California Dreamin' at the Dream Inn, Santa Cruz
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| The view from our room at the Dream Inn |
Last weekend, my older daughter's school had a family day, so we were only too happy to take the jaunt down to Santa Cruz to visit her. Any excuse will do. We were able to get a great deal at the Dream Inn, a hotel overlooking the main Santa Cruz Boardwalk Beach. I would venture to say it is the nicest of the hotels in Santa Cruz proper, and I had been wanting to stay here since we first heard about it a couple of years ago.
Dream Inn is owned and operated by Joie de Vivre Hotels a company that specializes in California boutique hotels. Joie de Vivre owns hotels from the Sonoma Valley wine country to San Francisco, Los Angeles to Orange County, all of them fun and unique. One of their newest is the Citizen Hotel right here in my town, Sacramento.
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| View of the Santa Cruz Pier from our Room at the Dream Inn |
The Dream Inn has a fun young and beachy Mid-Century vibe that incorporates, what else, surfing and the Santa Cruz Boardwalk in it's decor. In our room, we had a photo of the Ferris Wheel above orange Panton chairs. The colors are vibrant and suggests good times ahead.
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| Fun Furnishings in our room |
The rooms all have fantastic views of the ocean, and the sunsets we saw were beautiful! There were lots of goodies on the bar area...snacks, hot chocolate, tea and coffee, and Izze's! Oh....and I have to say, the beds were perhaps the most comfortable hotel beds I have slept in.
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| Typical Room at the Dream Inn. Photo courtesy of the Dream Inn Website |
The Lobby area was modern and funky with the very cool washed wood sculpted front desk and FLOR carpet squares. One of the things I appreciated so much was the courtesy and really friendly attitude we found with everyone who worked here, from the front desk to the valets, to the room staff. Bravo!
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| Front Lobby |
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| Loved the Front Desk! |
I was very fond of the rocking chairs!
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| Relaxed and Fun!! The Rockers and everything else as well. |
We decided that on our last night there, we would check out Aquarius, the hotel's restaurant. It was just as fun as the rest of the hotel with the surf boards on the ceiling in the bar and more Panton chairs facing the beautiful shoreline and Boardwalk views.
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| Aquarius Bar |
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| Aquarius Bar |
The drinks were flowing and our meals were great. I had perfectly seared Salmon....one must have seafood at the beach of course!
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| Cocktails and Private Dining Room at Aquarius. Photo courtesy of Aquarius website |
One of the traditions at Aquarius is a wink to the Boardwalk. Every guest receives fresh cotton candy flavored with Tangerine with the check at the end of the meal. It's those little touches that keep one coming back.
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| Aquarius Cotton Candy and Dining Room. Photo courtesy of Aquarius website |
If you are planning a trip to Santa Cruz, or anywhere in California for that matter, I would take a look HERE at the bounty provided by Joie de Vivre.
I am thinking the Ventana Inn in Big Sur may be my anniversary get away!!!!
