We stayed here one night in July while we were in town for the annual Wharf to Wharf. Mind you this is a huge event, and this Best Western was actually on the lower end of the spectrum for nightly rates. That was the main reason we picked it, and it was a bit nicer than some of the seedier (and more expensive!) selections closer to the boardwalk. It's definitely within walking distance to the major sites downtown and the boardwalk, which we did, but it was a solid 20 mins to get to the boardwalk.
TIP: cross Ocean and follow one of the side streets down passed the Denny's, it will lead you to a nice path along the riverbed and right through San Lorenzo park. It runs parallel to downtown and leads right to the boardwalk, much quieter and nicer scenery than walking directly down Ocean.
Anyhow, the hotel was nice enough, the staff was very friendly, and it server our purposes at one of the lowest prices around.

Found this hotel late one night passing through, was more then we usually try to spend, but wanted somewhere nice that night. The room was clean, cable TV, free wi-fi (need different pass-code for each device you'll connect). The morning breakfast was well stocked and good variety.

Stayed Valentine's weekend so Sat and Sun night. Room was quite clean except for a rogue m&m and a few cracker crumbs between furniture..otherwise very nice/fresh. Beds were good. Service was good. Friendly and accomodating staff. Breakfast was good. Had our bikes w/us so the beach was 5 minutes away for us. We were glad to be off the 'beaten path'. Traffic hub hardly discernable behind closed doors. Parking was good. Glad to have the fridge and microwave. Recommend guests get good map so can learn to route around Ocean Ave. at busy times...like 5 p.m. Sat/Sun. We learned to use CA1 to get to most places via car - if we weren't using our bikes!

I don't recall the exact month I stayed here. I'm a local resident and during huge storms I was seeking refuge from a power outage and water intrusion. Had been without power for a couple of days and the mountains were a mess.

It wasn't tourist season so plenty of rooms. I stayed and the next day went home to check out the status of my property. While there the power came back on so I called them and said I'd be checking out and was on my way down to get my bags.

Packed my few things and returned the key - maybe 30 minutes after official check-out time. The parking lot was empty. The next month I have two addtional nights on my card, call them sure it was a mistake, and then the nightmare began. They said they would reverse the charge for one of the additional nights (gee, thanks) but would not budge on the other, saying I left after checkout time. Yes, that was technically true, but ... 30 minutes when the motel was basically empty? And I had called in advance to tell them?

I called corporate and learned it's a franchise and they couldn't refund my money. They did however give me a voucher for a stay at any other Best Western Inn - small compensation, honestly.

It wasn't only the basic dishonesty of the owners/management, but the additional insult of taking advantage of a local in a local crisis. Santa Cruz is a great community - this Best Western crew doesn't deserve to be a part of it.