Ramada by Wyndham Santa Barbara — Hotel in Goleta

The Ramada Hotel is nestled in the sun-drenched hills of Santa Barbara, less than a mile from the 101 Highway. Upon entering the lobby, you hear a genuine from-the-heart welcome greeting from the Hotel’s Guest Services employee at the Registration Desk, which feels like a warm embrace from days gone by. Imagine stepping into a cozy sanctuary where time seems to pause just for you—a place that whispers tales of weary travelers, vacationers, and families coming together seeking a temporary place to hang their hat while a family member is being treated at one of the two nearby hospitals.|Whether you’re seeking a moment of respite or a lively gathering spot, this delightful haven in Santa Barbara is truly a gem. It invites you to unwind, reflect, and rejuvenate, making it the perfect retreat for anyone looking to escape the hustle of everyday life, even if just for a little while. Come experience the warmth and camaraderie that makes it feel like home, away from home.|As you open the lobby door of the Ramada Hotel, you will quickly discover what I found, not just the first time but also on my return five months later. Unbeknownst to you, the door was actually a time portal entrance to an era where hotel guests were welcomed with a genuine smile and a warm greeting from the heart by the Guest Service employee on the Registration Desk. It does not stop there. The employee, without being asked, will offer to assist you by providing information on places of interest to vacationing visitors and activities within the City of Santa Barbara.|The Hotel has a No Pet Policy, which may seem a discriminatory policy to guests traveling with their Kemosabe fur partner. Believe me, it is not. When you take a step back to consider what this Policy unknowingly provides to me, as a Vietnam combat veteran with both a service-connected disability and as a multi-stroke survivor, and other disabled guests like me traveling with service dogs, you may change your opinion. |I sincerely appreciate the Hotel’s commitment to the Americans with Disabilities Act and its support for guests traveling with their Kemosabe service dog partners. Drawing from personal encounters with guests and their pets at hotels that accept pets, I believe the No Pet Policy is akin to offering free, non-injection or oral immunizations to our working dog partners. Thus preventing the transference of Bordella, Distemper, Parvo, and Rabies from an unvaccinated pet that is either a host carrier or afflicted with one of these four deadly canine diseases. In addition, the Policy eliminates the confrontation with dogs that may challenge our working dog partner at hotels that accept guests traveling with pets. |Moving forward, I firmly believe that what makes the Ramada the best of the best miles above the other hotels in the city begins with Mr. Tom Patton, the General Manager. His warm and compassionate demeanor, along with his professional attributes, radiate like a bright shining light among each member of the Hotel staff. Their conversations and interactions with me, as well as what I witness firsthand with guests, are upbeat and friendly.|During my first stay in March 2025, I was surprised to find my room in far better condition than I had expected from a typical hotel room. To be more specific, it was a shock to see it far beyond the best hotels I had previously stayed in. When I returned several months later for an extended stay, the cleanliness and condition of the room reaffirmed my previous first impression of the Hotel’s Housekeeping employees, that their professional work ethic attitude, and personal character attributes are not only committed to providing the Hotel’s guests an exceptionally clean room, but also a positive experience on their stay. |For those seeking a quiet, restful moment after their arrival, the Hotel’s Garden has a pool and a pond within the interior area of the property. Not being a person who loves a refreshing dip into a pool after traveling, I found the benches on the edge of the pond to be a stimulus to creating my writing stories about veterans with service dog partners while watching the ducks and goose residents of the pond. If you feel the urge to feed them, there is a coin vending machine nearby, similar to the ones we used to retrieve candy from in stores as children.|Suppose you would rather take a short nap than relax in the garden or swim in the pool, as I do. In that case, the bed in the room awaits to provide you with an experience that I consider the best trip into dreams filled with the most pleasant memories in your life, from childhood to the present, as an adult. For me, on a personal note, it was as if being transported on a flying bed to a peaceful place beyond the room. Where the uncontrollable, involuntary nightmares of my traumatic Vietnam battlefield combat were, to some extent, non-existent. |Suppose you are like me, waking up from a restful night’s sleep. In that case, you might dread taking a shower or bath, as well as other necessary hygiene tasks, and putting on street attire to travel to a restaurant for breakfast. The Hotel provides a complimentary hot breakfast in their dining room from 6:30 AM to 9:30 AM in the building adjacent to the garden. |The breakfast menu consists of real scrambled eggs, link or patty Turkey sausage, pancakes, and muffins or toast. For beverages, there’s coffee, three different juices, and milk available. Unfortunately, I am sorry to report that my favorite breakfast hot meal, as well as my service dog’s, Biscuits with Sausage-filled gravy, is not on the menu. When it is served at other hotels offering a free hot breakfast, I have often witnessed firsthand that this is the number one favorite of their guests.|Hopefully, my review of the Ramada Hotel in Santa Barbara will spark your travel spirit, encouraging you to pack your gear and escape to a much-needed vacation from the chaos and stress at work, or simply from where you reside to this Hotel. |Mike Geddry Sr, aka Sgt. Rock|and his Kemosabe...

Front desk personnel were pleasant and accommodating. Despite a free upgrade (a $20 value awarded for a polite request), which basically just meant two queen size beds instead of one king, the room was a bit of a let-down. The space was a bit tight with painted cinder block walls that were just shy of charming and rode the fence on motel vs. hotel and couldn't really keep out much of the sound coming from our jovial neighbors. The bathroom was a bit outdated with a tiny toilet nook and a low-hung shower nozzle, but at least the water was hot with decent pressure. The beds actually weren't too bad and felt clean and soft. We both slept well until awoken prematurely by our early-to-rise chatty neighbors. The coffee drip maker in each room would have been nice but we weren't sure when they last cleaned ours when we looked inside the reservoir. Let's just say we opted to just get our cup of joe from the breakfast room later.

The complimentary self-serve continental breakfast was on the budget side with Costco bakery staples of croissants, muffins, and lemon cake arranged neatly in a tabletop mini-case. Individual cereal bowls and coffee and juice vended from a machine made this seem like a bit like a cafeteria but they did allegedly spring for a waffle maker - we never actually did see the actual thing as it is the only thing they serve directly to your table on a paper plate. Wasn't bad though and if it wasn't freshly made, they fooled me!

The private little lagoon at the center of the hotel property was charming enough but appeared a bit shallow and showed no signs of promised koi fish. What really saved it were some local ducks hanging around that were extremely friendly with humans probably thanks to a couple 50¢ duck and geese feed dispensers installed alongside the lagoon. Great photo op and cool for kids.

The pool was standard for this size hotel but the near-new poolside lounge chairs gave it a nice touch. My fiancee and I enjoyed a couple hours on them by the pool reading our books we checked out earlier that day from the Santa Barbara Central Public Library.

Overall, we were comfortable and liked our stay at this charming, slightly budget hotel during the Veteran's Day weekend but the room could have used some modern upgrades besides just wifi. We saw several families with young children and a few elderly couples on getaway trips and all were friendly and mostly kept to themselves. We just needed a simple place to get away for the weekend and we got what we wanted. Thank...

My producer and my sister were staying in Santa Barbara for a day to visit me from Los Angeles and check out the area. They found this hotel, the prices looked good, so the room was booked and I got to drive them around the city before returning for the night stay. Let me tell you, everything was great until the next day. Around 8 or 9 a.m., we met for an early brunch at a restaurant not too far away, to sit, relax, and enjoy our morning on vacation before checking out of the hotel. The front ASSISTANT MANAGER was a total nightmare on the phone. She claimed herself the main manager, but the room keepers told us she was just an assistant, and the lady said we have no other choice but to come back PRECISELY at noon, NOT ONE MINUTE LATER or they would charge a whole nother night. We were just like WOW! On top of this literally my car was the only car in the parking lot for the entire morning and practically the afternoon as well. It would have made an entirely different sense if the parking lot was packed and they had people waiting immediately for the room, no. The hotel was like a ghost town except for us. We finally managed to budge about half an hour or so extra to return to the hotel, rudely and abruptly cutting off our brunch time together and I'm not a complainer or trying to sound petty or anything. We were being extremely respectful to the staff and we always have a knack for showing courtesy to others. The front lady was extremely rude and basically threatened to overcharge their stay. We got out of the hotel as quickly as we could and checked out immediately upon return. We will not return to that hotel. Sure the rooms are nice, but not the staff. I don't know what other experiences other people have but our experience was disappointing. There was a rude sense of tension and pressure, and the mentality of the front desk woman was "my way or the highway". I'm not going to say don't come to this hotel again for other people, but this was...