Bay Front Inn

Booked a room through Expedia and they over booked the hotel. Renee at the front desk was amazing! She helped us find a room at their sister location, Casablanca. I wanted to leave a review and forgot her name, (it was late and we were tired!) She left a voicemail for me letting me know she had cancelled the previous reservation through Expedia and they would give us a full refund, and I could call to confirm. Absolutely, 100% amazing customer service! Nice job Bay Front!

Well… For Two Hundred Bucks A Night! Maybe it was just too much to expect a room to have electrical out let covers or the large dry wall patches to be painted. Oh and it would have been nice if the television worked!
I seldom review anything on Unilocal but this place is just to run down not to warn others!!!

Here’s the Tuesday night experience at this place– quoted a rate over phone– checked in within an hour of booking– card company alert showed I was overcharged. Front desk said manager would clear in the morning– no parking in lot as promised. While unpacking car, wife was approached by guy staying in the next room stating that he was totally Effed up and that oxy was the best drug on planet. Shortly after checkin fight started in room next door and poured out into street right outside our room. Shortly after police swarmed into the area with twelve cop cars blocking all entrances as well as shutting down the street. Peaked out the window and there was an individual apparently unconscious and face down on the sidewalk with cops just standing around– then 10 or 15 mins or so later fire and ambulance showed up. Approx 45 mins or so later fire and medical left scene but cops hung around chatting fir another hour or so still blocking any egress from our dirty room. Next morning at 6am I recieved a fraud alert from credit card co informing me that card had been charged an additional two of the same overcharges. For a total of $ 380.00 for single nights prison stay. Went to front desk and showed front desk all three charges and was told they would «fall off» within 48 hours– then complained about the incident the night before and reply was «yeah I heard something about that. No apologies! Then I stated that I wAnted additional charges removed as well as adjustment of original charge to reflect their invoice– desk help stated again that fees would «simply fall off,» then stated they would have to have manager contact me but management doesn’t usually arrive in until 4pm! Surprisingly — manager never even bothered to call and the charges never «Fell off,» until I disputed charges which took several days to resolve! There’s a wide variety of places available at similar or lower rates — even ones across from boardwalk — rooms are old and tired– bathroom was filthy too. STEER FAR AWAY FROM THIS HELLHOLE!

We spent Memorial Weekend there. They guaranteed us a AAA rate but they never gave it. We called, emailed and called and emailed and called — They never responded to any of the emails and the person who picks up the phone always says that «the manager is not available».
We have a written confirmation with the rates so we will dispute the charges

Don’t do it, you have to be wasted drunk or desperate!!! I can make due with most situations and I’m a penny pincher SO after trying to sleep in a hotel that we got to at 12am and left 1 am you know it was bad. I tried wrapping the boys in their own blankets (so they didnt touch the bedding) dressing in my thickest clothes I had and put everything off the floor… but between the dirty floors with hair sand and stuff spilt on them, switching rooms to find even more nasty smells and grime a dirty alley way to the next room, broken locks… sheets as comforters literally, smell of smoke in our smoke free room, broken lamp shade, gangster rapping in the parking lot, dirt on the walls, we had to leave… And the review of fighting for a refund due 2 bugs really sealed the deal… 100 $ gone (gladly) babies loaded back up at 130am to go down the road for some piece of mind… road trip stories lol wish we got pictures! NO REFUND EITHER

We stayed here April 30, checked out the next day. The room was clean, but old. The bathroom needed some maintenance like new caulking around the tub but overall decent. The bad part, walls and ceilings are thin! Heard the people upstairs most of the evening and again at 4:50 am! Didn’t eat their continental breakfast, so can’t comment. The best part, you can walk down to the wharf, Boardwalk, beach, which is where we wanted to be.

Three stars… This is my go to DOG friendly hotel while staying in SC. Now, with that being said, it’s not the Ritz. I’ve learned to check the bed for clean sheets and what not. I believe that Unilocal has exposed some of the hotels short comings and they are in the process of rectifying them. Hardwood floors greet you as you enter your room. White linens drape the beds and remolded bathrooms complete their spacious rooms. Take into account that not all rooms have an ideal view so I suggest you as the clerk when booking. Complementary breakfast, great for traveling families. They offer free bike rental for one day! Now! The best part… 5 min walk to the beach and pier! Enjoy!

I am giving two stars because my stay was great until I realized once I was two hours away that I had left my debit, credit and $ 100+ cash in my room. Obviously, I understand my own stupidity, but the fact that honesty is too much to ask is really sad. Three days after I notified the hotel about my belongings I received a call saying they found my cards but not the cash. SHOCKER! They were all together so whoever found the cards took the cash. They’re a dishonest establishment and could have done more in my opinion. Will never ever go back or recommend this place to anyone. Ever. Hope you had a great big dinner on me!

This used to be one of my favorite hotels in Santa Cruz ! It was affordable, close to the boardwalk and dog friendly!
BUT NO LONGER! THE NEW OWNERS HAVE RUINED THIS PLACE! On line reservation can no longer be made, rooms are dirty, nobody speaks English or so they say, could not check in a timely matter because nobody knew what they were doing !! So sad!

I have not been on Unilocal for many many years. However, after this strange «Americana» experience, that you could only find out in Santa Cruz, I have logged back in.
After an enjoyable day at the Boardwalk and Pier, we decided to check into our room at 3PM only to find 10 visibly frustrated people waiting to get checked in inside the extremely hot office.
There was only 1 person checking people in. Not sure why they did not have 2 people since there were 2 computers available.
A tourist waiting in the office informed us that most of the people there were waiting for over 30 minutes, and that we probably had a 1 hour check-​in wait (which I have never experienced anywhere in the world). So instead of wasting our time waiting we took off to the SC lighthouse to relax for 1 hour and decided to check-​in later at 4:30 ish.
When we got back, there was a line of 4 people waiting to check in. It took about 15 – 20 minutes to check 1 person in (inside the extremely hot office). We got our card room keys almost around 5:30.
We finally check in. The room door opened, after some figuring out, by moving the latch up and not down like other hotels. Inside, the toilet latch was faulty and you had to keep it up to stop the water from flowing.
When we came back from our night visit to the Boardwalk, there were no parking spaces inside the property. So we had to park on the street and were told that in the morning the hotel would pay the meters (which I did not believe and woke up early the next morning to park the car inside the property).
Next morning, the coffee machine was broken and the heater did not work (really cold morning).
This experience gives me second thoughts about ever staying overnight in Santa Cruz. Overpriced for what you receive in return. We will visit the boardwalk again in the future, but not stay in Santa Cruz overnight.

Great location if you want to visit downtown or the boardwalk– it’s walking distance to both! Rooms were clean and have a fridge and microwave. Parking can be hard to find if you get there in the evening but I would definitely stay there again.

I stay here with some regularity but will no longer. Recently, I booked a 2 night stay but ended up needing to leave after 1 night. I have spent countless hours trying to track down a manager to get my refund but to no avail. I have basically given up as I no longer have the time or energy to get my $ 93 back.

Where to start?
Probably like some of the reviews here… AVOID this hotel. This is not worth the saving you think you are making.
1. Don’t trust the pictures
Their website looks pretty neat but don’t get fooled. Look closely at the pictures and you’ll notice a couple of things:
a. Stock images making you believe it’s what you’ll get
b. Image of the reception. Yes, they did some renovation in the lobby and they are truly optimizing that investment
c. Close-​ups. They are good at reframing the actual pics of the hotel. A swimming pool? Just have a close up bird-​view of the pool making sure you cut off the parking lot right behind. Oh, a nice terrasse with bikes? let’s use a low angle with the fence hiding the parking lot once again.
At the end of the day, you’ll notice 1 and only 1 picture of a room. I assume that’s the best pic they could take and it’s a blurry one.
2. Unreliable and dishonest
I arrived in the afternoon. To be honest, I knew I booked the hotel but never received a confirmation (booked via tripadvisor and email went to spam). When I showed up, they were not able to see my booking so I ended up taking a room right here, right there at the reception. About 10 min later, I manage to find my tripadvisor reservation but the general manager tells me not to worry and forward the email. I guess he managed to save the tripadvisor commission by lying to them.
3. The Room
We got Room 122 (or 132?). Anyway, it’s the one on the ground floor at the far end on the right of the complex. Room was correct but something ticked when we got to our room… the massive Pepsi Vending Machine right IN FRONT of the room. What does it mean? Well, put it simply. Even with the curtains, you’ll end up with a blue light all night in your room (kind of daylight when you are trying to sleep) and recurring customer making horrible noise while buying sodas (close your eyes and imagine someone dropping coins after coins in a machine for 30 long seconds then a roaring and powerful noise of a can/​bottle falling). This was an on-​going ritual from 8pm until about 1am.
4. Handling of the situation?
After that horrible night, we were leaving early (at 6am) with essentially no sleep, I reached out to management about that excruciating experience to express my concern and see how they would address it. So far, I haven’t heard back and doubt I’ll ever hear back.
5. Summary
Plain and simple. Spend the extra $ 20−30−40−50 and get a decent hotel.

We ended up at this hotel in the middle of the night after our original hotel turned out to be horrible. They were friendly and helpful. While the parking lot was mobbed, the lady at the desk found us a place to park (and even let us stay there for five hours after we checked out for no additional fee!). Our room had a coffee maker and fridge and was quite nice for the price. It was a little dingy, but it’s not an expensive place and that’s about what I expected. It was also a nice walking distance to the beach, pier, boardwalk and downtown.
My only complaints are that the sheets felt like paper– super crackly and rough, and the continental breakfast was a lot of carbs and zero protein of any kind (cereal, granola, waffles, toast, muffins).
All that said, I will probably stay here again if I’m in the area!

If you want to be close to the beach /​Boardwalk + downtown (aka near lots of yoga, great eats like Gratitude Café, and shopping) this is the place to stay. One of the most Affordable spots around and has all the basic essentials. Wifi was a bit sketchy which was reason for 4 stars. Owner is super awesome/​kind. Locally/​family run too. Supper local.

We decided to get a hotel room because the kid has a soccer tournament here in Santa Cruz with games late on Saturday & early on Sunday. But some other event has most of the hotels full this weekend, & Bay Front had a suite accommodating to family with kids, so why not? I’ll tell you why not: the room smelled putrid, and we found blood splatter and a blood-​smeared handprint on the wall when we came in; I shit you not. The only reason I’m doing 2 stars instead of one is because the clerk was very apologetic & immediately refunded my bill when I told her we would not be staying.

Booked this place last minute and the price was fair so figured for one nights stay why not.
Well, to sum it up we were given keys to an OCCUPIED room (you can only imagine how startling it is to walk into a dark room and find someone in the bed already), the front front desk dudes didn’t seem to have any knowledge of the place or their job, our «upgraded jacuzzi» room was ridiculously small, bed sheets lacked a clean feel, hair in the drain of the tub and the parking lot which you pay $ 10 to park in is over crowded and lacked organization.
Next time, if there is even a next time I would want to visit Santa Cruz, I think I would rather pay the extra $$ to be sure there is no naked old man in my assigned room and that I can sleep in peace in a clean bed.

So the wifi isn’t great BUT the staff is. The woman who checked us in both nights was really goofy and great. The rooms were spacious and cozy.
Also bonus, great soaps and lotions (if that’s your thing). Not just generic.
Booked through Hotels Tonight for a pretty decent rate, they upgraded us for free.

Average hotel. Room is semi-​modern (wood floors with a flat screen tv & Dish network) but microwave and bedding are from the 80’s… Booked on
and should have looked at more reviews first. $ 10 to park my car AT THE HOTEL, then $ 15 to check in early, $ 5 mystery fee… When questioning all the fees front desk simply said «Well that’s how come you got the cheap rate», except you really don’t get it cheap once they tack on other fees. Also got put next to pool equipment, which is quite noisy.

Be very careful about booking! In addition to whatever fees you pay, the hotel will add on mysterious charges once you arrive: $ 10 for parking $ 25 for pet $ 5 service fee, you name it! We booked the room and the bill ended up being 50% more than what was quoted. The hotel itself is average. Customer service = non-​existent. Manager is missing, and lady at the desk claims she is new and cannot do anything. We showed the full description of the booking we made and the front desk lady pointed out a phrase at the bottom saying «extra charges may be applied by the hotel» when none of these charges are shown in the description except for parking. Seem deceptive to me. Also, we are unable to cancel, so the only solution is pay 50% more or be stuck without a room. Vacationer beware, they’ll charge what they want!