Ritz-Carlton Bacara

Santa Barbara, California

Virgin rating

The hotel

Luxury on the California coast, the Ritz-Carlton Bacara is elegant, sophisticated and traditional, all rolled into one. You can choose from six dining options, each with something slightly different from the rest. And if you like a pool, then you're going to be spoilt for choice here, as there're three zero-edge pools, two of them complete with picturesque views of the ocean. Take your pick from a choice of two natural beaches, and there's a huge spa, perfect for a bit of me-time pampering. The hotel has numerous awards under its belt, and it's really easy to see why - so come and see for yourself.

Amenities

  • Tennis
  • Bar
  • Restaurant
  • Spa
  • Swimming Pool

Where is it

Overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Transfer time from Santa Barbara: 27 minutes.

Hotel information

358 newly-renovated rooms and suites. All with air-conditioning, private patio or balcony, LCD TV, spacious bathroom with marble shower, mini-bar* and safe. King Bed Garden View Room, sleeping maximum 3 adults. 

One Bedroom Suite Partial Ocean View. Separate living area with sleeper sofa, wet bar and fireplace. Two full bathrooms with marble-encased showers. Extra-large patio or balcony, sleeping maximum 5 adults.

ANGEL OAK (steakhouse), THE 'O' BAR + KITCHEN (Latin cuisine and premium beverages), THE BISTRO (local produce and sustainable seafood), CAFFÈ (traditional breakfast and lunch dishes), POOL BAR (cocktails, frozen drinks, sandwiches and salads).

Two-mile natural beach. 3 zero-edged saline, heated pools with private cabana rentals*. Water sports* including surfing, kayaking and paddle boarding. Tennis*.

WiFi*. Spa and wellness centre*. Parking $53 per day plus tax (payable locally, subject to change).

This hotel has a resort fee of $50 plus tax per room, per day (payable locally, subject to change)

Resort fee includes: Pool access - Spa access - Fitness centre access -  Business centre/computer access - Newspaper - Faxes - In-room coffee. Resort fee, tax and inclusions are subject to change - please see hotel check-in for current inclusions available to you upon arrival.  

*Denotes local charge

Rating summary

  • Location Image of the Tripadvisor rating
  • Sleep Quality Image of the Tripadvisor rating
  • Rooms Image of the Tripadvisor rating
  • Service Image of the Tripadvisor rating
  • Value Image of the Tripadvisor rating
  • Cleanliness Image of the Tripadvisor rating

Traveller rating

  • Excellent (1815)
  • Very good (575)
  • Average (414)
  • Poor (285)
  • Terrible (260)
Image of the Tripadvisor rating The worst Ritz Carlton that I had ever stayed

Dec 10, 2024 526huongt San Francisco, California

I have stayed in many Ritz Carlton locations worldwide, and I have never been so disappointed with the service as the one I received at this Ritz Carlton in Santa Barbara. First, I'm a titanium member with Marriott, and I usually receive at least an appreciation note from a hotel manager (or even some tiny treats) when I stay at the Ritz. This… Read more
I have stayed in many Ritz Carlton locations worldwide, and I have never been so disappointed with the service as the one I received at this Ritz Carlton in Santa Barbara. First, I'm a titanium member with Marriott, and I usually receive at least an appreciation note from a hotel manager (or even some tiny treats) when I stay at the Ritz. This is the first Ritz Carlton that they didn't even care about. Secondly, they should hire better receptionists. We don't care about good-looking people who cannot speak good English. As much as I tried, I could barely understand the receptionist's English to the point that I even gave up listening to her and instead communicated through messaging. The receptionist on the following day is great, but I expect consistency from establishments like the Ritz. Thirdly, I called them a few days beforehand to request a rollaway bed (which was not free) in my room and even received an update/confirmation. Before coming to the hotel, I even messaged the team through the Marriott Bonvoy app to confirm that it would be ready for us since we had a long drive that day and only arrived very late in the evening. To my surprise, as much as they confirmed with me both through phone and messaging, we arrived in our room without the bed. When I called the receptionist desk, the person who picked up the phone blatantly told me that I didn't request it :)). I literally had to come down to the reception to demand they read the message and show them the confirmation email. This was the last thing that we would want to do after literally an 9-hour drive. Fourthly, while the bed was comfortable, the sink at the bathroom was faulty right when we used it for the first time to wash our hands (we couldn't turn the water off). It's either we were very unlucky, or the Ritz at Santa Barbara literally doesn't care. Overall, if I could choose again, I would rather choose Courtyard at Santa Barbara - they probably gave me the same treatment with a much better appreciation towards titanium members. Read less
Image of the Tripadvisor rating Outstanding, especially because of the caring staff

Dec 7, 2024 JonathanSummers Los Angeles

Fabulous four days at Bacara. So nice to be there in the off season. The hotel/grounds themselves are beautiful and every staff member we interacted with genuinely wanted to do everything they could to give us the best experience possible. Speaking of which, there are several staff we especially wanted to thank because of the truly top-level… Read more
Fabulous four days at Bacara. So nice to be there in the off season. The hotel/grounds themselves are beautiful and every staff member we interacted with genuinely wanted to do everything they could to give us the best experience possible. Speaking of which, there are several staff we especially wanted to thank because of the truly top-level caring they extended to us. There was some miscommunication between Marriott central reservations and the resort and Pat (the Rooms Controller at Bacara) went absolutely above and beyond to resolve all of it quickly and make things a stress-free pleasure for us (and then on a day when Pat was out of the office, Bonny seamlessly picked things up and took care of us wonderfully too when we decided to extend our stay). We sincerely appreciate both of them and all their true thoughtfulness. Also, our heartfelt thanks and appreciation to Maria Sanchez, who was the housekeeper for us during the duration of our stay. Not only did she do the most detailed and outstanding job in bringing our room to a magnificent standard, but she also was just so incredibly warm, kind, thoughtful and caring, wanting to do anything she could to help make our stay better and more comfortable. The three of them made us feel some of the most taken-care-of we've ever experienced in our 25 years of global travel. Food/Drink at the resort overall was really impressive. Some memorable dishes include the truffle fries from Room Service (perhaps an odd dish to comment on, but these somehow arrived still so shatteringly crisp and hot that they certainly warrant mentioning) and the pizzas (also, not something we'd normally order at a resort, but clearly there is a passion for high-end pizza here so we ordered several of them, and they were outstanding- even the gluten-free crust options were really good). Also, we should mention that the resort took tremendous care any time a gluten allergy was mentioned. Cocktails were all top-notch. On a small note, somethings we would have loved to have seen more of on the menus were local/regional specialties like the steamers, oysters and crab that Central Cali is known for, and Santa Maria BBQ. The Spa was also outstanding. A beautiful space, and all of our treatment experiences were super. Thank you so much to everyone at the Resort for making our stay so memorable, with sincere appreciation to Pat, Bonny and Maria. We're really looking forward to our next visit. Read less
Image of the Tripadvisor rating Great resort near/on waterfront

Dec 4, 2024 ledezmacjl Palm Desert, California

Stayed here on weekend and had great stay. We were pleasantly surprised to have been upgraded to nice room/suite with partial ocean view (we are Ambassador status). We also used the concierge Dorothy Shaner was wonderful! She gave us so many great recommendations for wine tasting. She was pleasant charming and witty! We took her wonderful… Read more
Stayed here on weekend and had great stay. We were pleasantly surprised to have been upgraded to nice room/suite with partial ocean view (we are Ambassador status). We also used the concierge Dorothy Shaner was wonderful! She gave us so many great recommendations for wine tasting. She was pleasant charming and witty! We took her wonderful recommendations to heart and visited two wineries she recommended Sanford and Pence. Nhi Le, concierge, was also was helpful for dinner recommendations etc. Overall we had a great stay and would come back! Read less
Image of the Tripadvisor rating Lovely stay anniversary weekend

Nov 26, 2024 TrailBlazer109246 Portland, Oregon

We had a wonderful stay for our anniversary. The service was amazing and every staff member we encountered was warm and helpful. They are very well staffed just in general, and you can tell that they take a lot of care in who the hire. From the front desk to the valet team, they were terrific. There are a lot of nice touches (sparkling wine every… Read more
We had a wonderful stay for our anniversary. The service was amazing and every staff member we encountered was warm and helpful. They are very well staffed just in general, and you can tell that they take a lot of care in who the hire. From the front desk to the valet team, they were terrific. There are a lot of nice touches (sparkling wine every evening in the lobby, transport with your luggage via golf cart, etc.). Our room was private and cozy with a fireplace. It is a close drive into downtown Santa Barbara, but there are also multiple restaurant options at the hotel, including a nice buffet (or menu) breakfast. The hotel design and location next to the ocean feels secluded and relaxing. There are multiple heated outdoor pools and Jacuzzis and a nice gym and spa. The rooms could be updated a bit, but they are charming and we loved the design and feel of the hotel and grounds. Read less
Image of the Tripadvisor rating Disappointing Experience at Ritz Carlton Santa Barbara

Nov 25, 2024 David H

I was really looking forward to staying at the Ritz Carlton Santa Barbara, but unfortunately, my experience has been extremely disappointing. At check-in, I was given a completely different room than the one I booked. When I brought this up, the front desk staff, specifically Mira, seemed annoyed rather than helpful. After some back and forth,… Read more
I was really looking forward to staying at the Ritz Carlton Santa Barbara, but unfortunately, my experience has been extremely disappointing. At check-in, I was given a completely different room than the one I booked. When I brought this up, the front desk staff, specifically Mira, seemed annoyed rather than helpful. After some back and forth, she eventually found the correct room. We were given keys and made the trek down the hill to our room—only to find it was the wrong one! Frustrated, I had to hike back up the hill to the front desk to resolve the issue again. Mira finally admitted they were having issues and gave us new keys for the correct room. By this point, I was over an hour and a half into this ordeal, but the saga continued. After walking back down to the new room, the keys didn’t work! At this point, I was beyond frustrated. Finally, after waiting even longer, security brought us new keys, and we were able to enter the room. While the room quality itself was solid, the issues didn’t stop there. My daughter wanted to take a shower after a long day of travel, but the privacy door was broken and completely off the rails. We had to wait for maintenance to fix it. As if that wasn’t enough, I went to grab some ice water to cool down, but there was no ice bucket in the room. I called the front desk, and they said they’d send one down. What they delivered was a lidless industrial-style ice bucket left outside the door, completely exposed to the elements—not the proper guest ice bucket. So now, I still don’t have a functional ice bucket in the room. And this is just day one. I can only imagine what’s in store for the rest of the stay. For a hotel of this caliber, these repeated inconveniences and lack of attention to detail are unacceptable. My experience so far has been more stressful than relaxing, and I’m extremely disappointed. Read less