i love the tides its cheap, which is the main thing i love, but the owner is amazing. you cant compare these hotels to other places with out comparing the price difference as well. she charges you less, meaning she has less money for up to date applances. plus your at the beach, who really cares about the hotel other then the beds. which are super comfy!! ive never ever ever ever had a problem with it being dirty and i have gone many times at least 8 times.

it so so close to the beach, you can see it from almost any room. there is a private stair way leading to the beach that you get a key to while staying there. its perfect. if your looking for a beautiful hotel with amazing decore, please go esle wear. to high of standards for paying close to nothing.

We had the last room available this particular weekend. Our room was small, and very old. Though the room looked a bit dirty it was relatively as clean as it could be. The bathroom was very clean. The bed sheets were old, but smelt fresh and the bed was comfortable.

We hd two major issues:

1) After returning from dinner we got locked out of our own room even though we had our keys. The key I used to lock the door did not work to open it. When I called management, they were unable to open the door. We had to climb through the bathroom window (break into our own room) so we could enter our room for the evening.

2) The room had no heater. We froze that evening with very little sheets supplied.

If you are looking for an inexpensive stay in a city where hotels are very expensive, this would be a decent choice. I do know I will not be staying here again though.

We stayed in room 18 for a Saturday night. Location is great, on a cliff overlooking the beach. There are some stairs that descend onto the sand just behind the buildings. An earlier reviewer stated the stairs were unstable. However, I am large man and had no problems making frequent trips up them, they were very stable. Also, they were not THAT difficult to climb multiple times in a day as Im not in good shape and didnt have problems. A key is issued upon check in for the stairs to the beach, its a nice descent and although the chain link fence takes away from the view it is very convenient to use.
The outside of the building looks good, mostly painted well and in reasonable shape, plants etc look normal, nothing fancy but in good order. There was a shared "deck" at the western corner of the upstairs building. It had a few older recliner yard chairs and a great view. On the second floor every room had two chairs just outside the door with a partial view back to pismo pier. You can enjoy a drink or a smoke with a view there, very convenient. My wife and I took some time enjoying the scenery and also watching the more pretentious wives who would argue with their husbands about the state of the hotel, its age or whatever and sit in the car in the parking lot. Unfortunately for them, this weekend was sold out everywhere so there were a few wives who obviously did not want to be in this older somewhat ran down hotel and it showed on their faces.
Once inside room 18 it was a slightly different story than outside. There were some maintanence issues such as the bedroom light bent crooked where it had been hit sometime. There were no baseboards, and absolutely no pictures. The walls were baby blue and although they looked as they were recently painted they were marred and scratched up randomly. I pulled back the bed covers and they appeared clean, smelled clean and looked good. The nightstands and dresser were very old but functional. Room 18 also had a small apt size refridgerator and microwave with sink and cupboard with some mismatched dishes. I would suggest washing the dishes prior to use but it was nice having bowls and cups, as well as a sink and fridge. There was a small dining table next to the sink with two chairs, straight out of the 50's but usable. The bathroom was slightly cramped but clean and smelled of bleach upon checkin. The shower was standing room only but had reasonable pressure. With the exception of the shower head being at 5' high, I had no problems with the shower. Towels were plenty and clean, bleach white smell and look.
Prices are rather cheap at $50 or so up to $199. I wouldnt suggest the upstairs full view room as you share your view window with the public patio. Also, any room in the hotel can go to the second story and enjoy the same view for half the money. I did notce there are a few full size houses they rent for $199 a night, 2bd and they appear to have alot of privacy. The furthest west building is an old house they split into three units as I understand and current rate was $150 or so for one of them. They had an amazing amount of privacy, great views and your own private area on the cliff to bbq or just hang out. These last three west buildings are actually built right at the edge of the cliff. Nice location. However I didnt see inside them so Im unaware of the interior.

Overall we had a good stay for one night. My wife initially had some issue with the look and feel of the room. It wasnt dirty but was ran down, needed some help. If they would just change the stained carpet, that would help immensely. If you can get past the stained carpet, the bare walls, old lighting, windows, lack of phone lack of AC, then you will be happy here as the location is great for the buck.

I enjoyed my stay so much. It was relaxing. You could see the ocean from the parking lot. There was beach access. It's not fancy by any means. The hotel could use a renovation but for the price I paid, I couldn't ask for more. It was very clean. It's family owned and many of the guest I met there, have been coming there for years. I plan to go back really soon.