The Hotel Mar Monte is nice. Good price on Orbitz, given that Santa Barbara is on the expensive side. Located in East Beach, so it is a bit of a good walk to Stearn's Wharf or State Street (major shopping and restaurant thoroughfare). There is a 25 cent shuttle that runs along the waterfront and you can get a transfer for the State St. shuttle for free. Be warned though that this little convenience only runs every half hour, so you might have a wait. The State St. shuttle was uber-crowded too to I would not recommend it to "sightsee".

Back to the Mar Monte: I think this is an old hotel. If you go, ask for a room in either the Santa Cruz or Santa Maria buildings. These have been renovated. (Although as part of the renovation, the phone in our room in the Santa Cruz building did not work. Cut phone line or something...) Lovely bed linens and mattress, very comfy. The restaurant on site, Bistro Eleven Eleven, was fine. Room service was ok. Did not use the pool as it was chilly, but several stouthearted people were in it and they do mention that it is heated. There is a hot tub too.

We got the Tanks for the Memories package deal. For two nights, that gave us $48 in room service/restaurant vouchers and $50 in Chevron gas cards.

I will mention that one of the bellboys, John, was wonderful. He seemed to be there round the clock and always had a smile and helpful info. The hotel is in several buildings and my mother needed a ride from our room to the restaurant. John was right there with the golf cart to give us a lift.

In summary: good price, nice location across from the beach, far from the main drag of Santa Barbara (shops, restaurants, wharf), great bedding, nice renovated rooms. (Walked through the older building and it looked kind of scary-old.)

I stayed at their "poor sister hotel" the first night 2 blocks behind them and the rooms were spacious and nice but old, nice little balcony to sit in the sun(facing other buildings)but the hair all
over the place led me to not leave a tip; the next night I stayed in the actual Mar Monte, registering the night before and reserving it at the desk since there were no rooms in my current abode(Parkside)across from a park where jobless hang out in their cars all night but no bother and close to a small SB zoo. The room was nice in the Mar Monte and I esp liked the quick air/heat adaptions in the room...and the shower curtain was the kind that goes out from tub which gives great room, but alas I had trouble at the desk(the people are very friendly esp bell boys)but they kept "running" my credit card.. 4 times....every time I went to get something from the hotel.....last year I had duplicate charges elsewhere so I'm leary of this practice...do it once and leave it.
Anyway, it is close to the beach but they also overcharged me and wouldn't take off the agreed upon amount even though the desk clerk told me it when I was staying at the Parkside...Don't trust them; everyone else in my line either had the wrong room or beds or were overcharged.If you need a crib better get it in writing...Also, they left food trays over 24 hours in the hallways; very annoying to walk around them all the time or have people running into them. Enjoy S B; its a great place and great weather but stay at a hotel behind them like Motel 6, Eastside Inn9?) anyway, look at the map...state street isn't bad either because of bus service all day on it and it leads to the long wharf. Cars at airport are really cheap to rent...cheaper than in Oregon. The tri-county produce stand about 5 blocks away behind Fess Parker is fantastic...and there are a couple of laundrymats on the same street(Milpas). Food at the Fess and Biltmore is good but expensive; our fav restaurant was off Chapala and State(in a Mall)
a California Pizza I think but lots of variety(we had spaghetti, Split Pea Soup(fantastic); pizza, great big salads,etc...just great.near a Nordstroms and a old time diner(Ruby''s)that was also very enjoyable....rbb

Rarely have I stayed in a hotel that was as bad as the worst review -- actually I've NEVER found a hotel as bad as the worst review, until tonight. I'm sure there are some decent rooms here, but not if you check in after 7PM. We reserved a Deluxe King with balcony and ended up on the third floor in a smelly room at the end of the hall, with a window looking out on the roof and a broken screen. No easy access from the lobby: 2 elevators and a long hallway had to be crossed to get to the room. I was expecting old, we've stayed in old hotels (think the Omni in DC and the Biltmore in LA) and found them charming. Perhaps the charm is buried here somewhere, just not in the residual rooms. If you decide to chance it here, make sure you check in at 4PM and DON'T pay full price.

My sister and I are from Santa Barbara and stayed at the Hotel Mar Monte when home for a visit. We had a wonderful time. I think the other reviewers on here should be staying down the street at one of the more expensive hotels. Our room was much larger than expected and the staff was very accommodating. We used the spa and it was also wonderful. We were a little worried about the bad reviews but our experience was nothing like theirs. The pool is large and heated. The beach is directly across the street and this hotel has a wonderful location without being as expensive as others. I would recommend this hotel to friends.