Santa Barbara & Montecito, from Miramar Beach to the Ojai Valley
Santa Barbara calls itself the American Riviera, and Montecito is where the claim is easiest to believe – a beach house whose terrace suites open onto the sand, an 1893 guest ranch up a creek in the foothills, and forty-five minutes inland, a 1923 valley estate at the edge of the Los Padres National Forest.
The collection
3 hotels
Santa Barbara calls itself the American Riviera, and Montecito is where the claim is easiest to believe – a beach house whose terrace suites open onto the sand, an 1893 guest ranch up a creek in the foothills, and forty-five minutes inland, a 1923 valley estate at the edge of the Los Padres National Forest. The destination has exactly one five-star hotel; the two addresses beside it hold four-star standing and earn their place on history, setting and the way they are run. We looked at every candidate from the Gaviota coast to Ojai and kept only those whose service holds up to the address. Three made the cut.
“Because the hotel, its dining room Caruso's and its spa all hold five-star standing – a triple that only sixteen properties in the world can claim – and it sits directly on Miramar Beach.”
From our editors · Rosewood Miramar Beach
The neighborhoods
Montecito
The village east of Santa Barbara – Coast Village Road's shops, Butterfly and Miramar beaches below, lanes of estates climbing into the foothills – with two of the three hotels, one on the sand and one up San Ysidro Creek.
Ojai Valley
A citrus valley thirty-five miles inland in Ventura County, ringed by the Los Padres National Forest and known for the pink light on its mountains at sunset – forty-five minutes from Montecito, and a world apart.
Good to know
Should I stay in Montecito or in Ojai?
Montecito holds two of the three – Rosewood Miramar Beach directly on the sand, five minutes from Coast Village Road, and San Ysidro Ranch ten minutes up the hill on San Ysidro Creek – with downtown Santa Barbara, the Mission and Stearns Wharf a short drive west. Ojai Valley Inn is a different trip: thirty-five miles inland in Ventura County, forty-five minutes by car, on 220 acres at the edge of the Los Padres National Forest. Choose Montecito for the sea and the village, Ojai when the point is to disappear into a valley for a few days – or pair them, a few nights on the coast and a few inland.
When is the best season for Santa Barbara?
September and October – the warmest water of the year, the clearest skies and the summer visitors gone. Late spring often begins under a gray marine layer that burns off by early afternoon; July and August are bright and busy, so book early. Winter is mild, green after the rains and quiet. Ojai runs hotter than the coast in summer and cooler in winter, and its pink moment, when the setting sun lights the mountains at the head of the valley, needs only a clear evening.
Are the hotels on the beach?
One of them is. Rosewood Miramar Beach stands directly on Miramar Beach in Montecito, and its Beach House Terrace Suites open onto the sand. San Ysidro Ranch sits in the foothills above the village, about ten minutes from the same beach, with the mountains rather than the ocean at the door. Ojai Valley Inn is inland altogether – a valley estate forty-five minutes from the coast, chosen for exactly that.
How do I reserve a stay?
Search your dates on any hotel's page to see rates and what is available, then book the room – or the cottage – you want. A concierge is on hand throughout – to weigh the beach against the foothills or the valley before you book, and to arrange tables, tee times, spa days and the rest of the stay once you have.
