Finding an ideal budget friendly hotel in Santa Cruz does not have to be difficult. Welcome to Riverside Inn & Suites - Boardwalk, a nice option for travelers like you. Nearby landmarks such as Boardwalk's Cocoanut Grove (0.4 mi) and Mission State Park (0.7 mi) make Riverside Inn & Suites a great place to stay when visiting Santa Cruz. You’ll enjoy relaxing rooms that offer a refrigerator and air conditioning, and you can stay connected during your stay as Riverside Inn & Suites offers guests free wifi. Plus, Riverside Inn & Suites Hotel/Motel offers free breakfast, providing a pleasant respite from your busy day. For guests with a vehicle, free parking is available. During your visit, be sure to check out one of Santa Cruz's popular crab restaurants such as Stagnaro Bros Seafood, The Crow's Nest, and Aquarius, all a short distance from Riverside Inn & Suites. If you’re looking for things to do, you can check out West Cliff Drive (0.4 mi) or Santa Cruz Wharf (0.3 mi), which are popular attractions amongst tourists, and they are all within walking distance. Riverside Inn & Suites looks forward to welcoming you on your visit to Santa Cruz.
Star ratings are intended to indicate the general level of features, amenities, and services to expect. This property is classified according to Giata.
HOTEL STYLE
Budget
Quiet
Languages Spoken
English, Spanish, Hindi
Location
505 Riverside Ave, Santa Cruz, CA 95060-5123
Riverside Inn & Suites
133 reviews
Getting there
Somewhat walkable
Places to stay are graded on a 0-100 scale. The higher the grade, the easier it is for travelers to find restaurants and things to do within walking distance.
We spent one night in this motel. You can do everything by foot. A little bit noisy because our room was on the road Clean and nice staff Thé price is very correct for Santa Cruz We didn’t take the breakfast Cool stuff you have conditionner shampoo and moisture cream and a soap.
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Date of stay: April 2022Trip type: Traveled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Riverside Inn , General Manager at Riverside Inn & Suites
Responded Apr 25, 2022
Hello superpapo22. Thank you for your kind review. We are very pleased to learn that we were able to meet all your traveling needs. We have essential amenities like a microwave and refrigerator, coffee maker, hair dryer, and even ear plugs to ensure a great sleep! Everything to make your night as comfortable as staying in your own home. However, we need to clarify that we do not have breakfast at Riverside Inn & Suites. We hope we will have the pleasure of hosting you again if you are ever back in Santa Cruz.
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We goto Santa Cruz around 4 to 5 times a year and our 7 kids and 16 grandkids come alot also so we have spent more money alil closer to board walk and those hotel weren’t all that great but we tried this one that was just on other side of bridge but we are glad we did!!! This place is a little gem!!! Great prices !! Real nice owners!!! And room were really nice!! Bed really comfortable!! 2 bedroom have a nice little kitchen!!! As long as it’s available my family will only book this place when in Santa Cruz!! Now that our granddaughter going to UC Santa Cruz we will be back a lot more!! So see you soon!!!
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Date of stay: October 2024
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Traveled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Riverside Inn , General Manager at Riverside Inn & Suites
Responded Nov 2, 2024
Hello 573yolandag. Thank you for sharing your experience! We are delighted to hear you enjoyed your room and thought it was a great value! Our amicable staff strives to deliver our guests great experiences, and we are pleased to learn from your kind review that our efforts are being appreciated. Your satisfaction is our priority, and we're honored to have earned your trust as your preferred accommodation in the area. We look forward to welcoming you back for many more enjoyable stays in the future! Warm regards,
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Place is quite ok for staying one night, when we were travelling through Santa Cruz towards LA. Everything was tidy, beds are a bit noisy when turning around, maybe here can be something improved. Check in/out staff was very friendly and helpful. Would stay again here.
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Date of stay: August 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Traveled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Riverside Inn , General Manager at Riverside Inn & Suites
Responded Sep 1, 2023
Hello 759herwigs. Thank you for sparing a few moments to share your thoughts with us. We appreciate our guests valuable and constructive feedback so we may continue to provide excellent service. We will look into the noise you mentioned. We hope next time you are in town you will book with us again so we may improve your impression of Riverside Inn & Suites. Best regards,
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Second time I have stayed here and both were great. 1st time we had a room with a kitchen, king bed and queen bed in separate rooms. The only negative in this room was you had to bring your own cookware, plates, etc. The clerk said it was in the hotel info but it wasn't noted on Booking.com. 2nd stay we had 2 queen beds in separate rooms with bathroom in between. This one was better for privacy if say 2 couples, not family. The other room you had to walk through one bedroom to get to the bathroom. Both times I found the beds to be super comfy and soft. I have bad back and hips, but I slept well. The sheets and bath towels are quality and soft. The hotel is walkable to the Boardwalk. Definitely will pick this hotel for future trips to Santa Cruz!!
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Date of stay: September 2021Trip type: Traveled as a couple
Room Tip:Bring your owns cookware, plates, etc if you book a suite with kitchen!
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Riverside Inn , General Manager at Riverside Inn & Suites
Responded Sep 12, 2021
Hello Cheryl. Thank you for your stellar review! We are delighted to learn that you have enjoyed staying with us and even returned a second time! We strive to make our guests comfortable while providing essential amenities such as microwave, refrigerator and coffee makers in all our rooms. We have our room descriptions online; specifically for Booking.com, you click the room type you are interested in and a pop-out window will list the amenities in the room, as well as any important information about the room (for example, that our kitchenettes do not come with cookware/utensils). We apologize if this was not made clear and we hope it did not cause an inconvenience. We hope we will have the honor of hosting you again in the future. Thank you for your time. Best regards.
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We stayed three nights and were within walking distance of the boardwalk and beach which saved on parking fees. The room was very clean and tidy. It was noisy but we brought a sound machine and slept great. We would definitely stay there again.
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Date of stay: August 2021Trip type: Traveled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Riverside Inn , General Manager at Riverside Inn & Suites
Responded Aug 20, 2021
Hello brendahB5026WP. Thank you for your feedback. We are delighted to learn that you enjoyed your stay with us. Guests love our close location to the beach, Boardwalk, and downtown Santa Cruz - no need to deal with traffic! We hope we will have the pleasure of hosting you again in the future. Best regards.
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Everything was great. Hotel is located near to the bus station and to the beach, so it was possible to reach every needed destination within 10 minutes walk. Clean rooms, nice and friendly staff, who helped me with solving all problems (even not related to the stay in hotel itself).
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Date of stay: November 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Traveled solo
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Riverside Inn , General Manager at Riverside Inn & Suites
Responded Jan 4, 2024
Hello antonaQ7919LY. Thank you so much for rating your stay a perfect score!! We are absolutely ecstatic to have made your stay memorable! We appreciate our guests' valuable and constructive feedback so we may continue to provide excellent service. Reviews such as yours reaffirms the hard work we put in every day. We hope we have gained your trust and you will honor us with another booking if you are back in the area. We'd love to host you again! Best regards,
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We were pleasantly surprised by room layout. We booked 1 room with 2 queen beds and there were 2 rooms separated by bathroom and a hallway . Super clean , no smell , comfortable beds and pillows. Very friendly front desk . No complaints at all. Thank you, riverside inn for great accommodation.
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Date of stay: March 2021Trip type: Traveled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Riverside Inn , General Manager at Riverside Inn & Suites
Responded Mar 23, 2021
Hello allay934. We are so pleased to learn that you had an excellent stay with us! Our clean, comfortable rooms offers basic necessities such as a microwave and refrigerator, and coffee maker to make our guests' stay as convenient as possible. Our close proximity to both downtown Santa Cruz and beach make Riverside Inn & Suites the ideal location to set up base - no need to drive everywhere! Thank you for taking the time to post your review. We hope we will have the pleasure of hosting you again in the future. Best Regards
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Clean room and convenient parking directly outside of our room. We appreciated the inexpensive booking. We would certainly consider it again. The bathroom was very large! The location allowed us to attend our function outside of Santa Cruz as well as to be near shopping.
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Date of stay: November 2022Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Riverside Inn , General Manager at Riverside Inn & Suites
Responded Nov 20, 2022
Hello PaulsX1629FA. Thank you for taking the time to review your stay. We are happy to have been able to earn such high marks for our cleanliness, location and price. We strive for customer satisfaction and to learn we were able to to exceed your expectations is phenomenal! Your review reaffirms the hard work we put in every day! Thank you for your kind words and we hope we will have the honor of hosting you again for any future stays in Santa Cruz. Best regards,
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Old...not well kept up...the first room they gave us was on a busy street and was loud. I was with my 13 year old granddaughter and asked for a different room. They were able to accommodate. Would not stay there again. Not worth the money.
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Date of stay: August 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Traveled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Riverside Inn , General Manager at Riverside Inn & Suites
Responded Aug 12, 2023
Hello terryrose. As we clarified on your booking.com review, the room type you booked is facing the street. We have stated so in our room description and we also have pictures to show the location of these rooms. Our standard queen rooms are inside the courtyard and preferred by people who need a quieter area. We're sorry we did not meet your expectations.
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Staying in Santa Cruz is not cheap anywhere but I was looking to pay as little as possible for a quick one night stay. This motel was perfect! It was a clean and well maintained room. Staff was friendly. Our room was ready and they let us check in early. Walking distance to the boardwalk. It’s a great budget motel and I would stay here again.
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Date of stay: April 2022Trip type: Traveled with family
Room Tip:Budget rooms face the street.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Riverside Inn , General Manager at Riverside Inn & Suites
Responded Apr 25, 2022
Hello Ambassador540280. We appreciate the time you took from your busy schedule to let us know how we are doing. We are thrilled to learn that we made quite the positive impression! We are known for our great location, clean rooms, and competitive rates -- so to hear you mention all the above lets us know that we are on the right track in providing the best possible service to our guests. We love to hear that you will consider staying with us again! We hope you will give us the honor of being your host in the future.
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There are more places to choose from in the Santa Cruz area.
PRICE RANGE
$72 - $86 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
ALSO KNOWN AS
americas best value inn & suites-boardwalk hotel santa cruz, americas best value inn and suites-boardwalk
FORMERLY KNOWN AS
Americas Best Value Inn & Suites-Boardwalk
LOCATION
United StatesCaliforniaSanta Cruz
NUMBER OF ROOMS
25
Prices are provided by our partners, and reflect nightly room rates, including any mandatory fees. Taxes not included. Please see our partners for more details.
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Frequently Asked Questions about Riverside Inn & Suites
Which popular attractions are close to Riverside Inn & Suites?
Nearby attractions include Santa Cruz Wharf (0.5 miles), Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk (0.3 miles), and Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Exploration Center (0.5 miles).
