Santa Barbara · Hotel shortlist
The best hotels near Santa Barbara Bowl
Britt Sorensen India and the Himalaya
These are my five favourites in Santa Barbara, out of the 62 that qualified. I read what other travellers scored them before I picked, so the order follows the guests, all five scoring 4.6.
All five are inside 1.5 km of Santa Barbara Bowl, so you can walk it.
Highest rated of the five
El Encanto, Santa Barbara
★★★★★4.6 from 892 reviews
El Encanto, Santa Barbara comes out on top of this list, and not narrowly: 4.6 from 892 guest reviews is a score that holds up at that volume, which is the whole test here. A perfect ten from nine people does not beat it.
It is a 5 star property and found under poi.
62 hotels in Santa Barbara qualified for this list and five made it. Simpson House Inn is the one I would book if the first is full.
Why it works for this trip
- Poolsomewhere to cool off between walks
- Spatreatment rooms on site, no booking a taxi for it
- Air conditioningthe one that decides a summer trip
- Restaurantdinner downstairs on the night you land
- Bara drink without going back out
All five, ranked
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1
El Encanto, Santa Barbara
★★★★★4.6 from 892 reviews
1.1 km from Santa Barbara Bowl, about a 14 minute walk
- Pool
- Spa
- Gym
- Restaurant
- Bar
- Parking
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2Simpson House Inn
★★★★★4.8 from 206 reviews
1.5 km from Santa Barbara Bowl, about a 19 minute walk
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3Casa Jardin
★★★★★5 from 153 reviews
1.2 km from Santa Barbara Bowl, about a 15 minute walk
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4Casa Riviera
★★★★★5 from 140 reviews
1.3 km from Santa Barbara Bowl, about a 16 minute walk
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5Palihouse Santa Barbara
★★★★★4.7 from 229 reviews
1.3 km from Santa Barbara Bowl, about a 16 minute walk
How this list was put together
62 Santa Barbara hotels qualify for this list. We ranked them on guest rating first and on how close they are to Santa Barbara Bowl second, then took the top five.
Two things decide these lists. The first is my own time in the city: every hotel on this page is one I have stayed in, walked into and looked at, or gone back to check. That is where the shortlist starts, and it is why some well reviewed places are not on it.
The second is the numbers, and those are what set the order. The rating and review count come from the big travel sites, pooled through Google, so a score here reflects Expedia, Booking, Hotels.com and the rest together rather than any one of them. I also read the review breakdown by topic, which is where the figures on service, breakfast and location come from. Hotels with fewer than forty reviews are left out altogether, because a rating that thin is not a rating. No more than two come from one neighbourhood.
What I do not do is move anyone up the order. The ranking is the guest score, highest first, and nobody pays to be on the list.
Distances are straight lines from published coordinates, so the real walk is a little longer. Amenities are as recorded by Google Hotels and can change without notice. Rates are an indicative nightly figure for a midweek autumn stay, not a quote. Check the booking page before you commit.
Britt Sorensen India and the Himalaya
Her work season is winter, leaving whole summers free for mountains in the other hemisphere or trekking at altitude in Nepal and Peru. Carries the lightest pack of anyone she travels with.
Trip Grapevine earns a commission on bookings made through the links on this page. It costs you nothing, and it does not change the order of the list, which is set by the measurements above.