A Bit About Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz and its neighboring towns stretch for about 6 miles along the northern edge of the Monterey Bay, making it possible to stay anywhere in the area and get to everything else fairly fast, as long as you don't get stuck in traffic.The Santa Cruz area includes the towns of Santa Cruz, Aptos, Capitola and Soquel. Some online reservation services will include all of them when you search for Santa Cruz hotels, but at others, you may have to search by the individual town names.
Argentina and Portugal also have towns named Santa Cruz. You'll get to what you're looking for a lot faster if you add the word "California" to your search.
Visiting Santa Cruz
You'll need more than just a place to sleep while you're in Santa Cruz. Take a look at things to do in Santa Cruz for a weekend getaway or find out what the best things to do are.Finding a Hotel in Santa Cruz
Find your Santa Cruz lodging like a pro. Use the same process we use to choose our recommended hotels. However, you'll need to know a few things about Santa Cruz hotel locations first:- The coast runs more or less east-west at Santa Cruz, along the upper arc of the Monterey Bay. The other towns in the area are all east of Santa Cruz itself.
- Most of the hotels cluster in Santa Cruz along Ocean and Beach Streets. Those closest to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk will be on Beach.
- The San Lorenzo River runs through the middle of town and only a few streets cross it. Downtown Santa Cruz and the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk are west of it. If you're on foot and stay on the east side of the river, you may have to go out of your way to get where you want to go.
- Reserve as far ahead as you can if you want to visit Santa Cruz on a summer weekend, during the annual Blues Festival (Memorial Day Weekend) or around graduation time at UC Santa Cruz (mid June).
- Capitola is a great place to stay if you want to spend most of your time there, but although it's close to downtown Santa Cruz, traffic on CA Hwy 1 can be quite slow on busy days, making it frustrating to get there.
- You can't blame them for trying, but the Hilton Santa Cruz/Scotts Valley is actually in the town of Scotts Valley, just off CA Hwy 17. On the map it looks close, but it's potentially a more-than-annoying drive from there into town on a busy day.
Go straight to the tripadvisor reviews and price comparisons. You can also use Kayak.com to compare prices by entering Santa Cruz, CA into their search box.
Santa Cruz Hotels We Recommend
Two of our favorite hotel chains have properties in Santa Cruz: Dream Inn (Joie de Vivre) and West Cliff Inn (Four Sisters Inns).Finding a B&B in Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz has only a few bed and breakfasts. The best-rated among them are:- Adobe on Green Bed and Breakfast: Conveniently located a few blocks from downtown, in the historic district, this is the best-rated B and B in Santa Cruz. It's 100% non-smoking and all rooms have private bathrooms.
- Babbling Brook Inn: With rooms decorated in the style of famous painters and a (really) babbling brook running through the garden, this has been a Santa Cruz visitors' favorite for years.
- Pacific Blue Inn: 9 rooms in a new, eco-friendly building and it's within walking distance of the most popular spots.
- Pleasure Point Inn: Rooms boast an impressive collection of amenities, including gas fireplaces, hardwood floors, patios and custom-made furniture. They have a rooftop deck with hot tub and serve an "expanded" continental breakfast. Maximum two people per room.
