If US 101 were not within earshot of this hotel, I would definitely give it five stars. I loved this hotel and if I'm ever anywhere near Santa Barbara in the near future, I will definitely return.
We stayed in room 14, a King Balcony room that is just over the lobby. The room itself is decorated nicely, the bathroom is very clean and well done, and the jacuzzi tub is a great edition. There is also a gas fireplace with an on/off switch and a stereo, although it only plays the radio and reception is horrible (they should improve their receiver with an ipod hookup or cd player, something like that to take advantage of the speakers in the wall). The tv comes with a dvd and vhs player, which is nice, although we never used it.
The grounds of the small hotel are immaculately kept up and the town of Summerland that it is in is quaint with several coffee shops and cafes that you can stroll to from the hotel.
The real highlight of the hotel is the food. I am utterly confused about the previous review that said breakfast was little more than continental breakfast. I have included a picture of one of the breakfasts we ate on our balcony. Breakfast was five star quality and cooked to order. Additionally, there were afternoon snacks with wine and tea that were out of this world. We couldn't get enough of the stuffed mushrooms. And if that weren't enough, each evening dessert is served. Everything that we tasted was delicious, and it's all included in your rate.
Service here was small town friendly -- everyone was incredibly helpful. I needed an iron for a wedding that I was about to attend and they tracked one down in the maid's quarters for me. The next day I needed my suit steamed, and they tracked down a steamer and brought it up. If only every hotel had service like this.
The hot tub area is on the second floor in a space between the main and second building, which is closer to the highway. It is a very cute setup, although the hottub smelled a little too much like chlorine for my taste.
The highway is the only true negative about this place, although the balcony doors are soundproof and you cannot hear anything outside with the doors closed -- and trust me, I'm a light sleeper, so this would have been an issue for me. However, it would have been fantastic to have been able to sit out on the balcony, looking out at the water, without the noise of a busy highway some 20 yards away. This is the only reason I didn't give this place five stars.
That being said, it is well worth the money and I wouldn't hesitate to return.
