The Dream Inn, located right on the beach, is THE hotel to stay at while visiting Santa Cruz. This was my first stay at this hotel and I was not disappointed. From the moment I called the hotel to set up my reservation to the moment I checked out, I had absolutely stellar service. The valet attendents made sure my car was exactly how I wanted it (top up or down), the front desk receptionists greeted me by name with smiles every time I passed thru the lobby, and the room was really beautiful and modern with a wall of windows and doors. All the rooms face the ocean and have nice patios to sit on to enjoy the sights of the beach, the boardwalk and the ocean. Very relaxing! The bed was very comfortable and I let the sound of the surf lull me to sleep. The hotel sits right next to the famous Boardwalk too. This will be my Santa Cruz hotel and I will return again very soon. Thanks Dream Inn for a wonderful week!

The Dream Inn is a great place to stay by the beach. You won't be disappointed with your choice here. Here are a few pros and cons.

PROS:
- Extremely helpful and friendly front desk staff. We were very impressed.
- Great view of the pier, beach and ocean
- Excellent location
- Very clean
- Updated, nice decor

CONS:
- Heater was very noisy. We had to turn it off to be able to sleep.
- Bed was on the hard side
- Both valet and self-parking were expensive at $22 per night

All in all, the pros greatly outweighed the cons. The friendly front desk staff stood out the most as the best part of the stay. We were especially impressed with the Front Desk Manager, who went out of his way to ensure we had a great stay. We would not hesitate to choose this hotel again.

We stay at the Dream Inn a couple of times a year. Every December we attend a fairly large party here and the service we receive it above and beyond. To be honest, we really like the Joie De Vivre hotel experience! The service we have had at every single JDV hotel we have stayed at has been stellar!

The staff = simply fabulous. It seems as if they select only the best of the best = perfection!

The rooms are unusually delightful and there are always special little touches. At this Inn there are Keurig Coffee Makers, wonderful photos (Surf and boardwalk inspired) the lamps, furnishings and shutters are very appealing. If you open your curtains everything just flows... the room just connects to the outdoor view.
At the Dream Inn ALL of the room face the ocean...simply breathtaking. The hotel is right next-door to the famous Boardwalk as well.

Walking into our room, we were met by a wall of glass windows and doors looking out to the ocean and beach below. It was really beautiful. The sound of the surf lulled us to sleep and was a lovely background sound when we were in our room. The bed was very comfortable. The valets were very nice, efficient, and helped us to navigate Santa Cruz. This was our first visit to this part of California and we really enjoyed it. Breakfast at Zachary's was delicious!