The Islander Motel Santa Cruz

Inn

Stayed here last night, room was decent — but that was about all that was. Customer service was absolute rubbish. Advertised as having a hairdryer in the room, when there isn’t one — I ended up using my own. When I left, I called them to say there isn’t one (just to clarify that I didn’t steal it), the woman on the line, clearly not a native English speaker, was extremely rude and replied “THERE WAS ONE BUT NOW THERE ISNT”. When I replied saying there was none to begin with, she said “OK I GET YOU *hangs up*”. This motel should really consider the kind of people they’re hiring — a pity considering they have a nice room.

Adequate hotel particularly for the money. Check in was quick and efficient if not terribly friendly. The room while small was clean and well maintained with a working fridge and microwave. Decent selection of cable channels including HBO. I will stay their again if the price is right.

This motel is great. Rooms are a little small but comfortable. I wish there was more options for breakfast but being in Santa Cruz there's tons of options to go out. And for being on one of the main roads in Santa Cruz, you don't hear a whole lot of the traffic unless your paying attention. Will definitely stay here again and recommend to other people.

Reasonably priced and reservation was a snap and cheaper by directly calling than any booking site. It was easy to find, close to food and gas and not far from the Boardwalk. The room was good sized (two queens, a small table, dresser) squeaky clean, comfortable enough and reasonably quiet. Small flatscreen, microwave and mini fridge. A/C unit was old but functional. My only complaint is the parking. There isn't enough. 32 rooms, 22 parking spots in the extremely small lot and five on the street. Still though, I'd stay here again.

Really bad customer service. Pillows are dirty, mattress also dirty. The room in general is bad. Bathroom looked the cleanest and cleanest. Also too pricey.

Awesome, small and clean! Prompt service. Definite recommendation!

I've stayed here 2x only due to they having the only availability. Cheap price but I get what u pay for. It's clean, yet not modern. Parking is first come first serve. Desk agents are nice but not accommodating. Font like taking discount coupons or aas discount. I had to fight with the agent because he didn't want to give me the aaa discount and wanted to charge me more, even thou I had the printed reservation with the discount. It was ok all. Worked out in the end.

Beautifully renovated rooms! I had a great experience staying a couple nights on a work trip. The room was absolutely better than I've come to expect at twice the price. Clearly updated very recently and with great care. The owners were lovely and courteous! The location is perfect whether you're in town to hit the beach or just want to be centrally located.

Great little motel! I got a queen size single bed room that was very small but very cozy and clean. The bed, blankets, and pillows were extra comfy and the bathroom clean. The best thing is it's location, there's a liquor store right across the street and some restaurants. Very short walk to downtown and the Ocean Street strips. I stayed on a cold rainy Friday in January, had a hard week at work, and the Islander helped me relax for a bit. I'm sure the rate for this place would be sky hi in the summer $200/night. I love Santa Cruz, and enjoy visiting in winter when the rates plunge to $60-$70/ night.

The more is close to a number of iconic Santa Cruz attractions and eateries. The room was clean and quiet with a microwave, fridge and TV with a sanitize-able remote. The breakfast provided was toast, cereal and coffee, nothing fantastic.

Very pleasant place with friendly staff. Wi-Fi is good, and there is also HBO. Our bathroom was new. Good value for money. Would definitely recommend.

My dad and I came down to Santa Cruz to see a show at the Rio. We hadn't made reservations, and were unaware that there was a little league event taking place in the area. In addition to the North Bay fires bringing people into town, there were not many rooms left in the area, and the one we did get here was more expensive than we were expecting. With that being said, the proprietors of this establishment were very kind and courteous. The rooms were very clean, and they appeared to have been touched up recently. There was a nice LG flat screen TV, as well as a mini fridge. It would have been nice to maybe have a coffee machine in the room, but there was not. I only dock a star seeing as the parking was a bit cramped. There are spots on the other side of the building, but I'm not sure if those were for the islander motel. If the owners can confirm this, I will give it 5 stars. I can would definitely recommend this motel and will definitely stay here again!

Very basic, clean and friendly staff. Breakfast in the morning is limited so if you need a good breakfast plan to bring your own or grab after you leave. Would stay again.

It's pretty basic. Fine for a base camp, but no real luxuries to speak of. Over all, clean, simple. Don't have crazy expectations and you'll be fine.

The room was rather cozy, but I like it better that way. There was free Wi-Fi, and the bed was comfortable, but the breakfast was meager. I wasn't planning on eating it anyways, but I just thought I would forewarn.

We stayed here for several nights. Easy walk to the downtown area, or a mile or so to the boardwalk. Very easy spot to grab an Uber ride. Good motel: clean room, quiet, excellent air conditioning. About on par with a mid level marriott property like a Fairfield Inn. Rates were varied. I thought weekend rates were high, but, frankly they seemed to be on par with other area hotels. TV and such wasn't amazing and few channels were available. Granted we weren't there for that. I really disliked that they didn't accept American Express. This was the only major detractor for me. Parking while free was very tight, OK in a rental car not so great if you're parking your baby.

Nice clean rooms. Bathroom was a little small but nothing to really complain about. No coffee pot in room, but office has coffee and very basic breakfast in the mornings. Ocean street is loud all night, but not ubearable. When checking out I was "held hostage" at the desk until our room was inspected by cleaning service after we paid for the room. This also happened to a friend who had a different room.

Way too expensive. It's the least appealing motel on the ocean street strip, and is still over $160 plus tax, for a one star motel. Needless to say that we did NOT stay there, and happily found a wonderful Inn up the coast in Davenport, CA. The Roadhouse Inn was spectacular and was over $65 less. DON'T STAY HERE, IF YOU HAVE A CAR, 10 miles north of town is a gem of an Inn, so happy to have found it.

Well-Located Motel (15 min walk from boardwalk) but the front street is very noisy.

This modest little place was very comfortable. Check in was easy, and the staff was nice. The breakfast offered for my stay (6/10-6/11) was simple: two types of bread to toast, two types of sugarless cereal, and coffee, milk & orange juice. This was less than ideal, but I had planned on going out for breakfast anyways. The room was very neat and clean, and the bathroom was a good size with plenty of towels, shampoo and soaps. The bed was high, but comfortable, and there are plenty of outlets per a single bed room for two people (four outlets including the bathroom in my room). The bathroom window faced a brick wall, so there were no privacy issues. There was a random door that I assume connected us to another room, but it was locked and there was no sound issues from this, it was just kind of odd. The cost, while somewhat higher than what I would like, was very reasonable for the given area, and it was very easy to walk downtown from this place (especially if you plan on drinking). I really liked this motel and would definitely stay here again (hopefully with a slightly lower price).

Nice room polite service convienent location clean.

Very clean and 10 min from the board walk good custermor service.

Good value for money, not too expensive motel. We only spend one night here and everything was OK.

We got there at 2am in the morning and when we did the check in everything ran smoothly and we even got an additional hour for the check out. The room was OK and we had a good night sleep. The place is fairly close to the city attractions. All in all it's a good value-for-money alternative.

The people in the front desk are very rude and condescending. They didn't treat my family with the rights they deserve. Total scam and when we arrived in the cold night they kept us waiting outside questioning us when it was obvious that we needed a room and were freezing.

Decent place overall. Pleasant lady at front desk gave us a room that was quiet (second/upper floor furthest away from traffic. Bedspread and heavily used carpeting in room could be replaced. Average bed firmness. Otherwise clean and tidy with updated bathrooms.

Quiet hotel and the staff was friendly to me. Only downside was a lack of parking for bigger vehicles. Room was fine, nice location close to everything. Will stay again.

These people are very rude. Charged me 50$ more then reservation. There is no deep soaking tub and when I asked about it I got told very rudely that the Internet does not say that. Children are not free as stated in website. Both the man and lady hate life for as rude as they are. Had me and the kids not been so tired I would have left and not gave them my money. Never again will I stay at such a place that is so rude and disrespectful. And the pool is dirty with rocks and loose cement threw out the bottom. Horrible people.

I made a reservation the same day as I was suppose to rent the motel room. I went to the Islander Motel and the owner was very rude and disrespectful. I said that the tax was expensive, more as a casual conversation topic and he started to argue with me that it wasn´t expensive. He had an intense need to be right. I finally said that I had the right to my opinion and I did not have to agree with him. He seemed a bit sexist towards women. He got angry and we had some words. He had just charged my debit card when all of this was happening. I then said that I would not rent the room from his motel. I asked him to void the amount and refund me immediately. He said that money should appear in my account within one month. It has been 1 month and 1 week and there is still no refund in my bank account. I have called two times to discuss my refund and they still haven´t refunded me. If you choose to rent a motel room from these people, do so at your own risk.

Tidy rooms and friendly staff. The room was rather quite had a good nights sleep. Close enough to walk to the beech and near by food places.

Got flipped off by the owner. She created her own scenario. I was checking out and went to give the key. She said I suppose you want the room for free? I said, "Huh? " She repeated, "I suppose you want I should give you the rooms for free? " Thought hadn't crossed my mind but I said, "Okay? " Then she starts pointing at me. She knew how threatening that was from her husband in the morning. I was perplexed at this from her. She was all getting in my business earlier in the week, so I thought we were buds. I was pulling out looking curiously at her and she flipped me off. I think what happens is people can be threatened by people that are not unkind. My friend thinks people in that business are just used to dealing with people with alot of money, so anyone using another person's card is like grounds for. I don't know. All I know is I did not feel protected.

No complaints about the room — it was clean, bed was comfortable, plenty of ice in the ice machine, Wi-Fi worked well. For the price relative to other options in the area it was a good value. I'd stay there again if in the area.

I stayed here for 2 nights in March when outside was chilly but the room was really nice, warm and very comfortable. They offer breakfast (cereal, coffee and muffins) at the front which was an added bonus. Very good value, will definitely visit again.

Stayed at this hotel in April and had a good experience. The hotel was very nice and clean. Good coffee in the morning. Location was excellent and safe. Good TV (which is important) and a really nice shower. Will stay here again if given the opportunity.