We're so glad you'll be able to join us for this special occasion. We want to encourage everyone to stay down in Santa Cruz on Saturday night. The drive over the mountains back to Silicon Valley can be grueling after a night of partying. If you're coming from out of town, you will definitely want to be in Santa Cruz for the weekend and not up in Silicon Valley where it costs twice as much for the same room- only you don't get a beach to go to, or beautiful redwoods to look at, or a roller coaster to ride.

Update: Two weeks to go before the wedding. Best Inn & Suites doesn't have any rooms in our block anymore. Most places are fully booked. Best recommendation for cheap is Best Value Inn ($129), and we've heard there are some rooms left at the Best Western All-Suites Inn, and Chaminade, which is a beautiful place up in the hills. Both are around $170/night.

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Bed and Breakfasts
Hotels/Motels
Rent a whole house
Camping
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Since Santa Cruz is such a destination, there are tons of lodging options available- literally hundreds of places you could stay. Over the last year we've visited pretty much all of them so that we could give a reliable recommendation to people who aren't familiar with the area. And all of these fill up FAST! Especially for Labor Day Weekend. So please believe us when we tell you that you'll need to read through the rest of this page and get a reservation now. Remember that you can always cancel a reservation you don't need, but you can't go back in time.

Here is what we came up with:

In general, lodging in Santa Cruz is a couple of nice resort-type places right on the beach, a gazillion "motor inn" type hotel/motels, people's houses or condos you can rent (vacation rentals), bed & breakfasts, and camping. If you only want to stay for Saturday night, your choices are some of the hotels or a campsite. So just skip right down to the Hotels/Motels section because everywhere else is going to require a 2 night reservation for any weekend in the summer.

Bed & Breakfasts

Since the resort places tend to be expensive and the motels very plain, a very good choice could be a bed & breakfast - if you can get a room. In fact, the best lodging in Santa Cruz, possibly excepting one or two high-end hotels, is in the bed & breakfasts. Here are the ones you might want to consider:

All of these have websites where you can see the rooms. None have pools. Two have ocean views.

Babbling Brook Inn  1025 Laurel Street Santa Cruz, CA 95060 (800) 866-1131 (831) 427-2437 www.babblingbrookinn.com

A beautiful place that is more a hotel or Inn than a bed and breakfast. You have your own room that, in most cases, has a separate entrance and a private bathroom. There is a staff and housekeeping. The property is an old mill, and there really is a brook running through it. The place is next to a fairly major street, so there is some noise from that, but that is going to be true of anyplace you could stay. You can walk to the Cocoanut Grove from here, but it'd be a long walk.

Darling House 314 West Cliff Drive Santa Cruz, CA 95060 (831) 458-1958 www.darlinghouse.com For a more useful website, go to
http://www.travelguides.com/inns/full/CA/2091.html 

This is a beautiful old mansion up on a cliff overlooking the ocean. It's across the street from the cliff, so you aren't right on the cliff. The rooms are all on the second story so in most cases you have a great view (except the ones that face the other way). The rooms are small, and all share a common hallway and bathroom. Picture a victorian with all its bedrooms surrounding a staircase on the second floor, and you've got it. The rooms are small, but cute. The whole place is a little more worn than it looks in the online pictures. It is a leisurely 5 minute walk along the coast get to the Cocoanut Grove from here.

Blue Spruce Inn 2815 Main Street Soquel, CA 95073 (800) 559-1137 (831) 464-1137

6 rooms. 3 have hot tubs in them; 1 has a hot tub outside with a private garden. This is pretty far from where we'll be - probably a 15-20 minute drive. But everyone says this place is wonderful.

Pleasure Point Inn www.pleasurepointinn.com

About a 10 minute drive south along the coast from the Cocoanut Grove. It's a new B&B and its right across the street from our favorite beach (where Angela proposed to Issac). And its a few blocks from the best pizza in the universe. People (including Issac, and now Angela) drive hours to eat this pizza. But enough about the pizza, this B&B looks like it is excellent, although it may be more in the unique hotel category than in the charming old house category. The beach is great. It's a very peaceful neighborhood, away from the bustle of the boardwalk area. As they describe on their site, there is a large second-floor patio which has a view of the ocean (and surfers) across the street. The pictures make it look like every room has a patio looking out onto the ocean. In fact, every room has a patio which line a street, and if you sit on the patio a look to your left then you are looking at the ocean.

Hotels/Motels

If you do your own search you'll find hundreds of little motels in Santa Cruz. They are all pretty much the same, they are all pretty much equivalent to a Motel6 or Super8, and they are all pretty much right next to each other. Some people have called some of these seedy. Anyway, just follow along with our guide here because we've done all the work for you.

An advantage to any of the hotels listed below is that all (except the Hilton) are more or less walking distance to the Boardwalk and thus the Cocoanut Grove where the reception is. And that means you won't have to bother with and pay for parking ($8) in that area.

Something to consider as you are selecting a place to stay: The nicest places in town are equivalent to an airport Radisson or Hilton, so think about it from that perspective. People come to Santa Cruz for the beach and the roller coaster, not for the world class hotels.

Something to consider if you don't want to think about where to stay: Make a reservation now at the Best Inn & Suites.

So without further ado, here is the step-by-step guide:

If money is no object and you want to stay at least Fri-Sun...

Sea & Sand Inn 201 West Cliff Drive, Santa Cruz, CA 95060 www.santacruzmotels.com (831) 427-3400

This place is awesome. A 5-10 minute walk from the Cocoanut Grove, all rooms overlook beautiful backyard and ocean, some have their own outdoor hottubs overlooking the ocean. Very cool. Unfortunately, they require a three night minimum reservation. About $160/night for a basic room with one queen bed and it goes up from there to around $300/night. We highly recommend it if you can get a spot. Continental breakfast included.

If money is no object and you want to stay at least 2 nights...

Coast Santa Cruz Hotel 175 West Cliff Drive Santa Cruz, CA 95060 http://www.coasthotels.com/home/sites/santacruz/ (831) 426 4330

Right next door to the Sea & Sand Inn, this is the resort of the area. It has a pool overlooking the beach and every room has a balcony looking at the ocean. Unlike many hotel photos, it actually looks like the picture on the left. Very close to the Cocoanut Grove. $260/night for a basic room with two queens or one kind bed. (The AAA rate is $177/night - I was able to get this by accident, but rumor is you can't get it in August) Right next to the Sea & Sand. Large pool. Definitely the "nice hotel" of the bunch. More sterile than the Sea & Sand because it's larger, but it's consistently good. It seems that from time to time you can use expedia or travelocity to get a good price at this place.

If you need one or two nights cheap cheap cheap and you just don't care...

The Santa Cruz Villager Lodge 510 Liebrandt Ave. Santa Cruz, CA 95060 (831) 423-6020

This motel is walking distance from the Cocoanut Grove and next to all the other motels. Some people might think this place is in the "seedy" category, but we thought it was just fine. There's a small pool in the parking lot which means about the size of a backyard pool - no lap possibilities. Otherwise its your normal Motel6/ Comfort Inn/AAA -guide type thing. HBO, etc. You should be able to get a room for $79/night. If they won't give it to you, use www.orbitz.com to get that rate.

If you want to spend $20 more you can get a room at the Super8 which is more on the neat & clean side. Nobody would call it seedy. The pool is still small. You can walk to the boardwalk and the beach.Good clean simple fun. Use www.orbitz.com to get the $99 rate. Update - I'm not sure if this is still available.

For all other cases (You want a reasonable compromise. AND/OR You want to book for just one night but you need more than one bed in a tiny room. AND/OR You want to just do whatever everyone else is doing. AND/OR You're an Amarillas and you want to stay with all the other Amarillases. AND/OR There are no more cheap rooms at the cheap places listed above. AND/OR There are no more rooms anywhere in town. AND/OR You trust us about where the best value is.)...

Best Inn & Suites 600 Riverside Avenue Santa Cruz, CA 95060 www.bestinnssantacruz.com (831) 458-9660  (800) 527-3833 

A 15 minute walk or a 4 minute drive from the Cocoanut Grove, has a nice courtyard and a decent sized pool with two hot tubs. All rooms have two queen beds and were remodelled this year. Most rooms have a small balcony.We have a special group rate of $129 when you call and say you're part of the Amarillas/Roth Wedding. If you look yourself you will not find anywhere cheaper within 50 miles, except the two places listed above. And similarly, you will not find anywhere nicer except for places listed on this page. That makes this a win/win/win. Trust us. This is the best value. There are tons of other hotels/motels in the area that are more expensive, less nice, and the same or farther distance. So we're not listing those because you might as well stay in this place. Continental breakfast included. Oh man, this place is so much nicer (and cheaper!) than the hundreds of travelodges it is next to. The pictures on their website do look like the place actually does, but we took our own just for fun:

Little fountains in the courtyard, and you can see the pool chairs around the pool in the picture on the right...

Some other options for people who need more options...

Casa Blanca Inn  101 Main Street Santa Cruz, CA 95060 www.casablanca-santacruz.com  (831) 423-1570

If you must have an ocean view and you want less expensive than the Coast  Santa Cruz  Hotel then you can get rooms in a variety of configurations at this place for $190 with a full view of the beach and ocean. Rooms range from an itty-bitty closet with a view and a bed for $105, to a full house with a fireplace and 4 bedrooms for $400. It is 2 blocks from the Cocoanut Grove, most rooms have an ocean view but they also overlook a road and a busy boardwalk. Casa Blanca has the most character of any of these hotels.

Carousel Motel  110 Riverside Ave. Santa Cruz, CA 95060 www.santacruzmotels.com (800) 214-7400
In California: (831) 425-7090

Of the many motels that are right near the Cocoanut Grove and Boardwalk, this is the least seedy. The good news is you're right next to the Boardwalk and can literally stumble home from the party. The bad news is that you are right next to the Boardwalk and the roller coaster runs until 11pm. Standard, clean, boring. $130 for a single queen, $140 for two queens. Continental breakfast included.

Sea Breeze Inn  204 Second Street Santa Cruz, CA 95060 (831) 426-7878 

Basic, boring, and slightly seedy- but it is across the parking lot from Cocoanut Grove. $120 for a room with one or two beds. Small pool. "Deluxe rooms, suites, apartments, kitchenettes, laundry, microfridge, coffee, heated pool, sun deck, A/C, phones, HBO + cable TV" is what they promise.

Hilton Garden Inn Scotts Valley 6001 La Madrona Dr. Scotts Valley, CA 95066 (831) 440-1000

Aside from the two nice places listed at the beginning of this section, this is the only other top-notch place in town. $166 will get you a very nice room with a very nice pool. Scotts Valley is about a 15 minute drive from the Boardwalk, and this hotel is right off hwy 17, on the way between Santa Cruz and the rest of the world (Stanford, the airports, etc). And on top of it all it has free T1 connection. This is also the only major chain hotel available in the area, so that's why we're listing it here for those of you who have points or whatever.

Vacation Rentals are where you get a whole house or a condo. Normally they rent by the week, although recently I found one that let me book it for just labor day weekend. These go quick!

Issac's parents will be staying at this one:

http://www.ahouseinsantacruz.com/seahorse/welcome.html

Some places I found driving around near my parents' house:
A 3bedroom 2 bath place on 4th st - 559-227-5269 or 831-426-5343
A 2 bedroom house on 4th st - 831-427-2544

A place that looked like some condos on 4th st - 408-773-9228

These listed above are near this place: http://www.blackpearlcottage.com, which is way too expensive but very nice and gives you a sense of the neighborhood.

More options can be found here (some good ones):

http://www.bucksbeachbungalow.com/

http://www.montereycoast.com/cgi-bin/vacations/search.cgi?category=Vacation%20Rentals

http://www.baileyproperties.com/vacation/

and

http://www.beachbungalow.com/

Just found out about this one which has a hottub

Camping

If we were invited to the wedding, we'd be camping at New Brighton State Beach in Capitola where you can camp right on the beach. Or if they didn't have a spot (it fills up early), we'd be at Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park. $12 a night, no pool, excellent views, fresh air. How can you beat that? Truth be known, if we weren't getting married that weekend in August we would be camping at Burning Man...

Yet More Options

If you are not satisfied with the listings above, check out www.expedia.com or www.orbitz.com or the yellow pages for a list of other motels/hotels in the area. We've visited nearly all of them. Really. We have pictures of some. Most are equivalent to a Super 8. Basic, clean, nothing special. Some are slightly seedy, depending on your standards. We didn't find any that truely suck so go ahead and stay in one of them if you fancy or if you have Best Western points to use up or something. You could also try giving Hotwire or Priceline a shot, but since they'll put you anywhere in town, you're not likely to get an ocean view or an olympic-sized pool. You'd want to do significantly better than $129 to make it worth it since for that price you could be at Best Inn & Suites which is pleasant & close.

In a pickle? Ask us!