I guess it used to be way back when. Now, it’s falling apart & no one cares & they make a conscious effort to lure you in with great pictures…don’t believe it. We got their “best room” facing the ocean with a cute little balcony. I won’t way anymore, just look at the pictures.

We were looking for a place to stay overnight and passed by this hotel so decided to give it a try, at $170 for an "ocean-view large room with jacuzzi". The room was on the upper level, on the far side from the beach. Yes, it had ocean view. But I saw a used Q-tip on the bottom of the cupboard and the floor felt sticky when walking barefooted. The "jacuzzi" was an old bath tub with some jet nozzles. The entire place was screaming for a throrough clean-up.
Breakfast was included but was pathetic: Coffee and rolls on a tiny board in the small reception. There are great cafés in Santa Barbara, so we went there.

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 the elderly gentlemen behind the counter asks me, "what was the name of the person who took your reservation?" I replied, "I don't know. He wasn't wearing a name tag. How many employees work behind the counter?" It was just the two of them. Ok... so... it was the other guy. Cool dude, with long black hair and a USC cap. That's him... but we misplaced your reservation. You have a room, but we just don't know which one. "Come back in a few hours when he comes into work." When I came back, the office was locked and dark, at 3:00 pm. But, the room was clean and acceptable... and did I say there's the ocean across the street, with a 2nd floor large balcony?