Best Hotel/Food/Sights in Santa Barbara

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Fess Parker's Red Lion is practically on the beach and is a nice place to stay. I haven't been there in a while though. Its in downtown SB

A little further north (10 mi) in the town of Goleta is Bacara, an amazing resort (http://www.bacararesort.com/). Its adjacent to Sand Piper golf course (if you are into golf). Bacara always has a stable of exotics parked out front. Fantastic place to stay and dine, with views to die for.

I'd drive through Montecito; its beautiful, and also up & down San Marcos pass to Solvang (about 35 min from SB).

 

Do not go on Camino Cielo! I was there yesterday and the road is crumbling and full of potholes. I think you're confusing it with 154 which comes down from Buellton to S.B., great road but lots of RVs on the weekend. That area also has wineries and some good restaurants in Los Olivos/Santa Ynez area. Tons of great places to eat, best plan would be to pick the type of food you want and narrow the field from there.

 

o.0

Fess Parker's Red Lion doesn't exist anymore. Its been gone for a long time.

Fess Parker's Double Tree is right on the beach and is a nice place to stay. Its downtime SB very close to Stearn's Wharf. It also hosts a car show once a year.

Hotel's I'd recommend would be Fess Parker's Double Tree, The Biltmore, The Bacara and Hotel Andalucia. Andalucia is right in the middle of Down-town, right near State Street and such.

Drive through Montecito, taking 192. Highway 154 through the mountains is great. Taking a drive through Hope Ranch is also a nice drive. Really good, and well paved, driving roads exist off of 154. For instance you can take Paradise to Stagecoach up in the mountains and its a great drive and has a very nice Restaurant/Bar on it called Cold Springs Tavern. Its actually an old Stage Coach Depot and serves up great food. Dirt parking and all, but the place routinely sees 'nice' cars. Perhaps not too many Ferrari's but if my father's lowered Porsche was able to park there I think most Ferraris will be fine.

If you're planning on taking a multiple day vacation here then you really should take Pranucci's advice about Solvang and the wineries. Its a good tour and a great time. There is also a fantastic motorcycle museum in Solvang. They're only open weekends 11am-5pm, or during the week by appointment. I don't think by appointment changes the price of admission but its $5 on the weekend and has an amazing array of bikes.

I'm just a dumbass college kid and life long Santa Barbara Local. I'll drop you a PM with my cell if you've got any questions/get lost.

 

Hotels: My favorite has and will always be the Biltmore. Bacara is very nice as well but it's twenty minutes downtown and if I didn't already live here and was visiting, I'd want to be close to downtown. Bacara probably is more exotic car friendly, however-probably will be parked in the courtyard for constant monitoring by the staff. Also, San Ysidro ranch is absolutely gourgeous and has just been redone by Ty Warner, looks awesome on the website. Very quiet and very car friendly. Also not very far from downtown, just a few mintues more than Biltmore. Those are the only places I'd stay, maybe Andalucia but that place is definetly not car friendly.

Restaurants: Bacara's top restaurant is supposed to be very good but I've never been. Lucky's in Montecito lower village(Coast Village Rd.) is great for steaks. Joe's downtown has just been redone by the owner of Lucky's(the Lucky's Jeans guy-he and Ty Warner own half of SB now I think!) and was and I would think still is a great place to get a drink-stiffist in town and very nostalgic. Lot's of italian restuarants, Ca Dario, Olio Limone, Tre Lune(Montecito) and others that are good. Bouchon in SB also good. Arigato for sushi. SB has a lot of very good restuarants, all casual enough to wear jeans, nothing really stands out as way better than the rest in my opinion. Also, in the Hotel Andalucia, the restuarant, I think 31 West is the name, was very good and a festive lobby bar and a bar on the roof as well. If I were to pick two, 31 West and Lucky's are the must go tos for me. I'm probably forgetting something but that should get you started.

Enertainment/Drives: Go wine tasting. Take 154 out of SB over San Marcos pass to Solvang. Stop at Gainey Winery on the left side a mile or two after turning left onto 246 from 154. Good wine. Also on the left side a marketplace that has great sandwiches,etc. for lunch or Los Olivos market off 154. The best winery for lunch is Rusack, I think left on Ballard Canyon Road off 154 further northeast from Los Olivos market. Beautiful picnic area and good wine. From there I'd explore a bit in Solvang, kind of funky but worth a look. Then I'd hit the wineries in the Santa Rita Hills, best Pinot's in the county IMO(and most others). Lafond, Melville, Babcock and others along Santa Rita Road and 246 are great. In Lompoc, behind Home Depot(first thing you see when going into town) is a business park setting(wherehouses) and an area called the "wine ghetto". Fiddlestix Vineyard is fantastic. Difficult to find and not the best setting but worth it. A few others might be worth a taste in that area as well. Then going back home take hwy 1 to 101 and the coast south back to SB. Great drive, it's my typical loop when going for a long drive.

If you play golf, Sandpiper(near Bacara), San Marcos-just redone and my favorite La Purisma(almost into Lompoc) are fantastic courses and not too difficult to get a tee time.

Have a great time in the best city in the US!

Jeff

 

Check out Blue Agave just down from Joe's downtown.

 

The Four Seasons Builtmore is the best hotel in town and parking is not a problem. If you are into cajun food, The Palace Restaurant right in town is probably the best in the state.

 

That's the name of it! I couldn't remember it. They have awesome cajun food. Wonder if they still serve Martinis in mason jars. They were potent and thus the restaurant had a "one martini" policy.

Thanks Ronnie!!!

 

And while you are doing the Santa Rita Hills wineries, which yes, are some of the best Pinots, make sure to go to Sanford which is in Buellton and on the way to SB, stop in Summerland at the Summerland tasting room, great wine there!

 

Sanford was purchased by a large volume wine producer so the wines may not be up to previous levels. Worth a stop though. Alma Rosa is the label the original winemaker of Sanford is making wine under now, the may have a tasting room in the area now, not sure but if so I'd go there as well.

Jeff

 

what happened to Fess Parker's Red Lion? Stayed there around 1991...has it been torn down and replaced(by what?) or just mothballed?

 

Villa Rosa is cute, affordable and a close walk to the beach and pier.

But if your pocketbook can handle it, Bacara is amazing. Very pricey though. I think the minimum room is about $500/night. If you want a view, (and why wouldn't you, if you're going to stay there, right?) I think it'd probably be closer to $750 or $800.

When we were there, a guy was training a couple of falcons on the lawn. It was pretty cool.

<thinking>

Well... Actually, it was hot. Very hot. That's why we were there in fact; To get away from the 110+ degree heat here in LA!!! But that's another story... (or two... )

Also, Brophy Bros. in the marina is good for seafood.

Here are a couple of pictures...
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Hotel still there, just Fess Parker's Double Tree Inn now. Some refurbishment not too many years back, decent place, good location.

Jeff

Also, Rodney's Steakhouse is a good place to eat in that hotel although Lucky's is a better experience.