Many of the Spanish Colonial Revival storefronts we passed in those days were empty, and in varying stages of decay. I lived for their Monte Cristo sandwich, and the inevitable postprandial stroll along State Street (which grew increasingly sketchy as you walked west toward the railroad tracks). We’d always stop for brunch at El Paseo (still there, since 1922), captivated by the 1826 adobe complex’s open interior courtyard covered with netting to keep the birds out. My parents used to make the drive to visit Jedlicka’s Saddlery (still there), because we lived on a small ranch. Growing up outside of Santa Barbara in the ’70s and early ’80s, I knew it as a sleepy country town. Santa Barbara’s only eco-hotel is a sexy, stylish, affordable 41-room property, housed in a 1912 former Amtrak employee building across the tracks from the bustling and renovated train station and a mere block-and-a-half from the beach. Anchoring the entire makeover is three-year-old Hotel Indigo. Starting in 2013, they began zeroing in on grotty lower State Street’s half-assed Funk Zone, bent on transforming this desolate beachfront railroad district into a world-class representation of local agriculture, art, green renovation and indie businesses. A group of enterprising developers, architects, designers and restaurateurs saw the gaping hole in this international tourist destination: they decided to fill it with green construction and businesses, and a non-corporate-driven hospitality industry. It seems that while I was playing in the snow, something has happened. My enthusiasm is showing, and I’m getting ahead of my story.Īs I was saying, I never regretted leaving … until two months ago, on my most recent visit. Hotel Indigo Santa Barbara upstairs loungeįorgive me. But I’m happy to report this tale has a new beginning … and it’s very cool and very green and called Hotel Indigo. (Its small fleet of generational fishermen use sustainable catch methods and other superlative marine resource management practices). This, in a region known worldwide for its family farms, wine and seafood.

As a food and travel writer focused on sustainability issues, I scratched my head over why this wealthy city with such a sophisticated visitor base didn’t have a dining scene or green hospitality movement to match. While it still has its sleepy moments and neighborhoods, it’s not the Santa Barbara I grew up with, and, ultimately, I moved away for the second time in late 2006 (returning to the mountains of Colorado), because I felt the proverbial sun had set on this Riviera. At risk of dating myself, during that stretch of time I’ve witnessed a staggering amount of change and development on this self-proclaimed “American Riviera.” Both good and bad. I grew up an hour south of Santa Barbara, and have lived there twice over the last two decades. My advice, pick a different hotel.| A New Eco-Hotel in a Revitalized Arts District | The kind of place that if you walk in the lobby and breath in its air, it will cost you. This hotel does not communicate pride in taking care of its guests and thereby earn its fee but prioritizes profitability before extending the basic standard of service when compared to other hotels. i would have made much more of an issue about it the day of had my wife and I not been on our honeymoon (!!!!). This hotel is about one thing and one thing only - making $$ - even the parking is $25. The biggest challenges were the parking lot when it was supposed to be a view of the ocean and even more so discovering a roly-poly bug in my room service food at breakfast and being dismissed by the check out attendant, then only $25 taken off the $75 breakfast.

I have traveled all over the world: Bordeaux, Paris, Nice, Milan, Amalfi Coast, Tuscany, Rioja, Napa, Big Sur and more, paying less for not only better rooms. Nice facility and great proximity to ocean, but execution was extremely lacking for cost of the room.

Hotel indigo santa barbara