Encina Lodge is great

We had a lovely stay at this hotel. It wasn't fancy, but it was very nicely laid out, and the rooms were clean and reasonably spacious (we had a one bedroom suite with kitchenette for a family of five and had plenty of room). The neighborhood was quiet, the grounds were very well kept (and we loved the birdcage next to the pool and restaurant), the restaurant was fine (not gourmet, but it did the job for breakfast). The service was exceptional: whenever we needed anything, it was brought to us in minutes. And, given hotel prices in Santa Barbara, it was a fantastic value.

Lovely place to stay

We really liked this hotel. Our family spent five nights there in late June. We had the room with a small kitchen. Plenty of room for the three of us. The buildings were old but well maintained and very clean. I loved the quilts on the beds... there were a lot of touches like this that made it feel like home. Pool was the perfect size my six year old. And the setting was just beautiful.. lots of flowers and shade trees. We especially loved the aviary with finches (and also one canary and one diamond dove). It was so lovely to sit by the pool and watch the birds. They made the hotel really special, setting it apart from the typical room and pool.

I read the earlier reviews of this hotel that said the restaurant was not very good but we found the food to be terrific. The staff was very attentive and helpful. All in all, we'd highly recommend this hotel. The only drawback was having to wait till 2:00 pm to check in... but I know that's pretty much the norm no matter where you stay these days.

Just Okay

Don't let the staff place you in the unit at the back of the property with the underground parking!

The underground parking was a joke! We have a Suburban and it took us 8 attempts to get out of the parking structure to exit the property. Also, the room we had faced a very busy street that had traffic noise all night long. Adjacent to our building was a convalescent hospital where we were awakened at 5:00 a.m. by a lady calling for "help" over and over again!

We called the front desk and told them how unhappy we were so we were moved to the front building. We were placed on the second floor and later found out there was no elevator. We had to haul all of our luggage up and down the stairs. There is also a huge bird aviary on the property so we awoke to the tune of over 500 finches.

For almost $200.00 a night, it isn't worth it. Try something else!

O.K. but not great

We stayed in Santa Barbara during our recent vacation and found the hotel staff to be very helpful and the area wonderful. The grounds are very well kept with lovely flowers. However, the room, although large and airy if you opened the windows, is in serious need of updating. The bathroom's wallpaper was peeling from the wall and the smell of mildew was overwhelming. The price is too high for what you get, even considering the expensive Santa Barbara area.

Quiet, Clean, Comfortable

We "settled" for this place because we could not get into a beachfront hotel without spending tons of $$$ on a Sat. night. We moved to Fess Parker's Doubletree the next night right across from the beach. We preferred the room at hte BW.

The room was a good size, kitchen and good amenities. the pool was small but good enough for our daughter. Bring your laptop- this place has FREE wireless internet. I really liked that. There is a restaurnat on the property although it is independant. It is called Capella's. It turned out to be really, really nice. Very nice atmosphere. Very courteous staff both at the hotel and the restaurant. Very close to the SB Mission (but you have to drive there since it is a tough hike up a steep hill).

Bottom line: Clean and a better price than other hotels in SB.

Lots of room and great value

My husband and I loved this place! I spent hours and hours searching for inexpensive lodging in Santa Barbara but that was impossible. Once I realized that a basic decent room at the BW Ramada Inn Limited was going to cost me $153, I started looking again and comparing suites to basic rooms. I found this Encina Lodge and Suites was rated well enough and fit in for my ideal location for a quiet neighborhood, away from the beach with it's noisy train whistle as well as away from State Street and it's night life. It is very near the Cottage Hospital. The Encina was wonderful. My room was really large and sunny and airy with lots of windows in the dining room/living room area, the kitchen, the bedroom, and bathroom. The place had 2 wall unit air conditioners/fan, but we only had to use it once in the afternoon as the weather was wonderful the sunny weekend we were there. We were there to visit my son and his fiancee for the Mother's Day weekend. So I didn't need the beach or the night life.

I used the kitchen to cook up some fajiitas for all of us the first night. They didn't tell me it would cost me $8 more a night to have the kitchen cabinets unlocked if I wanted to use their dishes, pots, and silverware. So that raised my rate to $192 a night, but I was still very happy. The kitchen had a 4 burner stove with oven and broiler, large refrigerator and sink. There were lots of drawer and cabinet space in the kitchen too. They provided a small container of dish soap so I could wash up my dishes as it had no dishwasher. We will use this place again when we go later this summer to visit them.

The couch is a large couch so a person can sleep on it unopened. The queen bed in the bedroom is pretty comfortable with a pillowtop and a comforter instead of a bedspread made it very homey and more comfortable. Even the wallpaper in the bedroom was very nice with small flower print. The bathroom is small but it worked. Also, the bedroom had huge closets and lots of drawer space.

They give you free local calls up to 30 minutes so that we were able to use our computer to log on to the internet several times over the weekend and just kept our use each time to under 30 minutes.

This place was a huge apartment and you could set up house here for an extended stay. I checked on the room next door and it was a bit smaller but I could still be happy there too. And yes, the Encina Lodge was very quiet!

Good but nothing great

The room was quite big, but the decor looked like it was from the 80s. It needed to be updated. The room got a bit stuffy after showering, but if you open the windows, it aired quite quickly. The staff was nice. I felt the room was expensive for the quality of the room...but then again all hotels in Santa Barbara are expensive...I would try something different next time.

Comfortable and good value

We were pleasantly surprised at this hotel and happily recommend it. Our room was very clean and airy (although you should note that the first floor rooms are much cooler). The hotel has a small pool which our children enjoyed. The front desk staff were very helpful.

The location is well away from the sea front but within walking distance of the Mission and in a pleasant environment. It is also incredibly easy to find by car as Bath Street is one of the marked exits from the freeway.

Very cute place

This hotel was not my first choice, but rather the result of last minute plans to stay in Santa Barbara. I was pleasantly surprised by how quaint this hotel was. It is not decorated in the motel standard, but more like an old inn or cabin. My only complaints are that it's not close to the beach and that my room only had a shower -- no tub. But there was fruit and cookies (free!) in the room and plenty of space for my stuff. Also, I ended up checking out about an hour late and there was no complaint or charge at the front desk.

Clean, Comfortable, Great Location

Our family of four just completed a long weekend trip to Santa Barbara and we were very pleased with the hotel. Outside the hotel looks great with fresh paint, great landscaping and nice brickwork. The architecture is slightly dated but maintained very well. We selected a two bedroom apartment that was huge for a hotel. The kitchen had a oven, full size fridge, stove, and sink. Zero pots, pans, plates, etc.

The room was great for the family. The furnishings, carpet and fully mirrored wall were very dated. The room had three beds, one was new the other two left much to be desired. For the money I would stay again at this hotel many times to come.