Continental Inn Santa Cruz

I stay in hotels in Santa Cruz quite frequently. I am always looking for a bargain. I have settled on The Continental Inn as my hotel of choice as I feel they offer the best value in Santa Cruz with regard to price vs. quality. The hotel and its rooms are impeccably clean. I have witnessed many times during extended stays; the extraordinary lengths the staff goes to in order to maintain this cleanliness. This gives me a sense of comfort. The beds are comfortable. There is always a coffee maker, refrigerator and microwave in the rooms. The bathrooms have stone counters etc. and are well appointed. Of primary importance to me personally, is the availability of free wireless broadband or Wi-Fi, in the rooms. (Bring your own laptop) During my last few visits the continental breakfast has been upgraded with oranges, apples, oatmeal and pancakes etc. The staff is friendly, professional and very responsive. There are many hotels in Santa Cruz that cost a lot more while offering much less.

The manager is a creep, in a norman bates sort of way, he's always there! He charges different rates for different people. When we got to the "mini suite," literally is was mini, it was made for hobbits! The carpet was damp when we got there to tour UCSC. It's backed up against an abondoned gas station where your entertainment consists of bum fights if your lucky enough to survive crossing the street to get to the other half of the hotel. If you want towels or say clean sheets because ours had been slept in, you have to cross the street and haggle with the manager to get it. The advertised "wireless internet access" is not in the rooms like I thought, but in the managers office where he will stare at you while you do your business. Needless to say, I would not return here. The area was way to shady considering this was my first visit to Santa Cruz and I'm gald I saw the rest because I had a really bad impression when I got there! Beware of this place, it looks nice on the internet but don't buy it!

I stayed five nights at the hotel and was sattisfied. The room and bathroom was clean. There was a very short walk, about five minutes to the downdown area. It was little longer to the beach, maybe 20 minutes walk. When I arrived the toilett was puring water. I complained and got another romm right away. I think the room was well worth the rate I paid.

we were pleasantly surprised at the amenities at the continental inn. clean rooms and helpful staff stand out the most. conveniently located to local sites. we were on a harley and expressed concerns regarding the safety of the bike overnight. we were assured that the hotel had never had any incidents of vandalism during their seven years there. during the night, management draped a sheet over our bike for protection and reassurance. very sweet!

I have to go to Santa Cruz alot on business and I have found the Continental Inn the best place for me to stay. The rooms are not fancy but they are always very clean. The bathrooms are well above average with granite counters, showers & nice fixtures. The staff is very friendly and easy going. It is centrally located with access to the beach, downtown and the freeway. They seem to be always working on making the place better; from the TV service to the continenal breakfast. For the money, location, service, you can't go wrong with the Continental Inn.

Arrived in Santa Cruz and used the tourism group to book hotel. Wanted a mini-suite and this was the 1st option available - separate bedroom with a pull-out in the living area. Couch could have been from 1974 and was like sleeping on rocks. When pulled out, couch enveloped the entire room. The entire night, all we heard was doors slamming and the people next door as if they were in the room with us. We called to complain the next AM as we had paid $200 for 1 night. We were told that the owners were unavailable and we would get a call in a few days. We called 5 days later to refile our complaint and requested to speak with owners. They wouldn't call us back, but authorized the manager to give us a discount on a later stay - NEVER would I stay here again! Especially with kids! We were asking for $100 off the night - since the bedroom was ok, but the rest of the situation was horrible. Despite repeated calls and requests for satisfaction, we never received anything.

The pool is VERY small and DIRTY - globs of hair were all around the pool (as if they'd been pulled from a drain) - so we didn't even swim.

Finally, the parking on the pool-side of the hotel is tiny and cramped. We could barely fit our mid-sized rental in the spaces and someone hit us trying to pull out themselves.

Bad rooms + gross pool + rotten parking + $$$ = never staying here again!

Quite frankly, we thought Santa Cruz was the wrong place to go with kids. Perfect if you're going to be loaded after a night at the bars and you don't care where you sleep or if you eat, but there are SO many better, safer, cleaner options in CA.

This hotel has a terrible customer service. I had made a reservation for room from Continental website. Since my friend had to work until 10pm, I called in and informed the front desk that we would be there after 11pm. However, when we got there at 11.20pm, they had given our room away to other customer. They refused to be responsible on this matter, so we ended up without a room to stay. Don't believe the reservation service, this hotel *****!

Our room was compact but very clean and the bathroom had a whirlpool bath! Good location - only a few minutes' walk into downtown and there are a couple of excellent restaurants nearby.

We got a mini-suite! It was great for the $$ we spent! The only thing I would say that isn't that great is that the hotel is split on 2 different sides of the street with the spa on one side and the pool (suppose to be heated but barely) on the other. Don't count on the continental breakfast in the morning either its pre-packaged danish and coffee. The morning newspaper is a great addition, that was nice!

We liked having the fridge and the microwave in the room too. Having the extra space for a 2 year to run around is great so get the suite if ya can, if ya have kids.

We have stayed at Continental four times and certainly agree with the owner description. The rooms are reasonably large, very nicely furnished and provided with those goodies that make travel more pleasant. The front desk is cordial and provides a light breakfast there. The location is great with nearby restaurants and easy trips to downtown and boardwalk. We would recommend Continental for business, couples or family travel.