The Ritz-Carlton Bacara, Santa Barbara

I have been a loyal guest at this property for years, frequently choosing it for both company meetings and personal getaways. Last year, we even came here to escape the fires; despite the hotel being under construction at the time, the service was excellent. Sadly, this year’s experience was the complete opposite. While the Ritz-Carlton brand carries an expectation of excellence, the restaurant service has plummeted to an abysmal level. The Service Gap: I want to be clear that the 'rest' of the hotel remains world-class. The Front Desk, Concierge, Housekeeping, and Valet teams were all wonderful, attentive, and professional. It is deeply frustrating that the restaurant teams managed to single-handedly kill the experience. Specific Failures: L’Olio (Breakfast): We dined here three times, and the pace was unbelievably slow every single morning, but it was the only place to eat for a sit down breakfast. I explicitly told the staff I had a spa appointment in 30 minutes and after 10 minutes the check never came. I eventually had to get up and hunt someone down to pay. Because of this unnecessary delay, I lost my window to use the spa facilities before my massage. SunBar (The worst offender): The service here was genuinely atrocious. The staff didn't even acknowledge us at the bar because they were too busy watching football on the TVs. The next day, we tried to give them a second chance for lunch. We asked for menus; 10 minutes later, we were still sitting there without menus or even a 'we’ll be right with you.' We finally walked out after speaking to a nearby guest who had been waiting over an hour for a simple flatbread. Poolside: Even the pool area lacked basic attentiveness. It took 40 minutes for someone to take a drink order after the menu was dropped off, and I again had to chase someone down just to settle the check. The Verdict: It appears the resort failed to staff appropriately for a long weekend, but the issues felt deeper than just being 'busy'—it felt like a lack of management and basic hospitality standards in the F&B department. As someone who has brought business here for years, I am incredibly disappointed. The rest of your staff is doing a great job, but the restaurants are failing them—and your guests.

Overall, this was a fantastic stay at a truly beautiful property. The grounds, spa, lounge, and most of the staff lived up to the Ritz-Carlton name and made for a memorable experience. Property & Grounds: The property itself is gorgeous and exceptionally well maintained. Even though the beach trail near the pool was closed during our stay, it’s still easy to access the beach via the nature trail. Staff throughout the resort were consistently pleasant and welcoming, and the overall atmosphere felt calm and polished. The rooms have been remodeled and are comfortable, though they still carry a bit of a darker, almost dungeon-like feel. The privacy is great, but additional natural light would go a long way in elevating the room experience. Spa: The spa was a highlight. The staff was outstanding, and the spa pool offered a peaceful retreat away from the busier areas of the resort. While the steam room wasn’t working, the sauna and hot tub were both enjoyable. One small miss: more co-ed relaxation space would make it easier to enjoy the spa experience with a partner. Front Desk: Unfortunately, the front desk was the weakest part of the stay. Communication and overall attitude were disappointing, with spa messages never being passed along and unnecessary friction when requesting a late checkout. Thankfully, aside from check-in and check-out, we had minimal interaction with them. Bottom Line: Despite the front desk shortcomings, the property, spa, lounge, and most of the staff were excellent. It’s a stunning resort and a great place to relax—just be prepared for a less-than-stellar front desk experience.

NOT A 5 STAR HOTEL IN A HUGE WAY! IF YOU CARE ABOUT WHERE YOU ARE ABOUT TO STAY...PLEASE READ; THE GOOD: ** The valet and bellman were the nicest ever! They were always friendly and willing to answer any questions. Sorry....that's it. Now please read on as it's important you know this: THE BAD: (where do I even begin) ** IF YOU CARE about noise when you are in your room, if you are sensitive to noise when you sleep - this is NOT the property for you. While there during Christmas week, we had 2 rooms - a one bedroom suite and another room with 2 beds. The prices for both were VERY expensive (as one comes to expect with a Ritz Carlton). For some reason, the suites are on the bottom floors so you have people/rooms on top of you which means - YES - you hear stomping ...showers being turned on...and even talking. How do you pay almost thousands of dollars for a suite that you have to deal with this kind of noise??!!! WHAT???? We even had our suite moved after the first night and it only got worse!!! How does a Ritz Carlton have this noise?? They also have fountains (we stayed in the villas) that are in the middle of these stone buildings and they are LOUD...not comforting loud...LOUD!! AND if that wasn't bad enough...our "partial ocean view" was honestly 100% NOT AN OCEAN VIEW AT ALL!!! The only way you could see it was to go outside on your balcony about 20 steps and you could "kind of" see it. The suite stared at a hill...a HILL!! And the other room we got stared at a rooftop of the other building??!!! RITZ CARLTON - HOW DO YOU ALLOW THIS AND CALL YOURSELVES 5 STAR???? We also had an ant issue in the bathroom of the suite and they came in and sprayed with such a strong smelling toxic substance we had to leave and open the doors for hours (and keep in mind it was raining the whole time we were there...so the room was freezing and the carpet got wet) ** DO NOT GET ME STARTED about how pathetic the "Christmas activities" for kids was. OMG!! RITZ...YOU SHOULD BE EMBARRASSED!!! The $30/pp cookie decorating was honestly (I kid you not) 4 almost burnt cookies with 4 small bags of frosting (black????, white, red and green). What the ??? And a small bowl of sprinkles that were not festive at all and it was in this non-decorated ballroom with a few tables/chairs and a couple workers dressed in elf costumes (purchased from Shein by the looks). It was soooooo sad!! Then their "hot chocolate bar" the day after Christmas was a hot chocolate urn (in the same sad ballroom) and a bowl of whipped cream? WHAT THE??? SOMEONE get them a party planner because it was beyond sad!!! The person they had dressed as Santa was wandering around the building on the 24th, 25th and 26th and he was just wandering around the property....not really interacting with others. Discount Santa??!!! ** CHRISTMAS decorations were sad as he**. There was a tree, a gingerbread (I think...maybe foam??) decoration and it was just sad!! RITZ....CALL THE HOTEL DEL CORONADO in San Diego or The FAIRMONT in San Francisco....they will tell you what Christmas is supposed to look like ** The food. Oh the food. It was just so "meh" and "blah" for a lot of $$$. There were 6 of us and everyone kept saying the same thing for the 5 days we were there "how is this a Ritz"?!! ** The property needs some SERIOUS AND I MEAN SERIOUS renovation! It's just outdated, sad and blah. I have no clue how this is considered 5 star (and yes, I stay at 5 star properties so I know what to expect). ** The managers and MOD are about as nice as petting a porcupine. Enough said Suffice it to say, we will NEVER be returning and I will NOT be recommending it to anyone!! Please take this into consideration and talk to the staff before you book. I promise you this is NOT worth the money at all

I saw some bad reviews but considering it’s the “Ritz” i thought I’ll give it a chance! Was celebrating Christmas with my kids and thought it would be special as our other ritz experiences have been! Boy was i wrong!! So here’s the deal: if you come expecting a MARRIOTT experience you will be pleasantly surprised. But if you’re expecting a Ritz experience, dont even bother! With the room tariff of $800 a night this is what we got…. A front desk manager who was clueless on activities around the hotel No kids welcome kit that all ritz hotels offer! And it’s Christmas time!! After asking the front desk twice finally the second day on being reminded we got 2 bears dropped off that defi were MARRIOTIZED! 😂 really poor! The room quality is so so and even the amenities and toilet paper are cheap! Not sure where they can charge the tariffs they do! Do yourself a favor and hop over to the rosewood of luxury is what you are looking for!

A great hotel ruined by a lousy soft product. Went to Ritz Bacara for our 5 year anniversary. I was planning to propose to girlfriend so I worked with Avelino (he was great) at guest relations. While they weren't fastest to respond it seemed they took my simple requests to heart. The hotel itself is great with tasteful renovations and good food. Easy to walk to beach and romantic. Some areas of renovation appear to have been skipped but I think they made some good trade offs. While I had low expectations the staff constantly dropped the ball here are a few things that bothered me. - staff delivered flowers EARLY almost ruining my proposal. I had to quickly send them back to front desk. When i brought this up with manager he blamed the florist, even though there was no way the florist would have had my room number. Meaning staff sent them early. - Never once was I able to flag down a golf cart, but i did almost get hit by them... twice! - Food at the restaurant Marisella was great but the staff was some of the worst I have experienced. They messed up our order 3 times and the manager had to comp our entire meal (Thanks Amanda! She was great) - house keeping cleared MULTIPLE bottles of wine including a $150 bottle of champagne that was a keepsake for our anniversary. When asked for a winestopper they took 3 hours before telling me they didn't exist, with no solution. House keeping also took all the corks! So we had to pour out 2 bottles. Ridiculous. Include a winestopper in the room! It will encourage guests to buy wine bottles - multiple people mention in room dining as counting towards breakfast but yet at checkout no credits were applied - It felt like everyone here was gaslighting all guests (and after speaking to manager Ben I understand where it comes from), asking for expensive bottles of champagne are met with "we don't have that" only for a manager to find it and give no apology. The dietary restrictions on most menus are incorrect (especially im room dining), leading to scary moments, also no apology. Staff throws away half full bottles and wine corks, no apology. - they mention for certain marriott offers tiers you get complimentary specialty coffees at mission market but only before 7am, this was repeated multiple times. Until! I went to the mission market and the manager told me this is not true its available all day. Have seen multiple reviews about this! - staff was mostly unhelpful and low-key bafoons, constantly forgetting checks and pens for in room dining. Not providing silverware and failing to understand simple requests like swapping dining items when they are out of stock. I try my hardest not to judge but this was worse than most holiday inns in this regard. I can confidently say this is not up to Ritz Carlton standards and at $800-$1000 a night I would look elsewhere (El Encanto, Rosewood Miramar). Also even after requesting "Ritz Carlton Promise" for staff to replace bottles was met with "we will bill to room" so I guess that's dead too. The staff really drag down what would otherwise be a great hotel, and since its a resort away from town, you kinda have to rely on them. I have photos and receipts of all of this so if someone at staff would like to reach out please tell me how I can contact. Or keep this hotels status as "Worst Ritz Carlton in the world". It kinda has a ring to it!