Motiv

The food is served upstairs, in which the staircase is kind of hidden off in the back near the restrooms. I haven’t had the food myself, but it always smells and looks delicious. Nightlife is a lot of fun, mostly young and mid 20’s

The ambience of this place was not the reason for the poor rating, the service is!! I went on Saturday night and the first individual you meet is a snobby female, who is giving too much attitude. Next, when asking a bartender where the restroom is at we were ignored! A costumer had to help out when hearing me /: Overall, the music was good and the crowd was but the staff made it a very uncomfortable atmosphere.

Went here for some fun on my 30th Birthday! Had a great time with my wife. The music was on point, the atmosphere had good energy all around and everyone seemed to be having a great time. Highly recommended!

I went last Saturday to the Motiv with a couple of friends. The bar was packed as hell with people. Arden saw that we needed help, she was on top of it. Friendliest bartender in there. Made our drinks really fast and every time we went to the bar she was right there to help us. We will be back again to see Arden and dance on the dance floor.

Nice big dance floor, its in the middle of downtown. Theres a younger crowd the music is the highlight. Overall nice atmosphere.

Motiv is a local Santa Cruz bar, the two girlies who work the downstairs bar are so sweet & make the best drinks. I love seeing Jacob at the door; he’s amazing and one of the reasons that I visit Motiv over & over again. Love Jacobs energy and he’s beer pong nights. He makes the club a whole lot safer, he’s kicked out some creeps that have harassed us before. A suggestion that I have is better djs and better variety of music.

I looked at the reviews before coming, anyone who said the staff was anything but laid back and friendly was obviously having too much to drink and causing some kind of incident. The staff was absolutely amazing, I went there last night with a friend and had a great time. The skinny younger white guy bartender up stairs was hilarious, quick with the drinks, and made me feel appreciated. The place itself is laid out really well the dance floor and dj downtstairs give you a night club feel. Then you have an upstairs lounge with its own bar playing a different genre of music, with a more laid back approach. I loved it! I will visit them again. The staff is the best part about this place; the security gaurd was cool af, the gorgeous girl at the front with the nose piercing was super friendly and helpful, and the upstairs bartender I previously mentioned should all get a pat on the back for how they handle customers. Much love! 💚 Thanks for the great time!!

We went for the happy hour and it was so chill! I had a Guinness on tap and my boyfriend had a nice vodka soda, each for $4 at happy hour. Around 6:30 there was only one other group in the bar. The bartender told us it starts to get crazy at night around 10:30..!

If I could rate this place 0 Stars I would. Me and a few friends went here to celebrate a friends birthday. It started out ok up until after 10pm when a male staff collecting empty glasses was being a Deuch bag about dress code that prohibited hat wear. Dress code policy was NOT posted anywhere near the entrance and we were not informed prior to entering. My partner has insecurities regarding his exposed head and so I felt the guy was insensitive and completely disrespectful. First and last time will you see us there. Horrible experience!!

Just spoke to one of the staff by phone. I was looking for a place that will be showing the GGG boxing match and the lady was very pleasant and friendly. I like the fact the owner responds to all reviewers that post negative comments. Looking forward to checking out your spot with our group for cocktails and grub.

The bartenders in the upstairs bar were amazing! I was there during a Bachelorette party I attended and the bar staff (barmen and security) made us feel welcome and entertained. The bar staff make a mean cocktail too! ^^

Cool bar. One of the best dance floors with music Thurs-Saturday .Good mixed crowd of hip folks, cuties, students, and working folks.Great food from their upstairs kitchen.

One of the bouncer there mistaked me for another black guy and kicked me out. My other friends of color have also received racial discrimination from this bar or club.

Absolute scam. Girlfriend and I got two drinks total. Had to wait ~20 minutes to close my tab. Check came back 45 dollars, on an un-itemized receipt! Decided it wasnt worth my time to deal with this broken establishment anymore. Paid and left. Never coming back.

Ive been to Motiv many times and I really like the music that they play here and the inside looks really nice, especially upstairs. The drinks upstairs are really good as well if youre looking for getting a drink that is made with care and just overall better bartending.I dont like coming here because security is selective. Usually women dont get wanded or have their bags searched, but men have to take everything out of their pockets and wanded as well (which is good, but would be better if they did it for everybody). If you want to bring weapons into Motiv, simply bring your hot women friends who have purses.Ive also never seen any of my women friends pay a cover charge. Most places downtown dont have a cover charge, but the few that do usually charge everybody because thats whats fair.Also Ive been here on Locals Night twice and apparently Watsonville isnt local enough even though its in the same county. So I had to pay a cover.Basically, I only come here when my friends insist on it.

Such a great vibe. Party club vibes downstairs (with legit DJs) and chill cocktail bar upstairs. The food was amazing too. Great job Motiv. More of this in Santa Cruz.

This place is magical and the love is amazing 🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍

Come over for LGBTQ happy hour on Saturdays 3:30 to 6:30ish (discounted drinks are served until 7:30!). Dance to DJs (me) spinning electronica most weekends. The only exception to the music part is on the Saturday nights that they have UFC (boxing/fighting) projected up on the back wall or during Burning Man.Join MOTIVs Facebook list to get in on the schedule.

Yeah terrible employees. Paid extra money to get into the bar in turn asked to pay more money for my party we declined. We received terrible service after paying more for our party. Actually the people in front were raunchy and rude

One of the best place to dance in Santa Cruz but its still nothing special. On the second floor you can have good cocktails

Had a nice time bartender was super friendly went to celebrate my 21st birthday wasnt too many people but they had pretty good dj playing

The only reason i don’t go is because of your thieving bartender, Drew. The rest of the staff seems to agree

Bouncer can’t tell difference between real and fake ID’s

If youre black, the bouncers wont let you in if youre wearing red. Its ok if youre white. A bouncer literally told me this word for word. I would never advise any black person to come here.

Great bar. Great dance floor on the weekends. Bartender Brittany is the best in Santa Cruz.

If you wanna dance you should go there. Its only one place in Santa Cruz that you can dance. Dont be so excited though 😁

Shane is great and the menu is fantastic.

Celebrated my birthday here one year and had fun! Granted, it was a weekday and kind of a ghost town, but we made the most of it!

Very unpleasant experience visiting Motiv, if I could I would leave negative stars. Stray away

Bartender upstairs was only serving to white people. I waited for an hour to be asked for a drink never came to me.

Great location for a bar club but really small place with lots of people. Hard to get around inside

Busy social environment and great DJs!

They have so much water for free at the end of the bar downstairs. Check it out!

Rude bartenders, overpriced drinks that did not taste good

If you want to be a dude invisible on the dance floor, come here.

Great night club but dance floor is pretty small

Great energy. Everybody there is sooo down to earth and warm. Lots of fun and great conversations.

The staff is really rude here. I dont think they like black people here.

Can somebody answer me? Do they ask for id here to get in?& whats the age limit to go in

I got drugged upstairs by the bartender. Dont go there!!!

The upstairs is nice to chill in when the downstairs in busy.

I like how its free for students, which makes up for the lack in quality music and crowded spaces.

Good spot but I got banned forsomething I didnt even do...

Nice and friendly staff, nice place and nice music

Bag was stolen here watch your stuff :(

Great place to have some fun

I think they dont like black people

Best nightclub in town.

Awesome dancing venue.

Big mike! Thankyou for your assistance! Thankyou overall!

Best nightclub in Santa Cruz

Great place to dance

Good dance club.

Not very nice folks in here

Cool spot

This place is totally wack!

Awesome place... nuff said

Can anyone ever answer the phone???

Everyone was wonderful.

Is it a gay bar?

Had a bad experience

Dead!

Really nice.

Amazing bar

Great place !

Fun environment

Very bad, I buy 2 crowns and pay $10.dls with my credit card and now I got the charge for $14.dls. Its not the quantity but I do not like it, just not good👎Very bad, I bought 2 crowns and paid $10.dls with my credit card and now I got the charge for $14.dls. Its not the quantity but I didnt like that, just not good👎

HAHAHA