174 W Cliff Dr, Santa Cruz, California, United States | (888) 710-7049
Prime Santa Cruz location across from the beach
Bed-and-breakfast in historic building
Porch features views of Monterey Bay
Many rooms have fireplaces and marble bathrooms
Free water, coffee, and tea available all day
Free afternoon wine and snacks
Free hot breakfast
Free Wi-Fi and parking
Gritty neighboring area
Small first-floor rooms can get noise from above
Fee for additional guests beyond two per room
Staff departs in the evening
No fitness center
West Cliff Inn is an historic mansion perched on a hill across from a Santa Cruz beach. A bed-and-breakfast operated by the California-based Four Sisters Inns, it features smallish rooms, but most have a fireplace and modern marble bathrooms. The neighborhood has changed around the Victorian building as of late, and it now borders a mobile home park and has seen a growing homeless population. For more affordable rates, there’s the neighboring Santa
Cruz Dream Inn as well as Sea and Sand Inn. They lack the historical
personality of West Cliff, but both are set on the beach.****
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Scene
The restored Victorian mansion, built in 1877, has hard-wood floors and lovely parlors.
Sedgewick
Lynch struck it rich during the California gold rush and built this Victorian
house in 1877, overlooking the bay. The stately Lynch house, the first of its
kind on the bluff above the beach, was preserved as a historical landmark and converted
into a bed-and-breakfast in 2007. A manicured lawn and patios surround the tall
white manor. Inside, the high ceilings give the dark hard-wood floors, rich
fabrics, and spacious parlors room to breathe. A carpeted wooden stairway
leads up to the rooms, with artwork adorning pastel-green walls.****
Location
On the bluff overlooking the bay and boardwalk, near an array of attractions
West
Cliff Inn sits above the bay on West Cliff Drive, which runs from Santa Cruz
Beach Boardwalk south along the cliffs. Keep going and it's just three miles to
a park and Natural Bridges State Beach. Behind the B&B is a mobile home
park and to either side is residential housing. The hotel is within walking
distance of downtown Santa Cruz, the Monterey Bay Marine Sanctuary Exploration
Center, and the Municipal Wharf, with its shops and restaurants stretching out
into the water. Santa Cruz itself is a community on Monterey Bay's
north end, home to an eclectic mix of hippies, surfers, students, and music
junkies. The city of San Jose is about a 40-minute drive north.****
Rooms
Small rooms with gas fireplaces, marble bathrooms, and iPod docks
The
intimate hotel has only 10 rooms, all on the small side with pastel tones and
coastal, almost Mediterranean blue and white fabrics. All but one of the units
have little gas fireplaces, with one or two sitting chairs. The king beds and
wood armoires take up nearly all of the remaining floor space. However, the
bathrooms are not as cramped, with marble floors, sinks, and roomy walk-in
showers with marble benches. Some spaces also have separate hot tubs and one
second-floor room has a private, outdoor hot tub. There's also a small one-room
cottage separate from the main house in the back of the property. Each space has
an iPod dock and Keurig coffeemaker, but no mini-fridge.****
Features
Exquisite breakfast offered, as well as afternoon wine and hors d'oeuvres
It's not right on the beach, but the hotel has views of Monterey
Bay and the boardwalk from its perch on the bluff. The second-story porch wraps
around the side of the mansion and has particularly lovely views of the wharf. Still, the main attraction is the inn's B&B service, starting with a hot buffet
in the morning with selections like artichoke quiche, blueberry pancakes, and
Grand Marnier French toast. Cookies are baked fresh every afternoon with wine
and hors d'oeuvres served toward the end of the day. Coffee, tea, and water
are available any time in the lobby. Staff members depart each evening, so
there are no after-hour services unless specifically requested.
