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Just got back from a night at this hotel. It is really lovely. The newly decorated rooms and bathrooms are beautiful Pool area is very comfortable with cabanas you can lounge it if it's cool. Walking distance to the downtown area with great restaurants. They have a good happy hour until 7 pm. We got back from dinner and went to sit by the outdoor fire pit until 11pm. They were clearing up around us, but when we offered to leave they said no problem. Got talking to Tony, one of the workers - so charming. Breakfast was very good. The check in area is very striking - front desk made out of a eucalyptus tree trunk! Got a free breakfast through Travelzoo - will definitely go back again.

I stayed here for two nights while attending a conference off site. They have done a very good job transforming an old Holiday Inn into an upscale boutique hotel. I loved the lobby area with the felled tree registration desk as well as the wood features throughout the hotel and rooms. The rooms have all been updated with fresh paint, wall coverings and carpet. The bathrooms, although small, are well-outfitted. The shower has a nice rain head and curved curtain rack. The amenities are of high quality. The closet is small but adequate. My biggest disappointment was the lack of an iron and ironing board. The bed was comfy and I slept well, which is often a problem in some hotels. Rooms have a flat screen TV built into the wall and the furnishings are modern and tasteful. Service was always provided with a smile. I did not eat at the restaurant but those in our group said it was excellent, but expensive. I would definitely stay here again.

In April 2013 I attended a three day conference at Hotel Paradox. Our large group put the hotel at 90+% sold out. This made the dining room crowded for breakfast and lunch, but the service remained good expecially with the managers pitching in to help. The food was outstanding. The rooms are well-appointed, the staff was helpful and pleasant, the pool area inviting, the parking easy and safe. They took good care of our conference with ice water attractively offered and coffee in the morning. The hotel is located on a main street which made finding our way around Santa Cruz easy. It was a joy being there.

My husband and I had a discount coupon and stayed here two nights for about $130/night. I wouldn't go back. It's nicely appointed but the owners seem to value fashionable decor and possibly "greenness" above guest comfort. Our main problem is that all the rooms open onto the community walkway, and the windows do not open. You must rely entirely on the ventilation system for air. The system offers several options: cool, heat, auto, fan and dry. It was functioning, but no matter what setting it was on, our room stayed warm and stuffy. The air outside was quite cool, so air conditioning should not have been necessary, but even when we tried "cool", the air in our room stayed the same temperature. I don't know where the air in the ventilation system came from, but it definitely wasn't fresh. Finally at 2:00AM my husband propped our door open which wasn't entirely safe, but we were able to sleep.When I mentioned this to the front desk in the morning the girl said that the system is "green" and won't go below 67 degrees, and she was sorry if it was "a little stuffy". When I stay in a hotel I like to sit in a comfortable chair, put my feet up on something, and read. This hotel provides small pieces of tree trunks instead of tables. They look nice but they weigh a TON. The chair in our room wasn't comfortable, I couldn't move the damn tree trunk to put my feet up, so I gave up on the idea of reading in the chair. I would rather have a normal ottoman or small table than the tree trunk. I like to have two pillows when I sleep. The bed has nice pillows, but only two king-size, and two euro-squares. The euro-squares had shams but no pillow cases, so they were only useful as throw pillows, not for sleeping. I would rather have a bed with four normal pillows on it, like most hotels do. When booking our room I asked if the rooms have balconies. The girl said the upper floors have a common balcony, and the ground-level rooms each have a private, fenced-in "patio area". Actually aIl the rooms open onto a walkway. What she described as a balcony on the upper floors is just a walkway. The ground-level rooms have two chairs plus another tree-trunk table outside. There is a railing which separates them from the walkway, but I would not describe this as a fenced-in patio area. It is too tiny, and there is no privacy whatsoever from the people walking by. The chairs are not comforable. The hotel was clean and quiet during our stay. They have a nice pool and provide extra towels poolside, along with ice water. Our room (131) had a very nice print of trees, although it was crooked and all four corners were affixed to the wall so it couldn't be straightened. The restaurant is expensive and the food is very good. The people at the front desk are very helpful and nice.

On the plus side: 1) The beds are wonderful and the rooms are squeaky clean. 2) The staff is very friendly and professional.3) Free WiFi...so much for the good points4) Unfortunately, while the lobby, restaurant and conference center is in a brand new building, the hotel itself is an old Holiday Inn, probably built in the 70's. It is your typical 5 story, concrete construction, quite old and dated despite their best efforts to conceal it under a new coat of paint and modern furniture. The rooms all open onto a common outside walkway. Being un-carpeted concrete, it makes the housekeeping carts rolling by sound like you're in a bowling alley. 5) Unless you pay for an upgrade, the best rate rooms they advertise all back up to the very noisy elevator shafts. These are also the smallest rooms in the hotel, measuring some 10' x 10'. An upgrade will set you back around $180+/night, which is way more than I would ever pay for this hotel.6) If you do stay here, be sure to request a room AWAY from the pool. On one of the two nights I was there, they sponsored some sort of pool party packed with college kids complete with techno-pop music blaring poolside from 4:00pm - 8:00pm. 7) Parking is an extra $5/night if you care.8) I can't resist but to mention the shelves of books throughout the lobby all sporting plain white paper book covers. When I asked what that was all about, the front desk clerk happily replied: "You can't judge a book by it's cover". All things consdidered, it brought to mind the expression: "You can't make a silk purse from a cow's ear", or better yet, the famous "Lipstick on a pig" comment.....