We drove our in-laws to LA in February and, on the way back to SF, made a quick stop in Santa Barbara area. I've known this hotel since my college days as I rode my bike past it many times on the way to UCSB. Its lush garden always attracted me. The price of this hotel is a bargain compared to the pricier ones closer to downtown SB or beaches but the accomodation is equal or better than most of those that I've stayed. And, come on, with beaches and downtown SB only a short drive away, why throw money away? The staff were very friendly and assigned us two adjacent rooms as requested with a king suite upgrade for free (this is the slow season). The lobby was neat with a fire place and wall-to-wall view of the lush garden courtyard. Free coffee/latte/etc were readily available from a single-serve brewing machine. The pool/spa are nice and clean. After dropping off the luggagge in the room, we swang by downtown SB and had some great Mexican food with magaritas/mojitos at the Sand Bar restaurant in lower State Street. The free breakfast next morning in the lobby area was well stocked and nicely presented. The fellow guests we met were courteous and classy. We drove to the nearby Goleta beach and spent a lazy morning there before we continued our journey back home.

We stayed March 4-8. The hotel impressed us with the beautiful landscaping, clean and comfortable beds, nice breakfast, fluffy towels, free parking, etc. The best part, though, was the way the employees did their jobs. They were unobtrusive, efficient, and willing to help with any question or problem. One example was the man at the desk who made a map to show me how to get to a certain beach. The same clerk the next day quickly helped us use the printer in the business center when we had trouble with it. These people know how to run a hotel!
By staying in Goleta, a 10-minute drive from downtown Santa Barbara, we saved some money and felt that we got an excellent value. When we checked in, we asked for a quiet room which we got (second floor in the back, overlooking the gardens and pool).
The only negatives were that we could not get the TV to work. We would have asked for help, but the TV was not a big deal to us. (Too busy sightseeing and reading our books.) Also, we didn't get Gold Crown Club points for our stay on our Best Western. We were told that was because we booked through a third party.

They were doing remodeling during our stay but it did not bother us. The room was very nice. the bed was so comfortable. We had a king room with a sofa bed, computer desk and chair. There is a flatscreen TV. The toilet was a little small and flushed like none I have ever seen before. The room got a little stuffy in the morning, since the windows do not open up we just opened our door for a while. Breakfast was good. Nice places to sit inside and outside. We will stay here again when visiting Goleta. The location was also good. They front desk was very nice, also. In fact we checked in much later then we expected, 10:30pm and they did not give away the room. I did guarantee with the credit card, but I have heard of some hotels giving the room away, but not here. We were very placed with this Best Western.

We stayed here the weekend of Oct 27-29. The first night we were there, we weren't sure what we were getting into because there was a Halloween neighborhood party nearby and there were a lot of college kids hanging out and getting ready to party. But we had a surprisingly quiet stay anyways, so good job Best Western! Even thought the hotel is very close to the freeway, we didn't hear any street noise from our rooms or even from the pool or courtyard.

We wanted to avoid paying a premium for staying in Santa Barbara but we wanted to go to the beach and visit a mission for this trip. The hotel was 5-10 minutes away from the places we wanted to go to, close to restaurants (thumbs up Outback Steakhouse) and stores (there's a Lucky's and Trader Joe's down the street). We were happy with our choice.

Since we were traveling with another family, we were happy that there were places we could hang out with them. The pool area has a nice patio and a ping pong table. The jacuzzi is really wonderful. We also were able to talk while the kids played cards in the lobby/breakfast room during the evening. The grounds are nicely landscaped with whimsical topiaries. It's just a really well-kept place.

Our room was clean, had a TV w/DVD player, microwave, fridge and the WiFi was pretty fast. The breakfast room was clean and spacious. Breakfast included sausage, omelets, pastries, cereal, fruit, eggs, yogurt, milk and there's a really nice self-serve espresso machine too. We were especially happy that there were no nuts in any of the breakfast items, hopefully they stay that way for the safety of their nut allergic customers. There's also a business center with a few computers and right outside were a couple of small tables where one could enjoy breakfast next to a lovely water fountain. The people who work at the hotel are very nice, helpful, and unobtrusive and we only needed to talk with them at check in and check out.

The only remotely negative impression I had was that the pool was chilly (aren't most outdoor pools?) and that the tile around the ping pong table and patio area was slippery in the morning.

Overall we had a fantastic stay and would stay at this Best Western if we visited the area again.