We’ve been told so much about Santa Barbara by our friends and family, we decided to go for a quick trip. We stayed at the lovely and historic Four Seasons Resort The Biltmore Santa Barbara. The hotel was originally part of the Biltmore family of resorts and is the only Biltmore property within the Four Seasons collection.
The hotel has lush gardens, historic architecture, and beautifully painted tiles throughout the property. Each time we turned a corner it was picturesque, with jasmine and bougainvilleas climbing the walls and beautiful gas lanterns lighting the pathways at night.
The hotel is located across the street from the beach, so it was a quick walk to get down to the waterfront. Our first day we enjoyed a long walk on the beach at sunset, and then cocktails at the Coral Reef Bar in the Coral Casino Beach and Cabana Club, which is right on the beach.
While we sipped our cocktails, we watched the little pink shrimp and fish swimming around in the coral reef bar. Our favorite cocktail was the Lychee Martini, which rivaled the ones we make at home (get the recipe).
We finished our evening with dinner at The Lark, which is located in the newer hip area of Santa Barbara. We had some delicious food and especially enjoyed the octopus with parsnips three ways!
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Our hotel room had a lovely balcony where we enjoyed our Nespresso in the mornings. Beautiful touches like historic vents in the plaster and colorful tiles in the bathroom, along with a cozy fireplace, added to the historic charm of the hotel, and the service lived up to the Four Seasons name. We also enjoyed exploring the lovely little town of Montecito before heading up to Santa Barbara wine country the next day.
On a hot day, we love making a Lychee Martinis. When we returned home, we did just that and it was a great reminder of our trip to Santa Barbara as well as our trip to Italy at Palazzo Avino. Get our recipe here.
Thank you to The Four Seasons Resort The Biltmore Santa Barbara for hosting us.