We had a one night stay at Santa Cruz on our way back to SFO and was looking for an affordable place near the beach. We arrived after 9 in the night.
This hotel has a good location and is a 5 mins walk from the Wharf. The room we got was small and had very little table space. But it did have a huge LDC TV that did not seem to work at first. After toying with the remote for several mins it seemed that the TV was not synced properly with the DISH cable connection. Anyways not a big deal since we were tired and ready to sleep. However the air conditioner/ heater was not working and so was the phone. I kept the heater on high heat throughout the night but we spent a cold night huddled under the thin blankets. For its price this place falls short of what you would expect.

Regarding customer service .. don;t know what to say.. The lady at the reception did not return my driver's license when I checked in at night. I did not remember myself. Next day after I drove back to San francisco, they gave me a call reminding me to collect my license. I had a flight to catch next day .. so my wife had to drive me back to Santa Cruz throwing all our evening plans haywire..

It was cheap, clean, and warm. The service was great and as a single woman travelling alone I felt safe. I'd stay there again and recommend it as an affordable, clean room for the night.

We arrived on a Saturday after noon at 2:55p. We tried to check in and the clerk pointed to the clock and said " no you are to early, check in is not until 3:00p. There was no activity in the hotel and we did not see anyone cleaning any of the rooms. We sat in the parking lot for about 5 minutes and noticed nothing was going on. I thought it was very odd this was an iron clad rule especially, when no one else was checking in or out and the hotel was dead?. The next morning when we went to get the continental breakfast at 8:30a, again we were told it was to early?. I couldn't even get a cup of coffee because it was too early.
The hotel staff does not care too much about customer service and even seemed to act like it was an inconvience we were there.
It was not a good experience over all.

I was looking for a clean quiet room for a few nights and stumbled upon the Bay Front Inn. The room was recently renovated with a huge flat screen, hardwood floors and modern furnishings. I found the staff to be friendly and helpful as well, giving great advice on local attractions. The beach and downtown are within a short walk and the Inn remains tucked away in a quiet part of town. I highly recommend a stay here.