Ninety California-style bungalows on seven Riviera-hillside acres. The lily pond, the sunset terrace, the spa — and the only Santa Barbara hotel where the ocean view includes the Channel Islands.
"Ninety bungalows on the Riviera hillside. The lily pond, the sunset terrace, and the only ocean view in town that includes the Channel Islands. The hotel that was the answer when the answer was 'somewhere quiet'."
El Encanto opened in 1918 on a seven-acre site at the top of Santa Barbara's Riviera neighbourhood — the residential hillside above the city centre that takes its name from the panoramic Mediterranean-evoking view it produces of the harbour, the city, the Channel Islands, and on clear days the Pacific beyond. The hotel was for fifty years a boutique destination favoured by Hollywood film executives, society travellers, and the kind of repeat-guest American clientele that Santa Barbara has always cultivated. By the 2000s it had fallen into the kind of decline that affected most American grand resorts of the period; it closed for nearly five years for a comprehensive renovation and reopened in 2013 under Belmond's management.
The reopened El Encanto runs as a 90-bungalow resort across the original Spanish Colonial Revival and Craftsman buildings — the property's working description is "California-style bungalows," and the architecture is a deliberately mixed register that reflects the property's piecemeal expansion over the better part of a century. The bungalows are set across the seven acres of terraced gardens at varying degrees of seclusion; the upper-tier bungalows have full Pacific and Channel Islands views, while the garden-level bungalows trade the view for the immediate access to the lily pond, the spa, and the central pool. Interiors are residential rather than hotel: hand-painted Spanish tile, restored hardwood floors, oversized soaking tubs, and individual configurations.
The Dining Room at El Encanto, with its terrace overlooking the city and the Channel Islands beyond, is the property's signature room and one of the three or four reliable destination meals in the Santa Barbara catchment. The kitchen runs a Californian seasonal programme on Belmond's standard global wine list; the breakfast on the terrace, taken with the city below, is a particularly defended ritual among repeat guests. The Lobby Bar runs the cocktail-hour anchor; the spa — recently expanded — runs a full treatment menu including outdoor cabana treatments. The infinity pool has been one of the most-photographed amenities in Santa Barbara since the 2013 reopening.
Editorially, El Encanto handles a different brief than Rosewood Miramar Beach (direct beachfront, contemporary five-star) or San Ysidro Ranch (canyon seclusion, residential historic): the El Encanto guest wants the Riviera-hillside view, the residential bungalow product, and the proximity to the city centre — Mission Santa Barbara, the Old Spanish presidio, and the State Street shops are all within ten minutes. For honeymoons, anniversaries, and wellness stays where the brief is "the historic Santa Barbara experience without the institutional flagship hotel feel," El Encanto remains the central booking. Forbes Five-Star recognition has been continuous since 2014.
For the Santa Barbara honeymoon that wants the historic California-Spanish register, the residential-bungalow product, and the most complete Channel Islands view in town, El Encanto is unmatched. Book an upper-tier ocean-view bungalow, dinner at The Dining Room with the sunset table, and the spa for an afternoon — that is the property's strongest sequence. The terrace breakfast and the lily-pond walk are the two rituals every El Encanto honeymoon stay should preserve.
The combination of the recently-expanded spa, the seven-acre terraced gardens, the infinity pool, and the genuinely quiet hillside location makes El Encanto one of Santa Barbara's two strongest wellness retreats — alongside the larger Bacara. The bungalow product is well-suited to long stays where the structure is light: spa treatment in the morning, lunch on the terrace, garden walks, the pool in the afternoon, dinner at The Dining Room. Three nights minimum; five ideal for a wellness reset.
A milestone anniversary at El Encanto is the right call for couples who would rather the celebration feel residential than ceremonial. The hotel will arrange the small touches without performing them — flowers in the bungalow on arrival, a quiet table on the terrace at sunset, the spa for a couples treatment — and the property's restraint is the feature. Tell them what you are marking; the team has rehearsed the answer.
800 Alvarado Place
Santa Barbara, CA 93103
United States
Riviera hillside, 5 minutes from State Street
90 California-style bungalows
Garden Bungalows from $950/night
Ocean View Bungalows from $1,400/night
Signature Suites from $2,800/night
Check-in: 4:00 PM
Check-out: 12:00 PM
Built: 1918, reopened 2013 under Belmond
Seven acres of terraced gardens
Historic lily pond & sunset terrace
The Dining Room at El Encanto
Spa & infinity pool
Forbes Five-Star (since 2014)
From $950/night. Ocean View Bungalows and the sunset table at The Dining Room book three months out for high season.
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