Ebb Tide Motel

The Ebb Tide has been awesome!!! We were really in a bad way, we gave 30 days notice at our last place, excited to move in to a great little house here in OB, except the owners of the new place changed the move in date at the last minute needing extra time for repairs before we can move in. That is were the Ebb Tide came in and saved us for sure. The managers are on stop of everything going on at the motel. They just happened to have one availability that we were able to take, at this time we have been here for three weeks, with all plus’s and no minus’s. My sons wake up at dawn to walk to the beach to surf before school. The walk to the beach is 3 minutes, the walk to downtown OB in 5 minutes, it has been great. We are staying in a studio with a little kitchen, more real kitchen than kitchenette, bathroom is old school yet very clean. We have a futon for the boys and a queen bed for us. I just can not say enough that this place, the manager Kevin, really went out of their way to get us in within hours of the break-​down of our moving plans, they really saved the day. The vibe is mid 60’s Americana surf style with a happy dog looking out the window as you walk by. Laundry on site is clean and cheaper than most, zero sound from the other rooms. Thank you Ebb Tide.

The ebb tide was an experience I won’t forget. :)
I ended up down on my luck in a bad way in 2007 and ended up living at this motel for about 9 months until I got back on my feet.
It’s true that the ebb tide’s resident’s are largely transients. They do have some people that genuinely live there, too. Generally, you can stay just shy of a month and if you pass the «not crazy» test — you may be permitted to continue to stay. The managers are really good about removing any ‘problem people’ also. They really kept a good eye on me when I lived there as a single female in my early 20s — they would watch for me when I came home at night, kept an eye on my car, invited me to join cook outs that they have there and the other residents of the motel were also very down to earth and friendly — albiet, you did have some sketchy people come and go — I absolutely never really had a problem.
The managers of the place live on site just like everyone else and are really, really great people — always right there in case there is a problem. The ebb tide has a parking lot (which is nice so close to the beach in the summertime or weekends!) and the parking lot is video monitored. There are also coin laundry facilities there and grassy picnic area in the back.
The rooms are set up like an extended stay. You have one main room with a bed, desk, night stand, lamp, chair, etc… A seperate bathroom with tub, shower, toilet, etc… and then also a seperate room with a kitchen — complete with a stove/​oven, fridge and a small dining table. They have full cable with HBO, a phone line, etc… and it is possible to get internet access if you plan on staying there a while, as well. They do have some 2 bedroom plans (although they generally don’t have a full kitchen) and they have some 1 bedroom plans that have a bedroom, kitchen, bathroom and seperate living room areas.
Yes, it is a bit outdated — don’t expect a modern set-​up, the carpet is sort of a yellow/​brown shag color. The outside of the motel can leave much to be desired and even the sign is very old. I never –ever– had problems with bugs, fleas, roaches — nothing. The carpet cleaner guy came around about once a month or so and the managers would let you know they were coming if you wanted to get your carpet shampoo’d. I used my own linen and such, since I «for real» lived there.
They also accept PETS, with no real breed restrictions (at least, there were none when I was there) — and that was really excellent for me. I was able to move in with my german shepherd, the people below me had a doberman, other people had their cats, etc… and it is so hard to find a pet friendly motel — it was a life saver!
It is walking distance to lots of bars, shopping, etc… its right on the water, next to dog beach.
You have to consider that most people living there are low-​income, most people living there have fallen on some hard times, you don’t get a lot of ritzy vacationers staying there and it is exactly what you expect to find in OB. It’s not terribly expensive (about 325/​week) and for a furnished, live-​able, utilities included, pets accepted, right on the water kind of place, if you are OK with not being too picky about asthestics — it certainly does the job.