Thanks for the information! I'm old enough to definitely remember motels, they certainly are a dying breed! We stayed at several wonderful motels last year on a trip through Maine.

My only real concern is location in terms of safety. I wouldn't even have thought of it, but there was a review on TripAdvisor for the Hampton that mentioned some concerns about the parking area with a lot of homeless folks hanging out, although no one reported any crimes. I'm used to living in an urban area so this is not unfamiliar or necessarily a deal-breaker, but I wondered if one hotel might be considered to be in a safer area than the other.

Thank you again for your help!

The homeless situation exits throughout Santa Cruz. It's not as bad as, say San Francisco, but not as clean as say Santa Barbara or Carmel. It is what it is. As a frequent traveler for work I like the Hampton amenities, but as a frequent traveler to odd and kitschy places, I might go for the Mission.

For the number of homeless people you are likely to encounter I'd say on a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the worst) the Hampton is a 6 and the Mission Inn is a 3 or 4.

Thanks very much, lulu63 and PacificAve, for your helpful replies. I do know that there's a lot of personal preferences in selecting accommodations, so what one person is comfortable with, another is not. I might go for more kitschy this trip around, even if it does mean losing those Hilton rewards points!

Again, thanks for taking the time to respond!