Our family had such a great time here. We found this lil gem because we wanted to get away from downtown Santa Cruz and expand our search to find this beautiful wooded area. We love the location! It is such a beautiful and peaceful place to enjoy a few days. The lodge was pretty cool, and the rooms were definitely spacious and clean. Love the bathroom, hot water, nice lighted led mirror upgrade. It was nice to have the fridge/ freezer combo. **Now for the unexpected part... we were unaware that the Brookdale lodge was known for being haunted until the day before we were set to arrive. We were a little nervous but decided we would be ok as long as we didn't go looking for anything or inviting anything in with us. However, our first night, we were up a little late watching movies and heard some pretty loud thumping noises & footsteps coming from above us. We were in room 107 and heard this above us in 207. Honestly, we didn't think anything of it and just figured obviously there were people upstairs moving around and up just like us. The second night, around 2am, we were woken up by even louder footsteps and noises. We could hear someone literally running back and forth, then almost like someone was jumping up and down. We sat there for a little bit and thought maybe we should say something to the front desk in the morning. It eventually stopped, and we went back to bed. Later that morning, we were watching TV and getting ready to leave when we heard the loud thumps again overhead. We all looked at each other and started laughing, not knowing what kind of party was going on upstairs again. Shortly, we headed out the door to go to the boardwalk when we ran into Fabi. She was cleaning the rooms next door, so we asked if she knew if there were a lot of people staying in the room above us, and she said no. She told us her friend works upstairs and she had rooms to clean but not any that were around us......

The coffee pot didn't work very well and wished it was stocked with a lil more coffee and tea. I wished the diner was open every morning for coffee & tea, but it is closed on Mondays & Tuesdays.

Great location to enjoy a quiet 4th of July. Updated clean & large room with a balcony. Bathroom was clean & updated. Comfortable bed & furniture. Good job on the renovation. Friendly hardworking staff. Very peaceful environment among the redwoods. Onsite store & diner was a plus!

I had requested a ground floor room when I made the reservation & was disappointed the front desk employee told me there were none available. I had also informed on my reservation I had a 14lb dog & the front desk employee had to change me to the building where only pets stay. I guess the Brookdale Lodge can't guarantee requests. So it was a hassle walking my dog @ night trying to navigate the steep flight of stairs, me being a 67 year old senior traveling with my senior wife & senior canine. But we managed!

The property is in the mist of a remodel/renovation but I absolutely loved everything about it. I’d never heard of it or new it’s history before I arrived but I instantly fell in love with it. The location is perfect being surrounded by redwoods and only a couple minutes from Ben Lomond and Boulder Creek. The room was spacious and very comfortable, especially the bed. It’s nice having a porch and being able to almost black out the room while sleeping was great. All the staff was nice and accommodating. And their market has most anything you might need if you don’t feel like driving the 2 mins to town. I plan to be back often and can’t wait to see it when renovations are complete. Especially the Ballroom with the river running through it. This spot was a great find!

The only thing I didn’t like is that I didn’t find this place sooner

Oh we had an experience at this lodge. We were there when the storm came this year and our worker/brother was snowed in there. No one could get off the mountain and my partner and I were up in Humboldt snowed in on an entirely different mountain. The people at the this lodge went above and beyond to make sure our guy that was stuck there was ok until we could get to him and off the mountain. They also have a nice restaurant and a store attached to the property that you can get supplies and eat at. It was nice. WE have stayed there again since and they offer live music on the weekends, it's beautiful up there.

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The place is clearly an older facility, but it has undergone some nice renovations. I have seen other renovations at facilities that were mere band-aids to cover problems. These updates were well done, using quality materials, and you can tell that the staff is working hard to maintain the facility and keep it comfortable while not losing the charm of decades past. The little cafe below is excellent. The food was great and the service quite good.

This facility is on a very busy road. If you are bothered by heavy traffic and road noise, this will drive you nuts.

Room big, back patio, microwave and fridge with freezer, big bed, nice bathroom with small window. Bar tender Jimmy very nice. Great breakfast and very nice staff there at restaurant. Active for paranormal in room.

Bed a bit stiff, not too bad, but not soft. One female staff member was a bit cranky, parking very crowded, work trucks taking up more spaces, no extra toilet paper or Kleenex in room, ran out first day. Restaurants hours were not opened most time we were there. Mon & Tue Disappointed about Brook room being closed, but understandable with remodeling.

Excellent stay and very nice and accommodating staff. Comfort in these ca spacious rooms was very nice.

I wish I could have toured the old dinner area where the water ran through the dining area. It looked beautiful in its days and it will be nice to see it open in the future. You could have a dinner and story telling regarding the history. I believe it would be a weekend event that will book up.

For some reason I'm being prompted to submit another review. So, other things that I liked about the property were the onsite market, friendly front desk employees, and friendly housekeeping staff. I loved the isolation of the location and rooms, it was a great place to journal, soul search, and rest. I was also grateful, the front desk provided me a microwave upon request, very helpful.

Again, nothing could have been better.

The rooms are huge, with big balconies overlooking redwood trees. The bathroom is large, with plenty of counter space for toiletries. The bed was exceptional, I slept really well there. The ghost stories are likely true, the place has a very strange energy. It only added to the charm of the old hotel, I look forward to staying there again.

There isn't anything that I can think of that could have been better.

The location is right in the middle of the redwoods forest! It's right next to the road, but it's not a busy road at night and you can't ask for anything better in this price range. The place is well run, the room was clean and staff was very friendly and helpful. Very nice atmosphere! Live music on weekends is a bonus, but it also means that it might not be that super quiet little spot in the woods.