Santa Barbara accommodation?

M

muffin1973

Registered User
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Hi all,

Heading over to L.A. to visit my sister on Friday. We're going to hire a car midweek next week and drive to Santa Barbara for a couple of days. I was looking on tripadvisor and saw a place called Inn of the Spanish Garden which looks lovely, but is not available for the nights we want.

Does anyone have any recommendations for similar accommodation, or just any hotel recommendations at all? Also, is there much going on there and how long would it take to drive from L.A. to Santa Barbara?

Thanks,

M
 
We stayed in the Best Western Pepper Tree Inn. It was clean, comfortable and felt safe. There is easy parking and it is right off the highway. There is a pool, gym etc but really if you're in Santa Barbara you're not going to use the pool at the hotel, are you? I mean the pier and the beach are where it's at. It's not a fantastic gorgeous hotel but it is nice and well laid out. Downside is that it's not ( as far as I remember) in walking distance of the pier etc but parking is pretty good there so not a problem. AFAIK there is a big supermarket/ mall right across the road from the hotel if you need anything.

I loved santa barbara, hope you enjoy it. I can't remember how far it was from LA. Not too far and a good road.
 
Hi Muffin,

Hotel accomodation in Santa Barbara is quite expensive relative to other towns in the Central Coastal area of California, it is a very pretty town to visit though, lovely adobe buildings. It takes about 1 - 1 1/2 to drive to LA dependent on traffic but its a nice stretch of road. There are towns close by where you would get cheaper hotels such as Santa Maria or Solveng, both are about 15 minutes drive away. Solveng is a crazy looking place its like a Disney version of a Danish town, I'd recommend it just for the novelty.

Have a great holiday!

M
 
Also stayed at the Best Western a couple of years back for one night; just over the road from the beach. Think it cost about $75 + tax for the night if I remember correctly. Quite a nice and comortable motel; typical of what you will find in California outside the cities. No need to dish out on expensive hotels; most of these roadside motels are more than adequate and usually have similar facilities to hotels. Anyway you would be unlikely to spend much time in the room.

Santa Barbara is a nice town alright about 100 miles north of LA. We only stopped there overnight when travelling the Pacific Coast Highway from San Francisco down towards LA (didn't actually go into LA at this point but skirted around and onto Las Vegas the next day).
 
..the last time I was in Santa Barbara I saw lots of homeless sleeping on the beach...might not be a bad idea if you're stuck!
 
Santa Barbara is gorgeous. We did the west coast drive last May and it was the highlight. (Our own coastline is more dramatic).

We stayed in a really lovely B&B called County Inn By The Sea http://www.countryinnbythesea.com/ and it was great. They were v nice and near the beach etc. They have coffee & fruit all day long. The main beach in Santa Barbara is OK but if you drive a few miles in the LA direction there's a lovely quiet beach. Lovely walk along the beach. There's a great sea-food restaurant on the pier too (can't remember name) and it's fab.

Bon Voyage!

Firefly.
 
Hi everyone,

thanks for all the suggestions, I'll check them out.

Does anyone have anything they'd recommend doing while in Santa Barbara? I was looking on some hotel website and they have links to whale watching etc. Are these trips any good??

Thanks again,

Muffin
 
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