The Steward, Santa Barbara, a Tribute Portfolio Hotel — Hotel in Goleta

I struggled rating this place due to my experience here. Please read and make your own decisions. We like staying at boutique hotels when we can to have a different experience. The property is beautiful and despite the mixed reviews we decided to go ahead with a 2 night stay. The check in was easy and we were pleased with the room - a junior suite. Despite a decent status on Marriott and a Tuesday check in, we got a parking lot view and when I asked for a pool view, I was told that they weren't any rooms available and to check in for the next day (I was not going to move for a day, so that was it). As we were leaving, we noticed a puddle by the toilet despite none of us using it. I called the front desk and left. When we came in after 6 hours, around 10ish, we noticed an even bigger puddle. I called the front desk, and they asked to be moved. I was told that the hotel was fully booked, so I asked for service and extra towels since I had used a couple on the puddle. The extra towels came and then I waited - around 12am I called the front desk asking for a follow up, and really just to move now. The 'manager' on duty said he hd just come in and he saw NO NOTES FOR FOLLOW UP! Maintenance was off site and it would take 2 hours for them to get there! and apparently, Marriott overbooks properties expecting people to cancel and just last night there WERE TWO PEOPLE WHO DID NOT GET ROOMS!!!! WTH?? So we slept in the faintly urine smelling room. I waited until 9a the next morning for a follow up.- and upon going to the front desk, I was told again, that there were NO NOTES for follow up on my room!! I asked for a manager - she would not be in till 11a - asked for a different room - and was told that they would need to check on 'who is leaving' before assigning me a room - like guests are allowed to keeo rolling their reservations over and you don't have a system to track what rooms would be available??? Ended up waiting for the manager Edith, who was able to book us into an 'upgraded' i.e exactly same room with a pool view after another 30 mins wait. At this point we've wasted an entire morning of our 2 day trip! If you've read this far, here is the rest :) The property is beautiful, located right next to a freeway - but you don't hear any traffic noise. It is convenient IMO since you can easily get to State St in 10 mins. The pool is small, but had good seating, and plenty of towels. The hot tub didn't work the first day. The gym is decent sized Terra - the restaurant on site is great. We had breakfast, and dinner. The Butternut Pappardelle was one of the best dishes of our trip! -We talked to another couple at the pool who reported that they needed to...

We chose this hotel even though I saw bad review but I wanted to give Tribute Portfolio a try and since it’s close to the pier and a newer hotel. The hotel entrance is so absurd as it’s just a small driveway right before the freeway entrance. If you are arriving at night, you will need to pay extra attention as there is a very small hotel signage after the driveway. The check in process was quick and cordial and she did acknowledge my Titanium status but THERE IS NO FREE BREAKFAST only a $20 voucher for two persons and two night stays. I chose 1000 points as the review stated the breakfast at Terra is mediocre. Their cappuccino is $10 with single expresso shot :-( We had a one bedroom at the end of the hotel ground next to gym. We weren’t disturbed with the freeway noise but of course no view of anything. Pool is in the middle next to lobby and quite small. Gym is clean. The room is good size and comfortable but the shower is so stuck with the hard water. No water pressure at all. I messaged via the Bonvoy app the next morning to let them know we will need room serviced. That was around 10:40am and when we returned that night around 6:30 pm, the room was not cleaned. I called the front desk and the male agent,J, immediately asked if I left the Do Not Disturb sign on the door. I told him no and he proceeded to say he didn’t see my message about cleaning the room.then he said since it’s a longer stay room (lol we were only staying two nights )and we checked in the day before, they might not clean the room.This whole ridiculous conversation sounded more like how to blame the customer for leaving DND sign( as he asked twice about this) to how to make excuses for the housekeeping staff for not cleaning the room. Not once did he acknowledge it was their mistake until I asked for his name.His tone changed and asked me back if ‘he didn’t something wrong to displease me’ I just told him it was his comments. Then he offered to compensate me with points and also send someone to give me fresh towels as the crew has left for the day. I discussed the issue with Kim and Amanda at the front desk the next morning. I appreciate their candor. Honestly this will not be a hotel I would want to visit again let alone Tribute portfolio chain with its poor...

We arrived late but had called ahead to ask for a room not facing the freeway. Placed at the “back” of the property in 244. While not quiet, not super loud either. Still adjacent to the freeway but not facing it. The suites are large and really nicely redone. The whole property reminded me of MacArthur Place in Sonoma, but better. It’s obvious they spent some money and paid attention to the details…right up until they got to the bathroom where they seemed to run out of money, completely. ||Oddly, you have to pass through the bathroom vanity area to get to the bedroom and the doors are not well functioning so no privacy whatsoever - and no way to avoid waking your partner if you get up in the night. Also no way to pass from the sitting room to bedroom or vice versa if somebody is using the bathroom and wants privacy. ||The vanity itself is undersized for the space with almost no counter space and no shelf for your things. Looks like something you’d pick up from home depot. And worse, there are no towel bars nor hooks in the space. So odd in a room that otherwise seemed to spare no expense. Yes, I’m not moving in, but in a room so lovely otherwise, it really stands out. ||Worst for us was the cold shower. There was hot water to the sink so it wasn’t a boiler problem. We guessed it to be an adjustment on the lever that wasn’t accessible to us. And who wants to call for maintenance at 10 pm. Not me. But really, we could not have been the first guests to have this problem in this room. And/or housekeeping should have identified it and reported it. Supervisor should have verified the fix. A cold shower before bed is unacceptable in an expensive hotel. ||Finally, the AC sounds like a freight train. Luckily we were there in March and didn’t need it. Good luck sleeping with that during the warmer months. ||Overall, The Steward is really lovely hotel that is almost there. Needs attention to the details from management to bring it up to its potential. They should be required to stay for a night or two on a regular basis and see what’s working and what isn’t. Right down to the watery coffee in the lobby. Experience the hotel as if a guest. The devil is in...