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    Calafia Inn

    3.2 (115 reviews)
    InexpensiveHotels
    Open Open 24 hours

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    Good to know they clean the place!!! /s
    Ginger G.

    DO NOT STAY HERE! You'd have better comfort and safety for a similar price point at a Motel 6, don't let the cute aesthetics fool you. There was NO DEADBOLT on the front door of my room, the flimsy handle lock just pushes in and twists, didn't have a reinforcement chain or anything, and I'm not even 100% sure the door actually closed all the way. My room was right on the street, so this is absolutely unacceptable! If it weren't for the fact that I needed a cheap room on an hours notice I wouldn't have even considered this place for that detail alone. The supposedly included WiFi does not work at all. The walls are paper thin. The shower has black mold all over the place and the floors were covered in black grime that came off onto the floor towel just after stepping onto it with wet feet! The toilet doesn't flush unless you hold the handle down the entire time, and even then it's weak. There were towels provided, but you might as well have used toilet paper to dry yourself. The heater is just sad. The only upsides to the condition of the room were that I didn't find any bugs and the decor was pretty cute (but obviously a distraction). I knew this wasn't going to be a stay at the Hilton going into this, BUT PUT A FREAKING SECURE AND FUNCTIONAL LOCK ON ALL OF YOUR DOORS. AND CLEAN THE EFFING PLACE. That is an absolute MUST in the hotel industry; the owner must be an idiot if he thinks that's okay!

    Interior of room
    Megan M.

    Super cute stay here! Unfortunately the bathroom window is screwed open and the screen is barely attached. I'm a little worried of some animal or even a person coming through in the night. The door locks, the air conditioner works well, and the lamps here work great. The shower was very tricky to operate and didn't have a wide range of temperatures.

    My hubby's 69 VW Beetle in front of the cool sign.
    Nanking Y.

    I read the reviews, good and bad, but like with most places, I wanted to give this place a try. We stayed here only for one night and were completely satisfied. From the time I spoke with Joyce over the phone when reserving the room, to check-in, to our departure, she and Dave were very polite. She mentioned to me that they've been renovating the rooms. To my relief, especially with this heat, I noticed all rooms had an a.c. unit. Someone previously posted that there were only ceiling fans. Also, I don't know if they had carpet before, but she said the rooms have new flooring. Which is actually nice since tile floors are a lot cleaner than smelly, stained (of who knows what) carpet. The manager said, the next few things to be replaced are the mattresses and doors that use the room key to open. Most travelers do this anyways, but make sure to bring your own toiletries. My hubby forgot his shampoo and had to use theirs. Their items could be upgraded a bit, but that's no biggy. Our room had a nice, large flat screen, a larger than usual fridge with freezer. No microwave, hair-dryer, iron or board. I don't know if you could call request that? We didn't need it anyways. Overall, I would definitely stay here again. I hope that our next experience will be this nice :)

    The dented up cheesy refrigerator.
    Steven J.

    This place is a bloody nightmare! The deceiving pictures they show on their website are miss leading enough to get fined by the FTC for false advertising. With an overwhelming stench of curry the moment I opened the office door I knew I was in trouble. If people actually live at their horrific motel it's a guarantee they're cheap. You're probably thinking what's wrong with this place? I'm not sure where to start but here we go... Upon arriving you really get to see this place and you realize how ghetto it is. There are a few ghetto motels in this area but this is by far the worst one we have been to in San Clemente. Even though I had pre-paid for my room the first thing the guy did when I walked in the office was bill my credit card $50 before I even saw the room. Pissed me off! I Pre-paid for my stay and they charge me a $50 deposit on a motel room that couldn't of had more than $20 worth of value in it? They should've paid "me" $50 for staying here to cover the PTSD and counseling I'm going to need!!!! The rooms are the size of jail cells. They have no ice machine. They have no soda machine. The toilet leaked constantly and flushed every 30 minutes. We had 30 stuffed trash bags just outside our bathroom window in back of our room. This seemed pervertedly strange considering every time my girlfriend took a shower the owner seemed to have to drop a trash bag off behind the bathroom window. Hmmmmmm? Don't plan on getting any rest because it sounds like a preschool out front of your room because the owners children scream all day out front. The broken washing machine is still outside of room 12 that a previous disgruntled customer mentioned from over three weeks ago. They don't have microwaves in the rooms just a smelly disgusting community broken down $29 piece of Walmart crap for you to try to heat something in. There are no phones in the rooms. Why they say The Inn "at Califia beach" is beyond me because the ocean is nowhere in sight, only a road in front of it that sounds like the 5 freeway. They supply two towels that are stained with blood and other various things that I wouldn't even dry my pets off with. By the way, I asked for an extra towel and the guy looked at me like I wanted his first born child or something. Remember... "Cheap". They refused to take the plastic cover off of the Low budget mattress which causes you to sweat and stick to the bed when you're trying to sleep. Needless to say after two nights on this mattress I've already made an appointment with my chiropractor because my sciatica is on fire. Cheap! The room was filthy and it turned my feet black whenever I walked on it with bare feet. There were cobwebs hanging from the ceiling and dirt caked on the baseboards of every inch of the room. The blanket on the bed had not been washed in a month or more. We had a useless table and chairs that were actually slotted lounge chairs (totally uncomfortable and for outside use) it looked like they grabbed them from a garage sale with a "for free" sign on them. CHEAP!!!!! We both were being bitten by all sorts of insects which I hope to God were not bedbugs. Because of how filthy this room was my girlfriend is suffering massive allergy reactions which leads me to believe that there is a black mold issue. My room was so disgustingly filthy I was flabbergasted when I saw a stained old envelope that in borderline illegible writing said "tips for maids". I thought to myself tips? Here's a tip, rent a bulldozer and mow this ghetto pathetic excuse for a motel to the ground and build a real motel. As I was so shocked at how horrible this place I read a little history on it. In 2010 there was a surfing competition of which Nike sponsored and refurbished this entire hotel for the competitors and filming purposes. In eight years of laziness these fools have let this place turn into a rat hole. My advice is pay the $30 or $40 more per night and stay at a legitimate motel because you'll regret staying at this cockroach den. Normally when you visit a quaint beach town and stay at a motel you're upset when you have to leave. At the Califia inn at the beach you can't wait to get out. Just be sure you get your $50 deposit refunded because I'm sure they'll keep it if you don't demand them to take it off the day you leave. We tried getting our money back in the beginning of our stay to no avail so we unfortunately had to stick it out. How can they call this place an "Inn" when you can't wait to get "Out". Avoid this place like the plague!!!!

    My room #9, dug the vibe:)
    . ..

    I purchased a Living Social deal to stay at this Inn / Motel. I purchased a 2-night stay for $78.00 which is a deal that cannot be beat. With my room purchase came a bottle of wine that I told the staff to give to someone else who might drink it. I love San Clemente and it's accessibility to local surfing spots (i.e. Trestles, T-Street, Cottons, San Clemente Pier & of course San-O). The Inn at Calafia Beach is conveniently located to all the above mentioned surfing spots and I did my best to hit several, several times!!! I arrived and checked in with no problems. The staff on site is friendly, knowledgeable about the local community, restaurants and of course surfing spots. As for the Inn itself I found it to be nice. The Inn is wrapped around a little parking lot with a gazebo located in the middle which contains a BBQ for guests. In front of the gazebo is a little lounge chair area where guests can relax and take in some sun while you people watch. I was given the keys to room #9 which had an interesting vibe. Each room has its own little vibe and décor which I found quite nice. I walked into my room and found the only source of air circulation to be a ceiling fan. Lucky for me I read the reviews for this place prior to arriving and discovered none of the rooms had A/C. I am a meticulous planner and brought a tower fan that turns any room into one that feels like the A/C is working and boy is I glad that I did. The day of my arrival was the start of the massive heat wave & San Diego wildfire's and I needed that fan in my room. Even with the Wildfire's in the area I opened my front window & the rear bathroom window and I was fine=) I found the room to be nice. I found the room to be clean. I found the bed to comfortable. This place is no way shape or form is the Ritz but for $78.00 for 2-nights I wasn't expecting that either. I had everything I needed, a place to store my surfboard, a place to shower w/ hot water, a place to sleep, a cold refrigerator, free Wi-Fi, an alarm clock for dawn patrol wakeup hours and a flat screen TV that had ESPN & HBO=) During my visit I ventured out of my room several times just to mingle and talk with the other guests staying at the Inn and everyone had the same chilled beach vibe. Everyone seemed to have a story about surfing in the area for years and some gave me some tips on spots only locals know about. The Inn at Calafia Beach is located within walking distance of several restaurants, a Ralph's supermarket, several surf shops, several coffee house and of course the World Famous Pedro's Taco's (if you surf the area you know Pedro's). This Inn is easily accessible to the 5 freeway and only a short distance away from San Diego. I found my time here to be relaxing, peaceful & quiet and so glad that I purchased this deal. If and when I see another deal for this Inn I would without a doubt stay here again, I think this time around I would plan my visit around it being a little cooler outside though=)

    Lovely views and decor
    Robert R.

    I could go on and on about how poorly maintained this place is but life is too short, so I'll keep this relatively short. This place could be really nice but it seems like the owners don't really care about hospitality or cleanliness. The pictures are misleading about the size of the rooms, they are TINY. I can't recommend this place to anyone. See attached pictures.

    Room 1
    Bridget W.

    I needed to stay somewhere with my two dogs while they were tenting my apartment for termites. The thing is, I had to bring my dogs and I'm a remote worker. Lots of deal breakers. The rate was so good, I didn't believe it. So I drove down, went to the office, and talked to Dave. Dave was really kind and gave me a great room. He showed me the room, where I could park, and where I could take the dogs out to potty. Joyce was also really nice and accommodating. I couldn't have asked for a better experience. The room was basic, but that's all I needed. It was new, clean, and I felt comfortable and welcome.

    Gem

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    Dana was very flexible trying to get everyone organized and helped us with local recommendations too.

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    Beachcomber Inn - Kitchen bungalow #7.

    Beachcomber Inn

    (118 reviews)

    $$

    Cannot say enough good things!! Wow wow wow…read morePricey but worth it If you're looking for kick back and listen to waves on a beautiful Cliff over looking the ocean here it is !

    WOW! "Come for the view, stay for the experience" is one of the mottos for this GORGEOUS retreat…read more Another, more simple motto for this property: "BREATHE". Established in 1953, the Beachcomber in is quintessential California bungalow motor hotel. It's unique placement on a San Clemente bluff, with panoramic views of the pier and coast are nothing short of stunning. The rooms have full kitchens, king beds, sofa beds and patios with Adirondack chairs, in case being inside, staring through an enormous picture window just doesn't cut it. The staff obviously knows what a special property this is and there is great pride in the presentation and up keep of the grounds. Friendly, welcoming faces morning, noon and night. Because this is a vintage property, maintaining its original build and charm, it does not conform to modern accessibility requirements. Some may find the rooms small compared to modern, chain hotels, but I found everything cozy, comfortable and - dare I say - sumptuous! Given the hospitality of the staff, I'm sure they would do all they could to accommodate any guest. In addition to the amazing evening sunset views of the Pacific, a plus for me, was the Amtrak Surfliner passing through, down below the bluff. Paul Simon may sing, 'Everybody loves the sound of a train in the distance', but I love the sound of a train close by! I find it very soothing and romantic. After the sun has set, it's time to gather around the large fire pit for easy conversations with fellow guests, maybe while you wait for your steaks to grill on one of their guest use BBQs. A lovely, relaxing way to ease into the night. We forced ourselves to leave the property and stretch our legs, walk the pier and roam the shops of nearby Avenida Victoria. But for REAL shopping in San Clemente, we took advantage of the free hop on/hop off trolley that runs seasonally and weekends(see separate review) that picks up just below the Beachcomber, at the San Clemente train stop. Weleft our car parked in our allotted parking space (1 parking space for those staying in Villas #1-12). Really, Beachcomber had everything we needed to settle in for a few nights and, yes, just "BREATHE". Cheers! "CC"

    Holiday Inn Express San Clemente N – Beach Area - Beautiful outside

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    Pretty nice hotel on the outskirts of San Clemente....location is really good, only about a ten…read moreminute drive to the pier and beaches, five to the downtown area...also just off the 5 entrance which makes it very accessible and convenient...the rooms are a good size and are "relatively quiet" but you do hear a lot of walking around from the people above you...that being said, I would recommend à room on the top, third, floor to alleviate that problem...the beds are extremely comfortable as are the pillows...the breakfast, although adequate, is in a very cramped area that gets extremely busy at times...the coffee that is available throughout the day is part of the problem as the machine makes it fresh, they have two of them, but each cup takes the better part of à minute which causes a backup...there is a small pool that seemed to get a lot of use adjacent to the lobby area...didnt utilize housekeeping or the workout room...there is ample parking available but they do charge you à $20 per night fee which is kind of ridiculous and eliminates some of the value in staying here...each room does have a small balcony but there are no chairs or table to sit and enjoy after a long day at the beach or sightseeing...why couldn't the ridiculous parking fee be used to purchase those types of things to make the stay that much more enjoyable? all in all this is definitely an above average hotel, one of the better in town at this price point and one that has more positives than negatives...would return if in SC again sometime down the road....RECOMMEND

    Noisy. Not well maintained. It's hard to sleep when we can…read morehear what's going on in rooms above and next to us. The fitness room did not have the stairmaster as advertised and the treadmill only goes at one slow speed. The breakfast room is tiny so gets overcrowded. The coffee machine malfunctions and is slow even when it works. We had to wait more than an hour to get into our room on check in. And despite the name, this is not on or near the beach.

    Calafia Inn - hotels - Updated August 2026

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