Hotel Californian

Great location and views but the service, especially for a 5 star hotel was not great. There is no one to greet you at the door, no coffee in the lobby, no one helping you set up at the pool, no extra care or service taken as you would expect for the price and 5 star hotel. The rooms are fine but there’s nowhere to hang even hang a hand towel. Also asking for extra towels etc. took A long time to get. The pool area is much smaller than it appears to be in photos. There’s barely any staff around. It’s very confusing. What makes this a five star hotel? We even walked into a three star down the street and the front desk attendant greeted us right away, offered us coffee and tea in the lobby and that was only a three star hotel. The location is beautiful, but I would look elsewhere.

This is a super cute boutique hotel on State street. Located in a prime location and walking distance to the wharf, shops, and dining. They offer courtesy golf cart service to downtown for shopping, dining, and even a movie theater! Great for couples and family. We even did movie on the roof top. The pool is on a smaller end, but perfect for small groups. I experienced their spa for a massage and it was fantastic.

Our stay has been absolutely wonderful. The surprise bottle of sparkling wine for my wife's birthday and personal note was next level and very appreciated. Santa Barbara has given us great memories and they started here at Hotel Californian. A big thank you to the full team from valet parking to front desk to nightly room service. Everyone has been amazing. We look forward to coming back.

The location of this resort could not be better - restaurants, bars, public transportation, ample wine tasting rooms, shopping, coffee shops, etc are all walking distance and the resort is practically oceanfront with views of the ocean and SB pier. Staff is very prompt with any requests and never hesitate to help out. Room service was always delivered promptly and still warm. Hotel rooms are modern, Spanish styled with a fun twist. Incredibly comfortable and lux beds and pillows. I have very sensitive skin but the products they provided in the bathrooms were quite nice. Complimentary wine tastings come with your stay but are located in Santa Ynez - definitely recommend going if you have the time.||Upon check in, Amber at the front desk was very knowledgeable and made sure we were all situated from the get go and made us feel very special about choosing this location for our honeymoon. The valet and bell boys were all incredibly helpful and prompt, I never had to lift a finger when they were around. I wish I would have gotten all their names but there truly was not a bad egg in the bunch. We also had Juan from maintenance stop by to fix something that ended up not being broken (user error) and he was very kind and helpful still.||Will definitely be staying here again in the future!

My wife and I got married at the Hotel Californian this past May. The entire staff took great care of us, from the valet to the front desk and servers, everyone was patient, kind, and helpful to make sure our celebration was perfect. Even though there were multiple weddings happening at the same time on site, they were well-staffed, the food was on time, and there were no surprises or extra added charges the day of. Thank you to Mary and Mara for being so helpful in the year+ of preparation and making sure everything went so smoothly!

Staying at the Hotel Californian is exceptional. Not only is it a fabulous location and a beautiful hotel, but the service is perfection. They care. They are professional. They deliver. The most notable thing about this hotel though is their valet staff. The service provided by their valet staff is like no other. It is professional, but not stuffy. Friendly and efficient. They do it all right!

Great long weekend getaway. We loved the room and enjoyed the pool and poolside eats. Great location with stunning views and amazing property. Can't wait to come back again. Highly recommend for a long weekend getaway or with kids. Pet friendly.

Wanted to like this hotel more, but felt that it fell below expectations on cleanliness. When I got into the room, there was a stray towel on the floor, unclear if it was from a prior guest. Multiple towels hanging in the bath had stains on them. Even the replacement towels had stains. Seems that there should be a review of the linens and replacement, as needed. Also, the Internet was incredibly slow, to the point that it was impossible to work from the hotel room. Expected a bit more from a hotel that was charging $1,300 per night!

We had a wonderful two night stay at this hotel. The entire staff was kind, respectful and courteous. Valet promptly assisted with my vehicle as well as getting it charged at night. The rooms are spacious and clean. I would definitely come back. If you have the Amex Platinum card and you book through Amex you will be greeted at the lobby with all the info/perks such as: late check out, hotel credits, dining credits etc. I'm not sure if they do this for all guests but the note & macarons were a sweet touch.

The service from staff. For a room that cost $1,000 per night, both one young woman at the front desk and the valets were brusque and officious. We would expected them to go out of their way to make guests comfortable. The rooms were nice and the view fantastic. Rooms needed more outlets

We held our wedding room block at Hotel Californian May 2024 and personally stayed in the Magellan Suite. Three days prior to checking in, Caroline Cummings (the sales and catering manager), emailed my wedding coordinator and told her that we were not allowed to take photos on Hotel Californian property (other than inside our hotel room) unless we paid a $1,000 photography fee. Apparently, if you aren't hosting your actual wedding at the hotel, you need to pay a fee to take photos. This was extremely infuriating because #1 nowhere in any contract we signed or anywhere on the website is this fee mentioned. #2 over the course of a weekend, our guests gave Hotel Californian $14k+ in room venue, plus spent at least $1k at their bar. And now they're asking for more money just to take some photos? #3 she told us this DAYS before check-in for our wedding weekend which is pretty unprofessional and inconsiderate. She knew it was our wedding room block, but failed to tell us about this fee and decided to wait until the last minute. Don't you think if a bride and groom are staying at a hotel they're going to take photos? But also this fee isn't outlined ANYWHERE, so it felt like she just made it up. She tried to "work with us" by reducing it down to $500 but we refused to pay. So future brides beware: Hotel Californian will try and pull the rug out from underneath you and throw random, last minute fees at you if you aren't holding your actual wedding here. Other than that, our experience was really nice! Our guests loved the hotel and the service was great. The Magellan Suite was perfect for getting ready with my bridesmaids and we had plenty of room. The couch in the room was kind of disgusting though (it had a few stains and rips on it) but we just threw a blanket over it. Amber at the front desk was AMAZING. She was so kind and helped check all our guests in super quickly and seamlessly. Also Justin helping to park cars was wonderful. All in all, I hate to leave anything other than a 5 star review because the hotel was great! But the experience we had with Caroline Cummings was so frustrating and negative. It really left a bad taste which is unfortunate.

Loved our one night stay the day before July 4th. Expensive up price for the busy weekend but booking with amex we were able to check in a little past noon and also got a complimentary room upgrade. The room and building feels lux and they have a nice bar, wine tasting room, brunch, and dinner restaurant as well as food and drinks available at the pool. I thought the bed was comfortable and liked the shampoo and conditioner and body lotion brand provided. They also r stocked with alcohol! Overall enjoyed our stay and hope to be back again next year.

My friend and I recently stayed at Hotel Californian for a girls night/staycation and it was amazing! Every little detail is so glamorous and unique. The room was very spacious with a king bed, large L-shaped couch and desk space. The in-room bar has a lot of options and is reasonably priced. We took advantage of the robes and slippers that are provided for full relaxation mode. I loved that the entire shower was marble. We didn't get a chance to use the rooftop pool or bar but hope to come back again to use enjoy those as well. Centrally located in the Funk Zone, it's walking distance to many great restaurants, tasting rooms, bars and the beach!

This hotel is great for its location. You're paying top dollar so you can walk to restaurants, shops, pier, etc. Otherwise, it was just ok. The room we stayed in was right below the bar, and it was super loud during the weekend, although it did quiet down relatively early. We spent two nights, and we never even got a proper cleaning since we came back at 4pm and it wasn't done, so we just said forget it. Rooms are modest in size and the decor is modern. I wouldn't stay again, but if you do stay there, take advantage of the location and walk everywhere. Pet friendly.

Hello Again, My name is Lily and I have placed a review below about my experience regarding the ROACHES in my room on MY WEDDING NIGHT on 9.24.2023. This is an update on my experience and their response. HOTEL CALIFORNIAN IS SAYING I AM HARASSING THEM WITH FALSE CLAIMS AND THEY ARE LYING. They destroyed what was supposed to be the most special day of my life. They have reported to the BBB that I was the one who brought in the roaches. This company does not care about anything but money. They do not care about your stay and they will discriminate you based on your race and appearance. There is another bug claim under Amanda. Sounds like she had the same experience as I did so clearly this hotel has an INFESTATION PROBLEM. My room was messy because we were doing hair and makeup on my wedding day and moving things from one room to another. They made me sleep in a infested room until the morning when the room across the hall was smaller was available the entire time. The larger room was per my request because they had downgraded me on MY WEDDING DAY. They ruined my entire wedding schedule so YES... I asked for an additional day instead of SUING THEM and CALLING THE POLICE like I should have. Below are photographs of their claims. The food was a bag of chips and the covered chocolate strawberries they provided during my arrival. My luggage was in the corner or the room sealed because I did not want roaches crawling in my luggage. My bed was not made because we were too busy with wedding vendors. I am pretty sure housekeeping should have taken care of this. I asked to keep both rooms because we could not fit my makeup artist and three bridesmaids and a flower girl in room smaller than 320 sq ft. The additional night is something I had to BEG FOR because they had the audacity to ask me to pay half rate for the another night or check out at 8pm. I also want to add that when we got the larger room I had to call in maintenance because the key card reader didn't work. ALL ON MY WEDDING WEEKEND!! So yes!! Asking now for a full refund is perfectly acceptable. WHICH AS OF NOW NO ONE HAS CALLED TO APOLOGIZE OR COMPENSATE FOR MY TROUBLES.

For paying $1000/night, this was the most sub par experience I've had for a "luxury hotel" The location is prime, but the hotel itself was nothing special. There was a lot of bugs in our room. I killed two in the bathroom, and thought nothing of it. "Sure they must have just snuck in" When we finally rested our heads on our pillows and looked up, two big bugs crawling above us. They eventually went into the vent, but for paying $1000 for one night! Pretty unacceptable. I couldn't really sleep knowing those creepy crawlers were around. No coffee or espresso machines in the rooms. For the price, definitely better off staying at a cheaper hotel in the same area

UPDATE: In response to Joseph: You are not providing an apology I see your hotel will not take accountability for the inconvenience this has caused us and instead deflected it back upon me which is very insulting. I have traveled to other places in preparation of my wedding day and never had this experience. If in fact, we would have brought roaches in our room please explain how the other rooms that were provided that day did not contain ROACHES. I am very disappointed with your response. This has caused me irreconcilable hardship on a day that was supposed to be memorable and happy. (FIND REPONSE ON GOOGLE REVIEWS) IF YOU ARE THINKING TO STAY HERE FOR YOUR WEDDING WEEKEND, PLEASE BEWARE. _______________________________________ I have very mixed emotions about staying at this hotel. I first have to say this was MY WEDDING WEEKEND (9.22.23-9.26.23) when all of this happened, and I truly expected a lot more from this hotel. I gave them plenty of opportunity to try and go above and beyond over the situation and they just swept a lot of my issues under the rug. If I hadn't required anything from them, they would not have offered to help. WE FOUND ROACHES IN OUR BATHROOM. The first two nights we were so excited and didn't think to check the room thoroughly because we never thought something like this would happen at a "five-star hotel". We were greeted with chocolate covered strawberries and a bottle of wine. We were so happy because had saved up for 2 years to have the best wedding weekend. By the third day (OUR WEDDING DAY 9.24.23) I woke up at 4am to use the restroom only to find baby roaches and a larger roach crawling over and underneath the bathroom mats. One had crawled into my makeup bag and a larger one we found by the wall of the tv. At that point I knew the whole room was infested with roaches! I cried my eyes out! The photos I posted are after I squashed them. I called the front desk, and they couldn't move me into any rooms because they were at full capacity, but he would try and put us in a larger room. As upset as I was, I calmly asked if they could please see what they could do because it was my wedding morning and we had hair, makeup, video and photography arriving back-to-back. They said they couldn't do anything until a room became available and that they would call me AFTER 12PM! I was terrified I was going to find them in more of my things! They opened up a smaller room across the hall and the person at the front desk was asking for me to give up my original room and for all of my bridesmaids and vendors to squeeze into a 10x14 bedroom. Please keep in mind that the larger room was not available yet. I said no. I was pissed at this point. When the larger room was available it was 12:30pm! I had to be ready at 1pm for photos!! The following day the key reader didn't work on our larger room either. It was all a mess. THEIR SOLUTION: The hotel comped a bottle of Champaigne for the trouble. A bottle. That's it. Which I had to request. I had to call early the morning after my wedding to ask if I could have an extra night for robbing me of my wedding morning. They wanted me to pay half the rate or do a late checkout of 8pm. I practically begged them and had to reexplain my situation and informing them that I wasn't comfortable on how they did not realize the gravity of the situation. They finally agreed and let us stay the extra night. They still charged us for our entire stay after having to move our belongings out of 2 different rooms. They charged us for parking as well. THE SOLUTION WE WERE HOPING FOR: To refund half of our money back, let us stay an additional night, comp the last night of parking and comp a dinner to avoid any bad reviews all without having the need to ask. I am hopeful HOTEL CALIFORNIAN will try and resolve this issue directly with me by calling me and resolving this because anyone else would have demanded a full refund and contacted the city of Santa Barbara as well as the health department. I didn't do that because I understand that some things are out of their control, but this should have been handled better. Now they keep sending me emails to rate them for 25% off my stay but the link doesn't work. This is all so unfortunate. I wanted to love this place so bad because I've seen other brides rave about their stay here, but this is the memory that I will have to take with me forever. Unfortunately, I know they will bypass all of this and ignore that maybe simply "writing about my experience" and "reviewing their property" isn't the solution but actually giving us what we requested as an honest couple and making us feel better about our stay along with a very sincere apology from their manager would have made us feel better. They did not do any of this. For now, they have our phone number and card information. If they are a company with any kind of a heart, they would do the right thing. For now, we will keep waiting for our requests and an apology.

Very expensive? Yes. Worth it? Probably. We stayed here for 3 days and really enjoyed our stay. The rooms are very clean, modern and the location is amazing, steps from the beach and funk zone with great restaurants and wine tasting options. They also offer complimentary EV car charging which is nice if you have an EV. The hotel is spread across three non adjacent buildings within a couple of blocks. We stayed in room 415 (Sevilla guest room) which was in the building with the spa and pool. The room was very quiet which was great as we were looking to relax on this trip. The gigantic TV also had streaming options so we were able to stream our favorite Netflix shows which was great. Hotel staff were friendly and helpful and we took advantage of the complimentary bikes for a nice cruise on the beach strand. Shower water pressure was A+ as well and everything about the room exuded luxury and class. Only negative was that we had forgotten to pack advil and asked for a few packs at the front desk and were charged $5 for them which I was surprised as I assumed they would be complimentary since you are paying $800 a night to stay here. We also tried the hotel bar which had a nice selection of cocktails and a friendly bartender who gave us great recommendations for restaurants and bars in the area. If this place is in your budget it's worth it.

This is a lovely luxury resort on state street within walking distance to the beach and pier and also to the other side of state street (college area). The open air lobby and lounge areas are lovely and beautifully decorated. And there are many areas to explore. The only reason for four stars is that the spaces are a bit disjointed. I had to walk across the street to enjoy the rooftop pool and brew pub restaurant. The fitness class was fun but also on another block from the main building. Also, when I picked up the car from valet it seemed someone adjusted both passenger and driver side seats which was very odd. Restaurants were also nice so check out the separate reviews. I would stay here again for location and ambience.

Great location, but a couple deal breakers: 1. We called to check-in at 2pm and wasn't allowed in until 4pm. Wasted 2 hours in the lobby. 2. AC wasn't working. Notified front desk, but still not fixed. They knew the system didn't work, but still gave us the room. 3. No ceiling fan and window for fresh air.

Amazing Rooms are green,service is on point, great location. Lots of restaurants around,delicious food! Very Instagrammable spot Definitely recommend

Friendly and helpful staff Great location Fabulous decor Spacious room For sure a classic California/Santa Barbara experience. Romantic getaway or a visit with friends and family nearby, this is the best place to launch your vacation.

Criminals were sent to Hotel California; who chooses to go to Hotel Californian? I did and here's a recount from the "captive". The room was stately. Loved the decor. Life behind bars was great with a bar inside but I stayed clear ( It's a trap for a more expensive sentence). In the evening, the jail warden's minion would leave a yellow note to wish us goodnight. Special! The funk zone was lively with restaurants and pedestrians. Leave the car behind, walk or bike. The hotel provided free bikes with unlimited time for daily exercises and excursion to downtown and the beach. Stay poor and fit! The valet cost the same as daily pass at the nearby garage. Don't try to win the system. I tried. Expensive? Yes! Stockholm syndrome? Yes. Free meals and conjugal visits? No. Welcome to Hotel Californian.

We stayed at Hotel Californian for 3 nights. The hotel is beautiful and it's in a perfect location. You can just park your car and walk pretty much everywhere. Valet parking attendants were very friendly and efficient. The reasons that I am not giving the place 5 stars are as follows: 1. The check-in was extremely slow. The gentleman at the check-in desk took forever to check in and chat with the guest before us. He would literally stop whatever he's doing and chat with the guest. It was quite irritating. Normally we don't mind to wait but after stuck in the traffic for more than 5 hours, tired and hungry, every minute mattered. I can't believe there's only one person that works at the check-in. 2. In addition, their beds were too soft, we all woke up the next day with lower back pain. After return to OC, our first stop was to our masseur's.

I like to think of myself as an experienced traveler and this place did not disappoint at all. Actually, it was probably one of my top hotel experiences period: from the hotel property, staff, and overall experience. I have to call out 5 amazing employees at the Hotel Californian: Alex, Kristos, Mercedes, and most importantly Adam. These individuals went above and beyond to make our experience wonderful. You almost felt like family, which is very rare in my opinion. Adam was great in providing us recommendations and he really knew the area. If you are in town on Thursdays, be sure to ask if there is a Winemakers dinner at Blackbird (one of my favorite dinner experiences). Because the hotel has strong relationships with vineyards in the area, they showcase a variety of wines that pairs perfectly the course you are having. Amazing food and company! Lastly, the hotel is a perfect location as they are in the newly renovated "Funk Zone". There are many new shops, restaurants, and bars in the area, so be sure to check them out!

Beautiful grounds designed by Martyn Bullard. Let me tell you, I don't like writing bad reviews, only reason they did not get a 5 star is the service provider at check in. Front desk does not provide any information about facility amenities, what is available to guests during their stay or even where their room is located. They have a rooftop, pool, spa, across in a another building. A coffee shop across the street, a restaurant, wine tasting, bikes, lots of little wonderful things that don't matter if you don't tell your guests about. Tip- hotels are not just clean beautiful rooms they are also about the service and amenities.

There is a lot to like about the Hotel Californian. The architecture is stunning and many of the rooms have views of the ocean. There are also a good number of restaurants, cafes, and wine/beer establishments close by. The front desk and housekeeping teams are also solid. That said - given the price of the room - I was expecting for the Hotel Californian to also deliver on the smaller more nuanced items. For example, with the valet, I would expect for the attendant to open my door and offer to load or unload my luggage. There are bottles of water at the valet stand - why not offer a bottle to the guest when they are leaving? The Nespresso machines also seem to be dated and it would have been nice to have a quick set of instructions to note how to operate since the design is from a past generation. Since I couldn't get the Nespresso machine to work, I was hoping for coffee in the lobby but my hopes were dashed. The showers also leave something to be desired. The shower head in our room had lime/calcium buildup and the water pressure practically decreased to a drizzle at one point. Not sure if that was from somebody in another room using the shower at the same time. These are the sorts of details that I'd expect a premium-priced hotel to execute. On the whole we had a good experience but I'm not sure that I'd recommend given the price point.

When we pulled up to the valet I went in to see if our room was ready. One of the valets (a young 20 something year old kid) started pointing at and laughing at a scratch on my car. My 12 year old daughter was in the car and couldn't believe how rude the guy was. Once he realized she was in the car and had witnessed his behavior, he broke eye contact and stared at the floor. Maybe his mother didn't teach him manners (idk) but kids this immature probably shouldn't be working at this hotel. Despite all that, this place is truly beautiful. Really lovely bathrooms and spacious rooms with a balcony. The beds were really comfortable and we all slept well. Aside from the valet all other staff was welcoming and helpful. Their restaurants are all fantastic too, location can't be beat. My daughter and her friend absolutely loved the gym and rooftop pool. Very cute hotel and a great location.

Prime real estate location, walking distance to the wharf, beach, great restaurants, shops and bars, but not worth the $700+ on weekends! The hotel is pretty, and I do like the Moroccan/Turkish-inspired decor with a modern touch. The large slabs of marble, high ceiling and cleanliness gave our Granada King room a luxurious feel, not to mention the incredibly comfortable and plush, white bed! They boast about their views from the rooms, but our room overlooked the narrow courtyard, part of State St and directly across other rooms. The Granada King room has a bigger balcony than the Sevilla, but the view didn't really entice us to enjoy it. I wanted to treat fiancé for doing so much work fixing up the house lately, so I felt it was worth checking out though. They offer discounts for AAA and Visa holders as well. It seems like they are pretty good about following health guidelines to prevent spread of Covid-19. Masks are required and hand sanitizer everywhere. They have rooms in three different buildings. The roof top pool is across State street above Finney's and their restaurant, Goat Tree, is across the street from the main hotel. The pool itself is quite small, but they have a jacuzzi and plenty of lounge chairs to enjoy the view of the beach. The bar serves food as well. The Hotel Californian might be a nice place to have a retreat or business meeting as they have conference rooms too. I think I'll suggest it to my boss for our next retreat! :)

I'm shocked at how many poor reviews that they have recently received. We just stayed 2 nights and had a fabulous time. My husband and I both work in Forbes rated hotels, so we have very high standards. The staff was friendly and accommodating. Having turn down service again was so nice! Valets and porters were fun and welcoming. Ate at the Goat restaurant, service was great and food was good. We only had snacks. I think that we might have a different empathy to hospitality workers, so give them a chance. We can't wait to return. Thank you to all the staff members for making our stay relaxing!

Absolutely gorgeous hotel! Location is wonderful, you are right on State Street as well as a few steps from the beach and pier. Their complementary bike rental is ideal to explore the town, the rooftop pool it's a wonderful way to spend the day. They have a few on-site restaurants, which are all delicious. Our rooms were spacious and the entire hotel it's absolutely perfect. Our entire family had a wonderful stay, Highly recommend it!

I recently came here for my boyfriend and mine's anniversary. One of the employees, named Simon was really helpful. He got us a really great room with a beautiful view and helped us when it came to booking future reservations. Highly recommend if you're looking for a nice and memorable hotel in downtown Santa Barbara!

We stayed here in July 2021 for 3 days. The architecture of the hotel is fantastic--moorish. We loved the details of the hotel--even though our balcony overlooked a parking lot, you really couldn't tell when you were sitting down on the chairs, lol. The location is perfect--can walk everywhere! There are so many good restaurants in the area. We didn't interact much with the staff, but the front desk clerks were friendly, professional and helpful.

His hotel will get 4 stars simply beachside it's beautiful and it's architectural aspect is worth staying here. Summarized review: The good: Charming rooms In room mixology table In house wine tasting In room massages available Excellent views Centrally located to everything in town (only reason we booked versus the ritz) The bad: Spider in our room (just a sorry won't happen again was advised for this issue) Misinformation on times for wine tasting Overcharged for a late check out Felt like we got a lot of "no's we don't do this" here Notes on our stay: Upon arrival we were advise wine tasting were till 7pm and in reality when we sat at 620pm they were only till 6pm. On that note the serves accommodated us and have us some extra pours with our wine orders. They were both excellent guides on their wine. Rooms were superb with plenty of charm so was their house keeping. Their room services end at 8pm which a disappointment, for the price of these bookings they should have 24 hour room service. Their bottles of water are a bit small but their selection in the room for drinks is as excellent! It includes your own personal mixology table which i loved !! Upon check out we asked for a late check out, it was complimentary till 1pm thereafter a half a day charge. Our circumstances changed so we left at 2pm and we're still assed half a day. Something that perhaps in other chains would be waived, but we got another no for this. Overall great hotel with some room for improvement.

This is absolutely one beautiful hotel in Santa Barbara, I have stated in more hotels and B&B in this town than I have fingers and toes, and this one is top notch. This is in a great location It's mins. from the beach restaurants, plus the funk zone. This hotel also has hotel rooms on both sides across State street one has the restaurant Finney's also the Goat Tree which is a outdoors dinning and in room dinning. The hotel almost force you to do valet parking which is $39.00 per night or you can park your vehicle at a near parking lot around the corner from the hotel, the only different you won't have to tip anyone. The resort fee is $35.00 per. day which I have a problem with that when guests can not utilize all of the amenities that that offer with your stay, they should lower the price since till you can open at full capacity. Courtney from the front the desk was so accommodating with the room, she was so friendly helpful in suggestion Items, excellent customer service. The Sevilla room #369 was clean and spotless that overlook the courtyard, the decor of the modern marble vintage room is so beautiful, the towels are so soft and fluffy, but the bed was the main attraction the pillows comforter, sheets were all so Incredible soft and comfortable. I love this hotel and can't wait to stay here again.

Beautiful resort! Not so great service and dirty sheets (-2 stars). Visited in June during the weekdays and was blown away by how beautiful the resort itself is. It's spread across three buildings, which made the resort itself feel smaller. The buildings and rooms were mostly clean, except for the stain on my bed sheet. The rooftop deck has an amazing view of the beach and ocean on one side and the mountains on the other. The hotel is conveniently located and walking distance to many restaurants, shops, and of course the beach! The not so great was the service -- extremely slowwww. From the start when we checked-in, it took almost 30 minutes for the front desk to confirm our room was good to go as the tv wasn't functioning earlier, which sounded suspicious to me. We called for a few things to be brought up to the room like silverware, creamer, and some extra cups. Three different people came to bring us these things and we still never got our silverware. For the price that you pay to stay here, you would expect the service to be exactly on point and exceeding your expectations. Sad to say, they didn't even meet expectations. Then, the sheet on my bed had a pretty big stain on it. Everything else in the room seemed clean, but it was definitely a little disturbing to see the stain. I think it's a beautiful place to visit, but for the price, I'd prefer to stay somewhere with more attentive service.

Absolute perfection -- not one detail missed. Cannot wait to go back! Where to start? The room was clean, spacious and it was beautifully and uniquely decorated. So cool. The bed is comfy, comfy, comfy. But you will have to get out of bed because there is SO much to do within steps of the hotel. The location is perfect. Park your car and walk everywhere, but do not miss the rooftop deck with pool! The only thing I would change (and other hotels do this as well) is that awkward, confusing 20% service fee that is added when you eat or drink at one of the hotel's lovely bars or restaurants. Since there is also a tip line, do you tip in addition? Do you put $0 on the tip line? It's just the kind of thing I'd rather not stress about when enjoying some time off.

The amenities are great, but there was super loud music playing until 9 pm on a Sunday night even with blackout curtains and windows closed. The bass was out of control for a "luxury hotel." The last thing you want to hear when going to your room at a luxury hotel is loud club music in the evening. We enjoyed the pool and the room was nice, but we expected more for the price. It was our second stay, the first time was just ok also, but we liked the location and rooftop pool; next time we may just go to the Ritz-Carleton since we have stayed there before. It's a good place but a lot could be improved.

Well, eh. We wanted to like it so much more. We come to Santa Barbara a few times a year and typically stay at the Kimpton Canary for its location and rooftop pool. This time, we decided to try Hotel Californian because Canary's pool is under renovation. Pros: - The hotel is beautiful and modern with a gorgeous rooftop pool and deck. It is well-decorated and luxurious. - The location isn't bad, there are many great restaurants nearby. - Generally, the staff was very nice. Cons: - Everything seems to move really slowly here and, despite their friendly demeanors, there seems to be a flawed communication flow within the staff. When we checked in, we realized we needed a different room so we upgraded and the process took over an hour. Not because the room wasn't ready but because there was miscommunication over who was taking us to our new room and giving us our new keys. After waiting in our old room for quite some time (as we were told to do), we finally decided to go downstairs to the lobby, where we were promptly given our keys. We are currently checking out and have been waiting for help with our luggage for 20 minutes after no one at the front desk answered the phone (another constant reality). - I can't believe no one has mentioned the TRAIN. It is the worst for mid to light sleepers. It comes by around 6 a.m. and again at maybe 9 a.m. and at various times throughout the day. It is really disruptive, as the hotel is right next to it. Expect to be woken up if you don't sleep like a log. - Recently, Santa Barbara lifted its mask mandate, and none of the hotel staff chose to wear masks. We found this a little off-putting and a lot unprofessional. If you care about your guests, you want to protect them. For us, Hotel Californian did not feel like a 5-star experience, and the experience did not justify the thousands spent. We hope the hotel will take some of the constructive criticism on its Yelp and make improvements so it can live up to its star rating.

Such a great hotel ! Location was ideal and the cute roof top pool was fun ! It's close to the pier and to great breakfast . It's a little walk to the restaurants but we wanted to be a little away from the noise . It's expensive but the rooms were wonderful with fireplace , huge bathroom and comfortable beds !

This is a really nice location close to the beach and close to the action. The rooms are OK on a small side. Given the prices you expect some service. Unfortunately the customer service is non-existing. They clean the rooms every two days during COVID. They do not provide new towels, cups, coffee, ... in the room. The bar is closed for all services. In reality you get a room and nothing else. At $500+ / night that is a steep price even for a nice location. The room / bath is OK but nothing special. We had a VERY small balcony. You could not turn around out there if two people were out there. Given the number of alternatives close by this is a rip off.

I was very disappointed in our one night stay at the Californian. For the high price, I expected a better view, less noise, and better service. We chose this hotel for the Sestina ocean view room and you could see a sliver of the ocean above neighboring rooftops, much less than photos on the website. We were told our room could, then could not, then could have a rollaway bed. While we were waiting for the bed, someone tried to deliver luggage. When I said we were waiting for a bed, not luggage they said "These aren't your bags? I'll bring your bags up soon." I had to repeat that we were waiting for a rollaway bed, which was finally delivered a bit later. Around 8pm someone knocked on our door and tried to deliver room service, which we hadn't ordered. There was an evening event on the roof above our room. The noise from the event was noticeable but not unpleasant. Then from 9-10:30pm they were cleaning up from the event, presumably moving furniture, and it was extremely loud. We were trying to sleep and unable to. Further, a drain in the bathroom intermittently made a loud noise, unrelated to our use of the bathroom. This was particularly disappointing given that I had requested a quiet room. I told the staff about both noises when we checked out and was offered nothing but half an apology.  I would never stay there again.

This is an amazing property and the staff are outstanding. It's definitely worth the splurge. We loved the cool decor, the rooms were beautiful, and the little touches left in the room were fun and unique. It's very clean, the robes are cozy, and the rooftop pool is spectacular.

Great stay! Beautiful room, wonderful staff and smooth check in. Room was very well kept up and clean. Great space for us and the kids. Safe and conveniently located in the mix of the Funk Zone with plenty to do right out your doorsteps.

A beautiful property with rooms in different buildings across the street from each other, this is a great hotel in a great location. We had an excellent room equipped with a fireplace and large balcony overlooking the main street below. The room was clean, neat and super warm and cozy. The hotel was also pet friendly. Several great restaurants (Santo Mezcal is a great Mexican restaurant within walking distance with an outdoor seating area that is dog friendly as well) nearby and a bike path across the street. Less than a block away was a bike rental business and we had a great experience with them as well. There was a bit of a mix up with the room rate and front desk staff but it was corrected and all was well in the end. We would definitely stay here again!

Do not have your wedding or event here. Period. The hotel made an error and double booked my wedding rehearsal dinner, canceled my wedding rehearsal dinner reservation four (4) days prior to my wedding. The hotel did not notify me. I found out they had canceled the reservation by pure chance when I called to check on something. The hotel acknowledged their mistake, and promised to take care of everything. Then the hotel spent the next 2 days trying to get me to agree to pay double what the lavish meal was originally going to cost-effectively holding my rehearsal dinner hostage to charge excessively. Moreover, the events person (Samantha) also demanded I pay thousands of dollars for my guests to walk around the hotel or use the amenities, even though I had bought hotel rooms for all of my guests (so they had every right to use the amenities); Samantha insisted on that for two days. I had to drive down to Santa Barbara personally, the day before the event, to talk to the hotel director Chris, who only agreed to waive some (but not all) of the additional charges. Even though the hotel management acknowledged the last-minute cancelation of my rehearsal dinner was entirely their fault, they still insisted on charging me much more. And then when my guests were here, the events staff harassed my guests and tried to keep them from sitting by the pool--even though the hotel director had given me his word that would not happen. You learn a lot about someone based on their actions when things go wrong. An honorable person will do the right thing. I learned that Hotel Californian-despite its beautiful decor and glittering promises-lacks substance, customer service, or honor to their word. The hotel management made sloppy errors, made my life a living nightmare, and then failed to correct their error or make any serious attempt to take ownership of their mistakes. Instead, they sought to add further stress by hiking up excess charges when I was in a vulnerable position, as there were no other venues available on such short notice; and they harassed us at our event even after we agreed to the increased fees just to salvage their mistakes. Do not make the same mistake I made by trusting such an important time of my life to people who cannot be trusted to have your back when it really matters.

Exceptional location, renovation, and attentive staff. Robbie and Hattie took great care of us!

Mmmmmm.... meh. For 1000+ a night I would probably expect more. Hotel itself is beautifully built. Has an open- space villa type of vibe. Rooms themselves are small and half of our "ocean view" was actually covered by an alley which was unfortunate. Service was ok, just ok. Again, for 1,000+ a night, ok doesn't cut it for us. Could definitely find better for this price range if visiting Santa Barbara, do your research before booking.

Stayed here during spring break. We had a great experience. The room was clean, great location, walking distance to lots of places. Kind of hard to get a hold of front desk, you just gotta call 4-5 times and eventually someone will get back to you. Otherwise it's not a bad place to stay in Santa Barbara. Will come back again but next time I will make sure to request to stay at the same building where the pool is at.

Hotel has a beautiful design and architecture, but for the price is definitely not worth, The room service closes so early this service in general it's not so good the amenities are OK in the room I just OK

3.5 We stayed here for two nights recently. First off, this place is wayyy over priced given the fact that it's a boutique hotel and they simply cannot provide the same amenities of a larger hotel. For starters, after seeing the photos of the rooftop pool, I was expecting a full rooftop bar and there was no such thing. From what I've seen from other reviews they might have a cart that they roll out. It's such a lost opportunity. To top it off, I was unable to find overnight parking anywhere near the hotel besides the new parking lot across the street that happened to be a cool $38/day with no in-and-out privileges. There was clearly a lot of thought put into the room and the design. The bathroom are a good size and I appreciate that they have a simplehuman makeup mirror. The beds and bedding are a-mazing, so soft and comfy. However, they took some risks that were a little too much over the top for my taste, for example the wall sconces next to the bed have a large golden cobra attached to them. They freaked me out the entire time. What really did it for me was that they were doing construction across the street for what looks like new hotel. At first glance it seemed like it was pretty far along/I didn't think much of it when we fist checked in. Friday AND Saturday morning I was woken up at 7:30 AM to banging and construction noises. I didn't ask to move rooms because I didn't think they would be doing construction Saturday morning...wrong again. There was also this faint clubby music which I figured must have been coming from the pool area on the floor above. The gym was tiny but sufficient (few treadmills, bikes, a weight bench, and stationary weight machines) and overlooked this cute little courtyard. It was well stocked with towels and water. I wish they had provided wipes to wipe down the equipment after use. Obviously the location can't be beat, it is located just a block or two away from the funk zone, but I really don't think I can recommend given the unjustifiably exorbitant prices ($800-1200 for a weekend evening).

Bill Foley is new owner. He brought wine/ culinary cultures to Santa Barbara. Luxuries with crispy cleanness. Well trained Hotel staffs. When you order something they will deliver with passion. Highly recommend banquet event. Neighbors has been changed. I walked around and found rich and elegant wine tasting places and The Funk zone. Loverly

The pool was too small far too many ppl. Boutique was closed, bar was closed, not comfortable paying resort fees when alot of the places you'd spend time is CLOSED. This info should be disclosed. Maybe another room would have made a difference. The room I stayed in was very standard. Was hoping for an upgrade. A plus, the hotel is located in a walkable area to most everything, train too!

I would NEVER stay here or eat here after the amount of over promises and under deliverers...specifically by Mia and the website. It promises the bar to be open all week. Yet you're paying $1,100+ per night for no bar for more than half the week with no heads up or price break. And dinner is promised nightly until 10pm yet they stop serving before 8pm if they have an event - again nothing tells you that before arriving for dinner. Mia says it shouldn't matter. It mattered to me when I was the one looking for dinner or when I'm the one who has paid $1,100 per night. She's cold and rude and says she's right. Says it doesn't matter what you paid or that their website lists incorrect information. On another note, both bartenders are amazing and exhibit none of the hotel's uninviting characteristics. Also, the rooms don't look like the pictures online. No accessories such as blankets or pillows - very stark. Would not be a huge deal if the price wasn't so high to stay there.

Stayed at this hotel for a weekend break. The service was really abysmal- especially the front desk staff/manager that I dealt with. The pricing was at Rosewood level but service and amenities were lacking in every respect. Aside from that, the location is central and the room was quiet.

Excellent, clean, spanish style hotel within walking distance to the pier! We absolutely enjoyed our stay at this location! The bedrooms were nice, clean, modern looking. Our room had a small balcony overlooking the patio which was nice to sit at and just relax and enjoy the beautiful weather. They have complimentary bicycles available and a great little cafe across the way. I would highly recommend this hotel.

This is not a 5 star hotel. Checkin: scheduled for 4pm. At 4:30 they told us our room still wasn't ready (we had been waiting since 3:00pm hoping to get in a bit early). Room: Nice decor, comfy beds, but not 5 star. The furniture had not been maintained (lots of scratches, etc) Pool: a complete joke. The pool is on the roof and is a tiny simple rectangle. Location: great location, 1 block from the beach, on State street next to tons of restaurants. This is a decent hotel, but is absolutely not 5 stars and not worth several hundred dollars per night

California Hotel is the WORST hotel I have ever stayed at. There were bugs in the room and the AC didn't work well. The staff was rude when I requested another room saying they would just kill the bugs when I am out. On top of that, they billed me twice for one room and then wouldn't answer my phone calls and call me back to correct it. Ended up having to dispute it with my credit card company. So many better hotels in the area, I regret spending so much for this place.