Lavender Inn by the Sea — Hotel in Santa Barbara

This hotel was a real disappointment. My family and I stayed here for two nights and we didn't enjoy either of them very much at all. We have one more night to go. For over $200 a night, this place was a complete joke. When we asked to switch rooms, they said that they didn't have any others because the return customers request "the good rooms." They obviously don't care about visitors. The single queen bed rooms were very small and had only a couple drawers. The rooms on the first floor are rather noisy with cars and people just outside the rooms. The light switch in one of the two rooms we saw was on the opposite side of the room from the door, which sounds alright until it's nighttime and you need to walk all the way across the cramped room in the pitch black darkness just to turn on a light when you return to your room. There was a pretty big closet, but not a single clothes hanger. When we went to the lobby, the lady at the desk used her walkie talkie to call "maintenance" and said they would deliver them to the room as soon as they find some. 15 minutes later, a man knocks on the door and gives us 3 coat hangers, saying, "sorry, this is all I can find." We told him that was unacceptable, so he said he'll go get more but we never heard from him again. The rooms had little pouches of lavender, which made sense given the name of the hotel, but they were barely covering up a musty, almost even moldy, old building smell. As my 82 year old grandmother said, "this is the strangest hotel I've ever been in." Please, do not get caught up in this scam. Keep your money and don't give it to this place.

I would like to add that we were mislead by other reviews here on Google. This, I'm surprised to say, includes other Google local guides like myself. We're supposed to be reliable and trustworthy reviewers, and I'm disappointed to say that that has not been the case when reviewing this establishment. In retrospect, I'm noticing that most of the positive reviews were written by people in suites or return customers. If you're not in those two categories, please don't waste your time...

It’s a quaint MOTEL called an Inn. The description online calls it a hotel and the “VIP” letter they provide calls it a hotel, but when doors face the outside of a building, it’s a motel.

Regardless of this fact, the Lavender Inn by the Sea is a quaint little inn. We had a king room which automatically has a smaller bedroom with a twin bed in it for a child as children are free in king rooms (what we read online and not something we asked about as we’re traveling without children). There was a mini fridge and a microwave in that room.

The bathroom is nice with a pedestal sink and an enclosed glass shower. Water pressure in shower was great! Even though there is a small shelf above the sink for sundries, they are lacking storage in the bathroom. They could add something above the toilet perhaps? Just a suggestion.

The king bed is the most comfortable bed I’ve ever had the pleasure of laying on in any hotel anywhere. The pillows were not crappy smushy pillows either. They had some give and were perfect.

There was a little nook with a desk and chair under the a/c unit (which if you complain that it makes noise, I want to know where you live in complete silence) it acts like a white noise machine and easily lulled us to sleep.

There’s a nice comfy chair and a desk and chair as well as a hutch with TV and places to stick your clothes. BTW, the closet has hangers, iron, ironing board and two comfy robes.

The lobby is cute with a little coffee bar and they serve bagels, toast and pastries for breakfast.

Everyone receives a complimentary bottle of sparkling wine. It was supposed to be in our fridge but it wasn’t. My wife went to the front desk to get it and had to call me to confirm it wasn’t in the fridge. They then sent her back and brought it up a few minutes later.

The only drawback is that there isn’t an elevator so carrying heavy luggage up a flight of stairs isn’t ideal.

It’s cute, quaint, and well worth the price. Service is friendly...

We loved our stay here so relaxing with lots of included perks!

It was our first time flying with our new baby, to LA, and I was looking for somewhere to get away from the hustle of LA for a few days and found this place on an online search. It looked nice and our biggest priority was somewhere baby-friendly which it was and had positive TripAdvisor and Google reviews so I booked it.

Free parking on-site and walkable to State St., the beach and Pier. They include free breakfast and wine reception in addition to champagne in your room which I thought were all very nice added touches, especially when you have a baby or just wanna chill in the gardens or by the pool. We did venture out though since it’s walkable to the main sites. I strapped baby on the carrier and was able to walk to The Brewhouse to pick up food otherwise I could order from some other good restaurants and the hubs withdrew pick up.

Carol and Melissa on staff were very helpful and friendly as are the housekeeper and maintenance staff. Unlike the arrogant doofus at the the Brisa Del Mar across the road, their sister hotel (part of SB Hotels). I went to check on the bike rentals they offer and he sounded pretentious while speaking to some on the phone while I was waiting to ask him about the bikes and then he was rude to me for no reason! haha ...we found it funny and he was another character I can use in my improv comedy!

I only wish they had a bathtub in our room (#14) so I could give baby a bath, but I just waited until we got back to LA.

I want to plan a girls trip here next time so I can hit the winery’s and do...