RITZ-CARLTON BACARA RESORT
The Rtiz-Carlton Bacara, Santa Barbara is a beautiful hotel tucked onto 78 acres overlooking the Pacific. The Ritz-Carlton Bacara, Santa Barbara combines the appeal of this coastal city with the beauty of its natural surroundings. There are two beaches, nearby downtown Santa Barbara, three infinity-edge pools and a 42,000-sq-ft spa. You can relax in spacious suites, or you can indulge in the region’s abundance with locally sourced cuisine. The hotel does need updating in the rooms and the service could be greatly improved, but it is pretty resort with views to savor.
Accommodations
Rooms and suites that are nice, but very old, needs renovations and updating
Location
Good location overlooking the ocean, tucked away on acres
Service
Needs major improvement from value to front desk, but a bellman was great
Overall
Very pretty exterior, needs better service and updating
RITZ-CARLTON BACARA SANTA BARBARA RATING
Accommodations
Rooms with fireplaces and suites, but very outdated and not Ritz standards
Price
Outrageously priced
Service
Needs major improvement, terrible front desk staff with no service
Location
Good location
Experience
Very pretty grounds, service is terrible
Overall
The overall experience is so-so. The exterior is so pretty and grand with pools and lush landscaping, but the interior rooms were old and the service was horrible. It is a pretty location with an excellent restaurant.
RITZ-CARLTON BACARA SANTA BARBARA
The Ritz-Carlton Bacara, Santa Barbara is a beautiul hotel. The property is California chic, welcoming you with a grand entrance and white expansive buildings and palm trees galore. The landscaping, flowers and grounds are magnificent. There are beautiful expansive ocean views from the grounds and certain rooms.
It is a very large resort with 358 guest rooms, suites and residences, private balconies with ocean views. The restaurant has great service with the signature steakhouse dining at Angel Oak has locally sourced cuisine and 12,000-bottle wine collection. There is a huge 42,000-sq-ft spa and wellness center, robust activities for guests of all ages, beautiful pools and two beaches beneath the resort.
However, the rooms are beyond outdated and simply not Ritz-Carlton standard. Their basic rooms are California traditional but very old. We were not offered the complimentary Champagne that all guests receive when entreating the lobby. We also arrived later, so the service should have been impeccable since there was no one else to serve. You are chauffeured on a golf cart with your luggage, the resort is very big. You can see the beautiful flowers and grounds, which you think is only the beginning of what is to come.
It is not. Luckily while having to wait to be transferred to another room, a deluxe two room suite, our bellman was wonderful, offering us wine; he was the only good thing about the service. Even in our extensively "upgraded" room, the interior was seriously lacking: stains on the floors, a creepy pull out bed with springs you could hear, frayed carpet and room service that never arrived. The valet when checking out was so inconsiderate, he actually damaged the exterior of the trunk of our car when loading the luggage. The staff mentioned they were redoing or had redone their lobby, when it was already beautiful and definitely didn't need to be redone. The rooms do need. The staff needs to be retrained in what Ritz-Carlton worthy service and hospitality truly is. It is a beautiful resort though with stunning ocean views.
