De la Vina Inn

The location is excellent, with easy access to shops and restaurants. The staff provides excellent service, being very nice, helpful, and facilitating online check-in and check-out.

I was really disappointed with the De La Vina Inn. I'd like to say that it was just because I'm haven't stayed at a "limited service" property before, but that's not the case. We've stayed at AirB&Bs, etc. and I'm comfortable giving up on the service of a hotel if there is a meaninful savings, but this wasn't the case with the De La Vina Inn. There wasn't a significant savings, and there were more than a few instances when we would have appreciated the service and regular maintenance that comes with a hotel in this price range. I'm giving two stars because the bed was comfortable although small for two regular size people, and there was ample hot water for a shower. That's it. Our room needed a good cleaning, some new paint, and updated plumbing. The toliet wouldn't flush and the shower reminded me of what I've seen in a youth hostel from my backpacking days. All intereaction is via text. If you call with an issue, you'll recieve a text instead of a call back. We had to call because when we returned to the hotel following dinner out, our parking spot was taken. There are exactly eight spots to park in to accomindate the guest, and if someone takes more than one you are out of luck, or invited (via text) to find a spot on the street. We also called because at 10PM we heard another guest struggling to get into their room because they couldn't figure out the code/lock system, which is admittedly a bit tricky and made more so because of the poor lighting in the doorway. We had to get out of bed to help these folks get in their rooms or we worried we'd hear them out there all night. It's hard not to hear the other guest in normal circumstances. This is an old home and and unless everyone is whispering and not walking around you'll hear everyone and everything. When we got up in the morning, we were met with someone trying to get in the house to meet one of the other guest. We had to keep them out, because of course we had no idea who they were. But it was really awkward to be in that situation. All of these issues we faced would have been solved by having some staff available for the hotel. In one of my texts to the person managing the property I asked with total sincerity if they were a real person. I wasn't trying to be rude, but all of the responses and automated check-in information I recived via text all started to seem like they were AI generated. There was the constant refrain in the communication that, "customer service is our highest priority". It is important for the folks running the place to know that just saying it is a high priority is not actually making it true. We only stayed one night, and I'm grateful for that. We were visiting friends who live in Santa Barbara, and they recommended we stay closer to the beach, but I was really fooled by the reviews and the pictures of this place. Plus, I thought it would be quieter in town. We won't make that mistake again. When taking a second look at the five star reviews I noticed

Humberto was great, very attentive to my needs but house keep was very rude, not very friendly.