My company unexpectedly needed me to work in Santa Barbara the day after Memorial Day so every facility nearby was booked because of the holiday. This motel looks good from the outside, typical older Santa Barbara motel. It is located near the end of State Street, a long ways from the beach and downtown.

When I checked in I asked for a second floor room since as a female traveling alone I always try to get the more secure floor. The clerk informed me the second floor would be $10.00 more. I asked what is the difference between the floors and she said none. She said if I wanted the second floor I should have requested it when I made the reservation. I have never heard of having to pay a premium for the second floor of a two story motel. The Memorial Day rate with tax was $100.00

The room was really small with an overwhelming smell which defied massive spraying of Febreeze. The bedside lamps, attached to the wall, were both broken. If you touched them they turned upside down. The stand lamp was also broken. The bathroom (a shower only) could have been much cleaner. There was soap scum in shower. The entire room needed serious cleaning and the walls should be re-painted. There was a small refrigerator which worked well and a television with limited channels. The pillows were some strange foam pillow and incredibly uncomfortable. There were spiders in the bed.

The morning coffee in the lobby consisted of a coffee maker full of hot water and a jar of dehydrated coffee mix. There was also a jar of powered hot chocolate. Why bother?

There was no one on duty in the morning, everyone was just throwing their keys in a basket and leaving.

My husband and I were looking for a cheap place to spend the night on our drive down Highway 1 in February 2005 and chanced upon this motel after seeing the "$49 SINGLE" sign in the reception window. We didn't want to spend much because we only got in at about 9pm and were planning to leave early in the morning. We ended up with 2 queen beds for $59 (the singles were all out, the proprieter made us promise that we'd only use 1 bed!). The room was very spacious with a couch and coffee table, TV and decent bathroom. Overall, it was clean and basic and very adequate for our needs.