The Ritz-Carlton Bacara, Santa Barbara

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!

Perfect stay, very relaxing and quiet off season in October. I wanted to watch a rocket launch and y wife was less excited. So we stayed at the Ritz Carlton, beach front room with club room access. Great views, nice place to have an evening wine and cheese on the balcony. Great club room, particularly breakfast. They even catered to gluten-free.

Overall atracks rated 9.2/10. We stayed for two nights. Room: 9.3/10. Clean, well maintained and pretty large. They do a great job of the little things like turn down service and slippers. Gym: 9.2/10. Very large with enough cardio equipment. Misc: Valet was a tad slow with the text service. The check in was fast. The staff was friendly. Cost $75 per day for parking Cost $750 and up depending on the day of the week and room choice. This is the floor of cost.

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.