Santa Barbara is known for being the “American Riviera”, a wonderful getaway with its beaches, wineries and warm weather. It’s also known for Montecito, one of the most common associations, because the area frequently makes headlines with celebrity homes. But if you can get past Prince Harry’s mansion, you’ll find that the downtown area of Santa Barbara (about a 10-minute drive from Montecito) has a low-key, slow-paced, and pedestrian-friendly appeal to it.
In order to get a sense of the downtown area, I stayed in one of its newest hotels — Courtyard by Marriott Santa Barbara Downtown.
“The Bachelor” star Andrew Firestone, who was the third bachelor of the reality series, opened the hotel in conjunction with co-founder Jess Parker of StonePark Capital. Along with the hotel, its restaurant Saint Remy opened on December 26, 2022. Dependent on dates, a stay here starts at $250 a night.
The location is incredibly convenient if you are flying directly to Santa Barbara or taking the train. Santa Barbara Airport is nine miles from it, and the Amtrak Train Station is two miles away. It’s also an ideal spot for walking and exploring State Street as well as the Santa Barbara Harbor.
The hotel itself still has that freshly painted smell to it as it has been renovated and expanded. It used to be El Prado and Days Inn hotel, a 68-room hotel. It kept its midcentury modern architecture, but it now has 122 guest rooms.
As expected, the room looked brand new. It’s functional with high-speed WiFi, a flat screen TV, a walk-in shower, and comfortable beds. Depending on where your room is located, you may also have a balcony view of the Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean.
If you’re looking to lounge around outside of the room, there is a pool, a whirlpool, a fire pit and two rooftop decks.
My tip is to go up to the top rooftop deck at sunset, bring your wine and take in the beautiful views of Santa Barbara.
And one of the best parts of this hotel is that behind the pool, you can have an incredible meal or a happy hour with food and drinks that are locally sourced. Saint Remy is a Mediterranean-inspired restaurant with some items on its menu that make it a true hidden gem in downtown Santa Barbara.
The restaurant seats 50. There are comfortable spots to sit and plenty of outlets to charge a laptop or cellphone. My friend and I opted to sit at the bar, and Jorge, the bartender, did not disappoint with his recommendations.
He suggested the espresso martini, and it alone is worth the visit. This is a local drink because it’s made with Zaca Cold Brew espresso. Zaca Coffee is roasted in Santa Ynez Valley.
For appetizers, we split everything we ate in order to get the most out of our meals. We ordered the brussels sprouts (pancetta, balsamic glaze, parmesan, crispy onion) and fried calamari (spiced calamari, crispy cherry pepper, Calabrian chili aioli and parsley).
And all I can say is…. yum!
Jorge also recommended the Fig Burger (fig jam, bacon, pasilla pepper, cream cheese, brioche bun) for us, and the restaurant split it in half so that we could each try it as we were already pretty full from the appetizers. It was so delicious that half made me want the entire burger.
But we saved room for dessert, and I can see why you’d want to go to this restaurant just for the Churros Con Chocolate. Dipping options are caramel and chocolate. Try both for the richest taste.
Depending on how long you’re staying and which meal times you are here for, there are also many breakfast options that shouldn’t be overlooked including the famous Shakshuka Benny (sourdough, red pepper sauce, feta crumble, poached egg and cream cheese hollandaise). And if you’re looking for a sweet option, I recommend the Nutella Crunch French Toast (Nutella stuffed French toast, bananas, amaretti, and hazelnut crumble, vanilla Anglaise).
With food like this, you may not want to ever leave the hotel to explore more restaurants, wine tasting rooms, shops, and the laid-back culture of downtown Santa Barbara. As the first Marriott branded hotel in Santa Barbara, the hotel’s reinvention caters to a modern-day traveler with all that it offers. Even a short, weekend stay may make you feel like a downtown local here.
