Holiday Inn Express Santa Barbara

Why such low reviews? Makes me sad.
Stayed here 2 nights, 3 days & we had a blast here.
It’s right near everything, right off State street & near everything in Downtown Santa Barbara, the mall within minutes of beach & walking distance to everything.
Yes, it is an old hotel & you can hear ppl on the upper floor & it is a little annoying had to run the a/​c for the white noise so we wouldn’t hear the family above us on the 3^rd floor stomping their feet & more.
But I would stay here again. Cottage like feeling. Small rooms but it’s SB & you don’t want a huge room, for what. Your sleeping in it. Clean clean clean! That’s what matters.
Free complimentary breakfast & they have bacon, muffins, coffee, tea & more.
Parking 14 $ day.
Must sign a «good neighbor» consent. So we don’t have loud obnoxious ppl who don’t have any respect for others. Which is brilliant.
Free wifi.
Near all of downtown.
Service is friendly :)

More like 3.5. Great location, great price, free breakfast. Supposedly a loud/​party hotel but we didn’t experience that in Feb 2016.

This hotel is an excellent choice for a dog-​friendly stay in the middle of Santa Barbara. The hotel is half a block off State Street, easy walking distance to all the great restaurants and fun bars there, including a brewery right across the street, and it’s not far from the pier and urban wineries.
Nice old Spanish-​style architecture. Small but very clean room with a surprisingly large bathroom. It didn’t exactly exude Santa Barbara romance, but hey, it was just my dog and I. My 3^rd-​floor room unfortunately abutted the elevator shaft, so I was aware when people were coming and going, although I got used to it.
It’s self-​service without bell staff, but there are plenty of luggage carts around. Parking is valet, about $ 15, but right in the lot next door. Valet guys backed my truck into the shrubs, but no scratches, so no worries.
When in SB again, I’d probably stay here again.

My family and I recently visited Santa Barbara, we love State street and decided to take a winter break. We found the holiday inn on my Trip Advisor app. Upon arriving the staff was very friendly and welcoming. We were treated like VIP guests, we were accommodated with a smile. We were given extra pillows, blankets and a roll away bed. The general manager has great leadership skills as his staff delivers great customer service. The location is perfect, so close to State street, great parking and clean comfortable beds. The best value and a great hotel. I really felt so comfortable on this vacation. We wil only stay here going forward. Pick this hotel you won’t regret it.

Hey, great place. maybe the best location in Santa Barbara — A little off State Street so quiet; a few blocks from beach so not really «beachy» but close to access; and close to all the coffee shops, restaurants and historic movie theaters as well as historic government buildings. Great Great location (I come to Santa Barbara all the time). the rooms are cozy, efficient and practical — but not large rooms, befitting a cozy, small hotel. The parking is excellent — easy to park and get in and get out with no trouble/​hassle and the service/​management is Top notch as far as all my dealings with– Coming to Santa Barbara — looking for a private/​practical hotel, strategically great location, and top notch service– I highly recommend this one—

Great stay. Upstairs neighbors were noisy, but staff remedied that right away and had them removed from the building.
Very courteous staff, offered free water on arrival, and everyone was extremely polite. Beds and pillows comfortable, room was clean. Free breakfast in lobby was extensive, including pancakes and chiobani yogurt.
Front desk manager, Meaghan, was incredibly helpful in planning our wine tour of the area.
The price here can’t be beat, especially for being right in the thick of Downtown Santa Barbara, and all it offers.

The majority of our guests, along with my husband and I stayed at the Holiday Inn Express the week /​weekend of our wedding and everyone had a great experience. The hotel was able to provide us with a room block at a discounted rate for our guests, and all of the managers we worked with were accommodating and responsive, and any issues guests had with initial booking were taken care of quickly and efficiently.
The actual hotel and the location is great. Rooms were very clean and had all amenities required. There is a small business center with a printer, and on the second floor there is a balcony open to guests which overlooks State Street and provided a great meeting point and hang out area for our group. The hotel is just off of State Street which has a great selection of shopping and restaurants, is about a 10 minute walk from the beach and about 3 minutes off the freeway. Overall, we were very happy with our experience and would definitely recommend the hotel to anyone looking at getting a room block in Santa Barbara for their wedding!

Let me just start off by saying that I stayed here back in the day before it was remodeled and now that it has and it is much nicer now by far. Now comes the disclaimer, this is a hotel in the perfect location for some and the absolute worst location, especially Friday and Saturday nights for others. It is located right smack in the middle of downtown and I have usually checked in drunk because I was downtown drinking and that sorta leads me to part two. This is a very noisy area and if you are looking for a quiet little spot head to bath street or Cabrillo. Price will be comparable but quiet. But if you like high energy and night life, your oasis awaits you. Rooms are tad smaller as well.

Location is great for easy walking to a plethora of restaurants, Funk Zone, nightclubs, and the beach. We just spent the holiday weekend here for a bachelorette party with three separate rooms. Hotel was tolerant of allowing some of the girls to arrive early and decorate one of the rooms before check-​in. We were put in what was deemed the «private» area by one of the hotel managers, which put us on the bottom floor to the right of the main entrance and parking entrance on Haley street. We weren’t very pleased that the room have floor to ceiling windows that had little noise reduction from the outside. Further, upon entering room 110, ants were discovered in the bathroom. Hotel staff was immediately notified and housekeeping came to use disinfecting wipes where the ants were prevalent. However, the morning we left — so 36 hours later — ants were crawling out of the air conditioner vent, down the wall, and onto the top of the dresser. See pictures attached. At checkout that same morning, I reported the ants to the front desk and showed the pictures I had taken. While he said he’d get housekeeping on it right away, he lacked, what I felt, was intense disgust over the situation. I would think a hotel guest sharing those pictures of a room in your hotel would elicit some sort of emotion, especially after this was already an issue two days earlier. Also, in room 109 the television did not work and the air conditioning was incredibly cold. The only solution was to turn the air off, which then made it feel really muggy in the room. Lastly, the housekeeping staff beings knocking on doors as early as 8 am to clean your room. We weren’t ready that early each day, so they lurked in the hallway near our rooms waiting until we were gone. They also loudly spoke to each other in the halls,
Making sleeping in impossible. I would not recommend any of rooms 109 – 115 on that bottom floor. That seems to be housekeeping headquarters and they’re incredibly loud very early in the day.

Service was great. Awesome location awesome location, yes repeated twice it is perfect location if you want to party and then walk back to the hotel. I was on a business trip so the party or late nights didn’t happen. Most of the restaurants are walking distance. The beach is walking distance, all the tourist stuff is close by. A great vacation place. The staff in the hotel are friendly and professional. They have a decent breakfast spread included in the rate. Parking is $ 14 extra. Rooms are refurbished and spacious. The hotel is built originally in 1917 and is a national historic landmark.

Location location location. Professional staff in a charming historic hotel. I’ve visited most hotels in the area and hands down this one is the best kept secret. Always so comfortable here, I don’t want to leave.
Outdoor smoking patio with comfortable seating and beautifully appointed. Tucked away in the south corner of the parking lot. One of the only hotels in California where you can enjoy your cigarette. :-)

I have no knowledge of the Santa Barbara hotel industry and/​or tourism market, I say this before writing this post because maybe Santa Barbara hotels are ALL expensive and small.
What I do I know is that the Holiday Inn Express in Santa Barbara is way over priced for what you get in return.
First the PROS:
Great location
Clean rooms
Breakfast included
Reception staff was fast and courteous (Lady in charge of the breakfast NOT SO MUCH)
CONS:
Way to expensive, no value, something that is really disappointing because every other Holiday Inn Express I have stayed offers, above all, VALUE.
They charge $ 17 dlls for parking (very cramped and tons of street parking available)
Old rooms
Old hotel
Small bathroom

Upsides:
The staff are really accommodating and friendly!
The beds are clean and comfy, and the cleaning person was very friendly and attentive, and respectful.
The breakfast provided was totally reasonable, yay yogurt and eggs!
There are plenty of electrical outlets which is amazing!
The location near the beach and state Street turned out to be pretty ideal. I had lots to do and eat within blocks.
Checking in and out was easy, as was getting a replacement key when I thought I’d locked myself out (turns out my card was hiding in my wallet, oops!)
Downsides:
My room was in the building next to the main building. It doesn’t have a lobby, just a door into the back parking lot with a keyed entrance. The door closes slowly, and is sometimes propped open (maybe for cleaning staff?) which made me a bit wary of security.
My room had its entire wall of windows directly (as in, immediately adjacent to) the outside sidewalk with people and cars going by at all hours. Noise wasn’t top terrible, and I had a Bluetooth speaker to make white noise when needed. However, not being able to have any natural light or a view of the beautiful city was disappointing. I was also pretty uncomfortable with the idea that if I left even a bit of window peeking through the curtains someone could watch me. Not the best. I’m sure there are several solutions, including asking people if they are comfortable with that when they check in, or frosting all the windows really well to obscure everything (there us a bit of a dark film but I checked from outside and you can still see everything clearly).
I can’t speak to the rates since this is a business trip.

Nice Place. Comfortable, clean, very close to the fun part of town. Economical. Breakfast served and with eggs and meat (protein is good). Wifi connected easily and fast. Good design with a nice common balcony we could eat our breakfast on. Really did all the things right for a basic hotel.

We arrived early and had to wait until 3 for a room. The hotel was supposed to send me a text when the room was ready, never got one. When I checked in I was told I would have to pay 14.00 a night for parking instead of the 12.00 I was quoted, I showed a receipt and they just shrugged it off. The mattress was very broken down in the middle. The maid was very nice and always said hello. The hotel is an old converted hotel from 1916. It was quiet, but then I had a room away from the railroad tracks. There is a homeless problem here. It is close to beach and a very nice area for the homeless to live around. The breakfast buffet featured watery eggs and grey sausage. The bagel was good. One day they had the eggs shaped like omelets and had Velveeta cheese in the middle.
In response to your comment, you did not comment on the homeless issues that surround your Inn. Being a Senior my feelings on the begging and sleeping on the benches, make me a little nervous for my safety. As a business you should be very pro active on trying to deal with the issues. No mention of low quality buffet. Previous comments from others say bad mattresses.
The money spent here was really not worth it.

This is a great little hotel. The rooms are small but nice. It is a little bit dated but you should stay here for the location. It is in the perfect spot on state Street. You can walk to everything and rarely need to use your car. The only bad thing is the elevator, it is old and slow and small. I wouldn’t want to stay above the 3^rd floor, since we always use the stairs, but it is much healthier to use the stairs anyway. The few minor flaws are worth the location and the price is low for SB

To those who are thinking about possibly booking at this hotel… Don’t do it, don’t waste your time and money.
Located just a block from Santa Barbara’s famous State St, which houses restaurants and shops is where you will find this «renovated» hotel which used to be The Virginia Hotel. There is a private hotel self-​parking lot which costs $ 14/​per day. If you book online, the parking is not included and will be charged when you check out as a separate charge from the room.
The lobby area is shared space to where they host the complimentary breakfast complimentary breakfast which runs from 6a-​10a. The traditional breakfast buffet consists of traditional eggs, sausage, bacon, toast and pastries.
Everything sounds good so far right? Okay so here is why we have the low star rating.
The hotel rooms are on the tiny side. The beds are so uncomfortable. The absolutely downfall bout this hotel is the single pane windows for the rooms facing Haley St. We did not sleep on our one night visit because of cars driving by and people leaving the bars around 2−3am. Worse night ever!
You will not get a quiet night sleep so do not waste your time.

I frequently visit Santa Barbara and this is my most favorite hotel why?
1. The customer service is outstanding! The housekeepers, car attendants, front desk, and other guests, they’re all so incredibly friendly.
2. Free parking and breakfast!
3. GREAT location, right in the middle of downtown.
4. The building and rooms are quite charming and clean. The building is pretty historic, without the creepy haunted historic feel.
I don’t know who manages this Holiday Inn but they’re doing it, and doin it, and doin it WELL. Love this place, see yall this Memorial Day!!!

Located right in the heart of Old Town Santa Barbara just walking distance to the Waterfront as well as the historical State Street plus complimentary breakfast?! Check check and check. I’m sold.
Aside from the fact that hotel parking is a bit tight/​limited and an additional cost of $ 14 per night I don’t have that much to complain about because service was quick, the staff are friendly, rooms are clean, and the hotel is quite cute and very fitting for its location. Well in fact all the buildings in the area have that same similar Spanish style architecture.
There are several bars and restaurants nearby some that do play loud music and I wondered whether or not you could hear the blaring music from your room my husband and I were luckily on the other side of the hotel opposite of the bars so there was no issue there. Just across the street from the entrance of the hotel is also the Santa Barbara brewing company for you beer lovers out there wanting to try some local brews.
Would stay here again if I’m ever in the area.

The Holliday Inn Express Hotel is a historic landmark (1916) in Santa Barbara and is perfectly located for either shopping or the beach. The previous name of the hotel was Hotel Virginia. Shopping is literally around the corner … half a block away from State Street and it only about a five minute walk to the Santa Barbara pier. They also have complimentary beach bikes available for the guests. The rooms are nice and the beds and pillows very comfy. The free breakfast is not bad actually. Breads and bagels, cereals, scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, juices, oatmeal etcetera. There are two parking lots and valet parking … for 12 dollars a night … not bad considering you are in the centre of downtown Santa Barbara. Lots of restaurants, cafes, bars … all at walking distance. There is also a trolley bus that runs up and down State Street every 15 minutes and it stops around the corner and only costs 50 cents (one way). On three weekday evenings there is complimentary wine tasting on the balcony! So for you next weekend in SB … check out this hotel.