The Steward, Santa Barbara, a Tribute Portfolio Hotel - Hotel in Santa Barbara - 5490 Hollister Ave, USA

The property is cute garden setting tucked back from the freeway. The rooms are updated but as other reviews have mentioned the rooms are stuffy and ours had a slight smell and there was no air flow and our air conditioner did not work. I called the office and they had someone come look at the air but it never cooled down. It did not even seem to be blowing air even after the repair man came. So ultimately I slept horrible as I was hot each night. They need a ceiling fan and screens on the windows so guests can take advantage of the coastal breeze or better yet have a working air conditioning system for the $500 nightly rate! ||We were first told they were fulling booked and put in a room in building E facing the freeway and could hear it from inside so after I complained as a Lifetime Platinum member we were moved to building C ( next to restaurant and main building) but still faced the parking lot but it was quite and no freeway noise and main floor making it easier for my son with a foot injury. ||We did like the restaurant- food was good, cute garden and patio areas and my husband loved the Wagu burger. No breakfast provided for Platinum Elite just a credit for breakfast so we choose points. ||Pool was on small size and spa was even smaller like for 4-6 max and the water was cloudy when we were there. Overall it seems liked a cute boutique hotel but needs some improvements before we would return.

This is the worst hotel experience I have ever had in my life. We arrived at the hotel around 8:00pm after a long 6 hour road trip to find out they don't have a room for us. The reservation was made a few weeks prior and they never emailed or called to inform us there was an issue with the room. It was the holiday weekend so every other hotel was booked and then they tried putting us in a terrible not Marriott affiliated hotel that is 3 stars with many bed bug reviews and wanted us to play last minute room cost on top of it all with zero compensation. So we had to instead ditch our entire trip and drive 3 more hours to have somewhere to sleep that night. The hotel did not care or offer any compensation for the day of and then they said we would receive 60000 Marriott points at least but they lied and only added 10000 and when I called they refused to follow through on their promised compensation which was worth less then all the money we had to spend in order to have a place to stay that night. It was by far the worse experience I've ever had in a hotel. When we explained there was no where else to go they just shook their heads and went about their business claiming they did there part and there is nothing else to be done. Mike at the front desk was incredibly rude and they just simply did not seem to care or offer any help. I was shocked. Do not stay here, the treatment we received here is rude and careless and we caught the reception on lies a couple of times. I have stayed in many Marriot brand hotels over the years and have all been good experiences. This hotel does not deserve the Marriott name and should be reviewed by corporate, the lack of customer service or guest care was concerning.

The rooms and hotel are really beautiful, fully updated. Problem was the AC was out an we had a portable unit that was efficient in cooling only one room and it was so loud it kept me up all night. Grateful it cooled me down, but I needed the sleep, so the night wasn’t great. It is located right by the highway so that can maybe be a plus, more likely a minus. Easy to get around with a car, but there’s absolutely nothing around to walk to or see. We were also told we could check in at 2 and came to a dirty room that wasn’t clean, just the bed was stripped. Front desk apologized and sent an employee to clean it. Since the room had a separate living room and we were exhausted from 8 hours of driving, we asked if we could stay there, front desk sure if the cleaning lady doesn’t mind. The cleaning lady immediately called the front desk who told us we had to leave. I guess I understand that, but she kind of had an attitude like we won’t let her do her job, when the whole problem was that she (or someone) didn’t do their job in the first place. We were able to get a refund (even though it took forever for the hotel to approve it) and went somewhere else with working ac. It was a series of events that lead to a not great stay. If the location was better I would recommend this hotel because the rooms and most of property did look nice. I just think the location doesn’t justify the price and communication was kind of chaotic.

Very warm and welcoming hotel staff (front desk, bar and breakfast). The hotel looks new and very clean, and the room setup is very modern and chic. There is always free fresh water and iced tea, coffee in the morning. There's even a water refilling station. The property is surrounded by big and tall redwoods, oaks, bamboo and several flowering and fruiting plants. The room we got had a patio and a view of the pool area and it is on the second floor with a separate living area and a couple of queen beds. We had a great time and a fabulous weekend here in Santa Barbara. Hoping to come back and stay at this same hotel next time we visit Santa Barbara and the surrounding area. #TheStewardSantaBarbara

Mixed feelings about the hotel as the property is nice and cozy. The common areas and rooms are nice. The A/C not working for the room was a surprise and the portable A/C unit in room was loud and would only cool the bedroom. Needed to bring in a fan to push out that air to the living room. And portable A/C unit needs to have condensed water emptied every few hours or else unit won't run. Not satisfied with the hotel manager dodging my requests to apply a Marriott gift card to the room.

Stayed here for work I initially got a call about the AC not working and had to stay one night elsewhere. I came back and Amanda was lovely. She let me check in early, gave me a lovely room. The pool and gym and atmosphere was beautiful. Used their bikes and bikes to the coast. It was quiet and the rooms are heavenly-just like the picture. Thank you Amanda for being so sweet and helpful.

The whole hotel e.g. lobby and guest rooms is perfectly designed to fit into the outside, a lash green area which used to be a tree nursery. All the furniture and the accessories war well chosen and look beautiful! |Rooms a spacious and comfy and pleasant furnished.|Our room was facing the pool, which was great!|There are rooms to the other side, facing the highway, which I would not recommend because of the noise.|Downside, AC in the room was extremely loud.|Service is poor. Our booking included a bottle sparkling wine & a fruit platter. We asked to change the sparking into a white wine, which was thankfully granted. However, we received the bottle but not the fruits as apparently the chef was off duty. The next day, we had to ask several times till finally we got that fruit platter in the evening. (It was very good though).|another downside was all the dust in the room. I asked for an additional cleaning 3x but it didn’t happened! I react badly to house dust (running noise. . ) which I told the front desk lady and showed her the pics of our dusty room but she kept on saying, she sends the house keeping which unfortunately never arrived.

Checking in was really nice with Juan and Oscar, they were very kind and professional. The suite we stayed in was near the gym and was beautiful and clean. The pool was near and walkable too. The restaurant and bar is onsite with just enough selection. I would recommend starting with the Parmesan artichoke and try the salmon it comes with potatoe salad, I requested mashed potato instead. David our waiter was able to get my request done. Max the bartender was so nice and made us some delicious lemon drop martinis to celebrate our 41st anniversary. Oscar heard about our anniversary and gave us a card for a free breakfast entree and coffee. We went to have breakfast the next morning we met Antonio and Ernesto who waited on us with such kindness and they kept our coffee cup full. The pool was beautiful and peaceful with some music playing while I read my book. I would highly recommend this resort to my family and friends. Thank you to everyone who made our stay memorable.