Davenport Roadhouse — Restaurant in California

Edit summer 2022: Increasing my rating from 3 stars to 4 because I stayed here again on my next trip to Santa Cruz (like I said I would) and it has improved as I hoped. Cleanliness was better, as was the efficiency at check in. We didn’t have to sign a waiver about a nonexistent key. Also enjoyed the live music in the restaurant downstairs (though the glass of wine I had was pretty terrible). — There are a lot of nice things about this inn's location, history and architecture, but a lot could be improved. Weird stuff started with the check-in process. We arrived about half an hour before the recommended check-in time and stood around for a while as the people manning the restaurant passed off the task of helping us among each other like a hot potato. Finally we got some paperwork to fill out, which included a waiver that said you'd be charged $100 for a lost key. However, we didn't get a key -- the rooms are locked with a keypad. When I asked about this (just out of curiosity), the guy behind the desk didn't know what I was talking about and couldn't understand even when I tried to explain that I was referring to the outdated waiver. Well, I know I read waivers more closely than most people -- it's fine.

We were told the room was ready early, but when we got there (following some pretty imprecise directions -- no one was available to show us up) we found it was still being cleaned. When we came back a few hours later it seemed the cleaning process wasn't quite finished. The room smelled strongly of bleach and the carpet was wet through. There are no real windows in the room, just glass French doors, which we held open to air it out as long as modesty allowed. Didn't work, though -- the carpet stayed wet and the air stayed bleach-y all 20 hours we had the room. (And speaking of modesty, the thin curtains that are supposed to shade those glass doors don't cover the panels completely.) I always appreciate evidence of a thorough cleaning in this weird time, but the cleanliness seemed pretty uneven -- the armchair in the room was stained, for example, and there were several spiders and millipedes crawling about. (I personally am a fan of spiders and any other critters that might eat the bad ones -- bedbugs and roaches -- but your mileage may vary.)

We ended up having a good night's sleep and waking up to the waves crashing across the road (note that the rooms facing the ocean don't actually have ocean views -- there's a translucent plastic panel, buildings and trees in the way), but the inn just didn't live up to the expectations lifted by the great location. I'd still rather stay here than a chain hotel in a strip mall any day, but know what you're getting into if...

Wish I could rate a -10 negative 10. The stay here was nice ONLY due to the company I was with. First, at check in I asked for water. The hotel had a beautiful restaurant, it just had awful staff. The glass of water had lipstick on it. I let the man know. I have been in food service for over 17 years. Instead of taking it back quickly he examined the glass in front of us. It was condescending, and we were thirsty. We get to our room that is tucked side in a corner alley of the hotel. It was a terrible add on but we were already there and it was just for the night. One towel was supplied to us we had to ask twice for another. I have to say the shower was the best thing about the stay. Later we ordered dinner from the restaurant. I ordered a medium/well burger but it was raw. I asked for it to be cooked some more, again raw. Now at point I just didn’t eat and went to bed. Turn on the heater to find out it was going to beep every 20 minutes for the remainder of the evening. It was as if we were sleeping in a hospital room. NEVER EAT OR STAY HERE! I am currently calling code enforcement. Our room was not finished and had dead crushed bugs on the outlet and a out dated heater. The bed was 30 years old and only window only opened about 2 feet. I waited on calling the hotel to report on my stay with my BF because I didn’t want to embarrass his choice for our lounging/eating in front of him, so I waited to call Monday at 1:30 pm. to make my comments to management. I am in awe. The man who answered the phone is the same man who looked as if he could have been trying to be the manager during our stay. He has dark hair, about 57 -60. He knew who I was when I called. He proceeded to tell me that I should stay at the Ritz Carlton down the street next time when mentioning my concerns, And that he would call the police for me harassing him. He says he’s not the manager but I think different he was being very defensive, rude and obnoxious. He kept speaking over me and had NO concern for my calling at all. I seriously was in shock by his rudeness and abrasive attitude. He also told me he “didn’t have to bend to his customers”. I was not asking for anything free. I was simply voicing my concerns about this establishment. He threatened me over the phone with the fact that he had my name and address as well, which I found very unprofessional to say the least.

It’s a beautiful view in Davenport but do not stay at the roadhouse in. It’s not worth a...

Hands down my worst hotel experience ever, and I've stayed a lot of places.

My son and I stayed here back in July on a weekend trip to Santa Cruz. From the website it looked like a neat, clean little place that we were excited to try! I should have read more reviews :(

First of all, the room was absolutely disgusting. It smelled like cat pee, there were huge stains on the carpet, bugs in the broken, duct taped sky light, bugs and mold in the shower (see photos), and no TV. The beautiful ocean view boasted on the website was through dirty, stained plexiglass put up on the deck outside. (See photos)

Worse yet, during the night, my car got hit in their private property parking lot by some drunk who was next door at the wine room. Completely smashed up the back of my car, doing $4,700 worth of damage.

When I went to bring the bags out to my car the next morning and saw the damage, I immediately went inside, told them what happened, gave them my contact info, and asked if they had video surveillance on the property. They told me they didn't know if there were cameras, and wouldn't know until the owner got in to work that day, in another hour and a half or so. Really? Great. So, though I was tired, angry, and extremely ready to leave the awful place by that time, my son and I sat downstairs in the restaurant area to wait for the owner's arrival. Although the staff knew what happened with our car and that we were waiting for the owner to find out about video cameras, they didn't offer us anything at all during our wait, no breakfast, nothing. Not even a glass of water. I couldn't believe it. How much lack of compassion is that?!

About 45 minutes into sitting and waiting, one of the staff came up to me and told me there was no surveillance cameras on the property. They couldn't have told me that earlier?! Completely frustrated, I expressed my displeasure and we left.

A couple hours after we got home that afternoon, I received a call from the owner. He told me he did in fact have cameras on the property (what was the staff talking about?!) and that he did indeed catch the hit and run on camera. Unfortunately, because it was 11 at night, no vehicle details could be obtained from the surveillance video at all - other than clearly seeing a small truck reverse quickly into my car and then take off.

The whole trip was a complete mess, most of it centering around the stay at this inn. You couldn't pay me to...