The Ritz-Carlton Bacara, Santa Barbara

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.

The hotel lacks attention to detail period. It is not Ritz Carlton in anyway apart from price. Lack of details - expect your food to have small pieces of stuff you did not order because chef could care less of keeping his food prep clean. Rooms cleaning is poor and not well maintained, expect stains all over, room will lack basic amenities like clean towels or bathrobes. By the way they have 500 rooms so they will just apologize for not getting your room cleaned. There are so much properties around , you can easily skip them, especially if you are traveling with kids.

Average is the best way to describe our stay. Booked for our 15th weeding anniversary and wanted an oceanfront room. Paid for that upgrade, called ahead of tome, asked again at front desk. View was of a burm , with ocean views in the distance. Disappointing considering all the marriott travel I complete each year. Staff did not wow us, and we had to ask for things that should have been included. The facilities are nice overall, it felt standard.

We love the location! Rooms are clean and roomy. Maricella restaurant food was fantastic. Only complaint was we had to wait hours (4) for our room to be cleaned in order to check in. We planned on arriving at 11 and asked for an early checkin. We did not get into our room until 3:04 in the afternoon. Not a great way to start a special birthday getaway.

After reading not so good reviews, decided to book Ritz Carlton Bacara anyways. And BIG regret. While the "property" location, vista etc. is very beautiful it is by far NOT the quality of many other Ritz Carltons. The property has visible undergone "some" renovations in particular to common areas, restaurant and spa, these are nicely done and appreciated. We were upgraded to a suite which was very expansive, but upon entering there was a VERY DISTINCTIVE FOUL ODOUR that emanated in the room. Opening doors/ windows - only temporarily solved the property and the noise and odour from large kitchen exhaust system was overwhelming. Having travelled for 12+ hours it was late had no energy to switch rooms. While our room was "renovated" much of the lighting, doors / hardware, etc. was still old and very very dated. Linens alone doesn't mean renovated. The grounds and buildings are expansive and can see that there was once a very beautiful property that is very worn down over the years. Truly to meet the "Ritz" standards, it needs significant additional capital, attention to details in service and for the price, didn't come close to the mark. Travellers - be aware.....

We recently stayed at the Bacara for our wedding weekend and had an amazing experience. The location and property are obviously beautiful, but the rooms are also noticeably nicer after their recent remodel. We had stayed at Bacara in 2020, and while it was a nice experience then, there’s been a massive upgrade in both the room quality, decor, and service level since then. Most importantly, the staff was incredible (especially Alana at the front desk). They helped accommodate all the unique needs for our wedding weekend (storing a cake, scheduled transportation, etc.) and made such an important weekend seamless. We can’t wait to come back and stay again!

Lousy service even before my stay. I was looking forward to staying here, but needed to cancel. I called 4 times. Each time, the rep said to dial zero to reach the hotel, and each time, I explained that I did so. Multiple times, they tried to connect me, but were never able to, and twice, disconnected when putting me on hold. Inexcusable that the hotel is unable to pick up the phone. And ridiculous that they can't waive a cancellation for a whopping 1-night reservation more than 10 days in advance. As they can't cancel, and can't waive the fee, I'll just dispute the charge and they can deal with American Express. Really poor service, guys. Nothing Ritz Carlton about it.

Stay was amazing and staff were very helpful and friendly. The manager Ben at the front desk greeted us at check in and made us feel very welcome and helped me organize a birthday surprise for my Dad. Ben was very cool and made our arrival process so easy and exciting. Hope to be back soon. Thank you

Exceptional property. Loved the surroundings, relaxed vibe and very aesthetic feel to the hotel. The staff is extremely friendly and helpful and the restaurant, Marsella was incredible. Loved the food, service and the atmosphere. We stayed in the room with fireplace and ocean views and had a great time.

There was no minibar in the room. I felt like a drink on arrival and the fridge was just empty. Quite unusual so we ended up going to the markets within the hotel premises and bought a few things there. Would have been nicer to have a selection in the room though.

The view is spectacular and the landscaping is superb.

The rooms lack soundproofing and have outdated facilities. Many rooms face the road, and the windows don’t block noise, so passersby’s conversations easily disturb sleep.