The Ritz-Carlton Bacara, Santa Barbara

Went with my wife for our 10th wedding anniversary. Incredible stay. The property is beautiful - endless things to do, beautiful views. The rooms were very nice and thoughtful - balconies and recently revamped. And the value was great - much cheaper and less stuffy than some of the other “nice” hotels in the area. Finally, the service/staff were very friendly and helpful. 10/10 experience.

The hotel lacks attention to detail period. It is not Ritz Carlton in anyway apart from price. Lack of details - expect your food to have small pieces of stuff you did not order because chef could care less of keeping his food prep clean. Rooms cleaning is poor and not well maintained, expect stains all over, room will lack basic amenities like clean towels or bathrobes. By the way they have 500 rooms so they will just apologize for not getting your room cleaned. There are so much properties around , you can easily skip them, especially if you are traveling with kids.

Average is the best way to describe our stay. Booked for our 15th weeding anniversary and wanted an oceanfront room. Paid for that upgrade, called ahead of tome, asked again at front desk. View was of a burm , with ocean views in the distance. Disappointing considering all the marriott travel I complete each year. Staff did not wow us, and we had to ask for things that should have been included. The facilities are nice overall, it felt standard.

We love the location! Rooms are clean and roomy. Maricella restaurant food was fantastic. Only complaint was we had to wait hours (4) for our room to be cleaned in order to check in. We planned on arriving at 11 and asked for an early checkin. We did not get into our room until 3:04 in the afternoon. Not a great way to start a special birthday getaway.

After reading not so good reviews, decided to book Ritz Carlton Bacara anyways. And BIG regret. While the "property" location, vista etc. is very beautiful it is by far NOT the quality of many other Ritz Carltons. The property has visible undergone "some" renovations in particular to common areas, restaurant and spa, these are nicely done and appreciated. We were upgraded to a suite which was very expansive, but upon entering there was a VERY DISTINCTIVE FOUL ODOUR that emanated in the room. Opening doors/ windows - only temporarily solved the property and the noise and odour from large kitchen exhaust system was overwhelming. Having travelled for 12+ hours it was late had no energy to switch rooms. While our room was "renovated" much of the lighting, doors / hardware, etc. was still old and very very dated. Linens alone doesn't mean renovated. The grounds and buildings are expansive and can see that there was once a very beautiful property that is very worn down over the years. Truly to meet the "Ritz" standards, it needs significant additional capital, attention to details in service and for the price, didn't come close to the mark. Travellers - be aware.....