Bay Front Inn Santa Cruz

The housekeeping staff, especially the Latino workers, were extremely friendly, polite, and helpful. That really stood out. The place may seem family-friendly, but it was noisy during my stay, and you could hear everything from the next room. If all you want is a clean bed, it might work. Parking is a serious problem: the lot is tiny and fills quickly, with too few spaces for all the rooms. If you get a spot, you’re better off leaving the car there and walking to the Boardwalk or taking an Uber, because you may not get the same spot back at night. The front desk staff are hard to find. There’s no one to ask before check-in, and they don’t answer inquiries before their strict 3:00 PM check-in time. They’re rigid and don’t try to accommodate guests, even if you’re only 15 minutes early.

After a monster day of problems, I arrived with two dogs and was welcomed by Marie, who was lovely, so nice, and supportive throughout our 3 days there. I think she was the only staff member on duty when we arrived Friday night, and she was definitely there the next morning. We left my husband’s truck keys and my car emergency toolbox behind. Marie offered to mail them back if I emailed a label, but luckily I’m only a couple of hours away, and the keys were urgent, so we drove back down. The other woman helping that morning was very nice too. Thanks to the room staff for finding the keys and returning the car maintenance toolbox we’d left in the room. The hotel is pet-friendly, and there were several lovely dog owners. The bedding was crisp and white. There are dogs around, so if dog hair bothers you, I’m sure there’s a hypoallergenic hotel somewhere. The customer service was beyond compare. Human note 💙, remember that if you show up with a stank face, you might not have my experience. Be kind and enjoy the kindness that comes back.

It’s a good location, a few blocks from the Boardwalk. The rooms are nice and the price is low, but there aren’t amenities. It’s okay if you don’t plan to go anywhere beyond the Boardwalk, since parking on site is limited. You’ll need to use Uber or Door dash.

The location is great for walking. There’s a park and a little shop selling breakfast and snacks across the street, and it’s a 10-minute walk to downtown, the wharf, and the Boardwalk. The pool is tiny, but at least they have one, and the front desk was very friendly. Parking is free for roughly the first 25 people. If you get a spot and leave for any reason, you’ll probably lose it and have to use a metered space on the block. The room was clean but needs basic maintenance. It smelled strongly of bleach for hours, and the fridge smelled too. The toilet handle was half broken and hard to flush. My younger son couldn’t open or close the bathroom door without help because the handle was broken and the door had swollen from water damage. The AC wouldn’t cool below about 78 degrees. The TV had streaks of static and such bad speakers that voices were hard to hear, just loud mumbling.