We were driving from Santa Monica to Yosemite via the pacific highway. Decided to stop off in a few places along the way. The Ala Mar Motel was in a perfect location right on the sea front. The rooms were a little shabby but for a one night stop of it was a perfect location

A bit pricy at $249 a night for this rather average motel, but it's right on the ocean with an uninterrupted view so that makes up for a lot. The office is strictly old school... meaning they don't use computers... all paper. So naturally they lost our reservation, which we made in person the day before. Misplaced the card. So... More

We turned up with no reservation and picked it because of the location which is ace. Price was Ok. Its a bit rough around the edges but we liked it. It was nice to have a room with a ceiling fan and not A/C. The room was a bit Spanish in decoration and was small but fine. The dude behind... More

The property was a little bit different than we expected we liked the way it looked, we showed up in Santa Barbara without reservations and the price was right. You could tell right away the staff take pride in the upkeep. The room was acceptable with some cute decorations. No AC and a little warm when we arrived but after... More

It is right on the beach so can't fault location but the price was $160+ which I thought was a bit steep, and the room itself was not that good. No air-conditioning which I thought was strange for California, only a fairly ineffective ceiling fan. Beds were ok, but without a/c the room became very stuffy at night. Wifi worked... More

Walked in from the street and asked for a room (strong smell of ganja from the Office?). Looked nice from The outside, but The room was in bad need of maintanence. No AC, the bathroom-door wouldnt close, The bathroom-window wouldn't open (!). The paint is coming of The walls, the shelves in the bathroom are rusty etc. Nice seawiev, and... More

We arrived late in Santa Barbara and the Ala Mar was the first place that we came too. When booking in the office wanted cash payment. Room was a bit quirky but with a very large bed. The bathroom was actually in the bedroom and there was a separate toilet which was so small that your knees banged on the... More

The room looked fine but when sleeping, woke up at 1am itching like hell having bites all over my body. I've been staying at a number of hotels till this one around the US and will definately not stay here again. I should have read the trip advisor reports before checking in as i see a number of comalints about... More

A spur of the moment booking upon arrival in Santa Barbara. The staff were friendly and welcoming, the location perfect (on the sea front) and the room a good size. Contrary to other reports, no sign of bed bugs and the room was pretty clean. Comfy bed and a lovely big flat screen tv. Breakfast was basic and the terrace... More