I stopped over at Santa Barbara which is also my last night in America and stay at Quality Inn Santa Barbara Hotel before flying back to Singapore the next day. Santa Barbara to Los Angeles is about 2 hours drive.
Quality Inn Santa Barbara Hotel has a very good location which is very near to Mission Santa Barbara, the historical site and just 4 miles from Stearns Wharf Beach areas.
Let’s see what Quality Inn Santa Barbara could offer.
Reception Front Desk
Santa Barbara Quality Inn Hotel is the “motel” style, so you can just park your car directly in front of your room on the ground floor. This time we were lucky to have room on the ground floor so we don’t have to carry our huge suitcase up the staircase to the second floor.
Some outdoor resting area in Quality Inn Santa Barbara Hotel.
Hotel Room Review
The room is clean and tidy but very small. Our room is located on the ground floor so we just moved our big suitcases from the car which we parked in front of the room. Very convenient for uploading and loading of luggage.
The room has all the basic necessity: flat screen TV, working station, coffee /tea maker, fridge.
This is three pax sharing room, come with two king size bed with the clean bed sheet and pillows.
Inside the small wardrobe, iron and iron board are found.
Bathroom Review
Again, bathroom is very narrow but still has a bathtub. Hairdryer and toiletries are also provided.
Breakfast Review
Breakfast is included at the front reception building. Standard American breakfast such as bread/toast, cereal, muffin, ham, sausages, bean, eggs, tea and coffee, juice and yogurt are served.
There is a small swimming pool for you to chill out.
Nearby Restaurants & Pub
There are restaurants & pub nearby, just walk across the street for 10 mins.
Pub & Karaoke
Lounge
There are few Asian restaurants, such as Kimchi Korean BBQ & Kyoto Japanese restaurant. Kimchi Korean BBQ only offer ala carte buffet, all you can eat from the menu. If you can eat a lot, Kimchi Korean BBQ Buffet offers a good deal, just less than USD 30 you can order almost everything from the menu but you must finish the plates, else there is a penalty.
Kyoto Japanese Restaurant Review
We end up choosing to dine at Kyoto Japanese because we prefer to have a-la-carte and we can’t eat that much.
The restaurant is nicely decorated with very much Japanese taste, Japanese related paintings hang everywhere in the restaurant. However, I realized the owners are Korean couples when I made the payment.
I realized there are many Japanese restaurants in the US are not run by Japanese people but by the Asian who comes from HK, China or Korea. Reason being Japanese food is more popular compared to other Asian food such as Chinese and also offer a better selling price. Hence many Asian/ non Japanese prefer to run Japanese restaurant rather than Chinese.
You can either choose to sit on the chair or on the tatami floor. We don’t like to take off our shoes and we can’t eat well when sitting on the tatami floor, so we choose to sit on the chair.
Kyoto Specials – indicating tonight special.
You can also choose to sit at the sushi counter bar if you want to eat sushi and order from the sushi chefs directly.
We order a few set combination boat, which includes variety of things: such as sashimi, sushi, tempura, karage, salad, chawanmushi/steam egg and miso soup. The price is very reasonable which range from USD 17.95 – 24.50
This is my order, suki yaki and rice. The sukiyaki has a lot of healthy choices, such as different type of vegetables, tofu, mushroom, noodle & Udon.
After the dinner, we have a little way back to the hotel. Found this interesting bicycle.
Passed by a nail salon and saw a middle-aged man polishing a lady customer. I don’t find any man in the nail industry in Singapore. I am not sure any Singapore lady would allow a middle-aged man touching their hand and fixing their nails? I like how American has the equality among man and woman. Man too can be a manicurist! This is called equality 🙂
Another thing I found is the big truck at the petrol station. I never have seen such big truck in Asia so took a picture with the driver.
Santa Barbara Fire Dec 2017
The deadly fire which happened in Santa Barbara, still seeing locals saying thanks to the firefighter – a thank you signboard at the roadside.
The mountain area is burnt and quite bare.
Plants were all burnt.
Final thoughts :
Quality Inn Santa Barbara Hotel is conveniently located near Stearns Wharf Beach and Old Mission town. This is the motel style which you can park your car in front of your room so loading and unloading of suitcases are pretty convenient.
The room is clean but a bit narrow but remember this is a motel style so don’t expect too much. Hot breakfast is included in the morning.
There are pubs, restaurant nearby within 10 mins walk from the hotel so finding food at night is not an issue at all.
15 comments
I feel like California is the only place where motels are acceptable. They’ve fully embraced them there. New York, not so much. I stayed in a “motel” in San Francisco when I was there for the Fancy Food Show. It was really trendy and fun…but small – just like this one. Didn’t stop me from having a great time.
Dear BLANCANVALBUENA,
Thanks for your comment. Most hotels are motel style in Santa Barbara but this one here aren’t really trendy and pretty normal. Good to just have a quick stay. Nothing too fancy. But you are right, nothing from stopping us to have fun! We left hotel pretty early and back to hotel after 7pm so there is only very short time we stay here. This is good enough for us.
Sounds like a convenient place to stay. I have never been to California but I would imagine it could get very expensive. Glad you found a place that had so many amenities and you were able to relax before the next leg of your journey. And how sad to see the devastation from the wildfires.
Dear Nation of Moms,
You are right, the fire really shock me. The 2017 masive fire happened before I flew to the America and I was pretty worried to see it from the TV back home. But luckily the fire fighters did a good job and calm the fire down. Lots of banners showing “Thank you Firefighter” were seen hang outside the houses.
This was an excellent review of the Santa Barbara motel. I like that it is near so many food locations as it decreases the chance you will get lost
Dear Jess,
This is what I like about the hotel here, the eateries and pubs are abundant to choose from. And I am glad to be able to have few Asian choices such as Japanese or Korean.
Looks like a nice stay and I love the pool! I also like that they had breakfast and everything was nice an clean.
Dear Melissa,
The little pool may be in use in summer but not really in the winter. The breakfast is pretty standard so do not have too much expectation. But then it is included (Free) when you stay, so I have no complain.
It looks like a comfortable place to stay. I like to have breakfast in the morning. I hope I visit him one day – so far I have not been to California.
Dear Jelena,
California is so beautiful, it has beautiful beaches and nice weather even in the winter. I am glad I choose to visit California in the winter as it is still pretty warm and plenty of sunshine. Love it.
It looks very nice and clean. That is good that it comes equipped with all the basic necessities. I would stay here!
Dear Natalie,
It has all the basic things but nothing too fancy. Great for a quick night stay.
The location of the hotel is great. Perfect if you will stay just a few hours and a little rest.
Dear Princess Quinn,
You are totally right. I won’t complain of a short stay. The only thing is the price is still high for me but it is the cheapest in town.
It seems like this motel has everything that someone would need! it may be small, but it will do the trick. Thanks for sharing!