I adore this place a lot. there is a happy mood. The meals are splendid. the service is effective and the team is well trained. The cost is decent. truly recommend.

Shane is great and the menu is fantastic.

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!!

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

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.

Big mike! Thankyou for your assistance! Thankyou overall!

The service was very welcoming and observant. Prices are reasonable I would say.

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

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..!

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.

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.

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.

Cool spot to get some drinks, and dance. It has a small dance floor in the back. The upstairs bar is much more nice, and relaxed is you just want to hang out with some friends and chill over some drinks.

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! ^^

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!!

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.

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

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

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

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!

Had a bad experience

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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

Great place to have some fun

Awesome place... nuff said

Great place to dance

This place is totally wack!

Fun environment

Everyone was wonderful.

Awesome dancing venue.

Lit!!

Is it a gay bar?

Dead!

Great place !

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

Cool spot

Good dance club.

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.

Really nice.

Can anyone ever answer the phone???

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

Amazing bar

I think they dont like black people