Best Hotel in Santa Barbara and Possibly Anywhere.

Allow me to introduce you to the Inn of the Spanish Garden in Santa Barbara, California. Get comfy and prepare to cry when you have to leave. It was, by leaps and bounds, the best hotel we stayed in on our California adventure.  Just looking at the pics is making me more than a little wistful.   Sigh.  Onward...

The room was gorgeous.  Expansive.  Beautiful.  Immaculate.  Frette linens on the king size bed, fire in the fireplace at the flip of a switch, largeish balcony overlooking a beautiful courtyard with a tinkling fountain.  Serene.  Giant garden tub and a separate shower with Molton Brown toiletries.  Blissful.  The architecture is spanish inspired like everything in Santa Barbara, but it wasn't overdone or cheesy in any way.

The staff were amazing.  Attentive.  Completely friendly and always said hello, asked how we were enjoying Santa Barbara, it seemed that everyone from the front desk staff to the waitstaff had a smile on their face and a friendly demeanor.  There are only 23 rooms, so it seemed as if there were a staff member for each guest.  We borrowed Bee Movie from the front desk to watch in our room and five minutes later a fresh popped popcorn was sent up to the room at no charge.  Dave also called down to see if they had Motrin and it arrived within a minute.

The absolute best thing about this hotel is the focus on details.  From the warm cookies in the lobby to the turndown service that leaves chocolates and a weather forecast for the following day on your nightstand, there is no detail that is left undone. The mini bar was stocked with anything you could want including local wine & a rubber duckie for the garden tub... and get this, the prices in the mini bar aren't insane.  Nor are the room prices for the amount of luxury you get.  I know.  It shocked me too.  There was a Bodum french press for coffee in the morning, a corkscrew & glasses to enjoy wine, electric tea kettle, and really anything you'd need is there in the room.  In lieu of mini toiletries, there are full size bottles of Molton Brown products {also available for purchase in the lobby} in the bath along with cotton balls, q-tips, make up remover, and all kinds of other wonderful touches.  Even the bath linens were plush and the towels were giant bath sheets.

Kudos to the owners of the hotel for a wonderful stay and amazing hotel, you should be proud.  And in the interest of full disclosure, we didn't tell them we would be blogging this nor did we get anything for this review.  It was just that good.  I'm really hoping to go back for another visit soon!