Franciscan Inn: Santa Barbara, CA
After leaving Monterey and Big Sur, Matt and I made our way to Santa Barbara for two nights in the lovely Franciscan Inn. When looking for a hotel, I wanted to make sure we were within walking distance of the downtown bars and restaurants and the Franciscan definitely delivered. As an added bonus, the location on Bath St meant we were only a few minutes walk from the whale watching departure point.
The hotel is made up of individual rooms that are all accessed directly from the parking lots. We were lucky to get an end unit on the ground floor near the pool, which made unpacking the car a breeze. The decor follows the Spanish theme of the city's founding and made the whole place awfully cute!
Inside, our room was pretty straightforward: comfy bed with a ceiling fan, a bathroom and a dressing area. While we knew we'd be spending most of our time exploring the local area, we still wanted to make sure we'd be getting a decent night's sleep so were very pleased with our set up.
The fact that this lovely little hotel came with a swimming pool was just the icing on the cake. Matt had been really looking forward to some relaxing pool time on this trip and we finally managed to make that a reality here. While it isn't big, the pool was nice a cool with plenty of sunshine for us sun-starved visitors.
Just a few building down from the Franciscan, the road meets West Cabrillo Boulevard. With it's palm tree lining, this street was pretty much peak California in our eyes. On the one side, you have the beach and the wharf, while on the other you have restaurants.
If you're in the Santa Barbara area, we highly recommend spending an evening at the Franciscan Inn - the staff were fantastic (and keen to share delicious restaurant recommendations - more to come in my next post!) and the room was perfect.
Full Details:
Address: 109 Bath St, Santa Barbara, CA, 93101
Website: www.franciscaninn.com
