El Encanto: Santa Barbara's Best Hotel, Above It All

You drive up Alameda Padre Serra from downtown Santa Barbara, the road climbing through jacaranda-lined streets into the Riviera neighbourhood, and after a few minutes the city falls away below you. The entrance to El Encanto is quiet — a brick driveway, mature trees, terracotta rooftops visible through the foliage. You pull in, and someone is already walking toward the car. If you are driving something interesting, they will most likely park it out front.

El Encanto has been here since 1918. That is over a century of hosting people who came to Santa Barbara to disappear for a while. Clark Gable stayed here during Hollywood's golden era. The property has changed hands several times — most recently in July 2025, when it was sold by Belmond (the LVMH-owned luxury hospitality brand) to a group led by Tinder co-founder Justin Mateen for $82.2 million. The new owners have announced $40 million in renovations over the next three years, with the property remaining open throughout. The bones of the place — the seven acres of gardens, the hillside setting, the views — are not going anywhere.

The Property

El Encanto occupies seven acres on the Riviera, the residential hillside above downtown Santa Barbara. The grounds are lush and expansive — winding pathways through mature gardens, bougainvillea climbing over white stucco walls, terracotta rooftops peeking through the canopy of oaks and palms. The architecture is Spanish Colonial, consistent with the rest of Santa Barbara but with the patina of a property that has been here for more than a hundred years.

The scale is generous. This is not a boutique hotel compressed into a city block. There are 90 rooms spread across the hillside in a collection of bungalows, suites, and garden rooms, connected by brick pathways and surrounded by landscaped gardens. It feels more like a private estate than a hotel, which is precisely the point.

The Rooms

Room categories range from Garden View rooms to the Signature Suites, with bungalows and cottages in between. The bungalows are the heart of the property — private, set among the gardens, each with its own entrance and outdoor space. The Signature Suites offer the most space and the best views, with private terraces overlooking the Pacific and the Channel Islands.

The interiors are elegant without being overwrought. Neutral tones, quality linens, hardwood floors, fireplaces in many rooms. The design lets the setting do the work — when you have views of the Pacific from your terrace, the room does not need to compete.

The View

The view is the thing. El Encanto sits high enough above Santa Barbara that the entire coastline unfolds below — the harbour, the Channel Islands, the Pacific stretching to the horizon. At breakfast, with the morning light coming in off the ocean, the restaurant terrace is one of the most beautiful places to eat in California. At sunset, the same terrace becomes something else entirely. This is not a view you get tired of.

Dining

The restaurant at El Encanto serves coastal California cuisine on an ocean-facing terrace and in an elegant indoor dining room. The menu is seasonal, built around local produce, Central Coast seafood, and the wines of the surrounding valleys. The bar is a good place for a drink before or after dinner, with the same views as the restaurant.

The food is good — not the primary reason you choose El Encanto, but a genuine strength of the property. Breakfast on the terrace, in particular, is worth lingering over.

The Spa and Grounds

The spa offers a full menu of treatments in a setting that feels integrated into the gardens rather than tucked away in a basement. There is an outdoor pool with views of the Pacific — heated, well-maintained, and rarely crowded. The grounds themselves are an amenity: walking the pathways through the gardens, finding a bench with a view, sitting under an oak tree with a book. El Encanto rewards people who are content to stay put.

Getting to Town

The one thing to know about El Encanto is that it is not downtown. The Riviera is about ten to fifteen minutes by car from State Street and the Funk Zone. The hotel offers a driver service, and Uber is readily available. For some guests, this is a drawback — if you want to walk to dinner and bars, the Hotel Californian downtown is the better choice. For others, the distance is the appeal. You are above the city, in the quiet, with the views and the gardens and the space. You go down when you want to, and you come back to the peace.

For Drivers

El Encanto understands cars. The parking is excellent — there is proper space, and if you arrive in something worth looking at, they will park it where it can be appreciated. For drivers finishing the Santa Barbara Coast drive or heading out the next morning toward the Central Coast Crossing, El Encanto is the kind of place that makes the overnight stop feel like a destination in its own right. You are not just sleeping somewhere between drives — you are staying somewhere that justifies the trip.

Who It Is For

El Encanto is for people who want the best hotel in Santa Barbara and do not mind being a short drive from downtown. Couples, in particular, who want quiet, views, and a sense of occasion. It is not the place for a night out on the town — for that, stay downtown at the Hotel Californian. But if you want to wake up above the Pacific, eat breakfast on a terrace with one of the best views in California, and feel like you have genuinely arrived somewhere, El Encanto is the one.