Travel Horizons: Santa Barbara

Showing posts with label Santa Barbara. Show all posts

12.05.2018

Santa Barbara | tropical resort by the beach

Where to stay in Santa Barbara? A beautiful destination on southern California's Pacific coast, Santa Barbara is an easy drive up the coast from LA. Worth more than one visit, Santa Barbara offers two distinct vacation experiences. You might spend the weekend at an elegant/casual resort high in the hills, with sweeping sunset views of the Pacific Ocean and easy access to the historic sites of Santa Barbara. Or you can enjoy a tropical resort right by the beach.

Four Seasons Biltmore Resort offers the beach vacation option. I made a recent site inspection visit of the Four Seasons and can offer three take-aways:

(1) The lobby is gorgeous. When previously visiting the Santa Barbara County Courthouse, I was most impressed by the tile floors and elaborately painted ceiling beams of this classic landmark. The Courthouse provided the inspiration for the recent redesign of Four Seasons' lobby. It's simply beautiful.

We enjoyed lunch on the patio at Bella Vista, just off the lobby, and enjoyed the ocean vista from our table.

(2) The grounds remind me of Hualalai. Topical greenery lines walkways throughout the resort. While I knew I was in Southern California, it felt like Hawaii. The buildings, of course, were Spanish Colonial in style, not Hawaiian. Four Seasons has its own resort pool just for guests, as well as the Coral Casino Beach and Cabana Club with its larger-than-Olympic size pool. One of the unadvertised perks of booking through a Four Seasons Preferred Partner travel advisor: guests in all room categories enjoy access to the Coral Casino Beach and Cabana Club.

(3) For something special, book a Bungalow. Jungle Rooms are certainly comfortable and attractive with 450-550 square feet of living space; I recommend requesting a ground floor room in order to enjoy a large outdoor patio with direct access to the lawn. But Four Seasons' Bungalows and specialty suites are truly unique — they feel like an elegant beach home. The living room of the bungalow we saw is pictured above — and this bungalow even has its own private pool.

As Four Seasons Preferred Partner travel advisors, we offer exclusive amenities that will save you hundreds of dollars during your stay. Each of our clients (even those booked in Garden or Riviera rooms) has complimentary access to the Beach Club. If you're looking for perks such as — actually I'm not permitted to list those on a public webpage, but they're even better than Virtuoso or Amex Platinum amenities — you'll get those benefits through Ourisman Travel. Just email us for the full details!

copyright (c) 2018 by Ourisman Travel LLC. All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell, a Virtuoso® Member. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.

11.21.2018

stairs at Mission Santa Barbara

A postcard from Santa Barbara... a photograph of a colorfully painted stairwell in the museum at Mission Santa Barbara. The mission was founded in 1786, and the church has been rebuilt on three different occasions after damage by fire and earthquake. The mission is under the leadership of the Franciscans.

We attended the 11 a.m. Mass last Sunday. When touring a destination with an historical religious building, I highly recommend experiencing that church (temple, mosque, shrine, synagogue, etc.) as a place of living worship. The service was lead by Franciscan friar Father Dan Lackie, an outgoing and empathetic pastor and a very gifted preacher.

I had a similar experience in London last October, experiencing Westminster Abbey as a worshipper rather than a tourist. It was the highlight of our four days in London!

3.28.2018

the magic of Belmond

Every time I stay at a Belmond hotel or resort, I feel blessed to be at such a special place. My Belmond stays include Charleston Place, Bora Bora Lagoon (before its sad destruction in a cyclone), Maroma Resort on the Mexican Riviera Maya, Jimbaran Puri in Bali, the Cipriani in Venice, La Residencia in Mallorca, the Governor's Residence in Yangon, and now El Encanto in Santa Barbara. I've also seen La Residence d'Angkor in Siem Reap and Hotel Caruso in Ravello.

Belmond has an unique philosophy — it does not build hotels. Belmond purchases historical properties that reflect a very strong sense of place ... and restores those hotels to a state of five-star luxury wonderfulness. I recently enjoyed one day at the Belmond Governor's Residence in Yangon, and you can read and see about that visit in my Facebook post.

I've just finished a three-night stay at El Encanto. Unlike the other luxury options in Santa Barbara, this is definitely a boutique resort. The views are phenomenal. The weather has been perfect. I felt the water in the swimming pool — heated to 85º year round — and although I didn't have time to get in, this is the perfect temperature for someone, like myself, who doesn't like the shock of cold water. I had a great spa treatment yesterday afternoon. I enjoyed a trolly tour of Santa Barbara, and our group enjoyed dining both at the resort and in two excellent Santa Barbara restaurants.

Santa Barbara is close to Central California's Wine Country. Yesterday morning, we visited the incredibly cute little town of Los Olivos, enjoyed an excellent lunch at the Wine Merchant Cafe, and spent an hour wine tasting and shopping.

There are three great resort options in Santa Barbara. If you want a full-featured luxury resort by the beach, you have the wonderful options of Four Seasons and Ritz-Carlton. If you prefer a very personable, small boutique resort in the hills, I would not hesitate to recommend El Encanto ... and I just loved the Deluxe Premier bungalow in which I stayed (#1701), a freestanding adobe style bungalow with a large bedroom with fireplace and a perfect bathroom.

copyright (c) 2018 by Ourisman Travel LLC. All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell, a Virtuoso® member. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit our website.

3.24.2018

Ritz Carlton Bacara | excitement at what's coming

I am excited by the prospects for Ritz-Carlton Bacara. A luxury resort set on 87 acres of oceanfront property north of Santa Barbara, California, Bacara has been under Ritz-Carlton management since October, 2017. The resort has "great bones," and I believe it will become one of the premier resorts in the Ritz-Carlton family over the next few years.

That feeling began with the drive from the airport when I had a chance to speak with the manager of guest services. Having worked at Bacara for a number of years, he shared his excitement — and that of the entire staff — at Ritz-Carlton's philosophy of staff empowerment. If a guest is experiencing a problem, staff members are empowered to resolve the situation right on the spot. Apparently not how the resort has been managed in years past, the staff is taking to the Ritz-Carlton tradition of being ladies and gentlemen whose highest mission is the genuine care and comfort of the hotel's guests.

Significant plans are in the works for a complete renovation of the resort. First up, a contemporary redesign of the hotel's lobby will begin this June, and a refurbishment of guest rooms is planned to take place over the next two years. A very nice vacation resort today, some are predicting that Bacara will become the flagship property of the entire chain.

Coming soon: a temporary Club Lounge (in April) with a permanent Club to open in July. Bacara is working with Jean-Michel Cousteau to develop a seasonal Ritz Kids program by this September.

A few highlights...

The hotel has two excellent restaurants. Angel Oak is the signature steakhouse where we enjoyed a phenomenal meal. The Bistro, open for casual dining, hosted us tonight for an enjoyable dinner.
Pools are heated to 85º year round.
Bacara has received tentative approval to join Virtuoso.
Guests booked by STARS travel advisors receive complimentary daily Buffet Breakfasts for two... and the buffet includes hot items including eggs cooked to order.

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