Santa Barbara Inn

Had a fantastic stay here, this hotel deserves more than 3 stars, it’s a boutique hotel with great decor, view, comfy bed, service! Personally think it’s worth the higher price to get a room with a view, the ocean view from the balcony is amazing for sunset or enjoying breakfast. Sadly their restaurant isn’t great (have a separate review just for it), otherwise ordering room service and enjoy on the balcony would be a perfect start or end of a day. On the other hand, some rooms without ocean view faces the parking lot, with second level direct above garages, could be noisy during busy hours.

In town for a business meeting and spent three days at the Santa Barbara Inn. The location is great with easy access to the beach and the pier / downtown is a pleasant walk 1 mile down the ocean path. Staff was great, helpful and very friendly (especially at the bar) and room was nicely appointed, clean and a comfortable bed. Happy to stay here again when back in SB.

We stayed at the Santa Barbara Inn to celebrate a special occasion, and unfortunately did not have a good experience. I don’t usually speak up when I get bad service, but our time at the SB Inn was particularly disappointing. Here are the issues we experienced: 1. The Valet attendant when we arrived on Friday very loudly and rudely yelled at my spouse in her car for not pulling up enough. It shocked us both, and was completely unwarranted. It really upset her and made a bad first impression. 2. At check-in the gentleman working the desk was unorganized and didn’t even wish us congratulations, even though we were celebrating a special occasion which was on our reservation. 3. When we came back down to get service at the front desk because only one key worked, the front desk was unattended for a long period of time even though we could hear people talking behind the desk, and we had to yell for someone to come help us. 4. There is no coffee or tea complimentary in the room which was very inconvenient because of its limited availability. This seems very unreasonable when you consider we paid $550 a night, and even a cheaper or lesser quality hotel has coffee complimentary in the room. 5. The only coffee they have available in the lobby is bad quality, and is not even available all day. 6. When we expressed our concern about not having access to coffee all day, and that it was not available in the room, the front desk staff chose to use the opportunity to say how we should have come earlier, and very rudely minimized our concern. Instead of owning the situation, they chose to lecture us on how it was the restaurant’s fault, instead of trying to sympathize and apologize. They generally acted as if they didn’t care, and didn’t care about us. 7. The internet never worked for us during our stay. We tried multiple different ways to troubleshoot, such as disconnecting/reconnecting, restarting our devices, and turning off cellular data, but it still didn’t work. Because of this, we were not able to respond to pressing work-related emails, and had to go off property to get internet access. 8. The room furnishings, particularly in the bathroom, are cheap and worn. The floors are very thin and you hear everything above or below you. The quality of the room and its appearance should at least be relative to the price paid. In this instance, the price paid is not on par with the quality of room provided. 9. Lastly, was just generally had bad customer service at this property. The front of the house staff don’t seem to care about the guests or don’t seem interested in delivering good quality service. They care more about being right and lecturing you, then resolving issues with your stay. 10. There were also many low quality attributes which seemed out of place. Such as the restaurant staff doing silverware roll ups on the pool deck, food service staff having meetings on the pool deck / guest areas, staff not being at their posts when we need service, and repairs to the room below us taking place early in the morning without warning. When we were there to celebrate a special occasion, and paying $2,000 for 3 nights we expected a better quality of service.

1. We were not informed in advance about the train horn or the construction outside our window, nor were we made aware of how early it would start and the extent of the noise. It's notable that we were intentionally placed in that specific room without prior notification. 2. The concierge lacked attentiveness throughout our stay, and basic items like shoe polish were unavailable. Both the concierge and front desk showed a lack of interest in assisting or procuring these items, contributing to a less-than-ideal experience. 3. The front desk could have been more accommodating with upgrades, considering their availability. Additionally, a more flexible approach to checkout could have been offered, ultimately avoiding a negative checkout experience. 4. The checkout experience felt overly aggressive, and we felt harassed with constant knocks and calls from maids and staff, despite having arranged an extension in advance. The persistence seemed unnecessary, creating the impression that they were eager for us to leave. It was like they were counting the seconds until we were gone. 5. No in room dining menu. 6. The restaurant prices were excessively high, and even as guests, there was no discount or incentive to choose the hotel restaurant for any meal. 7. When we requested additional water bottles from the hotel staff, they only provided us with one. 8. The entire floor had a persistent bacon smell for an entire day, which was particularly nauseating for us, considering one person has a severe pork allergy and the other is forbidden from consuming pork in any way. 9. Despite the high rating, we were surprised by the hotel's overall performance. The fantastic location was a highlight, and we appreciated the free parking across the street. However, the idea of paying nearly $60 to park at our own hotel seemed absurd, especially considering the lack of self-parking options and the mandatory overnight parking fee. 10. Surprisingly, the valet staff, despite not using their services, were the most welcoming during our stay. Comparing this to a recent experience at the Shangri-La, it's striking how hotels with similar pricing can vary significantly in both value and customer service. We were overall disappointed with our experience, and unfortunately, we won't be choosing to stay at the Santa Barbara Inn again.

Had a great stay here. Great location with the beach being right across the street. The rooms are spacious and clean. The front desk staff were polite and the cleaning crew does a great job! Food at the restaurant Convivo was delicious! Be sure to book an ocean view room, otherwise the view from the attached balcony can be underwhelming. Overall a great place to relax in Santa Barbara.

By far the best hotel in the area. The staff, the food, and a 7th Floor room where all what I would call Exceptional. This is where we'll be staying when we visit anywhere within 40 miles of this hotel. Kathy, Andrew, Kelly and the Front Desk Team treated us like we were special guests. Visit Bonelli Park when staying here for a peaceful beautiful place to walk.

First the great. Staff are wonderful. Convivo restaurant is amazing. Breakfasts fantastic, both food and coffee. Renee and Carlos were special servers. Really efficient and friendly. Now the not so great! Room was clean but with rather dated looking furniture and horrendous view of telephone wires, delivery trucks and garbage area. We didn't book an ocean view but the ad said ALL rooms had ocean OR mountain view. We were part of a wedding party and booked six months ago. For $475 a night, we were shocked. Also, the toiletries were not a luxurious brand as supplied by other hotels with lower prices. My husband and I are world travelers and have experienced many top notch hotels. Sadly, apart from the staff and restaurant, Santa Barbara Inn isn't one of them.