The Ritz-Carlton Bacara, Santa Barbara

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.....

We recently stayed at the Bacara for our wedding weekend and had an amazing experience. The location and property are obviously beautiful, but the rooms are also noticeably nicer after their recent remodel. We had stayed at Bacara in 2020, and while it was a nice experience then, there’s been a massive upgrade in both the room quality, decor, and service level since then. Most importantly, the staff was incredible (especially Alana at the front desk). They helped accommodate all the unique needs for our wedding weekend (storing a cake, scheduled transportation, etc.) and made such an important weekend seamless. We can’t wait to come back and stay again!

Lousy service even before my stay. I was looking forward to staying here, but needed to cancel. I called 4 times. Each time, the rep said to dial zero to reach the hotel, and each time, I explained that I did so. Multiple times, they tried to connect me, but were never able to, and twice, disconnected when putting me on hold. Inexcusable that the hotel is unable to pick up the phone. And ridiculous that they can't waive a cancellation for a whopping 1-night reservation more than 10 days in advance. As they can't cancel, and can't waive the fee, I'll just dispute the charge and they can deal with American Express. Really poor service, guys. Nothing Ritz Carlton about it.

Stay was amazing and staff were very helpful and friendly. The manager Ben at the front desk greeted us at check in and made us feel very welcome and helped me organize a birthday surprise for my Dad. Ben was very cool and made our arrival process so easy and exciting. Hope to be back soon. Thank you

We came here and booked a club level 5 night stay for our babymoon as well as to celebrate my birthday. We’ve been to numerous 5 star resorts throughout the world and I’d say this resort is just ok and we likely will not be returning or paying to upgrade to club level at the Ritz again in the future. We booked the club to have access to light fare and drinks throughout the day in between ordering at the pool and going out to dinners on and off-site. Unfortunately, Lacey, the manager at the club lounge made us decide we won’t be upgrading to club again. The rest of the staff there is lovely and very helpful, however Lacey commented to us upon seeing us take our drinks to-go (in the to-go containers that the club prepared our drinks in) that we can’t take them to the main pool as the staff there “noticed” we brought a drink carrier the other day to help us hold both drinks (a drink carrier the club staff actually gave us our drinks in). Why would we ever pay $300 per person per NIGHT on top of our room fee for access to the club lounge and their perks/drinks if we cannot take the to-go drinks they made us to the pool? That’s completely absurd and the way she communicated that to us was incredibly rude and condescending, making us feel as though we were doing something wrong. That behavior is completely unacceptable for the Ritz and toward club lounge guests. I highly encourage the Ritz to educate their staff about this in the future as it soured our stay and we will not be returning because of it nor paying to upgrade again in the future. We also went to bed for the first night in our new room and upon pulling back the sheets found a large yellow stain that appeared to be from a previous guest, indicating they did not switch out the sheets between guests. We sent a text to the concierge who was incredibly helpful and apologetic, and ensured they were changed when we returned the next day, however this was really disappointing and concerning. We ended up sleeping on top of the top sheet that night as it was late and we were too tired to have housekeeping come in at midnight to change the sheets. Additionally, another problem we noticed was that the pools were advertised as heated to 80 degrees however that was not the case. All pools were cold upon entry and multiple guests complained throughout our stay without the temperature issue ever being addressed. At Terranea the pool feels warm upon entry and is not uncomfortable in the way it was at the Ritz, despite the days being sunny and hot. I would like to acknowledge the staff that truly went above and beyond to ensure our stay was great. Lwin, Daniella and Ana at the club lounge were always so helpful and friendly and created the environment we know and love about the Ritz. I’d also like to recognize Blagicia at Lulio who made our dinner there so special and truly went above and beyond. Overall we expected more from the Ritz and this location and were disappointed with our stay.