Mar Monte Hotel, in The Unbound Collection by Hyatt

lovely location - across the street from the beachfront. Big rooms, good bathrooms, great restaurant.

we had spent the previous weekend at the Fairmont in Sonoma and, like the Fairmont, the Mar Monte has bubbly behind the reception when you check in. I noticed the previous 2 couples checking in were not offered so I asked for it and reluctantly the lady poured us a couple. A little later we are at the pool and my wife goes to reception for a top up - nope. Thats out lot. ummm - not very Fairmont like after all. The next morning we go to get coffee at 645 from the bar area and are told there is no coffee until 7am. We go back later and they charge us $3 each for coffee - not bad! Then as we are checking out, we see free coffee in the reception area. I think it’s a lovely property, but the level of service does not equate to the cost or to the competition.

It's a very nice property, with very nice staff, with a superior location. I wish we would have had a room with balcony or patio (the hotel didn't look that full - - so it seems like that would have been easy to do, especially given the relatively high resort and parking fees added on); but, it was a really nice visit. The property is very relaxing.

The upcharges - resort and valet parking fees. I don't mind doing 1 fee. But two fees adds on over $60.0 a night. Given those fees and the fact that vacancies seemed high, it would have been nice to have a room with a balcony or patio. It seemed pretty empty, so doable, and an easy way for guests to feel like they are getting more for the extra costs.

location & proximity to Cabrillo Pavilion for our son’s wedding. valet staff was great-quite helpful.

bldg 1 is historic and charming but the original room we got was neither. husband got the front desk to move us to a more favorable room. 2 elevators and long corridor walks to get to 3rd floor was interesting.

The location of the hotel was great. The facilities were very good and we enjoyed the excellent food at Costa and Lido. Alex at the lobby was very professional, knowledgeable, and polite. He always had a big smile to greet the guests. We appreciated the friendliness of Costa's waiters and especially Costa's funny host, The valet parking staff was also very efficient and pleasant

The bathroom was nice looking, but it didn't have a counter to place our toiletries The housekeeping service was very late in the afternoon. They didn't replenish the hand soap even when we asked for it. I miss the time when hotels had notepads and pens with their logo on them (They were excellent souvenirs) The smell of the room when we arrived was bad. We opened the window, so fresh air could enter the room. The smell got better as the days passed.

I paid for a mountain view room but I ended up with an ocean view room, which was a nice surprise. Room was spacious for a family of 4 and it had everything we needed. Our room was located in the furtherst building from the hotel's main building, but it was easy to reach, and not inconvienent at all. Pool was very nice and i liked that there was a cafe adjacent. We found the best time to go was late morning/mid day as it wasn't too crowded.

The room was a tad dark due to some trees blocking the light, but it's a minor point and nothing you can do about it. Don't cut the trees down please! On the day we arrived we went to the pool to have a dip and found it absolutely packed with no seating available and there was music blaring. It was about 4 in the afternoon so I'm not sure if this was standard for that time of day. We just avoided the pool at this time for the rest of our stay.

The staff was absolutely wonderful, from valet to check in to restaurant to housekeeping! Everyone was so friendly and accommodating. Shoutout to Omar at the bar for making my friend's birthday really special with a complimentary dessert. We had a wonderful stay and enjoyed being so close to the beach. The pool is small, but has a surprising 8-feet-deep end, and the hot tub was lovely on cool evenings. It's a long stroll (about 30 minutes) to downtown Santa Barbara and the pier, so there was very little outside noise at night, meaning a great nights' sleep throughout the trip.

Two tips from a frequent hotel guest: install towel racks for hand towels near the sink, and please include washcloths with towel service. The only other minor inconvenience was the two large sitting chairs in our room - they took up a lot of space and weren't necessary.

The location is excellent and very practical to use the beach, pool, cafe and restaurant. The staff was nice and very helpful. Breakfast was very good quality. However one needs to count with some time in the morning to accommodate “a la carte “.

Car parking is not complementary and it is expensive! The breakfast food was excellent. However it was not clear, at the booking, that the “included breakfast “ was “a la carte” and with a cap price per person, excluding tips. As said, the quality (and service) was good but this unclarity left us in the morning doing some math and taking time with kids that just wanted some cereals and follow to the pool!!!

The location was fantastic and just what I was looking for. Right across the beach

That they gave us a room above the pool. Extremely noisy, sometimes until after 11pm

The hotel is in a great location; across the street from the ocean. The hotel overall, and the rooms in particular, have character, and the staff was among the friendliest and most helpful I have experienced.

There is not much to complain about. The only thing I would tell a wary traveler is that parking on the hotel premises is valet only ($40 a night). You don't have to use valet parking. However, parking along the street (which is allowed) is hard to come by. You may have to park down an adjacent street; but even then you are in short walking distance to the hotel.

The staff was friendly and accommodating. They even upgraded our balcony room to an Ocean View balcony. They had no idea but it was our 10th wedding anniversary and that completely made our trip! The room was clean and comfortable, the shower was relaxing with a rainfall shower head and cozy robes! We were also able to walk to the beach, zoo and dining! It was lovely.

The hotel is older (beautiful still), so poor insulation I'd say. In the room above us, we could hear a little kid running around. Not quite a deal breaker though.