Harbor View Inn, Santa Barbara

All my husband and I can say is stay away from this nightmare! Approx. 6:00p.m. we were in our suit in the bedroom laying in bed when we heard what sounded like a key and the door opening. My husband yelled out, "who's there" no response, we heard someone enter, I was terrified as I did not understand what was happening. My husband jumped up grabbed a robe and went towards the hallway to the door when almost at the bedroom door was an hotel employee who claimed he did not speak english. It was not time to turn the bed down, we had the "DO NOT DISTURB SIGN ON THE DOOR", why was he entering our room we paid over $700.00 per night for on our wedding anniversary? Spoke with Nate hotel worthless manager, he said, it was a mistake! The employee did not actually enter our bedroom, therefore, no harm was done! We have gone there every year since we married there almost 10 years ago, we will NEVER RETURN! To make matters worse, Nate did not bother to say hello to us once we notified him about this situation - he honestly did not think it was a big deal this man entered our room with a sign on the door not to disturb us and no one to this day has told us why he was entering to begin with???

The rooms are large, bathrooms are upgraded, bedding is wonderful, ocean is across the street, totally worth the price. Your in the best location in Santa Barbara.My wife left some very expensive purses and hats. They had found them and had already ship them to us. Paul was the first staff to greet us and he set the tone of complete service. Also NO parking fee and plenty of covered parking. My wife is so picky I have to to very careful with my selection - she had a great time. You won't be disappointed. Best shower pressure ever.

Watch your wallets and purses, keep them with you. DO NOT leave in room. We had $300.00 stolen from us. Manager was no help, he printed out a code key sheet from computer and said EVERYTIME this happens, we do this. Then the next words out of his mouth was this never ever happens. DUH.. Never got our money back.

Based on the great reviews on this site, I reserved a room at the Harbor View Inn. Boy, was I in for a surprise. I planned to come down from San Francisco to run the Santa Barbara marathon. I invited my little brother to run it with me, and as an early Christmas present, I offered to pay his entry fee and for the hotel room. Shortly before the marathon, however, I caught the flu, and the day before, I decided that I was still too sick to run. My little brother still wanted to run, however, so I called the Harbor View Inn to confirm that they should simply charge the room to the credit card that I used for the reservation. Katie at the front desk told me that I would have to come in and physically sign the receipt. I explained my situation and that I was in San Francisco, and I asked her to send me whatever authorization form they needed me to sign. She refused. She stated that the only way I could pay for the room without being physically present would be to send a check before arrival, which if it cleared in advance, would be deemed acceptable. I pointed out that since my reservation was for the next day, this was not going to work. After 30 minutes of back-and-forth with her and her supervisor, Nate, I offered to wire transfer the funds. She refused. I asked her why the hotel would not accept a credit card over the phone, even with a faxed, signed authorization form from me. She stated that it was for “my protection.” I then asked what would happen if I cancelled the reservation. She stated that at this point, she would charge my credit card for the room. I pointed out that if she was willing to charge my credit card if I cancelled the reservation, then it seemed silly to refuse to charge my credit card for the stay, particularly if I faxed her a signed authorization to do so. She refused to budge. As a result, I had to have my little brother charge the room to his credit card, and then I sent him a check. Merry Christmas. If you look at the reviews marked “terrible” and “poor” on this site, you will see that they consistently point to poor service and/or management. Based on my experience, I must agree. My brother confirmed the reviews that state that that the hotel itself is beautiful. If I were to going to spend $300 to $400 a night, however, I would try the Inn of the Spanish Garden or the Canary Hotel Santa Barbara. That way, I would not have to deal with the staff of the Harbor View Inn.

The rroms are very overpriced, it is really just a roadside motel redecorated. Management is unfriendly to the point of rudeness. We well NEVER go back.

The Harbor View Inn was just awesome from the time we checked in, until the time we checked out. Everything about our room was perfect...spacious, modern decor, (loved the 2 big screen plasma tv's), luxurious beds and the cleanest hotel we encountered on our California trip. It was so beautiful waking up to the sunrise - ocean view. The hotel is convenient to everything and we can't wait to go back to our favorite place in California...Santa Barbara and this hotel would be our only choice. Very satisfied customers from Western New York.

The toilet backed up 3 times in 6 days. Promises to fix the toilet weren't kept. On the third time the toilet actually overflowed and soaked the bathroom and entryway. It would not have been so bad except the front desk took their sweet time sending someone up to fix it. I had to call again and strongly insist before somebody finally showed up. This is still a great location but the human element is starting to slip. The front desk employees are now very uneven in quality and some just don't care. This is not a well-managed hotel anymore. Other problems with reservations and maid service reinforce this impression.

I paid the highest rate and was told I had a nice room. The room had an ocean view, but it was next to the outside stairs and a noisy elevator. Nothing was said about the noise at check in. The noise started at 6:30 am. Not a good time to wake up when you're on vacation.

I have stayed here twice and have had a great experience both times. The rooms are large and very clean, the decor is new, the beds are comfortable and we love the turn down service. The location is perfect and the room service food is excellent.I highly recommend this hotel.

We were very dissapointed with our experience and with the customer service. We had booked an ocean view room for two nites but when we arrived on a Sunday the ocean room view in the newly opened North building was overlooking State Street with a sliver of the ocean if you went onto the deck. While the room was beautiful, it was not worth $382. Management was inflexible - they would not let us out of our reservation the first nite nor decrease the price of the room, even though employees, including the manager the next day, said they were reviewing their pricing in the new building. Our advice - ask to see your room before you take it. Not all ocean-view rooms are equal.....