Hotel Californian

Great, clean room and staff very friendly1

Great location, good sized rooms and amenities. A couple of the staff weren’t as friendly as they could be.

The rooms were nicer than on the hotel pictures. They were large and recently renovated. The location is great. The hotel itself is very charming.

It was such an amazing hotel!! They really do everything right. I can’t wait to go back.

The room itself was genuinely beautiful: stylish, comfortable, well designed and absolutely in line with what I expected from a hotel in this category. Unfortunately, that was by far the best part of the stay. Almost everything outside the room felt completely at odds with a five-star hotel. The overall atmosphere was surprisingly downmarket and lacked any sense of refinement or luxury. We attended the hotel’s “social hour”, which was horrible, and even found rubbish inside the hotel elevator. We then went up to the rooftop expecting a sophisticated five-star setting, only to encounter a very casual, teenage atmosphere, with people drinking from plastic cups. It was honestly depressing given the price and positioning of the hotel. The surrounding area was also a huge disappointment and felt dramatically different from the elegant, upscale Santa Barbara I remembered from previous visits. The staff were polite, but politeness alone is not five-star hospitality. There was very little initiative, personal attention or genuine effort to understand what would suit us. It was obvious that I had returned to the hotel extremely disappointed with the area, and I specifically asked for a restaurant recommendation that would be clean, sophisticated and genuinely upscale. Despite explaining exactly what I was looking for, I was sent to Lark, which turned out to be completely wrong for us and only made the evening worse. At this level, I expect more than a beautiful bedroom. I expect judgement, service, atmosphere, attention to detail and a team capable of reading the guest and making appropriate recommendations. None of that was there. For the amount of money we spent, the overall experience was profoundly disappointing. The contrast between the excellent room and everything surrounding it was extraordinary.

The room was excellent. The location was excellent. They had a Jacuzzi and a nice pool. The spa was minimal. The services were excellent only a steam room. I wouldn’t call it a five star.

Amazing stay! Had a great time, loved the pool and location! Staff was amazing!

Exceptional

If you are looking for a peaceful break, then this is not the hotel for you. While conveniently located, the hotel suffers badly with noise issues. From an excessively loud train horn that starts at 6:50 am every morning and continues throughout the day, to trash collection right outside your room at 6:00 am, to a street cleaning truck that runs a loud pressure cleaning motor, don’t expect to sleep in. The insulation on the windows is poor and the noise too much for a restful stay. For those wondering, this occurred on every one of the four mornings we were there.

Very good

O booked with you the highest rate room with views of ocean and i got court yard room Prices vs value And 3 days after i checked out they charged me $25 for a laundry bag that i had put my dirty cloths in…$1500 per night of stay and i cant have a laundry bag?

Exceptional

Very nice downtown Santa Barbara hotel! 5 stars.

The property was very clean. The staff was not very knowledgeable or helpful. The tvs don’t work for streaming devices we had their engineer Eric, who was excellent, try to fix the tv but couldn’t. The setting is antiquated. The walls are too thin and you can hear everything. The pool had a party, we stayed in the pool building and it was so loud and thumping we reconsidered moving hotels. The restaurants have strange hours and do not appear to be a part of the hotel. The building configuration is hard to maneuver and even harder to get help from staff. The front desk and the texting service was useless. Overall very disappointing and definitely not a five star hotel.

The property is very well- located and very well-appointed. Rooms are fantastic and beautiful with everything you need. The staff is very friendly and attentive. I love staying there!

Lovely stay in a great location

check in was chaotic . She gave us a quick overview of the property, which is more of a compound and not super easy to figure out, but failed to provide the map. The biggest issues was the room wasn't ready till well after 4:00. They were supposed to update us, with a call and they didn't. We were left waiting in reception for a half hour and kept having to wait in line for reception.

Superb

location was amazing, probably best about the hotel room and bathroom were both lovely staff was very nice lack of nice breakfast option inside the hotel but there was a good restaurant nearby that served great breakfast

Property is beautiful. Service was amazing definitely one of the best hotels I’ve stayed in. Walking distance to pier, bars and eateries. Turn down service on point will definitely be coming back. Only downside is that if you’re staying in the main building where check in you have to cross the street to go to the pool which is not convenient. Pool is rather small not everyone is getting in. Should have a pool side bar to add entertainment to make up for the pool size