Overall this is a decent budget hotel, but with plenty of caveats to balance out the bonuses.

First the highlights:
The neighborhood, as previously noted, is utterly charming, filled with local shops (the most obvious chain presence is the [bonus] Trader Joe's, next door), cafes, and other decidedly eccentric storefront enterprises.
Every room gets some street noise, but the dearth of trendy nightclubs means no 2am traffic jams, promotional shenanigans, or last-minute hookup frenzies.
People really *do* walk in L.A., at least in Santa Monica, but you'll find this hotel's location perfect for driving. Freeway access is easy via a number of entrances / exits so you can sneak around the traffic and save yourself some grief.
Housekeeping is alert and efficient - we never encountered them directly, but saw them discreetly observing and working around guest's schedules. They moved all our stuff to a new room our second day, and everything was perfectly intact.
We didn't patronize the breakfast room, but it looks very European - better than the stack of danishes and instant coffee packets of a lot of US motor lodges.

Now the lowlights:
The management at the Travelodge Pico is horrendous, and I'd guess that half the rooms are not at all recommendable.
Upon check in I was advised, over and over and over, that not one but two rooms had been reserved in my name. Bret, the world's most passive-agressive hotel clerk, scolded me a total of seven times for having only one confirmation number, for one room, as clearly he saw two reservations.
The manager was summoned, and he spent even longer blaming me for having "pushed return too many times" when I reserved the room [by phone, not online]. His hotel school must have had a whole curriculum for Vehemently Blaming the Guest: he really expected me to pay for 2 rooms, even though only one, it turned out, was actually vacant.
I'd asked for a top floor suite, but ended up with a tiny first floor room (111) so tiny that the basin was beside the bed, far from the toy toilet and miniature shower. Besides the beguiling wall-mounted fluourescent tube, this room had sound piped in from just about every other room and especially from the jacuzzi suite upstairs. Warning: do not accept a room beneath a jacuzzi suite. Many ill informed decisions were poorly executed there by multiple parties (booked by the hour?), and is very popular with the 2am-6am crowd.
The hotel has been remodelled many times, by a series of disgruntled contractors who used little insulation and no compatible systems; every room squeaks and groans, and many rooms get television noise from sections upstairs and across the hall.

This I learned from a desk clerk who was not Bret, who found us a very vacant suite in the Courtyard the second night. Room 404, my original booking, is twice the size of 111 and has 2 whole nightstands, a desk and chair and coffee maker, a basin where you'd expect it, and a working floor lamp and everything.

I'd definitely stay at the Travelodge again, but only in an upstairs room in the Courtyard, and only if that's guaranteed by someone other than Bret or the manager.

When I stayed at the Travelodge on Pico in Santa Monica in September 2005, I had a good experience. It was a clean, basic place to stay in a great location for exploring the west side of LA and western cities (Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Malibu). Although it is close to the Santa Monica freeway (I-10), and thus has significant background noise, the double paned windows in the rooms help to keep the noise level tolerable. I'm very sensitive to ambient noise, and wasn't overly annoyed while staying at this hotel. To me it appeared to be well-run, with a sincere interest in customer service. Also, unlike many hotels in Los Angeles, it had free self-parking, instead of daily fees or the highly annoying (to me, anyway) valet service.

Believe it or not, it is possible to walk a little bit in Los Angeles. The excellent and economical food store Trader Joe's is just a few doors east on Pico, and is a great place to buy provisions for traveling: trail mix, drinks, pre-made meals, etc. If you like interesting and unusual foods and have never been to a Trader Joe's, this store is a tourist destination in its own right. Just a block or two farther east on Pico is a decent used record store, at roughly Pico and 33 1/3 St. (how fitting).

I stayed at the T-Lodge last summer for one night and it was perfect. Polite and efficient staff, clean room and bath room, working TV, quiet inside and outside the hotel.

No complaints whatsoever.

Nice place. Clean, well-maintained and reasonably priced (by Santa Monica standards). New frig and microwave in rooms. Staff was helpful and courteous, and the breakfast was good. Only drawback was the tight parking, but that's to be expected at popular places around SAnta Monica. It's a hike to ocean from here (three miles or so), but an easy drive and the city bus goes right by the hotel. Hotel is in a pleasant neighborhood with quite a few small shops. I recommend Rae's Restaurant just down the street for a good, inexpensive dinner.