Originally a 1920’s style Spanish villa, the Franciscan Inn (www.franciscaninn.com), located just a block off the beach near Stearns Wharf in Santa Barbara, still maintains the same facade, although the inside is now an Inn with all the modern comforts and amenities usually found in Santa Barbara’s many hotels. 

Twice the size of a standard B&B, the Franciscan has 53 rooms and suites oufitted to match differing styles and budgets. All the rooms, and the grounds of the Inn, offer guests complete privacy and luxurious comfort along with a level of personal service and courtesy not usually found in the big hotel chains or even boutique hotels.

Guests are offered a free complimentary breakfast with fresh-baked croissants, muffins and breads, with fruit juice, coffee and teas. Amenities include a spa and a heated swimming pool hidden among swaying palms and the foliage in the grounds, complimentary parking and free wireless internet and local calls. A free video library and VCR’s, along with cable and HBO allow you to relax in-room and in the lounge with movies of your choice. A coin operated laundry is available for use by guests.

A ‘Standard Suite’ at the Franciscan Inn comes with a queen size bed, a kitchenette with stovetop, oven, refrigerator and microwave and furnished with pots, pans and cooking utensils as well as plates and silverware, another queen size sofa cum bed in the living area along with a worksesk and a small dining table with chairs, seperated from the bedroom area by a sliding door, and a joint bath/shower. This suite clocks in at $145 for weekdays in winter and $195 during the summer. Weekend rates are $25 higher than weekday rates. Lowest rate single rooms with one queen bed cost $99 per night. Rates are not inclusive of taxes and are based on two person occupancy, with an extra $10 payable for additional guests.

If you pick the right suite at the Franciscan Inn and time your stay for off-peak days, the end result would be a family vacation in Santa Barbara on a budget, a block from the beach and every place worth visiting including State Street shopping and dining within a short stroll, and to top it o, you get individual attention from the staff at the Franciscan Inn. None of the big chain Santa Barbara family hotels like the Doubletree Resort or the Hampton Inn Goleta is ever going to be able to offer this combination of economy, personal attention and luxury accomodations.

Info: 110 Bath Street Santa Barbara CA 93101; (805) 963-8845

Posted on April 13th, 2008 by PLing
Filed under: Hotels