Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites Santa Cruz by IHG

Difficult to get into with steep drive, street parking limited and had to pay for underground parking, things we weren't aware of before reserving.

Large clean room. Staff was friendly. Elevator out of order. No hot food for breakfast because something broken in kitchen. $10 parking charge. Stairway to underground parking only opens with hotel key, which is pointless when you check out with all your stuff.

Stayed for one night. Very reasonably priced compared to comparable hotels. The staff was pleasant. Self parking was available for $10. I much prefer it to valet only options. Many spots were on the compact side but the garage was fairly large. The breakfast had good hot and cold options. The warm cinnamon buns were a nice touch.

Parking in underground garage is horrible, unless you drive a motorcycle or very small car. Asked for room to be cleaned after first day and that was ignored. Had to go to the front desk at 11 pm to ask for clean towels. For the price we paid per night, I don’t feel it was worth it.

Nice hotel breakfast was good pool was small and no hot tub but overall I would come again.

The elevators (2 elevators) are so old and one of it is out of order, not good.

Staff could have been better about communicating that they were going to take such a large deposit off my card. And they also could have explained the room key thing with the lights in the air conditioning, but otherwise the breakfast was good and the cleaning ladies were great. It was a bummer that the sauna and gym were closed. Over all if we had to stay in Santa Cruz we would stay here though.

The breakfast wasn’t the best i’ve ever had. The eggs tastes like plastic and the sausages were gross. There aren’t many options either. The hotel was very nice with a nice small pool. No hot tub which was fine. It’s pretty far from the beach too. The surrounding area had a homeless problem and there were some individuals that were definitely on something. Nice hotel though!

Parking is $10 a day, the spaces are very limited and tight

The parking in the hotel is horrendous and they make you pay for $10. I cannot find a place to park at all, but the front desk clerk did allow me to park in the charging station which was the only place to park.

This is a very clean hotel and the service is great. The complimentary breakfast is very good and filling.

It was quiet and clean. We only stayed for one night

Staff and clean room.

Room was fine, minus black mold in bathroom. The room above us had a child that kept bouncing a ball till very late at night. Breakfast was a joke it was over crowd ppl were rude couldn’t even get in ppl were hoarding tables. Also wifi wasn’t working. I was told by staff that they had a full house, and it was probably slow to keep trying.

The elevators were dirty. They appeared to have dirt and debris from weeks or months ago built up at the edges of the floor. The tops of the furniture were sticky in my room. The . Staff were friendly and informed. The bed was very comfortable. Breakfast was ok. The potato’s were gone before 730. I don’t know if the pan was restocked. The pancake maker wasn’t working.

The location was good. Not far and not ti close from many places. Something I did not like was that the carpet was extremely dirty to the point where if you would walk around in socks your socks would be extremely dirty from the bottom. My kids showered and would get out and walk around barefoot and there feet would be literally black from the carpet! Had to ask to refill shampoo and conditioner as well as they were empty upon arrival.

Super clean and well kept

Room was fine. Coffee thing didn’t work. Elevator was dusty with Sheetrock dust. Curtains were see thru.

The beds were terrible. Very lumpy and squicky. The bathroom vent was so dusty and bathroom itself didnt look clean.

Oh man it was rough. Found a live cockroach in the drawer, old chocolate milk on the drawer under the sink, air conditioner would not work.

They dont have privacy certains on the window.

Best beds ever!

We were placed right next to the pool. Very loud.

Our room was spacious and hotel was near all attractions.

I was booked into a room next to the workout room. NOT GOOD! Lots of noise...banging, clanking... late at night. Be careful not to take room 205. The TV had very limited channels. They should add more channels

The room was clean, nice amenities, however the mattress is horrible, hard and springy. I didn’t expect low quality mattress, very unfortunate especially for the rates are charging.

Nice and clean hotel. The breakfast was a basic breakfast that tasted fine. The service was good. Only thing that was terrible was the bed. It was like sleeping on cardboard. Extremely hard. Was going to extend out trip but my husband and i could not do another night on the mattress.

Terrible WiFi Poor breakfast Poor cleanness

Room only had net curtains. Very bright in the morning, would have liked to be able to pull a blind down or draw curtains

The King bed was so old and worn that it was too soft and mushy to sleep on. They were very responsive and gave us another room that had a nice mattress.

As a travel nurse, I have traveled the United States and stayed at many Hotels. Worse stay at the Santa Cruz Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites. The customer service I received from the on-shift manager Vanessa was AWFUL. I had some questions about my bill which I discovered during my stay and found Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites Santa Cruz had charged my bank account TWICE, I called my bank and my bank confirmed the Hotel did charge me twice for the same amount (>$900). I went to the front desk and ask to speak to someone and was told I should call Hotels.com with whom I booked my stay. I called Hotels.com and they stated they did not charge me as yet since I did not complete my weeklong stay. Hotels.com called Vanessa and spoke with her while I was at the front desk and she was in her office. After Hotels.com ended their call with Vanessa, I requested to speak with her, she sent another employee to tell me she already spoke with Hotels.com and was refusing to talk with me. I insisted to speak with her because the issue was unresolved. Vanessa finally came out and was very annoyed. She told me I was being "loud and rude," I asked her if she had said that because I am a black woman and if this is how she sees me.Vanessa replied "you said it, not me", she then told me "you get what you pay for, this is what happens when you book with 3rd party." Vanessa decided to check me out and stated I am not going to complete my stay. She also REFUSED to tell me the name of her boss.

Incredibly personable and helpful staff. They went above and beyond to make sure we were taken care of, and it is very much appreciated. Highly recommended.

Although we called a day before and confirmed 2 hours early check in, the front desk personal were extremely rude and refused to give us a room even a minute before 3pm stating they are fully booked and no availability for early check in. VERY poor service, outdated hotel and pricey for such service.

Easy check in and really clean rooms

Staff did not greet us when we arrived to check in. No one else in the lobby but my family and we stood there at the desk alone. Two employees came to the front desk , did not say hello or make eye contact. They got in the computer, two minutes later my husband said hello and the lady asked if we were here to check in. The elevators were dirty the entire 3 day stay we were there.

Stayed for 6 nights, no hot water for 2 nights, front desk clerk was rude and not helpful. when asked to change rooms was told to go different hotel. When company administrator called hotel to discuss, was hung up on twice. No solution was offered, left message for manager, no one called back.

Stayed for one night and really enjoyed the experience! Thanks for the great service!

The late night staff were awesome and genuinely helpful and caring.

The staff is so nice and accommodating. Very polite and professional. Loved it

Upon check in Anissa and Melissa were so welcoming. Very informative since we were from out of town. We really appreciated that. Very professional as well. Our stay was awesome! We will be returning in the fall. Thank you ladies!

The location is right off the freeway and only 2 mile drive from the Santa Cruz Boardwalk

Close to downtown

Great experience. The place was well maintained, the staff was friendly, easy access to the freeways, and not too far from the Boardwalk. The only downside is the parking garage when you arrive late and have a larger vehicle.

The hotel itself was very good, but the area around it is old & has a lot of homeless people. Tthere was a local diner we walked to that had good food, but every other restaurant was fast food.

Convenient location to Santa Cruz boardwalk, decent breakfast, friendly and helpful staff.

Nice place to stay! Surprisingly quiet given how close to the freeway it is. Must be nice noise insulation or whatever.

The hotel was close to the freeway, ckean quiet and walkable to restaurants

Property was older, and the parking spots were extremely narrow – every single one of them and we had to pay for parking also not in the greatest neighborhood, especially if you try to grab McDonald’s after 10 there are people on drugs inside the restaurant and in the parking lot and in the way of even getting your food yet, the employees did nothing about it.

Near to Santa Cruz beach and broad walk.

Overall experience was a little better above average. Saw some homeless people in the area and raised some safety concerns

I’m not sure what I was expecting out of a two night stay at the Holiday Inn express, to be honest. When we requested pillows, we had to go down to the front desk to get them. The continental breakfast from 7 to 10 AM was abysmal. The pancake machine didn’t work, The hot food put out was disgusting. The yogurt options were gross. The second floor reeked of cigarettes. The elevators were rundown and made all kinds of strained clanging noises. The vending machine on the second floor eight hour two dollars and didn’t give us the snack. It was like a moment out of a movie. The downstairs vending machine didn’t take anything larger than a one dollar bill, and of course, the coin exchanger in the laundry room did not work. The card reader on our hotel room door and the door to the elevators never read our cards correctly on the first several tries. It just really seems like this hotel hasn’t been updated in at least 20 years.

This is a very clean hotel and the service is great. The complimentary breakfast is very good and filling.

The only complaint I have is I don’t think they were expecting as many people as they had the days k was there. It was spring break and they should have been better prepared. The continental breakfast was left without food for more than 30 min at a time. People waited for food to come out, but it wasn’t enough. It came out lil by lil and people were left without food.

Very good breakfast and clean!

Third floor hallway was old and smelled. Breakfast is the worst I have had at holiday inn express. I stayed for the breakfast because they’re usually very good but it was disappointing here.

Room was in good condition but needs reading lamp beside the couch or easy chair or both, not just by beds. Vending machines were very poorly maintained, few if any prices shown & mostly empty. This hotel was undergoing renovation work which I don't feel was communicated at booking. Breakfast was typical fare & pretty good but hot items not kept warm enough.

Place was clean and comfy. The breakfast was the best part.

Best breakfast buffet

The breakfast wasn’t the best i’ve ever had. The eggs tastes like plastic and the sausages were gross. There aren’t many options either. The hotel was very nice with a nice small pool. No hot tub which was fine. It’s pretty far from the beach too. The surrounding area had a homeless problem and there were some individuals that were definitely on something. Nice hotel though!

We found multiple hairs in our towels, bed, and around our suite. We also felt like the room was not cleaned properly. The staff was very nice and did try to help with the issues we encountered. The continental breakfast was good, but our issue was that both mornings more than half of the food trays were empty. Some did not get replenished at all, and the time the breakfast ended was inconvenient.