The Ritz-Carlton Bacara, Santa Barbara

The hotel has fantastic infrastructure and the grounds are beautiful. The rooms are comfortable as are the beds. Unfortunately management is polite but very ineffective. While there is decent staff presence none are very effective at any guest need especially front desk. The two exceptions are the parking staff and the bartenders in the main bar. I can’t emphasize enough the lack of detail initiative or presence across the 4 day stay. The fees are high along with resort fee, parking valet fee, spa fees etc etc - the value proposition is not there for the price. Too bad as there are few options in SB and again the hotel grounds are fantastic. This is very much a Ritz problem. Very inexperienced and ineffective staff.

Been coming here for the last three years with my family. The food is excellent. The grounds are impeccable the pool staff, bartenders, valet staff were all very polite and go out of their way to serve. The food options are superb: try Lulio for breakfast, Marisella for dinner and grab dinner at the bar/outside during sundown. The gym and spa is excellent as well

I came very close to cancelling this 6 night stay due to the reviews across several platforms. Very grateful I didn’t! From arrival to departure we felt looked after and treated with the utmost care in Ritz Carlton standards. Upon arrival we not only received a text from the front desk to make sure check in went well but also a survey from our Bonvoy app to let them know how our check in was handled. Is the property big, yes, but that is what makes it beautiful. It can be an issue for mobility impaired persons and may take things a bit longer in busy season but that doesn’t mean the employees aren’t moving at full pace. There are golf carts to help the mobility impaired or those who need a quick ride. We saw them all over the property offering to help us even when we didn’t need it. Is there tar on the beaches at times, yes, but that’s a natural occurrence due to the highly active natural oil and gas seeps offshore. They do provide a great removal location and do all they can to help. Our room was beautiful, comfortable and large, not dated in anyway. Housekeeping was on point every day for morning and turndown service. They have beautiful pools and we chose the spa pool since it’s adult only. Never a problem getting a chair. It was peaceful and we had great attendants, Natalie and Christian who were there to help with towels, food, drinks or great conversation. We found the true jewell of this property to be the club lounge. Lacey, the manger, has a fabulous team and cares what is delivered in the lounge. The food presentations are good, wine offerings very nice and every person tries to find a way to go above and beyond to make your stay memorable. We enjoyed amazing service from Jayden, Ave, Fatima, Harry, Nora, Alex and Emily! Dante and Sam at the front desk were very helpful when we had questions or needed assistance. Bottom line, we didn’t experience any of the issues we read about in the reviews. If this hotel had any problems mentioned in the reviews, they are clearly putting all the pieces in place to move forward as a first class Ritz Carlton. We are grateful for our time there and look forward to returning!

Stayed the weekend to celebrate our anniversary and had a wonderful experience. Admittedly, some of the negative reviews gave me some pause, but ultimately I ended up booking this location given it encompassed the the things I was looking for (beautiful property, within driving distance of SB, ocean views, nearby hiking). While the resort is definitely not the most modern Ritz-Carlton my husband and I have stayed at, I thought the Spanish-style architecture gave the property the distinctive charm and character that Santa Barbara is known for. Enjoyed our stay!

This hotel is not up to the luxury caliber expected from the Ritz brand. We had spent the prior weekend at the Ritz in Sarasota, FL and it was jarring going from that stunning property to the Bacara. I was truly shocked to hear there have been recent renovations because everything about this property felt and looked tired. Our room had a filthy area rug, cold, old tile, and no bench or couch, which was disappointing for our lifetime Platinum status. The hotel location is beautiful but unfortunately we were in a cloud so it was a damp, cold, and overcast trip. I’m sure better weather would’ve helped us overlook some of the faults but overall just not Ritz or a luxury experience. We’ve stayed at Courtyards that were nicer.