Inn On Summerhill

Stayed at the Inn on ⁵⁄₁₃ as we had booked a horseback ride on the beach nearby. It’s darling from the outside. The good: The staff was exceptionally nice and helpful. Nicely landscaped and a great view of the ocean. The food was terrific! The breakfast here was the best that we had during our entire stay in Santa Barbara. They have afternoon snacks available from 3 – 5 p.m., which was very nice. I had a glass of wine and sat at one of the nice little bistro tables out front and read a magazine. The bed was lush and comfortable. The bad: The room was nicely decorated, but not completely functional. The bathroom had no space for putting out your things. A small table in the bathroom would have helped. Also, only one person at a time can use the bathroom. A large mirror over the dresser would be nice. This would have allowed me a place to put on my makeup and dry my hair while my husband showered and shaved. The room was very dark in the morning even with all the lamps on. Definitely can use more lighting. Also, the Inn is located on a very busy frontage road and there is a LOT of traffic noise. So much, that they provide you with earplugs along with the toiletries. The patio set outside our room had cobwebs all over it. There was a Daddy Long Legs spider dangling from the ceiling in the bathroom. They should provide a full-​size ironing board instead of a tabletop type as there is no place to set it up.
This Inn has great potential with a few changes that I mentioned above. But there is nothing that can be done about the traffic noise from the freeway and frontage road. For this reason I would not stay here again.

This was the first time I stayed here, and I absolutely loved it! The inn was recently renovated, and they did a fabulous job — the furniture was modern and new, the paint was fresh, and everything was perfectly clean. We had a king balcony with a gorgeous fireplace that you turned on simply by flipping a switch. The morning breakfast and evening wine and snacks were very good. Some of the other reviews mentioned noise from the highway and the train and they’re correct that it’s a little loud, though I didn’t mind because the view of the ocean and islands was incredible and you can’t get that without being close to the highway and train in Santa Barbara. The small town of Summerland, where the inn is located, is very cute and I wish I had spent more time exploring the restaurants and stores.

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this place!
California local, can’t wait to return for our staycation get away.
The Rooms — EXCEPTIONAL
The Happy Hour — EXCEPTIONAL
The Dessert Hour — EXCEPTIONAL
Breakfast — EXCEPTIONAL
The Rooms — EXCEPTIONAL (oh man, I already said that, REPEAT)
The Linens — EXCEPTIONAL (bed linens are like sleeping on butter, bathroom linens are butter soft as well)
The Décor — EXCEPTIONAL
AND EXCEPTIONALLY EXCEPTIONAL — The staff! So friendly, so accommodating. Really nice time here at the Inn at Summerhill.

One of our favorite B and Bs in California.
We love food, service and location. In or past visits we found the chef to be fantastic and creative. Santa Barbara is a short drive away and easy to get to as well.

We first stayed here in 1993 on our honeymoon. This was our third trip back, but it has been over 15 years since the last visit. The hotel itself has improved. Service at check in was friendly and efficient. We booked massages when we made our reservation, and the process was simple and the massages were fantastic (but a little pricey — though not outrageous).
We booked a King Balcony room, and it was everything we expected — updated, comfortable and quiet.
The one drawback is traffic noise. When were stayed here years ago, the traffic on Highway 101 was not to bad and we couldn’t hear it in the room. Now, the 101 seems louder, and traffic on the adjacent street has increased. We could hear traffic noise most of the day, and the balcony was really only usable late at night or early in the morning.

Extremely picturesque and adorable inn with great views. Came here for my birthday weekend and had an amazing time. The inn is a little less than 15 minutes from the Funk Zone, which wasn’t a problem for us since we were able to experience both the Funk Zone and the immediate area (Summerland) which is quaint and offers a different charm. The room itself was mostly wood and had a cozy cabin-​like charm, complete with a fireplace, patio and high-​rise fluffy bed.
Parking is plentiful and free in the lot in the front. Service was great. The girl at the front desk offered amazing restaurant recommendations and they were accommodating about late check out. Plus, they offer complimentary afternoon wine and appetizers, desserts in the evening, and breakfast in the morning.
Note: the inn is located right by the highway and noise is very noticeable. There is also a train that makes quite a bit of noise in the morning. They provide free earplugs. Wasn’t an issue for us, but might be for those who are more sensitive to noise.

A truly charming bed and breakfast with a lot of nice perks. The staff was friendly and helpful, and they have an afternoon wine, desserts in the nighttime, and breakfast in the mornings. The location is about a 10 minute drive to the main part of Santa Barbara, or about a $ 10 Über ride. There’s also some nice restaurants, a lot of antique stores, and a small beach within walking distance.
The rooms are reasonably priced, clean and look very picturesque. Ours had a patio which looked out towards the ocean, and was a very relaxing place to enjoy the complimentary wine and hors d’oeuvres. The only minor complaint is the somewhat weak water pressure for the shower.
Overall, would definitely recommend for those looking for a place to stay in Santa Barbara, and don’t mind being a short drive away from the winery area.

We have been coming to this place since 1993. Service has been good and the staff were very friendly and helpful. The food was good. However, we came here at the end of the year to ring in the New Year and found experience disappointing. They changed the management. The business was passed to the new generation. Everything was profit oriented. All the nice touch and amenities included in the higher room price were gone. They charge for a breakfast delivery where we were not charged for years. When we checked in, we were not told of this change. So we were caught off guard and were charged for $ 10 each time. The first 2 glasses of afternoon wine were free but they charged for additional ones. The staff at the front desk was not as friendly and helpful like years before. We were very disappointed. We never posted any reviews on Unilocal but we felt that we need to let other loyal customers and new customers know. The Inn on Summerhill in Santa Barbara is not worth the premium pricing nor the high rating from AAA.

Our experience began with our last minute phone call to try and make reservations to one of the only places left available, which landed us here. My wife spoke with a very nice lady named Rachel. We made our reservations with her and she even stayed later than normal that night so that she could greet us on our arrival and provide us with a key and instructions for our room.
The room was well decorated and comfortable. After being shown to our room, we arrived with music softly playing and the air conditioner blasting to cool our room down. Unfortunately, I now see why these actually may have been running. It was to distract us from noticing or hearing other things instead. Since we arrived late at night, we quickly unpacked and made our way to bed. This is when we noticed things were not as great as we thought.
Because this bed and breakfast sits so close to the freeway, there was nothing you could do to drown out the noise. Not the air conditioner, or the music softly playing in the background. And to top it off, the people staying above us were very heavy footed (not to blame the hotel for that). The hotel obviously made efforts, knowing the noise from the freeway traffic may be loud, even providing ear plugs in our room. However, I don’t sleep well with items stuffed in my ear while trying to sleep, so that was not going to work.
In the morning, we were woken up by a train who was blaring its horn. Thankfully that only happened in the morning hours and only once. We did make it to their breakfast, which they did very well in executing. Their eating area was small, but comfortable and even had a little area to eat outside if you preferred to do so. They had a very nice lady cooking omelettes, which were made to order. They also had a nice variety of fresh juices and other refreshments to choose from. Later that evening, during the dessert hour, we met a very nice lady who also worked in the same dinning area who we unfortunately did not get a name for, but we made great small talk with and she seemed very genuinely kind.
The beach was across the freeway and unfortunately had a bad oil smell to it, which the hotel did warn us about, due to a possible oil spill in the area. Although when we went to the beach there was a sign posted talking about the possible natural oil that seeps through the ocean floor. However, I am not so sure if that is an excuse tactic that the local oil rigs are using who seem to line the horizon just off the coast, or if it truly is a natural occurrence. Either way, it really made the beach smell. The hotel did offer a suggestion to go just a little further north or south off the coast and the smells and water would not look the same, but in fact look much more beautiful.
For the price of this hotel, with all the inconveniences you had to deal with, it was just not worth the money. I would have rather paid a little more for another hotel out of the immediate area where the freeway seemed to line or even stayed at the Best Western for less. This place has such potential if it truly were not for that darn freeway and crappy beach location. The hotel has made every effort to accommodate these issues, but it is simply just not enough to make it worth while.

The major issue we had was the mold we noticed growing in the bathroom tubs. My wife has severe mold allergies and this was not good for her breathing. We decided to leave first thing in the morning because of room. We made a request for the hotel to address this issue so that other guests are not inconvenienced, no response from the hotel.
Another issue we noticed (which is not as major as the issue above) was that the patio doors were not well insulated, especially since there is a highway and railroad tracks right across.
On the brighter side, the staff was nice and checked in on our later arrival and was overall pleasant. I would however not recommend this place. I’m going to attach photos of the issues we came across to this review.

Room 11 was great. Fireplace, spa tub and surround sound music in bedroom and bathroom. Quaint and charming. Staff is helpful, room is clean and bed was phenomenally comfortable. The ocean views were amazing from the balcony. I enjoyed their happy hour wine and cheese and the chef made a great breakfast that enjoyed while starring at the ocean! Highly recommend this place!

We recently stayed at the Inn on Summerhill for 3 nights. Quite honestly it was terrible and not worth the money it cost to stay there. We had stayed there on a few occasions previously and those times we had a very positive experience. I believe there is a new owner or perhaps she is the manager but she is one of the main problems. I didn’t get her name but I recall she was French. She was abrupt and curt on several occasions at least from what we witnessed. She has the worst customer satisfaction skills I have ever witnessed somebody in the hospitality industry.
There are usually afternoon snacks from 3 – 5 pm, served with wine. These days the snacks are limited and not that great. Wine is also served. There is a limit of 2 glasses per person and then it is $ 5 per glass thereafter. (This is a change to way it used be) On one day one the wine bottles was empty at 4.30 and this manager /​owner would not replace it was «close to 5 pm.» Nobody wanted it for free.
On 2 of the 4 days (3 nights) our trash cans were not emptied. Despite assurances from the front desk that this would be done «right away» they remained unemptied. Another night we were omitted from having the advertised «Turn down service».
The final insult to injury was finding a pair of ladies underwear down the back of my bed. I question now if our sheets had been changed or room properly cleaned prior to us checking in. It was very easy to see the underwear as they were in plain view when standing at the head of the bed. When we notified the manager and staff our concerns were minimized and were essentially told that things happen sometimes and did not receive an apology.
The issues and incidents are small in themselves but when we experienced so many negative issues it made our stay uncomfortable, Unwelcomed and unpleasant.
This is not the same place we had experienced in the past. Can no longer recommend to our friends as we had done so previously. WE WILL NOT BE RETURNING TO THE INN ON SUMMERHILL.

I usually never write reviews but our stay at the Inn on Summer Hill last month was so lovely that I couldn’t resist to share my experience. I have traveled to Santa Barbara many times before and had stayed at a few hotels there. This time my family from Germany came to visit and upon recommendations from my friends, we decided to stay at the Inn in Summerland. I had looked up the rooms on their old website before our stay, and was blown away when we arrived and one of the friendly staff members showed us around. They recently redecorated the interior, turning it from a more rustic feel to a very airy, bright, coastal style ambiance while maintaining the homey, warm boutique atmosphere. The rooms felt much more open and light than I had thought and we loved the unique décor in each room.
We stayed in their balcony rooms which offered an amazing panoramic view on the ocean: Just the right place to enjoy the afternoon appetizers and a glass of wine.
The room fee included a delicious breakfast with a selection of pastries, juices and a different main course every day. Also included were afternoon appetizers/​wine and dessert. The staff were exceptional friendly and helpful. The location was great too: It is only a short drive away from downtown Santa Barbara. Everything about our stay there was wonderful. I will definitely come back and can only recommend staying at the Inn on Summer Hill!

I’ve been an off/​on patron of the Inn on Summer Hill for several years now (with my girlfriend) and I love the place. We stayed at the Inn over the weekend after hearing of some recent changes to their interior design and couldn’t have been happier. Before it was cute and cozy, if a little… floral, but the new cosmetic alterations are a welcome change for us as return guests. It remains charming with incredible service and great breakfast and afternoon bites/​wine, but with a beautifully crafted new twist. Modern accents and unique furnishings accompany its quaint vibes.
Safe to say we will be returning soon, and we look forward to seeing what our next room will look like! We love the location – close to Santa Barbara and Montecito, but with a uniquely serene experience found only in the little town of Summerland. Not too shabby!

While driving south from San Francisco to Los Angeles mid January 2015, I decided I’d had enough driving after an exhausting week-​long road trip. I got off the freeway around 5:30 in the evening looking for just a bed for some sleep. I came across the Inn on Summer Hill. I loved the look of it, and from the moment I stepped inside I was enchanted. The gal at reception pointed out that their afternoon wine, cheese and horsdeuvres were still out, and she encouraged me to have some. I was too tired to look for a place for dinner and that ended up being a satisfying light dinner: wine, cheese, salami, artichokes, olives. I had a wonderful relaxing soak in the spa tub in my room, and was disappointed when I couldn’t stay up to try their evening desserts! After a great night’s sleep on my luxurious four poster bed, I enjoyed their breakfast which included a variety of pastries, juices, coffee, teas, fruit, and yogurt plus a freshly cooked hot meal of eggs and sides by their excellent and personable chef. My very short stay was an unexpected treat. I highly recommend this Inn. btw, I had what was considered a standard room and it was a spacious room with a charming gas fireplace and a patio with a view of the ocean. I was in room #5. I also liked it that they still use real keys. Unfortunately I wasn’t there long enough to use their spa, so I can’t speak of that. A courtesy above and beyond: I’ve done a lot of traveling and have forgotten things in hotel rooms throughout the years, and I did it again. A couple of days after my stay here I had a phone call informing me they’d found a dress in my room and would I like them to mail it to me. I said yes, they did via priority mail at their expense. Only one other time has this happened, and it was with the Waldorf Astoria in NYC.

Lovely place. Lovely breakfast. Lovely staff. Stayed here for one night in late December year 2013. Kept with Christmas decorations. Seems to be a little bit inconvenient since we arrived late that day and could hardly find a place for dinner.

Just spent the most wonderful few days here and I can’t say enough about this place. If you’re looking for somewhere to unwind and relax this is it!
Scott, big and many thanks to you and your staff for a memorable experience.

This was our first stay at the Inn based on the recommendation of a friend and had a wonderful experience. We were warmly greeted and given a brief tour of the amenities en route to our room. Yes, it’s quite close to the 101, but there are 2 rows of hedges and a rarely traveled feeder road as a buffer. And with the window closed you’d never know there was a freeway nearby.
The staff was very accommodating of a late check out to facilitate us attending a local church for Easter service, even a late night glass of milk to pair with a dessert we’d brought back from dinner. It’s not the ideal, secluded location but they have made every effort for privacy and comfort. We will definitely be visiting again in the future.

This place was so wonderful! Quaint, classic, and cozy, with a feeling of being tucked away from the world and a delicious breakfast in bed to boot. Just a short drive into downtown Santa Barbara, there is also a row of antique shops just outside of the Inn.
Would highly recommend and will definitely be going back — an instant classic!

Comfortable & accommodating — this a very nice Inn within proximity of Carpenteria, Montecito, Santa Barbara & Goleta.
The staff are friendly & helpful, the rooms are clean, our king bed was supremely comfortable, etc., all very good except… The noise from the 101 freeway.
Unless you’re a heavy sleeper or drink a lot before going to bed, wear ear plugs!