New Haven Inn — Hotel in Solvang

We loved our stay here and I would highly recommend staying here when visiting Solvang or the Santa Ynez Valley.||The location is about a 10 min walk from the center of town, and only about 5 min from Solvang bakery!||The rooms were nice, comfy, new, and the location was terrific. ||NOTE: unless I missed it, there is not a pool if that is something you require. But our room had a patio with a fire pit (not that we had time to use it)||The rooms were remodeled recently (I was told they were finished in 2024) and the owners really thought about doing everything right ||There were plugs everywhere. So no trouble plugging in all our devices. Lots of bright lights in the room so we could see everything ||Lots of mirrors, including a full length in the bedroom and one in the bathroom with a light, on a dimmer, around the mirror. ||Bed was very comfortable. And since everything was new, this did not have any sags or feel too soft (I personally like a slightly firmer mattress but I get that they have to find a middle ground for everyone)||Our room was very large, had a little bar area with a refrigerator. Plenty of drawers and a closet with a safe. ||The bathroom was fairly large, had good counter areas and the shower was also very large. ||Wi-Fi worked fine. ||There was plenty of parking on site, but as our room was close to the street, it was easier to just park right in front of our unit. ||Staff was friendly and helpful . Electronic checkin, checkout and digital key code made things real easy. ||I have a few suggestions to the staff.||1. Could use a few instructions on how to use some of the fancy lighting, which is touch activated. Took me a bit to realize how to change the dimmer on the light around the mirror in the bathroom (you have to hold the touch button on the mirror down). The mirror in the bathroom could also be a bit brighter (if you can adjust that). ||The bedstand lights I realized were touch as well, but figured that out by accident. I was looking for the switch and my hand must have touched the base and the light went on, and in trying to figure out what I did I hit it again and it went off. At first I thought it was sensor activated, like the towel dispenser in a bathroom, but it was touching the base that was the key. Tapping it also changed it from low, to medium to high.||2. Could use some glasses or cups to use in the bathroom. The bar had coffee cups and wine glasses (I used a coffee cup)||3. The shower has no where to put your soap and shampoo other than on the floor. As I am older, trying to bend down in the shower to pickup my soap or shampoo is not easy. Maybe put one of those little shower caddies with suction cups in one of the corners of the shower. Or a bench in the back area of the shower to put things on?||The website photos accurately portrayed the hotel. We had no disappointments or surprises. In fact, it was better than I was expecting given it has just 3 stars. But I assume that is because they don’t have a restaurant or pool or not been revised since the remodel||We have been to Solvang and other parts of the Santa Ynez valley before, including having stayed at some fancy, expensive, hotels. Overall, given the room, location and price, I would definitely...

New Haven Inn should’ve been a great vacation destination BUT…

They charged me, (well really charged my toddler kids), $200 for excessive noise. DON’T stay here if you have children. Otherwise it’s a great location, beautiful rooms and accommodation. The staff come off as “FRIENDLY” but the customer service needs some work.

I booked through calling the front desk of the Inn. I specifically said we will be coming as a family with 5 children, all toddlers, to celebrate New Year. They promoted their suite and I bought into it. PROBLEM is, they did not advise that this was going to be an upstairs unit and that their shared walls are so thin that noise would be a problem. Within 5min of checking in, the front desk called and said our children are making too much noise. And threatened to charge us $200 for excessive noise. WOW! I’m sorry, but if my small children checking in excited for vacation is bothersome, then I wouldn’t have booked this accommodation. Of course NYE, our children stayed up a little late to countdown. But there was no alcohol, music, party, etc. We watched the ball drop on tv! And our kids were on iPads, so we can keep them quiet and docile. Still we’re penalized. If our society can’t accept children being happy children, then we’re in big trouble as a civilization.

I talked to the front desk manager Tammy, who was nice but complied with the absent owner, and she forced a $200 charge for my children’s noise. I told her I’d like to discuss this matter with the owner, but neither have reached out by email or phone. Now I’m forced to write this review to warn fellow travelers. DON’T BRING YOUR FAMILY HERE!

If the owner stops cowarding away and reaches out, then I will consider taking down the negative parts of this review. Could’ve been a 4star but this customer service is a...

We stayed for 4 nights. We stayed in the 2 story loft room.

Positives:

The room was immaculate in terms of cleanliness (the smell of the cleaning products is overwhelming).

The location at the edge of town is excellent.

The room is spacious on the top floor.

Good on site parking.

Negatives:

There is ZERO customer service on site. They will tell you that there is, but there isn’t. The office is ALWAYS closed. The phone is NEVER answered. The voice mailbox is permanently FULL.

We struggled to get fresh towels, soiled linens picked up, toilet paper… gross.

All the bikes are rusted.

The exterior is straight HOOD. Needs a paint job and much TLC. The roof is literally covered with a blue tarp.

The road noise is atrocious for this unit. The sounds of the cars racing by would keep even a heavy sleeper awake.

They will fail to tell you that you are right next door to a major construction site. They start hammering and drilling at 8am. We complained and were only told that it is the owners decision NOT to disclose this. We received zero empathy and zero compensation. The owner called us with such a rude and dismissive message that we didn’t even bother to call back.

A/C unit is a joke. Works 10% of the time.

All outdoor tables and chairs are worn, broken, useless. Cannot enjoy any outside area.

Shady at best.

Would not recommend...