With a stay at Motel Santa Cruz, you'll be centrally located in Santa Cruz, within a 5-minute drive of Monterey Bay and Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. .This motel is 3.1 mi (5 km) from University of California, Santa Cruz and 5.8 mi (9.3 km) from Capitola Beach.
Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk - 11 min walk - 0.6 miles
Santa Cruz Wharf - 16 min walk - 0.9 miles
Getting around
Watsonville, CA (WVI-Watsonville Municipal) - 18 min drive
Restaurants
Pizza My Heart - 11 min walk
Jack in the Box - 8 min walk
Woodstock's Pizza Santa Cruz - 10 min walk
Pacific Cookie Company - 10 min walk
Five Guys Santa Cruz - 12 min walk
About this property
Motel Santa Cruz
Motel Santa Cruz offers 62 accommodations with air conditioning. Flat-screen televisions come with cable channels.
Bathrooms include shower/tub combinations. Guests can surf the web using the complimentary wireless Internet access.
The recreational activities listed below are available either on site or nearby; fees may apply.
Make yourself at home in one of the 62 air-conditioned rooms featuring flat-screen televisions. Complimentary wireless internet access keeps you connected, and cable programming is available for your entertainment. Bathrooms with shower/tub combinations are provided.
Make use of convenient amenities, which include complimentary wireless internet access and a vending machine.
At Motel Santa Cruz, enjoy a satisfying meal at the restaurant.
Featured amenities include dry cleaning/laundry services, multilingual staff, and laundry facilities. Free self parking is available onsite.
Motel Santa Cruz has a restaurant on site.
Property amenities
Internet
Available in all rooms: Free WiFi
Available in some public areas: Free WiFi
Parking and transportation
Free self parking on site
Food and drink
A restaurant
Family friendly
Laundry facilities
Conveniences
Laundry facilities
Limited-hour front desk
Safe at front desk
Vending machine
Guest services
Dry cleaning/laundry service
Multilingual staff
Accessibility
If you have requests for specific accessibility needs, please contact the property using the information on the reservation confirmation received after booking.
Grab bar near toilet
Upper floors accessible by stairs only
Wheelchair accessibility
Wheelchair accessible (may have limitations)
Wheelchair-accessible path of travel
More
1 building
3 floors
Designated smoking areas
Room amenities
Bedroom
Bedsheets provided
Bathroom
Private bathroom
Shower/bathtub combination
Towels provided
Entertainment
Flat-screen TV with cable channels
More
Air conditioning
Phone
Policies
Check-in
Check-in start time: 3:00 PM; Check-in end time: midnight
Early check-in subject to availability
Early check-in is available for a fee
Minimum check-in age: 18
Check-out
Check-out before 11:00 AM
Contactless check-out available
Late check-out subject to availability
A late check-out fee will be charged
Special check-in instructions
The front desk is open daily from 9:00 AM - midnight
Front desk staffed during limited hours
This property doesn't offer after-hours check-in
Information provided by the property may be translated using automated translation tools
Access methods
Front desk (limited hours)
Pets
Pets allowed for an extra charge of USD 28.00 per pet, per night
Service animals are welcome, and are exempt from fees
Welcoming dogs and cats only
Children and extra beds
Children are welcome
Rollaway/extra beds are not available
Cribs (infant beds) are not available
Property payment types
Important information
Fees
You'll be asked to pay the following charges at the property. Fees may include applicable taxes:
Deposit: USD 200.00 per accommodation, per stay
Breakage deposit: USD 00 per stay
We have included all charges provided to us by the property.
Optional extras
Pet fee: USD 28.00 per pet, per night
Service animals are exempt from fees
Early check-in is available for a fee (subject to availability)
Late check-out is available for a fee (subject to availability)
The above list may not be comprehensive. Fees and deposits may not include tax and are subject to change.
You need to know
Extra-person charges may apply and vary depending on property policy
Government-issued photo identification and a credit card, debit card, or cash deposit may be required at check-in for incidental charges
Special requests are subject to availability upon check-in and may incur additional charges; special requests cannot be guaranteed
This property accepts credit cards; cash is not accepted
Cashless transactions are available
Safety features at this property include a fire extinguisher and a smoke detector
We should mention
This property does not have elevators
Property is also known as
Motel Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz Motel
Motel Santa Cruz Motel
Motel Santa Cruz Santa Cruz
Motel Santa Cruz Motel Santa Cruz
Motel Santa Cruz Reviews
Reviews
5.0
All reviews shown are from real guest experiences. Only travelers who have booked a stay with us can submit a review. We verify reviews according to our guidelines and publish all reviews, positive or negative.
Rating 10 - Excellent. 127 out of 1005 reviews
10 - Excellent
127
Rating 8 - Good. 125 out of 1005 reviews
8 - Good
125
Rating 6 - Okay. 174 out of 1005 reviews
6 - Okay
174
Rating 4 - Poor. 221 out of 1005 reviews
4 - Poor
221
Rating 2 - Terrible. 358 out of 1005 reviews
2 - Terrible
358
5.0/10
Cleanliness
5.8/10
Staff & service
4.6/10
Amenities
4.6/10
Property conditions & facilities
Reviews
6/10 Okay
Frances
Dec 7, 2025
Liked: Cleanliness
Was an okay stay. Everything worked however they only had one towel and one hand towel in the room.
Frances
Stayed 2 nights in Nov 2025
4/10 Poor
Amy
Traveled with family
Nov 29, 2025
Disliked: Amenities
No lamp on the night stand, 2 towels even though we had 3 people. No extra pillows No hangers
Amy
Stayed 1 night in Nov 2025
10/10 Excellent
Arturo
Nov 20, 2025
Arturo
Stayed 2 nights in Nov 2025
10/10 Excellent
Justin
Nov 12, 2025
Justin
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2025
8/10 Good
Octavio
Traveled with family
Nov 10, 2025
Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities
The room smell cigarett,
Octavio
Stayed 1 night in Nov 2025
10/10 Excellent
Arthur
Nov 10, 2025
Arthur
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2025
6/10 Okay
Andrea
Traveled with partner
Nov 7, 2025
Liked: Staff & service
It was very clean. The only thing is I kept hitting my leg every time I got out of the bed the frame was too big for the actual mattress and it was a metal frame so every time I got off the bed, I I hit my leg and ended up cutting myself twice. The mattress itself was very comfortable. Other than that. Everything was OK. The room did it job
Good location, main road has restaurants across street and straight path to wharf or boardwalk. Very clean rooms. TV channels work.
Shampoo provided in shower.
Desk lady is highly friendly and nice, quite reasonable too. AC works. Minifridge available with microwave.
Down sides: shower head is fixed not a hose, large shower is spacious sliding door though.
Metal box under beds is annoyin at times if you accidently kick it getting in out of bed.
Outside the railing walk ways are packed around the ceiling with huge spider webs with large spiders. If tall watch your head while getting to your room. They need to clear the webs. Other than that tho its a fantastic motel.
One idea is keeping your room clean because when we got to the hotel it was dirty and the sheets of the bed were dirty and torn with visible holes and the room smelled very bad.
I requested the first floor as I have problem going up stairs . He gave us right beside a busy street and you can hear all the noises. Internet was poor. The good thing is 7eleven is right across the street and other stores and restaurants. Place is clean and will stay in this motel again
The parking spaces are super small and compacted. the parking lot was always full I had to ask for permission to park in front of the lobby that was in between the entrance and other parked cars.
I usually don’t expect much from lower cost hotels but at $230 this place felt like a $60 per night hotel. The room stunk of cigarette smoke , was not in good shape, just didn’t feel clean, noisy. I had low expectations, but this place came in well below them.
Clean room staff was really nice close to all venues
Regina
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2025
6/10 Okay
Angela
Sep 2, 2025
Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Cleanliness
Angela
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2025
6/10 Okay
Anna
Sep 1, 2025
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities
Adequate if outdated
The motel is basic and located on a noisy street--the evening we spent the night was rife with motorcyclists rev bombing. The blackout curtains weren't enough to block streetlights and nightlife revelers. Rooms could use a lot more updating. The pillows could use replacing but the mattress was pretty comfortable.
Anna
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2025
2/10 Terrible
Barbara
Aug 28, 2025
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities
There were no amenities - no little breakfast in the morning, no Keurig coffee machines, no toiletries, no desk or chair to sit on, an odd steel sheet surrounding the bed which made a very loud drum sound when you sat on the bed, I would never stay there again and would not recommend it to anyone. I was not able to get a return of fee on the second night due to all this and I left anyway.