Ala Mar Motel — Hotel in Santa Barbara

ZERO STARS. While you may be inclined to believe this boutique hotel is lovely and charming, what's inside is despicable! Prior to reserving a room, I called to check availability, and a young man answered and asked if I could be placed on hold. The receiver on his end was placed on the counter, where I then was privy to an entire 10-minute conversation between the employees and a guest checking in. The 'hold' turned into momentary warbling muzak, and I was then disconnected. That alone should have been my red flag. Despite this, my husband and I decided to roll the dice and book a one night stay at this property. We were greeted by the front staff and placed in a lower king bedroom, street view. Fast forward to bedtime. There was an occupant directly above us who, for several hours, moved what sounded like furniture back and forth across the floor. In addition, between redecorating their room, they proceeded to bang on the metal railing for about a couple of hours. The room does not come with a telephone, so we were not able to call the front desk. When this was mentioned in the morning, we were given a lukewarm apology and no offer of credit, a discount, zip. What is really disconcerting is the 'hold' placed on my card. An amount of $150 was placed against my card that was to be removed post checkout and within two days. Two business days have come and gone, and my statement now reflects a pending charge. When calling the property to clarify, a young woman I spoke to immediately interrupted me before I was able to explain the situation. When I told her she was rude for interrupting me, I was told to calm down. I was told the hotel did not charge me, my bank did, and to take up the issue with my bank. A representative at my bank confirmed that the hotel did, in fact, charge my card, TWO DAYS AFTER I checked out in the amount of $150. Just a few minutes ago, I received a call from a restricted number. It was a woman by the name of Maria who scolded me and instructed me to call my bank 100 times, and that what I described didn't matter. She then hung up on me. Suffice to say, these people should not be in the service industry. I have stayed at 5 star hotels in the heart of Paris and dumps in the desert. I have never been treated so terribly. For an industry that depends on word of mouth and good reviews, this place is the worst! It's clear that the owners and operators of this establishment have zero clue about how to treat their guests, take no responsibility for the well-being and comfort of their guests while in their care, and exact unscrupulous fees which will take concerted effort to recoup. Please consider all of this before stepping into the spiders web that is known as The Ala Mar Inn....

ZERO STARS. While you may be inclined to believe this boutique hotel is lovely and charming, what's inside is despicable! Prior to reserving a room, I called to check availability, and a young man answered and asked if I could be placed on hold. The receiver on his end was placed on the counter, where I then was privy to an entire 10-minute conversation between the employees and a guest checking in. The 'hold' turned into momentary warbling muzak, and I was then disconnected. That alone should have been my red flag. Despite this, my husband and I decided to roll the dice and book a one night stay at this property. We were greeted by the front staff and placed in a lower king bedroom, street view. Fast forward to bedtime. There was an occupant directly above us who, for several hours, moved what sounded like furniture back and forth across the floor. In addition, between redecorating their room, they proceeded to bang on the metal railing for about a couple of hours. The room does not come with a telephone, so we were not able to call the front desk. When this was mentioned in the morning, we were given a lukewarm apology and no offer of credit, a discount, zip. What is really disconcerting is the 'hold' placed on my card. An amount of $150 was placed against my card that was to be removed post checkout and within two days. Two business days have come and gone, and my statement now reflects a pending charge. When calling the property to clarify, a young woman I spoke to immediately interrupted me before I was able to explain the situation. When I told her she was rude for interrupting me, I was told to calm down. I was told the hotel did not charge me, my bank did, and to take up the issue with my bank. A representative at my bank confirmed that the hotel did, in fact, charge my card, TWO DAYS AFTER I checked out in the amount of $150. Just a few minutes ago, I received a call from a restricted number. It was a woman by the name of Maria who scolded me and instructed me to call my bank 100 times, and that what I described didn't matter. She then hung up on me. Suffice to say, these people should not be in the service industry. I have stayed at 5 star hotels in the heart of Paris and dumps in the desert. I have never been treated so terribly. For an industry that depends on word of mouth and good reviews, this place is the worst! It's clear that the owners and operators of this establishment have zero clue about how to treat their guests, take no responsibility for the well-being and comfort of their guests while in their care, and exact unscrupulous fees which will take concerted effort to recoup. Please consider all of this before stepping into the spiders web that is known as The Ala Mar Inn....

Not ideal for women traveling alone & they don’t honor Expedia reservations. Upon checkin they refused to give me a key unless I paid an additional $30 per night in advance before I could check in!! Not cool. ||Upon arrival, after you walk past the homeless guy outside what ‘was’ the reception, you discover that their reception desk has been abandoned and a faded sign in the window tells you to go to Rose Villa. I only knew that it was next door because I had been looking there online beforehand. Parking is horrible and when I got my key they said I could park on the street in the 90 minute zone which they said ends soon! That’s ‘if’ you can find a spot. Or I could park a block away at Tide Pools hotel. They don’t even ask for license plate number at check in so I suspect that locals use the lot for free off street parking. ||My room was had not been secured . All the windows were either opened or unlocked when I entered and my room was on the first floor. The window locking mechanisms were broken and fixed with funky replacements that worked but with difficulty and I could see that the exterior screen had been pryed off and replaced. The key to the room is an old fashioned key for an old fashioned knob that doesn’t stay locked when you unlock the door. I had to constantly remember to double check that the door was locked behind me. There is no deadbolt, no chain, no nothing to provide any security past the old fashioned knob. My room, #101, was located next to the ice machine where staff told me that the homeless like to charge their phones. Which explains the homeless guy hanging out at the reception area in the same spot. There is no ‘do not disturb’ placard for your door in case you’re like me and don’t want anyone entering your room during your stay. And you will find yourself locked out of the reception area if you attempt to go there outside of normal business hours. You need a key card to get in and are not issued one upon check in if you’re not staying in Rose Villa. ||Yes, everything is run down and grungy. They collected over $250/night from me after they extorted their extra fees. The three places Ala Mar, Rose Villa, and Tide Pools are all owned by the same company. They’re obviously making money and could do better. I recommend avoiding these three places. It was a disappointing way to start my vacation and continued to damage my experience of...