The Presidio — Hotel in Santa Barbara

We spent three nights here around Christmas-time 2022. My wife and I often stay in Santa Barbara, but it was our first time at The Presidio. I would go back -- it's clean, comfortable, reasonably priced (for Santa Barbara), has a prime location, and the staff was very friendly and helpful.

Like all Santa Barbara hotels, The Presidio will seem expensive, but its prices are normal for the area, and the location is superb -- just three blocks down State Street to reach good restaurants, coffee, etc. We interacted at various times with three or four different people at the front desk and each of them was friendly and helpful. The room was clean and had A/C (not always found in Santa Barbara). The bed was comfortable, the towels were thick, the water pressure was good and there was hot water. The room featured a large, new-ish mini-refrigerator. Noteworthy are the benches in front of each room and a lovely sun-deck.

Rooms do not include an iron, but they will lend you one at the front desk, just ask. Likewise, there is no in-room coffee or tea, but they will lend you an electric tea kettle.

Second floor rooms have a cathedral ceiling. The A/C units on the outside of the rooms have interesting wooden covers. It's a nice aesthetic touch.

There are a few things that could be improved: (1) in our room with two queen beds there was a table between the two, but no tables on the "outer" sides of the beds. This was very inconvenient. There is sufficient space and it could be easily remedied. (2) the shower head is in the ceiling in the middle of the shower stall, which seems like a great idea until you discover that you cannot get your head or body out of the stream for soaping up or getting water out of your eyes. The best solution I found was to simply turn the water off. Fortunately the handle is precise and it was not difficult to instantly return the flow to its former rate and temperature.

One oddity: the smoke detector appeared to be missing. I mentioned this to the desk and was told that the new ones were generally installed elsewhere in the room, sometimes lower down. If so, it is well hidden because I...

So basically, this is not anywhere near high end. Of course, when you visit Santa Barbara, location is everything, and this is on State Street, so that's a big win. Only about 2 miles from the beach. One mile from the touristy section of State Street. Well located, in other words. But the room itself is pretty sparse. As you can see from some pictures, there's no dresser or anything to put your clothes in. I shoved mine into the sort of makeshift desk that's underneath the main window. The fixtures here are a little old and dingy, as well. And there's some unprofessional patchwork in the ceiling. The AC works, but the knobs are pressed in and broken a little bit, and it just looks like something that should have been fixed a while ago and never was. In general, it's a decent room, and you can tell they have done their best to make it look good. The wood paneling on the single wall with the electric fireplace and TV looks nice. (That said, all the buttons on the heater are worn off so you can't tell how to use it... Not that I did in the middle of the summer, but...) And the king size bed in our room was perfect. But in reality, there's not much here to write home about. Would I stay here again? Yes... But only because of the price and location. Don't come here expecting much more than what I described. (One great exception: the young man who works at the front desk -- Lorenzo, I believe -- is one of the friendliest, kindest guys I have ever met.) Oh, I should definitely add that while we were there, we had breakfast every morning on a sunny little deck outside that is available to all of those who are staying there. I walked down the street to the corner shop, got coffee and croissants, and my partner and I enjoyed a beautiful gently sunlit breakfast every single day. Me and him, and the morning light. 🥰 That alone made it a wonderful memory! So, again, YES, I'd stay...

I couldn’t have felt more at home here. I stayed at the Presidio in April. It’s July now, and I came back onto Google Reviews just because I remembered I wanted to leave a stellar review for this place.

The Presidio is a convenient, low frills place that offers you affordable living (they even have free bikes! -You’ve got to have them back by sundown though.) in a city that can be rather pricey elsewhere. It’s the perfect little place to crash after either working, or exploring, in the area.

I still remember how Micheal was so attentive, personable, and helpful - every step of the journey. Anytime I saw him, he’d remember my name and say hello! As a woman in my 20s who was traveling alone for the first time, I stayed for a week and felt safe here. No, it doesn’t look like the Marriott- and the lighting in my room wasn’t always superb, but it’s clean, affordable, and the staff does their best to assist with any concern you have. I absolutely wouldn’t give it anything less than 5 stars because this company does the best they can- with what they have. And it was perfect. I also really enjoyed the outdoor patio area. Got me out of the room and into exploring the neighborhood.

For those looking for cheaper eats, there’s also a bus on the same street that’ll take you straight to Whole Foods! My time here was fantastic. I’m so glad this place exists- and thank you again Micheal (and the other workers here! There was another lady working who’s name I forgot!) -Your customer service goes a long way!

Edit: I forgot to mention: I even had an issue when my flight got extremely delayed- I wasn’t going to make it to pick up my key in time. Micheal sorted it all in a pinch. (Their office does close at 10pm as a heads up- but there’s always a night shift worker-might be security?- on duty)....