My husband and I stayed at this lovely little guesthouse for four months so we could enjoy Santa Barbara, work, and spend time with nearby relatives. Our hosts, Barbara and Russell, were absolutely terrific! They answered tons of questions before we arrived and really cared about us and how we were enjoying their place. They brought us homemade guacamole; had fruit and Pelligrino for us when we arrived; and delivered champagne to us for the New Year. We even had a happy hour at their house. It was fun staying here and we would come here again.
This house is on East Islay and is walking distance to beautiful parks less than 1/2 mile away. You can easily walk to State Street, too, where there are tons of restaurants, shopping, museums, theaters, and more. For four months, we parked directly outside our front door except for a few times. There is plentiful street parking. However, street cleaning requires you to move your car on Tuesdays, which is easy to do by parking literally around the corner.
The guesthouse’s master bedroom has beautiful craftsmanship and large windows that open to a wraparound deck where you can lounge around and enjoy your hosts’ plants. During our stay, Santa Barbara experienced exceptionally wet and cold temperatures in January-February and lots of downpours. But we never had any problems inside the house from the weather.
During our stay we used our hosts’ washer and dryer whenever we needed it and that was greatly appreciated. The kitchen has everything you need to cook - knives, pans, cutting boards, utensils, big bowls, strainers, and more. We cooked lots of meals here. However, there’s no oven so you need to use the gas stovetop.
One issue for us was the WiFi, which was a little spotty and would stop working and then come back on. We told our hosts and they said they would fix it. They are extremely handy and we saw Russell take meticulous care of their plants and their entire house.
Overall, we loved staying here, we always felt safe, enjoyed being part of this quiet neighborhood, and we’ll miss our hosts, their hospitality, and spectacular Santa Barbara.
