Inn when planning a roadtrip getaway for a night. When I scanned their website I immediately thought I was mistakenly looking at an inn in Mendocino. But nope... right on the edge of West Cliff Drive and just above the boardwalk, this restored Victorian is an oasis of peace, grace, and refined luxury in Lost Boys-land. You can't miss this restored white Italian Revival beauty with a commanding view of the Giant Dipper and the neon glitz of the Beach Boardwalk. Once inside you'll be struck by the high ceilings and windows, clean lines, tasteful color palettes, and spotless housekeeping. We stayed in the ADA room on the ground floor, but I still walked to the top of the stairs just to see the stained glass dome over the ceiling over the stairway. Stunning! The room was not enormous but it was efficient and comfortable and met my mobility needs. Loved the walk in shower with a shower chair. Body wash and shampoo/conditioner are all provided and smelled great. The gas fireplace in the room was welcome as it was still chilly in April. As for hospitality, checking in was quick and friendly. The front desk clerk at check-in was courteous and all smiles. Check-out front desk attendant wasn't the warmest, but nothing that would put me off a return. We enjoyed the complimentary wine and cheese/cracker hour at 430pm and the hot breakfast buffet in the morning was delicious and filling. We had it arranged in advance for in room dining and it was great! If I were to drum up a single critique of this visit it would be that the parking area is tight and requires some care to navigate. There are enough spaces for the number of rooms but... we noticed some guests were not very mindful of the parking space lines. Will I be back? Abso-effing-lutely?

We always stay here when visiting Santa Cruz. The location couldn't be more perfect. It has a free…read morebreakfast. The rooms are clean. The staff is always helpful and friendly. We have stayed here for at least 8 years or more. They have revamped the breakfast area again. They have remodeled the vanity area of the bathrooms again. Very nice improvements. The showers look newer, too! My only real issue is the shower water pressure. It's nonexistent. I guess they are trying to save water, but seriously, you're in the shower so long trying to get everything wet and then rinsed, you're using just as much water as you would if it had normal pressure for a shorter amount of time. We stayed in Las Vegas, you know, the DESERT, and had killer water pressure. Why is a place near the ocean skimping out? Fix it. No one should be in the shower 20 minutes trying to rinse shampoo from their hair.

Love this place wouldn't want to stay anywhere else, free breakfast, near parking, walking distance…read morefrom beach and boardwalk BuT however today my finger stinks. After long day beach bumming and eating processed foods caused stomach ache n diarrhea. I ran to my room sweating clinching my cheeks. After the flow of 'stuff' exiting my body fast n furiously, coming out like Lava. The toilet paper at my Carousel Inn was one single god damn ply, ruined my entire day. My left middle f'u finger quietly decided slide poke right through the thin one ply and touched my outer rim, my day is rear ended over. I come here every year and will see you again next year, with Charmin Ultra Strong (not paid advertising). Leaving a roll for next visitor to have a great clean sanitary vacate. Pay It Forward.

Alex is not good, she does not check on people, she's rude, she acts like everything is a problem…read morewhen it's not. Alex only cared about customers when they are men, she made us feel unwelcome to be in the hotel we are staying in! She's not personable at all. Terrible customer service overall. Aimee on the other hand, she is amazing. She checked up on us, made sure our experience was amazing. Aimee needs a raise. Alex needs a downgrade.

The 3 star review is for the reasons below. But if I could give a separate five star review it…read morewould be for for Julian, who on our second day here helped us with everything we needed. The day before when we checked in, it was not the most friendliest checked in. My wife and I had questions with our room because we were looking for one with 2 beds instead of one queen and a pullout bed wouldn't be comfortable because we had one of our friends joining us for a wedding and didn't want her on a pullout bed. The person at the front desk was very short acted like we were bothering her and said nothing was available, this was at 4:00pm. I get it, the later you check in the harder it is to get what you want. So why at 7:30am the next morning my wife went to the front desk, spoke with Julian and he said there were plenty of rooms they could put us in with the 2 queens. On top of that he said some were available yesterday because they were not occupied. The downside of the hotel is it's a tough place to get out of the parking lot if you're in a hurry because it's a one-way street and as we found out prior when you come in after 10 o'clock, it's a tough place to find parking at the hotel. Besides to two hick ups this is a typical Fairfield Inn, the rooms are comfortable and the housekeeping staff is very friendly.

Heading to Santa Cruz, CA anytime soon? Can't decide where to stay? Check out Hotel Paradox, an…read moreAutograph Collection by Marriott. Where you can enjoy the amenities and a beautiful sunset view. This hotel has a gorgeous lobby and restaurant. It's kids and pet friendly. A family oriented hotel. I loved that they offered s'mores at the front desk. Blossom the front desk lady was really friendly. The rooms are really cute. But If you're outside looking at the rooms you would think you're in an apartment building because the walkway/hallway is open to the outside. On the other hand you can walk out your room enjoy to e view of the sunrise or sunset. The location is perfect if you plan to go to Santa Cruz beach boardwalk, it's less than 6-7 minute drive. And if you are an early bird you can find plenty of open public metered parking spots. Note: the restaurant staff. I found one server didn't treat us well. For one we were told to come and pick a table. And we found one but it hadn't been cleaned so she told us to wait at the front (when clearly nobody's even waiting at the front) everyone's just walking around. Then a couple of people came after us and they were seated right away. Was not even told go to the front. Like what? I find that rude. I give this entire experience 4 stars. It was nice but not the best. But I'd come back again.

When I checked into the Paradox Hotel Santa Cruz the girl at the desk said I had to put $100 hold…read moreon my card for "potential room damage". This was a business trip so the hotel was paid for by my client. I asked them to put the charge on the card that was paying for the room but they refused. "the charge will be released when you check out". I checked out on July 9, 2026 and have yet to see this $100 come back to my card. I called several times asking for the manager but only got the front desk girls. Then a guy comes on and starts yelling at me to stop annoying the girls. he sounded like one of their boyfriends. I also reached out to the card that the charge was placed on. They "voided" the charge but again, the $100 never reappeared. As of now I have yet to get the $100 back in my account. If these people can scam me for $100. I wonder who else they've scammed and for how much? I'll never go back!