Howard Johnson by Wyndham Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk — Hotel in Santa Cruz

The worst hotel/experience I’ve ever had, and paid $603 for 2 nights (Thurs & Fri night).||We arrived, we were checked into the first room, please see pictures. Furniture was everywhere, the room stunk like urine and decomposing flesh. There was blood on the mattress, which the Receptionist said must have been “Chocolate Milk”. ||We were given a Second Room, which at least had the furniture in the right places. The room was so outdated, knife slash in the curtain, the blinds had pieces missing. So the street light shone through and day light woke us at 5am. The A/C unit rattled, kept us awake… the 80s fridge would also kick in and make a load buzzing noise. The window was filthy with dust and flies… ||||I brought this to the manager’s attention, he apologized and said they were renovating and not got to that room yet. He said we must apply for a refund, they couldn’t give us one there and then. We applied when we got home and got denied, as we were told we were “upgraded” to the second room… if this is an upgrade, I’d hate to see what a basic room is like, as I’ve stayed in way better/cleaner Motel 6’s for $49.95.||||I wanted to give the hotel the chance to put this right, and I wouldn’t have posted online reviews (everyone deserves a chance to put something right). However, they said that we are not entitled to a refund as they “upgraded” us to the second room. Firstly, we were not told it was an upgrade, I believe it was the only room available to put us in. Secondly, what kind of “upgrade” is the second room, it was like something out of a Tarantino movie… ||||If they’d had made a partial refund of $200 of our $603, I’d have been happy and put it down to a bad experience, but they have totally refused any kind of refund, so I have chosen to share my experience online, which could have been avoided. ||||The location was great, but we really didn’t feel like doing much, given the lack of sleep.||||Avoid...

This place is awful and unwelcoming. I used booking to book and I made some complaints about the facilities not being up to par like the hot tub not at temp, the TV box not working, and the lack of fresh fruit and hard boiled eggs after 3 days of continental breakfast, and the many issues myself and other customers i saw having key card issues.The manager took it personally even though I said nothing about her or her job , just the hotel facilities. She basically would not accept my new reservation, said obviously I would be happier somewhere else as she saw my booking complaints and score for my previous nights. They ask for a rating daily and my daily rating changed with what I experienced daily! She basically retaliated against me for being honest about my hotel experience and asked me to leave. Celeste is a terrible manager and seriously unprofessional. I stayed over 4 nights and I simply filled out the rating booking sent me daily in which I reported daily how facility issues were addressed or fixed or not fixed. But for her to ask me to leave saying I would be happier somewhere else due to my poor ratings indicates to me somehow she is taking it personally and maybe has an owner that is upset with these ratings and telling her to get rid of me so I will shut up. Worst and most inconsistent and inconsiderate hotel stay in Santa cruz ever. The room had a wonderful view and the hot tub was fabulous when working, but management here is only concerned with herself and avoiding any kind of poor rating that might reflect on her poorly. But asking someone to find a new hotel when they are trying to stay another night because of my daily ratings not being good enough is so tacky and petty. Do not stay here if you book through another app and fill out ratings, you...

WARNING BED BUGS/FLEAS At first appearances the Howard Johnson Inn seemed to be an ok value hotel, but our family quickly learned how they are able to keep their rates low. Upon entering the bathroom we discovered a toilet with a broken toilet seat and yellow crusted bowl. We understand that overtime toilets may discolor but it was clear to us that the filth left behind in the toilet was due to a lack of attention by the cleaning crew. Again we understand that when we are paying 145$ for a hotel in Santa Cruz that we should not expect a 4-star hotel but when my fiancé woke me at 2am due to a rash she had developed, I noticed upon further inspection that she had small bites around her ankles and upper arms. After removing the blankets from the bed and inspecting the sheets I was able to pick out 3 small black dots crawling around. We did our research online and are not sure if the bugs we found were fleas or bed bugs but we immediately submitted a complaint wih the front office and were able to secure a room at another local hotel with vacancies. As a precaution we stopped by a laundromat the next day to run all of our clothes through the wash before returning home. Dirty bathrooms are one thing but when it comes to bugs that’s where we draw the line. The owner explained to us that it may have been fleas brought in from a past visitor (which is a horrible excuse to tell a customer). Either way we will not be staying here again and would not recommend that anyone do so after our...