Dream Inn Santa Cruz

Ocean front view.

For the price a Continental breakfast should be included.

The location of this property is amazing with great views of the beach. Access to the beach is direct from the hotel and it is a short walk to the amusements. Hotel was clean and comfortable and the staff are very friendly and helpful. Great food in the restaurant.

The rooms are a little tired in places but this didn’t detract from our stay.

Nothing, very rude people work there.

Harassment

The location was extremely convenient and the parking was right across the street. Made it very easy to get in and out.

I felt like the rooms needed major updating especially the bathrooms and showers. There was definitely mold in the bathrooms all around the showers. Made me feel dirty.

I could.not fimd any recycle trash.

Beautiful views

Views

Loved everything about everything. Especially the ocean view and coffee shop on the lobby.

NA

Great location, friendly staff, clean and comfortable. Beautiful sea view from the room.

Full of kids, noisy communal areas and pool. No complementary breakfast. Should have a few adult only spaces and seperate bar area, as couldn't use any of these as they were too noisy and busy. However I can really recommend the Big Basin Vineyards, as a great place for a quiet drink and tapas.

Right on the beach. Restaurant on site. Beautiful room.

The room we were in was right off the lobby and across from the elevators so the noise level was loud and busy all day and night. We were celebrating our 40th Anniversary so that part was a little annoying.

Die Lage, das Restaurant Jack O‘Neill

Kleiner Pool, renovierungsbedürftige Zimmer, Toilette war 2x verstopft

Having 2 walls of the room face the beach was a special treat.

Rooms are great comfortable and cool decor

Pool area is small and very noisy

Employees were great!! Hotel is nice and location is great we enjoyed out time at the hotel

Hotel was beautiful, amazing views from hotel room balcony. perfect walking location to the boardwalk and the beach access was awesome! Kids had so much fun. Staff was so nice. We will definitely be back!

The location was perfect! Right on the beach with ocean views. I could be at the pool and still see my family on the beach. Easy walk to the wharf and boardwalk. The service was amazing and valet was very helpful.

fantastic view, clean rooms and prompt service. easy check in and check out too.

The property location was beautiful

The staff are super rude everyone seemed either annoyed or just bad attitude towards myself and my family. One staff member did not have the patience when my son attempted to order an ice cream at the pool bar, my son has a speech delay and this staff member did not bother to have the patience and instead rudely dismissed him. The front desk are not helpful and very short horrible customer service. When we checked in the staff were very short when attempting to ask were things were located they seemed annoyed to explain, this was our first time in Santa Cruz and the hotel, usually when checking into hotels the front desk explains the hotel and the amenities but not this place. My child was made fun of by the guest as well, he has autism very heart breaking to see. I hated our experience worst hotel to stay.

Our toilet ran all night and then overflowed in the morning (on its own; not due to use) and flooded the floor, and out into the carpet of room. The maintenance response was super quick (which is awesome). But we were put out of use of the bathroom for approx. 45 min. When we called to ask the frontdesk for check-out extension (check-out was at 11am) we were denied due to being sold-out and needing to turn over rooms that day. I do feel like this could have been accommodated with some effort to move cleaning schedule around. None-the-less, the staff were all very nice and the view/location can't be beat!

I stay here every summer, and never disappointed when I leave.

Great property. Highly recommend.

Location very close to UCSC. Walking distance to shops.

Everything. A great area. And easy access to get to the boardwalk. I highly recommend

Jack O’Neill was very disappointing

Being able to get beach umbrellas and chairs to use. Wonderful staff, especially Isiah at the front desk. So helpful!

My grandson said the rollaway bed was uncomfortable.

Loved watching the junior life guards training and the food at the pool was great and reasonably priced. All of the staff were friendly, courteous and helpful. Will gladly recommend The Dream Inn to family and friends.

Location is perfect for beach, boardwalk and pier

Stunning views, amazing food, beautiful clean rooms

Unfortunately though, staff specifically at the front desk were extremely rude. I had no problem with the people from the restaurant, nor the people serving by the pool. But the people at the front were extremely rude

Stayed at the Dream Inn for the 4th of July after years of wanting to stay there. Rooms were very clean albiet small. Front desk staff not super welcoming or friendly at check in. The heater in room 212 made a loud high pitched noise everytime we used it. Bottom line you are paying for the location and proximity to the beach. Food is expensive and average at the pool side taco truck. I would say I was expecting more friendly staff for $900 a night. I think it was also the crowded holiday weekend the staff looked annoyed. Valet was great. Housekeeping was great. Coffee cart was friendly.

The Dream Inn is always great for the whole family. However, the price is jumping dramatically and now the value just isn't there anymore. Rooms are not being kept up, and the price for everything has skyrocketed. I understand this is happening everywhere, but literally for the price I paid I could get much better value staying on a beach in Hawaii. We've been going every year for the last 6 years, and unless things change, we won't be going back, which makes us sad.

None transparent pricing, hidden fees upon checkout. Had better in room coffee at cheaper hotels. Dingy in some areas; bathroom tile corners and hallways. Pool is to small for the occupancy rate; overfilled with kids and parents standing around waiting for somebody to get up.

This is the best hotel in Santa Cruz!! We love it for family fun, vintage vibe, and the proximity to the beach and boardwalk. We even brought our dog this time which was so fun and easy! The staff were all super helpful and nice and made the experience top notch. Highly recommend!!

You cannot beat the location of this hotel. Right on the water, every room has a view and a balcony. Decor is very cute - 60's retro. Rooms were clean, although the place is old, so don't expect perfection. Staff was uniformly pleasant, friendly and accommodating. Nice coffee cart in the lobby. They don't sell in the hotel lobby other than what they have at the coffee cart, but there is an upscale restaurant on-site, which we did not try. Walking distance to the boardwalk and various shops and things. Coffee maker in the room and a fridge. No complaints other than it is really expensive for what it is; you are paying for the view and proximity to the beach and boardwalk. We found it to be quiet, but we were on the top floor. We had two rooms, one in the old building and one in the new - the only difference was the view, and the ceilings were a little higher in one of the rooms. Dog-friendly, but you will get rooms right by the pool on the lobby level if you bring one, so fyi. There is an upcharge for that as well. Family friendly. Small pool area that was very well used while we were there; the hot tub water looked a little gross due to lots of kids and sunscreen.

We love to stay at The Dream Inn because of the location, staff, pool overlooking the beach with a bar and Mavericks restaurant. We usually love the rooms too but this time the air conditioning wasn't working properly and was confusing to operate. There was a thermostat on the wall that we were used to using but it didn't work. Then we saw a separate air conditioner unit installed in the window and found a separate remote control. Problem is it didnt work properly and was really loud. I dknt know what the Dream Inn is doing or why they installed separate air conditioning units but seems like its cost cutting and not up to the standards we are used to from previous visits.

I've stayed at the Dream Inn a handful of times over the past 10+ years, and it's always a solid spot to make home base on a quick trip to Santa Cruz (coming down from the Bay Area). Yes, it is unnecessarily expensive, but that's Santa Cruz for you, and you won't find much else this central to the action that is actually nice. The rooms are a good size with a guaranteed ocean view. The pool gets crowded but we still managed to get 2 pool chairs right up to the ocean view, and the access straight to a more mellow part of the beach is great. Just a 10 minute walk to the board walk. We even managed to find neighborhood street parking and avoided paying for the hotel parking. Will be back, again!

Right on the beach, being able to hear and see the ocean from my room.

The pool was crowded.

We stay there at least twice a year: Great location, great view, great staff, especially Sebastian (front desk) and Hayden and Caden (poolside service). The noteworthy food includes Jack O'Neil restaurant and made-to-order poolside tacos, fajitas, ceviche, etc.

We enjoy coming here each year for a group excursion. This past stay was not as appealing as it has been in the past. We hope it is just a one off.

view

Max was incredible in helping us resolve a reservation issue -- thank you so so much!

The location, the room and the staff was amazing. We truly enjoyed our stay. We come for a family trip annually and we always choose to stay here.

No complaints.

Dream Inn hosted the UCSC CryoEM Workshop attendees and was responsible for a wonderful and remarkable experience - already making our attendees to look for next year's Workshop and reservations at Dream Inn. Perfect host!

Location is awesome

Hot tub closes too early for a night dip

The cleanliness overall on the pool deck, rooms, patios needs to be paid more attention. The private beach needs to have more regular sweeps of the heavy over saturated sea weed. For the price per night we pay and valet, this should be top tier. That part was very disppointing.

This hotel can’t be beat for the view! There is absolutely nothing between you on your balcony (all rooms!) and the view of the beach and ocean. The pool is kept so clean and the housekeeping staff was very friendly and accommodating.

Ocean view

Bar area was requiring a clean up, couldn’t find a sitting area that was not covered in food

The view of the room was spectacular. Beds were comfortable.

We paid $675 a night for this hotel. It is a beautiful property with gorgeous views and flowers and terraces to lounge on. The rooms are similar to those in a cheap motel. The night stands were scratched and chipped. You get 2 towels for 2 people and disposable plastic water glasses for the room. The hallway is between you and the ocean. So people are walking in front of your window 24/7. There is no AC which would be fine in this area most of the year, leaving the window open, but not with people walking 4 feet from your bed. The breakfast was equivalent to a Hampton Inn (for $200 a night). We would not sty here again for this price.

Staff was exceptional great location, good value

Nothing

My boyfriend and I had the chance to attend Dream Inn’s Wellness Weekend. Let me just say- WOW! We started off night one with a 3-course plated dinner and wine tasting where we got to meet the other participants and bond with the facilitators. The next two days were full of a variety of sessions ranging from guided breathwork, traditional Tibetan sound baths, reiki healing, qi gong, yoga nidra, and guided self-care rituals. It was a wonderful weekend spent at the beach, and you just can’t beat the view from our room! Shelby, who coordinated everything, was professional, kind and kept us all on schedule so we could just relax into the experience. The staff was great as well, Ramon, Garrett and Lynn took such good care of us during meals. Overall was an incredible weekend in Santa Cruz. I left feeling restored, empowered and looking forward to the next one!

Our view was spectacular, all employees were very friendly and helpful

Both night stand tables, the drawers would open on their own. Push it in and minutes later they were wide open, I hit my arm and leg multiple times getting out of bed, nothing serious just painful in the moment. On the 19th we got room service breakfast before we checked out. I ordered poached eggs and there was no runny yolk, I was very disappointed because I like to eat the ham and hash browns in the yolk, the ham was very very dry. The other breakfast’s that were ordered were perfect. Other than that, everything was great but when you pay over $600 a night you expect everything to be perfect.

Caden at the pool bar was outstanding - his customer service was one of a kind. Rhian was also so welcoming and they made the pool experience :)

The hotel’s location is undoubtedly one of its strongest assets and offers beautiful surroundings. However, some areas of the property would benefit from more attention and refurbishment. The swimming pool, in particular, appears quite dated and could be better maintained. I also believe that additional effort could be made to improve and regularly clean the beach area in front of the hotel. Enhancing this space would significantly elevate the overall guest experience, as it currently does not reflect the potential of such a lovely location. With a few updates and improvements, the hotel could be much more charming and enjoyable.

Our room was on the top floor, beautiful view. Very clean and the bed was very comfortable. Staff was friendly and helpful. We enjoyed the pool, the bar and room service. The food was excellent.

I recently stayed at the Dream Inn in Santa Cruz and had a wonderful experience. The hotel was beautiful, comfortable, and perfectly located right by the beach. One of the highlights of my stay was visiting the Coffee Cart each morning. The coffee was excellent, but what really made the experience special was the outstanding customer service from the baristas. Alex, Alexis, and Angela were incredibly friendly, welcoming, and professional. They always greeted guests with a smile and went out of their way to make everyone feel valued. Their positive attitudes and attention to detail made every visit enjoyable. Thanks to them, the Coffee Cart became one of my favorite parts of staying at the Dream Inn. I highly recommend both the hotel and the Coffee Cart for anyone visiting Santa Cruz.

View

No hot water for a day. Did not fix AC despite repeated complaints.

The location and views were perfect. Pool and food by pool were top notch.

Front desk people were a bit curt.

Love coming to this place! Never disappoints! So close to so many restaurants and shops, it is very conveniently located.

The Dream Inn is our favorite getaway! The best thing about this hotel is the STAFF. Everyone that works here is friendly and kind. I want to give a shoutout to Anissa. She is a star and goes above and beyond! 💞

I come to the dream Inn every year. It’s always a wonderful experience. I’ve always had a great experience with the staff and all of the amenities here. This trip I had the pleasure of dining a few times. It is always a pleasure to come to the Dream in here after year.

The Dream Inn is our go to spot for special occasions. We try to go at least once a year and if we are lucky maybe twice. The view is the best we've ever had. We are right on the beach looking out at the ocean without having to get sandy and in the comfort of our own room! The hotel's location is awesome and the staff is always exceptional.

Gorgeous views, perfect room, even with a 2 year old. Thanks for the beautiful stay.

Grant place to stay on the beach. Close to restaurants. Fun activities. So much to do and see. Just a wonderful experience

The views are incredible, but the people make this place special. Every staff member genuinely cared about our family’s stay. Special thanks to Allie in valet for outstanding service. Dream Inn truly lived up to its name. We’ll definitely return.

Had a room on 10th floor so view was awesome. Hotel is in good location right beside the main beach and pier in Santa Cruz. Room was well sized, had a table and some seating which was a nice addition to a standard hotel room.

Room doors didn't seem to shut properly by themselves so the tension on the auto-close was dialed up to the MAX... you spend your night/morning hearing doors on surrounding rooms slamming shut as a result. Sliding doors to balcony were of very poor quality so any/all noise from outside was audible. Sea is loud but this is bearable (maybe even pleasant for some) but noise from machinery working on the beach and the other guests enjoying the hotel made this quite unpleasant. It was end of school term and the hotel seemed to have some large groups having parties (not sure they stayed at hotel), net result was 30 screaming kids in the hot tub sized for 16 ppl from 4pm til 10pm. In combo with sliding door situation this was an irritation.

Ocean right there…very well kept. Pool right there…decorated and looking all fancy with plenty of boujee chairs. Also! They have a MaryAnne’s ice cream in the pool area!!!! Amazing. Lovely walking path along the Ocean/WestCliff (all the way to Natural Bridges!). Perfect for Sunset! Easy walk to the downtown area of Santa Cruz…even easier walk to the Wharf and Boardwalk!

Parking was fine for us, but I imagine that could become an issue as the season kicks up.

Location was the best

Having to take steps down to Beach

Awesome experience!!!!A top teer facility. I'm looking forward to my next stay! I'm starting my planning now!! Here i vome!!

The place #1 for an iconic Santa Cruz destination. The hotel is amazing and we love it directly on the water with a picturesque view 100% of the time. You over look the Santa Cruz pier as well as the famous Beach Boardwalk! The environment is fun family perfect and amenities are ideal. The pool overlooking the beach is the place to hang if you're not surfing. The view is outstanding and staff is polite, cool, professional, and great people that goes for Jason at the pool bar as well as the staff. As for the restaurant we love seeing the 180 degree views, food is the best and we also love the staff at Jack ONeill's restaurant including but not limited to: Molly, Mia, the other bar tender Jason.

Great for our family! Beautiful views, plenty of food options between restaurants and door dash. Ocean waves in the morning, beach access and pool/hot tub on property. Also, walking distance to boardwalk.

Location Location Location!!! All the amenities at arms reach. Staff were professional and nice.

N/A

Dream in dropped the ball on this one. We paid a lot more a room and there was construction going on. Two times there were 2 different people looking into our room because of the construction. No kitchen for a day while there either. No late check out and the front desk didn't care about our concerns.

Had an amazing time. Both Enrique and Aliyah made my birthday celebration stay super special. We had such a relaxing visit and felt so taken care of. For the past 15 years Dream has been my favorite happy place to visit.

Ripped off. Charged for parking. We were told only valet parking would be charged. We self parked across the street. Nice place I'll never stay again.

See above.

Beach front property! Views are amazing! Staff is wonderful! Beautiful place to stay!

The bed was hard. We had to ask for a pillow top. Housekeeping was very accommodating. Issue was taken care of right away!

Beach front is plus and heater pool

The parking sucks.

I came for a class reunion that included a reception at the pool lounge and buffet banquet. Food and service were excellent. There is a heated pool as well as access to the beach. My room had a balcony that faced the bay, and the sound of waves breaking on the beach was very relaxing. Walks East and West Cliff Drive and to the Wharf were very accessible and scenic. The area is also very bikable.

The rooms were super nice and clean.

nothing really stands for things i didn’t like

We stayed at the Dream Inn for Mother's Day 2026 - it was a great surprise to wake up to "Happy Mother's Day" written in the sand! The staff is always pleasant, the views are amazing and we think it is the best location on the Boardwalk. They also have onsite charging stations.

Simply incredible! The Dream Inn offered our family a wonderful gathering point from which to enjoy Santa Cruz. Our family reunion weekend was peaceful and full of relaxing quality time at the pool and beach. We will certainly be back!

On the beach.

Bad room location. Very noisy.