Hotel Oceana Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California
The Hotel Oceana Santa Barbara is located on West Beach. Guests will find that the hotel is situated between the harbor and Stearns Wharf. The hotel offers excellent views of both the ocean and the mountains. The Hotel Oceana Santa Barbara is located only a short drive away from Santa Barbara Municipal Airport, which offers easy access to larger cities in the region. The airport can be reached via rental car, taxi, or bus. Public buses offer easy access to local attractions and the waterfront shuttle provides excellent beach transit for exploring travelers. The guestrooms at the Hotel Oceana Santa Barbara offer travelers wireless Internet access. Each room offers luxury linens as well as iPod docks and more. Private bathrooms include Aveda toiletries, irons, and hair dryers. Guests of the Hotel Oceana Santa Barbara will find many restaurants and shops nearby. The hotel offers a bistro that provides a Continental breakfast. There are two pools and a whirlpool onsite as well as cabanas and an outdoor garden.
Katrina Brown Hunt (verified owner) –
Pleasant, relaxed boutqiue hotel has easy access to downtown, and the beach across the street.
We stayed at this hotel after taking the train to Santa Barbara from San Diego, and it was a pretty easy (despite some expected complaints) four-block walk from the train station. The hotel exudes that relaxed, Spanish-style, bougainvillea-covered vibe that you expect in this lush, lovely city. The hotel is spread across six small buildings and rooms have been nicely updated, with bright, colorful accents, little balconies and they have lots of natural light. There is a huge lawn, perfect for lounging or kid cartwheeling, and two pools, one with a hot tub. The hotel also has a fitness center, free wifi and bookings come with a two-hour use of two beach cruiser bikes (which we didn’t use, since the bikes are grown-up sized, and here were four of us). The rate includes a decent continental breakfast (hard boiled eggs, fruit, toast, pastries, juice and coffee), but the hotel is also next door to the original (and last remaining) Sambo’s, which offers a reasonable pancake breakfast for kids (and without any memories of the controversy). The hotel is on the oceanfront Cabrillo Blvd., so public beach access to just across the street. State Street, with lots of shops, eateries and family-friendly bike rentals (such as surreys) is a just a few minutes’ walk from the hotel. Hotel staff were always friendly and helpful We would totally go back!
Tips for Families
Ask for a room in one of the buildings near a pool; the junior suite (king with sleeper sofa in an alcove) was not ready when we checked in, so we switched to a regular two-queen room and were better for it, since it was above one pool and the other would have been quite a walk from the pools (the hotel’s building are basically in a line along Cabrillo). To visit the Santa Barbara Zoo–which would be a pretty long walk for kids–you can pick up the Waterfront Trolley across the street; it’s just 50 cents per person, and it goes along State Street, too. We were pleasantly surprised that it was pretty easy to go car-free here, since trolleys and cabs are pretty plentiful if you’re staying in the main part of town.