The Sandcastle Inn

If you don’t care about cleanliness or comfort this is the place for you. The location is amazing as its right across from the beach but it is Straight up GHETTO! The bathtub looks like it’s never been cleaned, the floors are dusty and dirty, the walls are full of spider webs.

Worst hotel on earth. DO NOT STAY HERE!!! Dishonest owners/​managers. Double charged for room. They charge you when you book and again when you check in. If your only other option is to sleep in the gutter, choose the gutter.

1) fine for inexpensive overnite.
2) no a/​c but fridge for yur snacks.
3) across street from beach.
4) clean, small room, mostly quiet. Traffic noise minimal.
5) no laundry but u can go north a couple blocks for that as needed.

The only reason it gets one star is because the location was great! Other then that, this was the worst place I could ever imagine staying. It was dirty, smelly and the staff gave me cleaning supplies. There was also spiders! Unfortunately there was no availability across the street to stay, or we would have left. Do not even consider staying here for your family’s safety. My daughter got bitten in the face by a spider and because of the dirty room, she got MRSA. Yes, the flesh eating bacteria. There was blood underneath one of the pillow cases, the floors were dirty and I cleaned them. There were also ants all over the bath tub! And the toilet upon arrival, had puke on the lower part of it. Worst of all, the management did not seem to care. I hope they get it together, because this place has a lot of potential. It could be quite charming.

The only thing this place has going for it is location. Right across the street from the beach. Other than that it was the worst experience I’ve had. I stayed here one month on military orders and the maid never came in once. There was no toilet paper when I arrived, I had to go to the desk and ask for coffee filters, garbage bags and trade in my own towels. The shower curtain is old and torn up, the refrigerator is leaking profusely, the WiFi is out of range inside the room… there was no coffee mugs steak knifes and the coffee maker didn’t even work. The landscaping isn’t maintained and the patio furniture might give you tetnis. I actually washed my own sheets. There are also ants in the bathroom and half the light bulbs are out. I could keep going but I’m bored now. Don’t stay here if you’re trying to enjoy a vacation. I’m working so it wasn’t a huge deal.

If Unilocal had a «Minus Zero Star» rating for reviews I would use it for the Sand Castle Inn. As is a single star is as low as you can go, and you can’t post a review without a rating, so this place gets a better rating than it should at one-​star.
What was supposed to be a nice family get-​together over Christmas was tainted by a stay at the repugnant Sand Castle Inn. We needed accommodations close to a family member’s home in Imperial Beach, and struck out with VRBO, Air BnB, and the only other hotel in IB given late planning. Other hotels were available in Chula Vista and points east, but generally places were booked. So, by default, we ended up at the Sand Castle Inn.
First, note that most of the images here are out of date, and very likely posted by the owner. At least the nice-​looking ones. The place looks NOTHING like these images. Second, read the unpublished reviews. I have no idea why the majority of the reviews are hidden, but read them. Most mirror our experience.
There is no way to adequately describe the squalor and the generally dilapidated condition of this place. There is a staff, but they are clearly not cleaning or maintaining. What’s interesting is that from the outside, at a distance, the Sand Castle Inn looks like it might be a decent local motel. You have to get a little closer to get a sense of what is so very wrong with the place. The exterior doors are corroded and use standard metal door keys which can be easily duplicated at any hardware store. For that reason I left nothing in the room. The windows: filthy. The outdoor furniture: old and moldy. There is an inexplicable cabana filled with trash. Paint was flaking off the walls in sheets like blistered skin. Between the two buildings is a small yard filled with lawn furniture that would be best described as trash, and ancient grill that is so rusted I was impressed that it remains standing. The best feature was a busted up fountain that long ago stopped running, was littered with butts and upon which someone has placed a belt buckle for decoration. That list goes on for a bit but you get the general idea.
Once inside you are confronted with utter filth. The rooms are not being cleaned between guests it appears. The walls, windows, sills, blinds, ceiling fan, etc. are all filthy. The sheets were stained sufficiently that I opted to bring linens from my family’s home. I used the sheet as a bath mat as one was not provided, and the unsealed tile floors are so disgusting that I dared not set a bare foot upon them. There were no towels. Cobwebs, the remains of squashed bugs, spiders lingering in the corners etc. were in evidence everywhere. The ‘fridge was old and rusty, and clattered away under an equally thrift-​store microwave. Every flat surface was filthy. The ceiling fan was coated in a thick layer of grime and was corroding away in the salt air. Laughably there are signs in the room advising that anything stolen from the rooms will be added to the guests bill. Who would steal the junk they call furnishings? Funny. In sum however, this mess was better than the bathroom.
The list of woes in the bathroom is epic: The toilet was not secured to the floor and wobbled when sat upon. The framed art was molding from the inside, the frame filthy. The towel rack and a little shelf on which the complimentary shampoo etc. sat were loose and seemed to be barely clinging to the wall. The floor was truly repulsive. There were spider webs and grunge in the corners. The tub was ringed by black mold, and included inexplicable stains. The tub fixture was missing a handle making turning on the shower a impossible unless you had reasonably strong and dry hands. Mold ringed the bathroom walls and the ceiling in gray patches. The window sill was moldy and the window screen so chocked with grunge that fresh air was barely able to pass through. That there was no hair dryer etc. was no surprise.
What is really amazing is that given the condition, the place is not inexpensive. Certainly the price is not in keeping with the quality. It’s a shame given the location, which is stellar. Why some enterprising hotelier hasn’t snatched this place up and turned it in to the kind of boutique hotel it’s so capable of being is a real mystery.

Due to circumstances beyond our control, we had the distinct misfortune to stay
at this dump for several days during a family Christmas get-​together in 2014. It is simply not possible to overstate the filthy state of the the rooms. For whatever reason, they are not being cleaned. We had a kitchenette type unit, there were giant stains, grease, dust, dirt and general filth on the walls and other surfaces, not to mention a large squashed bug that looked suspiciously like a roach splayed on one of the kitchen walls. The floors were so filthy that we had to clean our feet before getting into the bed. There was an active spider nest hanging directly over the tub. The kitchen chairs could only be described an inexecrably filthy (I have posted a photo).
There was a used bandaid stuck to the nightstand next to the bed. I have posted several photos that show the dirty walls, floor and other surfaces. The window shades were a) filthy and b) did not work, so the room was dark, which was actually an advantage given the slovenly state of the room. My wife tried to open the front blinds and the entire transom came careening off the wall at her; upon inspection it was obvious that the whole affair had been carefully balanced on edge and was just waiting for some innocent to try and open the blinds. This nasty surprise included quite a cloud of greasy dust. The was no room service, no cleaning, no fresh towels. We had to ask for toilet paper. To add insult to injury, the rooms my family rented were not the least bit cheap. As I said, we were somewhat desperate and this is a great example of what can happen to desperate people.
This looks like it might have once been a nice property, and it has quite obvious potential given the location. But unless you enjoy vacationing in a grimy dustbin, I would very strongly recommend steering clear of this place.

Are you kidding me? This only this it has going for it is that it is across the street from the beach. Mildew in shower, bugs under the bed, dirty towels.
No thanks!

Location Location Location!
Located only steps across the street is the Pacific Ocean and a beautiful beach. The Sand Castle Inn.
I refer to the Sand Castle Inn and the city Imperial Beach as California’s best kept secret for vacations for adults and for families!
Imperial Beach is great for the people that love to feel like a local with it’s neighborhood places to eat and yes enjoy adult beverages in a laid back atmosphere and don’t forget to take a walk on the pier and have lunch at The Tin Fish at the end of the pier.
Staying at the Sand Castle Inn you are minutes from Highway 5, San Diego and the GasLamp District, SeaWorld, S.D. Zoo, Balboa Park and a short drive up the coast to exclusive neighborhoods such as La Jolla. And you are only 10 minutes from the beautiful country of Mexico.
Imagine every morning waking up an seeing and walking across the street to beautiful beach and the Pacific Ocean. And the Sunsets? Oh My! Every night from The Sand Castle Inn you can watch a beautiful sunset!
Look for the Sand Castle Inn, Imperial Beach on Facebook.