The Comfort Inn Hotel Chain

Recently we stayed at the Comfort Inn Beach & Boardwalk in Santa Cruz. The Comfort Inn chain has been trying to upgrade its amenities lately, and the results were noticeable.

The double beds in our room had new, pillowtop mattresses, which we liked, as well as new floral comforters and bedskirts, which we disliked. (The bedskirts made it hard to check for stray shoes and toys, and the somewhat stiff, polyesterish fabric was not pleasant).

This particular Comfort Inn had the tiniest swimming pool I’ve ever seen, probably less than 12 feet long. I mistook it for a generously sized Jacuzzi. Although the pool was not deep enough for diving, visiting teenagers were constantly risking a broken neck by diving. Grownups eschewed this pool, which, although supposedly heated, was pretty chilly. Some rooms featured jacuzzis, although ours did not.

The Comfort Inn offers a complimentary continental breakfast, which consisted of a few muffins, some bulk cereal, coffee (which was surprisingly satisfactory), some bananas and apples, and the option of making your own waffles.

I loved the waffle iron, accompanied by cups of waffle batter, which was practically foolproof (an alarm prompts you to flip the iron to cook the other side of your waffle). However, the children wouldn’t eat the waffles because they so hated the cheap pancake syrup (syrup has to be pretty bad for a four year-old to shun it).

The hotel’s free WiFi provided a reliable internet connection in our room, although I was irritated by being asked again and again to agree to the terms of service.

The most pleasant surprise was that this Comfort Inn was quiet at night, even though it was fully booked. The walls proved to be thick enough to block out noise from neighboring rooms. I would stay here again, although I might look for an alternative with a better swimming pool.

On the whole, the Comfort Inn chain is doing a fairly good job of upgrading, with the pillowtop mattresses and WiFi network being pluses. Perhaps they can upgrade the waffle syrup next (dare we even hope for an authentic maple flavor?).