http://www.travelpost.com//hotels/Babbling_Brook_Inn/hid42867 TravelPost.com - Hotel reviews, information, and rates from thousands of websites http://www.travelpost.com//hotels/Babbling_Brook_Inn/r474956 After reading some of the negative reviews, I had some trepidation over what I'd gotten us into. However, my fears were allayed from the moment we arrived. We had the Van Gogh room and it was fabulous. The staff, including and especially the manager, Tom, were super friendly and very accomodating. As others have stated, the breakfasts were fantastic. Spinach quiche one day,and I don't normally like quiche, but this was excellent! Eggs Benedict the next day, and it was fantastic! My wife is a nutritionist and dietitian. The evening wine and cheeses, dips, bruschetta, etc were absolutely to die for! She gave it all the food 2 thumbs up. Especially loved the warm evening cookies. I can only attribute negative comments to sorry losers that only want cookie cutter, ticky tack rooms that all look just the same. This place has a lot of history and charm. The grounds are really nice to wander through. The babbling brook is quite nice, easy to hear, even with the minimal traffic noise. I've had more, and louder traffic noise at quote five star unquote hotels. You're in a city, for crying out loud. If you want complete absence of traffic noise, try out in a cow pasture somewhere. We will be returning to Santa Cruz area next year and we will be staying at the Babbling Brook B&B again. My one complaint?......the water wheel doesn't work. oh well. We both highly recommend it!!!!!!! http://www.travelpost.com//hotels/Babbling_Brook_Inn/r474956 http://www.travelpost.com//hotels/Babbling_Brook_Inn/r379645 Beware! This place is a total scam! It cost up $300 and we did not even get to stay there. The deposit they require for the room is the full amount of one night’s stay… thus the $300. However we had to reschedule our stay due to an emergency, I called 5 days before our stay and because of their “cancelation policy” they keep the full deposit no mater what. I was furious and yet they could care less! The person on the phone just kept saying it was their policy…. Never again! http://www.travelpost.com//hotels/Babbling_Brook_Inn/r379645 http://www.travelpost.com//hotels/Babbling_Brook_Inn/r474957 Beware! This place is a total scam! It cost up $300 and we did not even get to stay there. The deposit they require for the room is the full amount of one night’s stay… thus the $300. However we had to reschedule our stay due to an emergency, I called 5 days before our stay and because of their “cancelation policy” they keep the full deposit no mater what. I was furious and yet they could care less! The person on the phone just kept saying it was their policy…. Never again! http://www.travelpost.com//hotels/Babbling_Brook_Inn/r474957 http://www.travelpost.com//hotels/Babbling_Brook_Inn/r474958 The grounds and the room were beautiful and comfortable and the staff was friendly. Also, the breakfast was very good with a variety of fresh ingredients. Too many negative points for us to recommend it to others: The walls are very thin and we could hear our neighbors music. The courtyard and entryway lights were left on brightly all night and we were trying to sleep with lights in our faces. The shades on our windows did not block out light either. I ended up going outside in my bathrobe at midnight and unscrewing light bulbs so we could sleep!! Traffic noise... wow. My fiance's sister tried to surprise us with a room upgrade and champagne and truffles. The reservation person called her back FOUR times to verify her information, and still got her name completely wrong on the note card!! We had a mysterious extra charge of $25 on our bill that I have received no explanation for. I have called and left messages and we have not received a return call. http://www.travelpost.com//hotels/Babbling_Brook_Inn/r474958 http://www.travelpost.com//hotels/Babbling_Brook_Inn/r474959 My husband and myself found this beautiful place in the woods online, and have always enjoyed Santa Cruz. We could not wait to book it for the end of the year weekend, get away. We arrived at the Inn about 2:30pm on Sat. December 29th and from the minute we stepped out of the car it was gorgeous, the waterfall and the old water wheel, the gazebo and great little paths a beautiful piece of property for sure. We checked in and were greeted very nicley showed the ropes on breakfast and 5:30 wine and cheese tasting, then we were brought to our room. It was just as lovely as the one in the photo. We unpacked and then returned outside for a walk around the Inn, after which we returned to the room for a nice hot tub, I started the water and filled the tub, got into the tub and turned on the jets. - Let me just say, they sure sounded like a jet alright. - Something clearly was wrong with the tub. So much that the neighbors from upstairs came to say, that the walls sounded like they were coming down. Now, I was certainly ebarressed. Then one of us used the toilet, and it was broken. - Great start to a lovely weekend. - But we kept our cool and had the toilet fixed. (Or so we thought.) That night we went to bed about 11:30pm and within about 1/2 hour the neighbors from upstairs came home with at least 4 other people and began an all night orgy, right above us... GREAT NIGHT FOR US... I'm thinking they were making porn or something. Hey, I have nothing against good sex, but for whatever these people had going on until all hours of the night should have taking place in the motel 6 down the street, not in a 5 star Inn, for $200.00 a night. "Winter rates" when we finally got up the next morning, we went to make coffee only to find they had not replaced it from the day before. Oh, and another thing, they never took the garbage out the day before, and we never got to take a hot tub, because of the noise. So, there you have my view on the babbling brooke Inn. http://www.travelpost.com//hotels/Babbling_Brook_Inn/r474959 http://www.travelpost.com//hotels/Babbling_Brook_Inn/r474960 Based on the other reviews, I guess we really lucked out with our room! We stayed in the "Artist's Cottage" upstairs and had a great experience. The room was adorable and clean, and my flight came in really late but the young woman at the front desk was sweet anyway and even came back upstairs to give us a lighter for our fire log. (She cooked the best eggs ever the next morning, too.) We had a really romantic get-away, and the only disappointment was that the hot tub thing outside was an actual 2-person bathtub that needed to be filled. Free wireless though! http://www.travelpost.com//hotels/Babbling_Brook_Inn/r474960 http://www.travelpost.com//hotels/Babbling_Brook_Inn/r474961 to explain ANY positive experiences at this B&B--despite negative reviews (I'll listen next time) my wife & I endured a night at this overpriced, under-maintained, noisy, ill-serviced excuse of a "B & B". An expensive mistake, one which I hope to spare others who might be considering this as a "lodging of choice" during their stay in Santa Cruz-- What a waste... http://www.travelpost.com//hotels/Babbling_Brook_Inn/r474961 http://www.travelpost.com//hotels/Babbling_Brook_Inn/r474962 My wife & I have stayed in several Santa Cruz-Monterey Bay area B & Bs over the years; this one has got to be the worst. Glancing over the dismal accounts of what passes for cleanliness (closet, behind-the-bed wall stank of mold--EXTREME mold! Walls ARE paper thin, bedding is pilled, worn polyester everything, road noise (even late at night!) and a non-existent staff all add up to one of the most horrendous, by-gone excuse of quality lodgings-- Don't even bother booking here--truly a threadbare, borderline-seedy, post-80's flop- What a dump. Very Disgruntled http://www.travelpost.com//hotels/Babbling_Brook_Inn/r474962 http://www.travelpost.com//hotels/Babbling_Brook_Inn/r474963 that is where the quaintness ends. My GF & I read some of the write-ups on this place and scheduled a weekend getaway. Long and short, I wish we'd read the OTHER reviews! If there are any nice rooms in this dump (that don't look like they've been decorated with Flea Market left-overs,) we sure didn't see them. Room smelled like cat pee, shower was broken (dripped ALL night) bed was BAD and there was absolutely no one around to offer any kind of service whatsoever. Worst part, is that my GF felt responsible and the rates they charged only added insult to injury. May have once been a nice place (the outside, at least still looks maintained), but as lodgings go, we'll hit the Motel 6 next time... http://www.travelpost.com//hotels/Babbling_Brook_Inn/r474963 http://www.travelpost.com//hotels/Babbling_Brook_Inn/r474964 Our room overlooked the river and was very peaceful. The bed was overstuffed with wonderful down comforters. We especially enjoyed the complimentary happy hour with tasty appetizers and full course breakfast with delicious coffee. Some rooms might be a bit noisy as the street the Inn is located is a major thoroughfare for Santa Cruz. Would definately stay there again! http://www.travelpost.com//hotels/Babbling_Brook_Inn/r474964