READERS RECOMMEND: HOTELS : R & R UNDER $100 : Tired of hearing about high-priced hotels? We asked our readers to reveal their favorite California lodgings with rooms less than $100. Here are the 71 top vote-getters.

What does $100 buy anymore? Forty-seven Big Macs. Three or four months of cellular phone service. Admission to 13 first-run movies, if you can find 13 first-run movies you want to see.

Or you can spend that hundred the way we would--on an adventure, and a night out of town at a reasonably priced hotel. And thanks to feedback from this section’s readers, you hold in your hands an extensive list of the best under-$100 hotels in California.

In the weeks since we asked for nominations (and offered a $100 prize) on Dec. 17, suggestions have arrived by fax and mail, from Irvine and Encino and Seattle and Santa Barbara and Honolulu and Pennsylvania. Two correspondents recommended hotels to which they’d fled during the riots of 1992. Another submitted her nomination in the name of her late father, who loved contests. And R. Stapleton of Lucerne Valley wrote to tell us that “I know two places, one in Monterey, one in Palm Springs. But I’m not going to tell you. That is selfish, I know, but I don’t want to spoil them with overpopulation.

Sorry, really.”

Once we’d weeded out the illegible and the inadmissible, we had 890 ballots naming hundreds of favorite hotels, motels, inns, lodges, spas and B&Bs;, all of which rent rooms, at least occasionally, for under $100.

Inside this issue, you’ll find the best of them--71 lodgings statewide.

Each hotel on our list drew votes from at least three readers, but the most popular of all was the Apple Farm Inn, a shrewdly located, billboard-advertised, well-groomed San Luis Obispo institution that lies alongside U.S. 101, 201 miles northwest of Los Angeles and 240 miles southeast of San Francisco. It drew 26 nominations.

Owners Bob and Katy Davis took over a restaurant on the site in 1977, renamed it Apple Farm, then added a hotel in 1988. A few years later, the Davises added a neighboring property, the former Franciscan Motel, and dubbed it the Trellis Court. Guests can now choose either the countrified 69-room inn, where free spiced apple cider is on tap all day in the lobby, or the less costly 34-room Trellis Court, which is more spartan but nevertheless features a gas fireplace in each room. Inn rates begin at $95; Trellis Court rates begin at $80.

“Loving, personal atmosphere,” wrote readers Jerry and Ruth Humphries of Simi Valley, in a typical endorsement for the hotel. Another Simi Valley resident, Jennifer Zimmer, took particular note of the canopy beds and fresh flowers at the Apple Farm Trellis Court, and labeled the place “charming, romantic and relaxing.”

The second-place vote-getter lies south, in the heart of suburban Southern California: the Country Side Inn & Suites Newport Beach (which actually stands in the city of Costa Mesa), one of eight properties in the Southern California chain of Country Side Inns.

Most of the Costa Mesa Country Side Inn’s weekday customers are business travelers. But the 10-year-old, 278-room hotel caters to vacationing couples on weekends, and like the Apple Farm, aims for coziness: Free fresh-baked cookies are offered daily; rooms feature four-poster beds; walkways are done in cobblestones, and furnishings are calculated to yield an unstuffy European country atmosphere.

On nights of lowest occupancy, the Country Side Inn’s rates begin at $69. It got 24 votes (and one from an employee, which we threw out). Among its supporters were Peter and Patricia Meursinge of Downey, who first enountered the hotel as the site of his 50th high-school class reunion, then returned on their own in December.

(Footnote for the suspicious: Our poll did not forbid hotels from encouraging reader nominations, but both top vote-getters said they did no campaigning. Managers at the Apple Farm said they had been unaware of the contest.)

Next in popularity came a threesome, each with strong coastal credentials: the Dana Point Hilton in Orange County; the Montecito Inn along high-toned Coast Village Road; and the Cliff House between Ventura and Santa Barbara.

Other favorites fell into all sorts of categories. There were historic buildings such as Riverside’s Mission Inn (lavish stonework), San Francisco’s Queen Anne Hotel (lavish woodwork) and Ventura’s Bella Maggiore Inn (stonework again, this time near the antique shops of Ventura’s Main Street). There were urban hotels in handy places, including 13 San Francisco lodgings, most of them within a few blocks of the city’s Union Square shopping area.

And there were many hotels with scenic sites, most obviously the Wawona Hotel and Yosemite Lodge in Yosemite National Park, but also a remarkable five neighbors along coastal Cambria’s hotel row: the Blue Dolphin Inn, the Fogcatcher Inn, the San Pebbles Inn, the San Simeon Pines Resort Motel and the Sea Otter Inn, all on Moonstone Beach Drive.

(For a look at readers’ reasons, see the Travel Insider column on page L2.)

We held our $100 prize drawing from reader ballots on Feb. 8. The winner was theatrical director Jeremiah Morris of Sherman Oaks, who might choose to spend his winnings at his favorite under-$100 lodging, the Villa Rosa in Santa Barbara.

(A returning visitor for more than a decade, he praised the 18-room Villa Rosa for its bougainvillea-filled courtyard, blazing fireplaces and the roses left on guest pillows. His preferred room is No. 5 on the first floor.

About hotel prices: Some of these lodgings, such as the Imperial Hotel in Amador City (east of Sacramento) keep their prices beneath $100 all the time. Others, such as the Korakia Pensione in Palm Springs, offer some rates below $100 and some above, depending on the room, day and season. Still other hotels, such as Santa Barbara’s Villa Rosa, maintain brochure rates over $100, but regularly offer off-season, weekday-night rates of $85. In most cases, readers can get a better rate by showing an American Automobile Assn. card.

A committed bargain hunter, however, probably wouldn’t stop there. Here are three further tips to remember:

* Your reservationist may have been trained not to mention any discounts, including special packages, unless you ask.

* When business is slow, it’s not out of order to haggle. (It may pay to call a hotel’s local number, rather than its 800 line because local reservationists usually have more leeway to offer discounts than an operator at a central office.)

* Finally, those discount books sold by Entertainment Publications and others (usually $30-$50 per year) can shave up to 50% off hotel rates. Keep in mind, however, that those programs usually concentrate on middle-range hotels, with not much available among low-end or high-end lodgings. Also, remember that most participating hotels only offer deep discounts when they expect occupancy to be beneath 80%.

*

Note: Hotels listed below are recommended by readers and have not been checked out by the Travel staff. Rates listed are primarily for double occupancy and are based on availability. Entertainment and other coupon books may offer further discounts. Special promotional rates are sometimes obtainable only if the advertised name of the package is mentioned to reservation clerks. Many properties also offer corporate discounts.

NO. CALIFORNIA

Amador City

Imperial Hotel, 14202 Highway 49, tel. (800) 242-5594 or (209) 267-9172, fax (209) 267-9249. Rates: $65-$95.

Sonora

Serenity B&B;, 15305 Bear Cub Drive, tel. (800) 426-1441 or (209) 533-1441.Rates: $90-$120 winter (when the fireplaces are on), $90-$95 spring through early fall.

Yosemite

Wawona Hotel, 27 miles south of Yosemite Valley, 8 miles from Mariposa Grove of Big Trees, tel. (209) 252-4848. Rates: $68.25-$91.35. Winter B&B; rate: $74.94.

Yosemite Lodge, three-quarter mile west of Park Headquarters, near foot of Yosemite Falls, tel. (209) 252-4848. Rates: $73.75-$98.25.

BAY AREA

San Francisco

The Abigail Hotel, 246 McAllister St., tel. (800) 243-6510 or(415) 861-9728, fax (415) 861-5848. Rates: $74-$125.

Adelaide Inn, 5 Isadora Duncan, tel. (415) 441-2261, fax (415) 441-0161. Rates: $38-$54.

Beresford Arms Hotel, 701 Post St., tel. (800) 533-6533 or (415) 673-2600, fax (415) 474-0449. Rates: $89-$99.

Chancellor Hotel, 433 Powell St., tel. (800) 428-4748 or (415) 362-2004, fax (415) 362-1403. Rates: $105-$125. $98-$107 with AAA and AARP discounts. Some seasonal packages bring rates to $79-$99.

Cornell Hotel, 715 Bush St., tel. (800) 232-9698 or (415) 421-3154, fax (415) 399-1442. Rates: $70-$95.

Cow Hollow Motor Inn, 2190 Lombard St., tel. (415) 921-5800, fax (415) 922-8515. Rates: $73-$225.

The Golden Gate Hotel, 775 Bush St., tel. (415) 392-3702, fax (415) 392-6202. Rates: $59-$89.

King George Hotel, 334 Mason St., tel. (800) 288-6005 or (415) 781-5050. Rates: $115-$125. AAA discount 10%. Seasonal promotion rate: $99.

Queen Anne Hotel, 1590 Sutter St., tel. (800) 227-3970 or (415) 441-2828, fax (415) 775-5212. Rates: $89-$275.

Savoy Hotel, 580 Geary St., tel. (800) 227-4223 or (415) 441-2700, fax (415) 441-2700. Rates: $105-195. AAA discount rate: $75. Seasonal packages start at $75.

Shannon Court Hotel, 550 Geary St., tel. (800) 228-8830 or (415) 775-5000, fax (415) 928-6813. Rate: $120. Promotional rate: $90-$98. AAA rate: $90. Senior citizen rate: $85.

Sheehan Hotel, 620 Sutter St., tel. (800) 848-1529 or (415) 775-6500, fax (415) 775-3271. Rates: $65-$99.

Washington Square Inn, 1660 Stockton St., tel. (415) 981-4220, (800) 388-0220, fax (415) 397-7242. Rates: $95-$185.

CENTRAL CALIFORNIA

Bishop

Chalfant House, 213 Academy St., tel. (619) 872-1790. Rates: $60-$90.

Coalinga

Inn at Harris Ranch, Route 1, Box 777 (adjacent to Interstate 5), tel. (800) 942-BEEF, (209) 935-0717, fax (209) 935-5061. Rates: $86-$225. 10% off with AAA or AARP card.

Cambria

Blue Dolphin Inn, 6470 Moonstone Beach Drive, tel. (805) 927-3300, fax (805) 927-7311. Rates: $95-$195.

Cambria Pines Lodge, 2905 Burton Drive, tel. (800) 445-6868 or (805) 927-4200, fax (805) 927-4016. Rates: $75-$125. 10% off with AAA or AARP card.

Fogcatcher Inn, 6400 Moonstone Beach Drive, tel. (800) 425-4121 or (805) 927-1400, fax (805) 927-0204. Rates: $90-$160. 10% off with AAA.

Sand Pebbles Inn, 6252 Moonstone Beach Drive, tel. (805) 927-5600, fax (805) 927-0393. Winter rates (Nov.1-March 30): $75-$175. Summer, weekends: $95-$210.

San Simeon Pines Resort Motel, 7200 Moonstone Beach Drive, tel. (805) 927-4648. Rates: $74-$102.

Sea Otter Inn, 6656 Moonstone Beach Drive, tel. (805) 927-5888. Rates: $50-$100. After May 31: $80-$120.

Mammoth

Snow Goose B&B; Inn, 57 Forest Trail (1 block west on Highway 203, 1 block north on Forest Trail), (800) 874-7368 or (619) 934-2660, fax (619) 934-5655. Rates: $58-$98.

Morro Bay

Inn at Morro Bay, 60 State Park Road, tel. (800) 321-9566 or (805) 772-5651, fax (805) 772-4779. Rates: $95-$205. $89-$169 with AAA card.

Nipomo

Kaleidoscope Inn, 130 E. Dana, tel. (805) 929-5444. Rate: $80.

Pismo Beach

Kon Tiki Inn, 1621 Price St., tel. (805) 773-4833, (805) 773-6541. Rates: $80-$90.

Best Western Shore Cliff Lodge, 2555 Price St., tel. (800) 441-8885 or (805) 773-4671, fax (805) 773-2341. Rates: $85-$90.

Sea Crest Resort Motel, 2241 Price St., tel. (800) 782-8400 or (805) 773-4608, fax (805) 773-4525. Rates: $55-$135.

Spyglass Inn, 2705 Spyglass Drive, tel. (800) 824-2612 or (805) 773-4855, fax (805) 773-5298. Rates: $48-$68 weekdays, $89-$119 weekends. 10% AAA discount.

San Luis Obispo

Apple Farm Inn and Trellis Court, 2015 Monterey St., tel. (800) 255-2040 or (805) 544-2040, fax (805) 546-9495. Main inn: $95-$165 weekdays, $160-$225 weekends. Trellis Court: $80-$120 weekdays, $90-$130 weekends. $20 off for seniors Sun.-Thurs.

Adobe Inn, 1473 Monterey St., tel. (800) 676-1588 or (805) 549-0321, fax (805) 549-0383. Rates (with full breakfast): Winter (Nov.-March), $49-$75; spring/summer (April-Oct.), $55-$95.

Santa Maria

Santa Maria Inn, 801 S. Broadway, tel. (800) 462-4276 or (805) 928-7777, fax (805) 928-5690. Rates: $107 (original property) and $130 (new tower wing). AAA and senior discounts: $69 and $79.

Springville

Annie’s B&B;, 33024 Globe Drive, tel. (209) 539-3827, fax (209) 539-2179. Rates: $85 double, $75 single, including breakfast.

SANTA BARBARA / VENTURA

Carpinteria

Prufrock’s Garden Inn, 600 Linden Ave., tel. (805) 566-9696. Rates: $59-$139.

Montecito

Miramar Hotel, 1555 S. Jameson Lane, tel. (800) 322-6983 or (805) 969-2203, fax (805) 969-3163. Rates: $75-$145; cottages more.

Montecito Inn, 1295 Coast Village Road, tel. (805) 969-7854, (800) 843-2017, fax (805) 969-0623. Rates: $150-$625. Weekday (Sun.-Thurs.) specials: from $88. AAA and seniors: 20% off weekdays.

Ojai

Ojai Manor Hotel, 210 E. Matilija St., tel. (805) 646-0961. Rates: $90-$100, includes breakfast buffet. 15% senior discounts.

Ojai Valley Inn, Country Club Road, tel. (800) 422-6524 or (805) 646-5511, fax (805) 646-7969. Rates: $195-260. AAA discount: $99 Sun.-Thurs. Seniors, 10% off.

Oxnard

Casa Sirena Marina Resort, 3605 Peninsula Road, tel. (800) 228-6026 or (805) 985-6311. Rates: $110-$160. AAA, AARP or senior rates: $69-$89.

Santa Barbara

Cathedral Oaks Lodge, 4770 Calle Real, tel. (800) 654-1965 or (805) 964-3511, fax (805) 964-0075. Rates: $75-$120. 10% off for AAA, seniors.

Franciscan Inn, 109 Bath St., tel. (805) 963-8845, fax (805) 564-3295. Rates: $60-$175.

Villa Rosa, 15 Chapala St., tel. (805) 966-0851, fax (805) 962-7159. Rates: $100-$210 weekends, $85-$185 weekdays.

Country Inn by the Sea, 128 Castillo St., tel. (800) 455-4647 or (805) 963-4471, fax (805) 962-2633. Rates: Winter, $79-$189; mid-May through Sept., $89-$229.

Port Hueneme

Country Inn at Port Hueneme, 350 E. Hueneme Road, tel. (800) 44R-ELAX or (805) 986-5353, fax (805) 986-4399. Rates: $120-$155. AAA discount: $76 midweek, $69 weekend. Winter special (until Feb. 29): $69.

Santa Paula

Fern Oaks Inn, 1025 Ojai Road, tel. (805) 525-7747. Rates: $85-$100 Mon.-Thurs., $95-$110 Fri.-Sun., includes breakfast.

Solvang

Danish Country Inn, 1455 Mission Drive, tel. (800) 44R-ELAX or (805) 688-2018, fax (805) 688-1156. Rates: $150-$175. AAA midweek discount $67, weekend $81; winter getaway Sun.-Thurs. $69, Fri.-Sat. $79.

Solvang Royal Scandinavian Inn, 400 Alisal Road, tel. (800) 624-5572 or (805) 688-8000, fax (805) 688-0761. Rates: $91-$145. AAA, AARP 25% off Sun.-Thurs.

Ventura

Bella Maggiore Inn, 67 S. California St., tel. (800) 523-8479or (805) 652-0277, fax (805) 648-2150. Rates: $75-$150, includes full breakfast. 10% AAA discount.

Country Inn at Ventura, 298 Chestnut St., tel. (800) 44R-ELAX or (805) 653-1434, fax (805) 648-7126. Rates: $109-$179. AAA, winter special: $69.

Doubletree Hotel at Ventura, 2055 Harbor Blvd., tel. (800) 222-8733 or (805) 643-6000, fax (805) 643-7137. Rate: $139. AAA members, $79 (includes breakfast); AARP members, $69 (no breakfast).

Cliff House Inn, 6602 W. Pacific Coast Highway, tel. (800) 892-5433 or (805) 684-0025, fax (805) 652-1201. Rates: $75-$160. Discounts Sun.-Thur., romance package: $85.

LOS ANGELES COUNTY

El Segundo

Hacienda Hotel at LAX, 525 N. Sepulveda Blvd., tel. (800) 262-1314 or (310) 615-0015, fax (310) 615-0217. Rates: $43-$63. 10% off for AAA, AARP.

Los Angeles

Inn at Playa del Rey, 435 Culver Blvd., tel. (310) 574-1920, fax (310) 574-9920. Rates: $85-$200, includes breakfast.

Manhattan Beach

Barnabey’s Hotel, 3501 N. Sepulveda Blvd., tel. (800) 552-5285 or (310) 545-8466, fax (310) 545-8621. Rates: $144-$159, weekends $98-$113. AAA and seniors rate: $97.

Santa Monica

Channel Road Inn Bed and Breakfast, 219 W. Channel Road, tel. (310) 459-1920; fax (310) 454-9920. Rates: $95-$225.

PALM SPRINGS/RIVERSIDE

Idyllwild

Creekstone Inn, 54950 Pine Crest Ave., tel. (800) 409-2127 or (909) 659-3342. Rates: $85-$135, includes breakfast. Midweek special (includes dinner): $132.50.

Palm Springs

Korakia Bed & Breakfast, 257 S. Patencio Road, tel. (619) 864-6411. Rates: $79-$169.

Hyatt Regency Suites Palm Springs, 285 N. Palm Canyon Drive, tel. (800) 233-1234 or (619) 322-9000, fax (619) 322-6009. Rates: $179-$300. Seniors 65 and up: $100.

Villa Royale Bed and Breakfast Inn, 1620 Indian Trail, tel. (800) 245-2314 or (619) 327-2314, fax (619) 322-3794. Rates: $75-$250. Summer rates: $69-$238.

Riverside

Mission Inn, 3649 Mission Inn Ave., tel. (800) 843-7755 or (909) 784-0300, fax (909) 683-1342. Rates (recently increased): $105-$549. 25% off with AAA or AARP card.

ORANGE COUNTY

Costa Mesa

Country Side Inn & Suites Newport Beach, 325 Bristol St., tel. (800) 322-9992 or (714) 549-0300, fax (714) 662-0828. Rates: $140-$220. Standard room with AAA, AARP, other discounts $69-$120.

Dana Point

Dana Point Hilton and All Suite Inn, 34402 Pacific Coast Highway, tel. (800) 634-4586 or (714) 661-1100, fax (714) 489-0628. Rates: winter $79-$125, summer $99-$165. Suite Getaway package: $69 per suite the first night, $59 thereafter). AAA, AARP discounts.

Laguna Beach

Casa Laguna Inn, 2510 S. Coast Highway, tel. (800) 233-0449 or (714) 494-2996, fax (714) 494-5009. Rates: Winter (through Mar. 31), $69-$105; spring/fall, $69-$120; summer $105-$120. AAA discount.

SAN DIEGO COUNTY

Cardiff by the Sea

Country Side Inn, 1661 Villa Cardiff Drive, tel. (800) 322-9993 or (619) 944-0427, fax (619) 944-7708. Rates: $65-$95 (higher July through Labor Day).

San Diego

Best Western Hacienda Hotel Old Town, 4041 Harney St., tel. (800) 888-1991 or (619) 298-4707, fax (619) 298-4771. Rates: $105-115, weekdays from $79. AAA members: $85-$95; AARP members 10% off. Special packages.

Ramada Plaza Hotel Old Town, 2435 Jefferson St., tel. (800) 255-3544 or (619) 260-8500, fax (619) 297-2078. Rates: $69-$109. AAA members: $59-$79 weekdays. AARP and package discounts.

Vacation Inn Old Town, 3900 Old Town Ave., tel. (800) 451-9846 or (619) 299-7400, (619) 299-1619. Rates: Off-season (Sept. 4-May 23), $75.50-$83.50; summer (May 24-Sept. 3) $89.50-$99.50. AAA members 10% off; AARP 20% off.

Dulzura

Brookside Farm, 1373 Marron Valley Road, tel. (619) 468-3043. Rates: $80-$115. Sun.-Thurs, dinner included.