Timothy Pulcifer
Google
Just wanted to share how pleased we were staying at the Simpson House Inn in Santa Barbara. We booked our stay for our Anniversary and it did not disappoint! Everything was FANTASTIC right from our arrival! The Simpson House Inn is located in a very nice neighborhood, secluded from the street, with parking. The grounds are immaculate, with lots of trees & shrubbery; there are lawn chairs to enjoy the beautiful outdoors. We were warmly greeted and shown into the main house, which is a magnificent Victorian era home- the living room/dining area was comfy with plenty of books in the study (that you can take to your room if you wish). Water & coffee are available there most times, & they offer guests a "Happy Hour" wine tasting too, with appetizers.
We were then shown to our room, which was the "TACK ROOM" in another small dwelling on the property. There is also another small house which has hot tubs, but we chose the Tack Room. I think at one time it literally was a tack room for horses, but make no mistake, this is a very nice, very large room, with everything you need including a cozy fireplace! The room is an open living room/bedroom, with a separate bathroom with a shower. The room is very comfortable, there's a small couch, living room chair, small dining chair, armoire, small refrigerator & sink. The bed was also extremely comfortable, I had the best uninterrupted sleep (in decades) there. There is a small patio with table & chairs at the entrance if you wish to enjoy tea & crumpets outside. We did use the (gas) fireplace, which kept the room warm & comfortable. Very romantic! The decor is simple and pleasing. The room is well insulated and we could literally have stayed the entire day in there, or a week if there ever was a blizzard in Santa Barbara. The ONLY "problem" we had, because we were in the lower unit (there is also one above), & because the building is very old, the floor creaks slightly now and then. But not enough to keep us from staying again. I am pretty old now & my body creaks too, so don't knock it until you are 100+ years old!
For those of you that want to stay at newer, generic, carbon-copy boring rooms at a hotel, go for it. But you can have so much better at places like this bed & breakfast inn! Speaking of breakfast, it is made to order and not a "Continental" breakfast. We had eggs, toast, pastries, fresh oatmeal (with fixings), fresh fruit, orange juice, and freshly brewed French Press coffee! You can either have the breakfast in the main house, or you can also have it delivered in your room complete with a small vase of roses! What more do you want!
We loved it so much, we really didn't see much of Santa Barbara! We did however eat on the pier at the Santa Barbara Shellfish Company (another highly recommended visit! We went there twice in 2 days for fresh seafood!). It is a nice 45 minute walk there to the ocean, but you can take a Uber or Lyft for about $10 if you don't have a car (we took the train) and they will drop you off right at the end of the pier (which is where the S.B. Shellfish Co. is located). Plenty to do in Santa Barbara, but we just wanted to enjoy our anniversary (mostly) at the wonderful Simpson House Inn! We would do it again in a heartbeat! Thank you to all the staff!!! 5 ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Stars!