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Best Western Encina Lodge and Suites
Rating Details »
Category: Hotels
2220 Bath StSanta Barbara, CA 93105
(805) 682-7277
Casual Elegance with Quaint Charm
Ideal for extended stays or family vacations, Encina Lodge offers a variety of accommodations, including guest rooms, suites, & apartments.
- Price Range:
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$$
10 reviews for Best Western Encina Lodge and Suites
Gayle and I booked the Encina Lodge through Expedia and on short reservations notice, it was one of the few places within inner Santa Barbara that had reasonably priced single night availability in a 2 night minimum town. It's a bit of a walk from here to lower State Street and Beach. However, since Gayle and I love to walk for exercise and exploration when we're away from home, we actually enjoyed the convenient location.
The Encina Lodge gets an immediate 4 stars by virtue of a very comfortable bed and a good night's sleep. The room was also clean and comfortable. However, I found the walls to be a little thin during certain times at night. But then again, that comfortable bed led us right back to sleep. The wi-fi in our room also really didn't work. However, there is a computer (with a fast connection) in the Lobby.
The property itself is kind of an odd duck. It's spread out over many buildings, many of which were probably old apartments. This may explain the odd shape to our room and the relatively tight quarters toward the sink and bathroom areas. There is also a restaurant here and a neat large bird cage just outside. The Encina Lodge is also close to the hospital and judging by the hot line information on the room phone, the extra rails in the bathroom, and kitchy gift shop in front, there is obviously a mutually beneficial relationship.
This was our landing pad during Fiesta 2009. It was a little funky but clean and comfortable.
We got a 2 qn bed room and they gave us an upgrade (surprise!) which included a quaint sitting area. There was a pull out bed which made it easy when our 2 friends showed up randomly.
It was about a 7 dollar cab ride to downtown. So it was conveniently located.
It also came with one guaranteed parking spot. Although parking wasn't too hard to find on the street.
For this room during Fiesta (Thurs and Friday night) it cost us $442. Not bad considering we could've easily fit 5 more people in the room if necessary.
This was a decent place to stop by while traveling through Santa Barbara. We got a 2-queen-bed room for a total of $201 (after taxes) through Expedia, and while the decorations were a bit far-out (one wall of mirrors, the other three painted neon green with bright colored bed covers), everything was comfortable and in working order.
The bathroom had all the expected amenities (you'd be surprised how many hotels lack in this...soap, hot water, etc.), and was clean. The beds were comfortable, and the neighborhood was quiet.
This isn't a four-star hotel, so you won't be getting the best of service, and you can't expect too much. If you're looking for a relatively cheap room in the Santa Barbara area though, I'd stop by here.
We took a family trip for the weekend up to Santa Barbara and stayed at the Encina Lodge and Suites. It's a Best Western. We have had good experiences so far. I must say, we were very happy with our one bedroom suite! The room rate was super great ($164)
The exterior was quaint. They have a little aviary outside the restaurant (near the office). We arrived road weary with three kids (our 9 month old was grumpy from the long drive and a traffic jam that took up at least an hour and a half from Summerland to Santa Barbara). We checked in with no problem and were very relieved to relax before our family bike ride (for a quick diaper change for baby and everyone else's toileting needs, as it was a desperate race for the potty after the drive).
The living room area and dining room/kitchen was lovely and spacious. The bedroom had two full and fluffy beds with decent decor (I am a former decor snob turned mommy that takes comfort over style). A closet! Wow! And a super bathroom with a lovely bath/shower and all the toiletries one can take home.
We made use of the kitchen (baby bottles, etc.) and the fridge, so next time we will know to bring sponges and various kitchen items for washing dishes. They had two locked kitchen cabinets which I am assuming contained the dishes, pots, pans, and utensils. I made a mental note to bring/acquire such things necessary if we were going to stay longer, but no matter, this was an overnighter.
Our older kids loved the sense of home. They were thrilled with the two television sets (one in the living room and one in the bedroom). We don't believe in constant television watching, so we do not have television/cable at home-- just DVD watching only-- so they got their fill of Cartoon Network while we were staying in our room.
The kids had the two full size beds at night, and we slept on the sofa bed. The baby slept in a little nest we made next to us on the sofa bed, which worked out just perfectly.
The kids had the luxury of the heat in their room, and I am sure I could have gotten up and turned on the heater in the living room, but I didn't, and that was silly of me. I could have also called the front desk and asked for a few extra blankets, but I didn't do that either. My fault. I chose to freeze with one thin blanket all night on a lumpy, springy sofa bed. Of course I should have known better. My dear husband didn't like the bed or the thin blanket, but neither of us did a thing about it. We suffered unnecessarily. Our son, on the other hand, told us he was "baking hot" all night. Yeah. We should have traded beds for sure. For a child that likes to sleep with ice packs, I should have known. I like to sleep with mounds of heavy blankets on top of me, even in the summer.
The following morning at 7am, there was a heavy rain shower. As my lower back was feeling the ill effects of the poky springs in the mattress and my legs were achy from the cold, I decided that a hot shower and room service would be lovely. Besides, the idea of taking three children in the pouring rain to breakfast at some unidentified restaurant was not a very good idea, and only recipe for a grumpy mood for all. Oh, and to add, I left all of our toothbrushes and toothpaste in the car. I was too lazy to get the dental hygiene accoutrements out of our family minivan, which was completely gross as I had not fallen asleep without brushing my teeth since I was either a child or, all grown up and in a drunken stupor.
I would need to call the office, as they had toothbrushes and toothpaste available in the office gift shop. Well, the gift shop does not deliver toothbrushes.
I then called room service and yes, it was exactly 7am , and that was when they opened. The man on the other line answered, and I asked, "I'd like to order room service, please" in my softest, sweetest voice (not my usual morning thing until I have my black tea with milk and honey). He, restaurant person that offers room service, replied bluntly that he would not deliver in the rain. "Oh." I said. So, no room service in the rain.
The restaurant was described as "A Capella" and "Encina Cafe". I am not sure if some of the literature for the 'restaurant' aka 'cafe' aka 'room service that does not deliver in the rain' was outdated and had undergone a name change, or what, but I decided again that it was better than carting all children out in the rain to IHOP, so I called back an hour later after the rain stopped. Little did I know that the food would be mediocre and expensive, but I guess I am still naive after all these 38 years of life.
The bill was a little over $65.00. The same man whom I ordered from (that previously refused to deliver to our room in the rain) also abrasively told me that the 15% gratuity (aka tip) was automatically added to our bill. I feebly said "ok" when he mentioned it and charged the damn thing to my card. Ugh.
We enjoyed the room, but the room service, so called, was "self serve".
I booked our room on http://hotels.com. It was clean and comfortable, but holy crap. The walls! What did they do to the walls?! The wallpaper was like a french rose garden or something; so busy that they don't even need paintings on the walls. The walls in the bathroom were fabulous though, dark brown tile that was reminiscent of King's Family Restaurant (it's a western Pennsylvania thing -- a restaurant chain with lots of soft food and decorated in a brown and orange color pallet).
Besides in-room coffee, the room also came with apples, peppermints, and a package of Lorna Doones. (Cookies! Free cookies!) And the toiletries were Crabtree & Evelyn Aloe Vera, one of my very favorite soap smells ever. There was a sliding glass door and a little sitting area outside with two chairs and a table. It wasn't private, but it might have been a nice place to relax in the evening if we had been staying there longer than one night.
The hair dryer in the room was about as effective as jumping up and down a few times, so that was kind of lame. Luckily we both have short hair. The window was of the slatted variety, so the lovely sounds of screaming children at the pool were not kept outside very well. And I'm sure most of the hotel knew what we were doing in our room (wink, wink).
The staff was courteous and helpful. They had a toothbrush for my forgetful companion and they called a cab to take us to our dinner reservation.
Pretty good for a Best Western... We stayed for 2 nights in a 2 bedroom suite. Most spacious room I have ever stayed in. A few minor downs. There are NO pots & pans in the kitchen which makes it pretty worthless. The floors were a bit dirty as evident by the brown belly area of our crawling kids clothes. Overall, was an excellent experience at a good price( ~$220/nt)
I had surgery nearby and stayed here for several days to recover. As the other reviewer said, a bit dated but the beds were by far the most comfortable hotel beds I ever slept in. The room was pristine in terms of cleanliness and the sheets actually had a cute floral pattern and were soft- not standard hotel issue. The room was also huge as was the bathroom. It had a little fridge. A tiny microwave would have been welcome. We saw the suite of another guest we met and it was gigantic but even more dated. Since this was a room specially outfitted for surgery recovery, the maid service seemed to be very considerate in terms of disturbing us or not and did a lot of thoughtful little extras which were much appreciated.
Downsides: the onsite restaurant had next to nothing for a vegetarian or vegan. They also had this aviary that was terribly overcrowded with birds (finches?). The birds actually seemed to be going nuts due to their circumstances and had only a hard concrete floor- nothing natural about their conditions at all (e.g., trying to use pieces of rotting lettuce to cover their eggs, fighting, etc.) . It was quite disturbing and inhumane. We even saw several dead while others plucked their feathers from them in a desparate attempt to try and find nesting material. My guest and I found this really troubling and suggest the hotel address this issue.
When we checked in, the woman who checked us in had a bit of an attitude. I was supposed to have a first floor room to make it easier after the surgery to get around. She insisted I did not request the first floor and did not even look to see if there was one before saying so. Another employee came over and told her she should look in the system. Sure enough, he found one and corrected the problem immediately but she was a real pill about it. On the upside, I ended up not being able to go home as planned and we asked if we could be put on a waiting list to stay another night and were called promptly when a room did open up. As another plus, the discount for people having surgery nearby was pretty generous considering it was the height of the busy/Summer season.
EXPENSIVE for a Best Western, though not your typical best western either. Spent with tax 219 for ONE Night, though I understand for the weekend i went, the avg room in Santa Barbara was $330.
Room was very clean and they provided free sweet snacks and a small pack of cookies which was a nice gesture. Offer turn down service and use Crabtree and Evelyn as soaps and such.
We needed a taxi and they called one for us and taxi was there in 5 minutes. (with tip, it was a $10 cab ride to the middle of state street where the outdoor mall is).
Actual room itself was very loud though. Had room that was facing pool area on second floor in main building. When I was taking a shower, it sounded like my room was entered at least 5 times because of all the other rooms doors banging so hard. And if you arent up by 8 or 830am, be prepared to get up because it is so loud with people walking around and doors slamming shut with the cleaning carts going by.
Probably would try to find a better deal elsewhere, but would consider going to again.
Conveniently located to downtown and freeway. The room was big enough for us and the Graco playpen we brought with us for Bay B. to sleep. The rooms are clean and well-maintained for a Best Western, albeit a bit dated. Staff was friendly and helpful...we had forgotten our toothpaste and they had some for us! I agree that the hotel was a bit overpriced for what it was though, we paid about the same rate for a room at the Hyatt in La Jolla on Expedia.
Maybe a bit dated and a bit rough around the edges and possibly a tad overpriced (hard to say since we always go during holidays) but ideal for families wanting to stake a claim for several days and use as a base for exploring out from Santa Barbara. Rather roomy suite hotel with kitchens for eating in with the kids. Extra charge for utensils, so bring your own. Suite rooms only available through direct booking. Internet sites only sell studio rooms. Staff friendly and helpful.
