Cliff House Inn and Shoals Restaurant — Restaurant in California

This location is literally right off the exit of the freeway. So as you enter the hotel, to the left is the freeway and to the left of the freeway is the amtrak and the mountains. To the right of the hotel, there's the ocean. Parking is HORRIBLE. We were so lucky that there was literally 1 spot left and the parking spot was a tight one. They have a few extra spots but are ONLY for the restaurant.

It's a little raggedy place. The guy that checked us in was sweet. We got there at 6:30 and he asked if we want reservations for dinner since he said the next closest place was in santa Barbara. With that being said, no way were we going to lose are spot so we made reservations for 7:15pm which was the next earliest. The guy at the front desk told us we can leave but recommend us to be back by 10pm, he also said assistance at the front desk will only be there til 10pm. We chose to stay all night.

Checked into our room, number 6 and it was literally right next to the hall where we checked in. The bottom floor is the restaurant, then you have the "first floor" and second floor.

As we entered the room the carpet looks a pretty dirty..we just had to kind of ignore it and not stand too long. We had the king bed. There is NO AC. So we had the fan going on all night with the windows open which brought in the ocean wind. Windows also couldn't even lock though...It feels a little nasty so we closed the curtains but let the window open just so it wasn't too hot. We were a little worried about passerbys or strangers. Sleeping through the night with the sound of the waves crashing at the shore was nice.

The restaurant was okay. Ordered the scallops over risotto and Idk if the scallops were cooked with garlic or what but I felt like it tasted a little burnt. Still ate as much as I could. It was like $42 for my plate and $40+ something for my friend's lamb ribs. The fried calamari was okay with the help of the lemon as the aoili sauce was ehh. Dinner was okay I guess as we sat and watched the sunset. Couldn't really see the sunset because it set on the far end to the west and couldn't get a good view.

Also heard the waiters say the pool was heated? Didn't get the chance to test it but it also the water didn't look clean. Some debris were inside.

The room is manageable. Or enough. Definitely did it for the enjoyment of views. And the pricing of the place wasn't an arm to 2 legs. Would I do it...

We were really disappointed because we’d had great food in Carpinteria up until this point. Cliff House Inn is a great place to stay — unfortunately the restaurant does not match the hotel.

We got the calamari, clam chowder, lobster risotto with scallops, and steak. The calamari was good, standard calamari in a decent sized serving. The clam chowder was probably the best part of the meal — it was a bit more on the brothy side and very flavorful. A unique take on the standard thick, creamy clam chowder.

Unfortunately the rest of the meal was a disappointment. My husband had ordered his steak medium rare, and it came out rare. Like, not more pink than usual, full rare with blood and it was actually hard to cut into. It was taken back and he got it back on the medium well side, as almost always happens when you send undercooked meat back. Undercooked steak happens sometimes, but I wouldn’t expect it from a place charging almost $50. And even cooked, it was just…kind of tasteless. The grilled vegetables on the side were also undercooked, too crunchy.

My grilled scallops and lobster risotto were okay, but nothing to write home about. It was just too salty and frankly, kind of boring. Over salting takes away the nuance of flavor — and seafood already brings so much natural flavor that just needs to be enhanced!

I think most people come here for the view and that is what you’re paying for. If you’re staying at the hotel you already get the ambiance (and it is spectacular) so I would recommend skipping the restaurant. We had far better meals in town.

I think the restaurant needs to do better — we shouldn’t be paying almost $50 per plate for undercooked and over salted food. A spectacular view deserves...

Went to the Cliff House for a weekend getaway, and after checking into our room... we definitely wanted to get away!

Beautiful view of the coast line and the Shoals Restaurant was very good... and those are the reasons that I gave this place 2 Stars, because...

The rooms, I'm sure, were very nice during the Carter Administration... roughly the time that the rooms were last updated. The white wicker furniture with missing knobs and other pieces looked straight out of the Brady Bunch. The faint odor in the room was a cross between old urine and medicine bottles.

When we finally decided to just call it a night and get some sleep, we laid down on one of the most uncomfortable beds I've ever tried to sleep on, rivaling only cots on the tent cabins in Yosemite. Once we sank into slumber, the herd of elephants that was apparently staying in the room above us began their stomping ritual. The guest up there should definitely go get his prostate checked because his twice hourly stomps to the bathroom echoed throughout our chambers.

The lovely breakfast of stale muffins, Cocoa Puffa and bad coffee wrapped up our lovely stay! If you decide to give the Cliff House Inn a try and want to enjoy their 'Coastal Access', be sure to bring your rock climbing gear as you will be scrambling over a wall of boulders to get to the sand.

All in all... I look forward to my next visit... on the...