We have reservations for two nights during a Roadtrip over the New Year break. We booked The Presidio Motel as it looked to be a little different and kitschy.
The website explains that they are transitioning to new management however the bulk of the website remains unrepresentative of the uniquely decorated rooms that no longer exist.
I can only describe our rooms current state as a white box with a bed.
On the plus side it is very clean, however we will be looking for alternate accommodation for tonight.

A friend of mine and I drove down Route 1, and in Santa Barbara we stayed at the Presidio Motel. Every room has different artwork on it. We had a beautiful room, perfectly suiting with the disco ball, for my friend and I. It was the most comfortable bed I have ever slept in, and a huge room. Very fun and bright, great vibes. My favorite room of everywhere we stayed, very clean and affordable, beautiful sun deck. Right on State Street in Santa Barbara, walking distance from downtown. I will most certainly go back.

I booked a room to stay here for 5 nights but checked out after two. The website said that major changes were going on with the rooms (to be under new management) but no one told me when I checked in that they were going to switch out all the furniture in my room...while my bag and things were in it!

Apparently the old Presidio supposedly had "ambiance" but my room was strictly basic with two plastic chairs and towels you would find at Motel 6. The first two nights were $69 but on Fri. and Sat. night the room went up to $129!! My room was absolutely not worth $129 a night -- it was absolutely basic and nothing special. The room did not even have a closet and the bathroom had some two drawer thing you'd find in a dorm room at best. Of course I booked the room knowing the price, but when I got there I was shocked at how basic and low class it was for $129 on the weekend. The manager actually told me with a straight face that I am paying for the ambiance! He must have meant the plastic chairs and the towels that were the thickness of dish towels!

Also, the place is noisy. The walls are paper thin so you hear everything. My room was close to the street and close to the ice machine and the pop machine. For this they charged $129 for weekend nights and this was a $10 discount!

I expressed my concerns about the furniture switch and the weekend price to the manager and to his credit he offered to find me another hotel, but I walked across the street to the Days Inn and booked a room there. To my pleasant surprise, they gave me a suite for less money than what the Presidio charges... I literally have what looks like a one bedroom apartment. PLUS the Days Inn gives you a continental breakfast and has a pool -- for basically $100/night if you book on their website.

Forget the Presidio -- TOTALLY OVERPRICED FOR WHAT THEY OFFER!

The motel is in a great location! If you're on the upper deck you can see the mountains and its situated right in the heart of Santa Barbara. The staff was very friendly and i loved the boutique that they had in their reception area. They were super flexible when it came to check out (we woke up late and didn't realize we needed to get supplies at the grocery store). The room was had was super cute and the decorations were really interesting. The flat screen TV was a nice touch. Me and my boyfriend stayed here for our anniversary, and didn't spend much time in the room. The price was excellent as well.

However, there were ants everywhere :( That is just something that I can't approve of. If they took care of their ant infestation, I would have given them a 5/5 for a motel stay.