This motel looks a little beat up on the outside, given that the corrosive salt air has caused extensive rust on the metal doors and staircases. But it is just fine on the inside. The location is awesome -- half a block from the Pacific Ocean waves crashing ashore at beautiful Rockaway Beach and the sea cliffs of Mori Point! The rooms have no coffee makers but there is coffee in the front lobby when it doesn't run out. The continental breakfast is minimal -- no fresh fruit nor anything healthy. And the wi-fi is intermittent. But these drawbacks are more than made up for by the great location. We stayed 5 nights. Every morning I could go for a trail run along the beach and sea cliffs, and then we'd drive in to San Francisco for the day -- it's only 10 miles by freeway. This is the perfect value location for staying when visiting San Francisco, as long as you have wheels. You get the best of both worlds: all San Francisco has to offer, plus the peace of spending the night in a nice quiet spot by the beach in Pacifica, and the beauty of a trail run along the ocean in the morning!

We pulled into Pacifica on a night with screaming, gale-force winds and soaking, torrential rain, with a true "any port in a storm" mindset. After taking a drive-by look at the 4 or 5 places to stay in that immediate neighborhood (Rockaway Beach) and stopping in or calling a few of them on the phone to get rate quotes, the Pacifica Motor Inn was by far the most reasonably priced--and at least one of the places that quoted much higher prices seemed nowhere nearly as nice as this place.

The place is about one block from the ocean, and upper-floor west-facing rooms (as ours was) have a panoramic and close ocean view. Our room was large, clean, and comfortable. It wasn't fancy, but it was pleasant enough and offered good sleep quality. The heat (and presumably the A/C, which one likely would rarely need in Pacifica) worked just fine, and there was a nice-sized compact fridge and, if I recall correctly, a microwave. There were a few minor glitches (you sometimes had to punch the floor buttons on the elevator a half-dozen times before the button would light up, and the room's front door seal whistled quite a bit in the very strong howling wind), but nothing significant. The complimentary "contintental breakfast" was completely worthless and should just be ignored, as is usually the case with places like this.

All in all, not a bad place to stayl. How often can you find a comfortable ocean-view room just steps from the Pacific and less than 20 miles from downtown San Francisco all at a price that's under 100 bucks? Not often, but that's what we found here. I'd gladly stay here again.

We stayed here because we were desperate to stay along the coast during Labor Day weekend and didn't want to pay an arm and a leg. This was the cheapest we could find that would get us as close to the water as possible. The owners were friendly enough, the rate was good. Yes, it's quite dated. There are VCR's in the rooms and we were told some work, some don't. But, it is clean and the views are nice. Pretty good selection of satellite channels. For the price, not bad. I wouldn't waste your time with the continental breakfast though. It's just coffee, OJ and some individually wrapped danishes.

This is truly a mom and pop establishment. Late arrivals can expect to pick up an exterior phone to rouse the desk clerk. The rooms offer the basic amenities and are clean. The location is the thing here, with the roaring Pacific just steps from your door. The staff was friendly and helpful to a first time guest. I find myself needing a room near SFO from time to time and will return to this property if there is time in my schedule for a stroll.