Santa Barbara Inn: an Affordable Beachfront Hotel in Santa Barbara
Waves crashing on the beach. The gentle ocean breeze blowing through your balcony door. All this and more await when you stay at the Santa Barbara Inn.
The Santa Barbara Inn is steps away from one of the most popular beaches in Santa Barbara. California's warm golden sun caressing you each day.
Disclosure: My stay was provided courtesy of Expedia. All opinions are 100% mine.
Santa Barbara Inn
The Santa Barbara Inn is a boutique hotel with 70 rooms including suites. Every room offers a view of the ocean, Channel Islands, Stearns Wharf, or Santa Ynez Mountains.
With a California Mission, Spanish Mediterranean architecture style, the hotel only looks expensive.
The best part...the price tag. Rooms at the Santa Barbara Inn are affordable and include free daily continental breakfast.
Location
Oceanfront in Santa Barbara is affordable when you stay at the Santa Barbara Inn. Located on the corner of S Milpas Street and E Cabrillo Blvd, the Pacific Ocean is steps away.
Families can let their little ones run around at nearby Cabrillo Ball Park. Couples can enjoy a picnic on the grass while watching the sunset over the ocean.
The Santa Barbara Inn is fourteen minutes from the Santa Barbara airport. You can rent a car, Uber to the hotel, or take the bus.
Pro-tip: Get a $25 credit when you sign-up for Uber.
You can take the #11 bus from the airport to downtown Santa Barbara (55 minutes, $1.75 one-way). Then take the Waterfront Shuttle bus to the Santa Barbara Inn (18 minutes, $0.50 one-way). The shuttle stops in front of the lobby door.
If you arrive into Santa Barbara via Amtrak, the Santa Barbara Inn is six minutes from the station. It's a 1 ½ to 2-hour drive from Los Angeles Airport.
Lobby
Picture a living room in someone's house and you'll have an accurate image of the lobby of the Santa Barbara Inn.
Cozy with overstuffed sofas and chairs and fireplace for chilly mornings and evenings.
King Bedroom Mountain View
The furnishings are a mix of old world tropical plantation. Big bold dressers with a beach vibe and granite tops. Bamboo or cane wicker chairs and tables with glass tops.
It's like they couldn't decide on a theme so threw some stuff together. A weird cohesive harmony. The furniture doesn't encourage lingering in the room. But who wants to stay in your room when there's so much to do in Santa Barbara?
The bed with its thick comforter and crisp sheets coaxes you. Drawing you into its embrace, encouraging you to sleep in and waste away your vacation days.
If you decide to putter around in your room, comfortable robes and slippers await in the closet. A laptop sized safe stores your electronics and other valuable items.
You'll find a small fridge in the dresser under the TV. There's enough room to store drinks, snacks, and/or leftovers.
A small table with two chairs on the Spanish tiled balcony make for an al fresco breakfast, lunch, or snack.
The dual sink Corian countertop in the bathroom lets two people get ready at the same time. There's just enough room to the sides of the sink for your toiletries.
Rooms include Eco Essence brand toiletries: Green Tea Shampoo, Essence of Mango Conditioner and Body Wash, and Milk & Honey Lotion. Easily remove beach tar from your feet and shoes with the oil slick beach tar remover towelette.
There's a tub/shower combination with a non-adjustable shower head. The water pressure was average.
Food
Convivo Restaurant
Enjoy views of the beach from the patio of the Convivo Restaurant
Rooms include daily continental breakfast in the Convivo restaurant. Breakfast includes oatmeal, yogurt, fruit, granola, bagels, pastries, juices, and coffee.
Pool
Swim in the heated outdoor pool and jacuzzi while taking in the ocean views.
Santa Barbara Inn
901 E. Cabrillo Blvd, Santa Barbara, CA 93103
800-231-0431
Check Rates & reviews: Expedia
Conclusion
The Santa Barbara Inn is an affordable beachfront hotel. With free breakfast and only minutes from downtown Santa Barbara, it's a great spot to spend a few days without busting your budget.
With only 70 rooms, you won't feel like a number nor have to rush down to the pool at the crack of dawn to save a chair. This cozy hotel offers everything you need without the big price tag.
Onsite parking, Uber, the Downtown and Waterfront Shuttles make the Santa Barbara Inn an easy getaway for families, couples, and solo travelers.
Be sure to read my post on how to visit Santa Barbara on a budget.
Where's your favorite place to stay in Santa Barbara?
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What an extensive review of Santa Barbara Inn. It would be a great help for travelers to the city. Hotel looks comfortable and suitably located to enjoy the city.
This hotel looks gorgeous and I love how it's in a big white colonial building. What a privilege to stay beachfront as well without blowing the bank. I agree that you often don't want to spend much time in a hotel room when there's lots to do outside, but it does look lovely. I particularly like the balcony and I could imagine myself writing there.
It's pretty unbelievable that a place which looks so royal and chic can actually be affordable, and includes breakfast too - I love deals like that 🙂 From the bedroom to the food to the pool, everything seems to be well thought of!
I convinced my girl friend recently to visit Santa Barbara on her recent trip to California, next time I will recommend her to spend the weekend here! And maybe join her too 🙂
With the look and feel of this place I cannot believe how affordable it is, especially as it is on the beachfront. And wow, that beachfront is just incredible. Whilst I prefer to get out and about, it's always nice to stay in a little luxury like this! The addition of those toiletries are such a nice touch.
It looks like a really nice hotel to be affordable! The rooms are spacious, the interiors are lovely and the beach view restaurant, as well as the pool, steal the show! Lovely place to stay for a getaway to Santa Barbara.
Elegant and beach front. Two of my favorite things. I love laying in a hammock with a glass of wine and then having a nice hotel pool to cool off in. I would love to stay here next time I am that way.
Santa Barbara beachfront hotels look so instgrammable. Rooms too seem super comfortable and with beach, views are just amazing. The pool is equally inviting. Overall it seems like a perfect option.
I like this whole contemporary meets old world charm feel of the place. The rooms seem quite comfortable and nice. And the hotel pool is a huge plus. Nothing like spending an evening by it.
Talk about luxury! I think if I visited this place I would never want to leave. The great thing about it is that it's so affordable. I would expect to stay somewhere like this and pay double the price. I could happily lay in that pool right now!
I love this part of California, especially Santa Barbara, but somehow have never managed to stay put long enough to stay overnight there. The Santa Barbara Inn looks so lovely, and the fact it's on the ocean is just icing on the cake. Will definitely check it out next time we're there!
Love how thorough this review is! I've actually only been to Santa Barbara once and found the cost of accommodation to be pretty high, but this is definitely a great value for the location - so charming too!
I love how the days are changing. Today, a really nice looking hotel doesn't necessary means expensive. Great post about Santa Barbara Inn!
I love accommodations with free breakfast 🙂 I wish I had known about this place when I was in Santa Barbara last year. I ended up at an Airbnb, but this location is way better than where I stayed. The bed looks super comfy and I love that the room had a patio.
What a beautiful property! It would be a great place to spend with my husband. I like it doesn't have too many rooms so you get that intimate feel!