My husband and teen son stayed here for one night in March 2008.

Check in was smooth. Front desk staff were friendly and helpful. Not much parking available.

Our room was on the 2nd floor with 2 double beds, tall ceiling. Kind of funky decorations for a Best Western. There was floral wallpaper in the mauve and teal colors. The beds and pillows we found uncomfortable and small, if sharing a bed. I have never stayed in a hotel with floral bed sheets. They were quite worn. Room and bathroom were clean, but need updating.

We didn't eat at the restaurant on site, but did find a need to use the restroom in the restaurant. There was a dead cockroach on the bathroom floor - not appealing if I were eating there.

Location is quite far from a lot of the action of shops and restaurants on State Street.

While the price was okay, compared to other hotel prices in SB, I don't think I would stay here again.

The Best Western Encina was exactly as I hoped it would be. It received lots of great reviews here and lived up to each of them. Most importantly, the hotel room was clean and well appointed with nice toiletries and linens. The room was fairly large and had an empty fridge, great for leftovers! The staff was helpful in recommending restaurants. I would stay here again.

We stayed at this property the night of Feb. 16, 2008 based on a combination of rates available throughout Santa Barbara and the resounding positive reviews here.
Best Westerns have always ranked as about a two-star hotel in my book. Holiday Inns a three, Sheraton/Westin/Marriott are fours. Most Four Seasons and Ritz Carlton's are fives (to give some perspective here). I would rate this about a 2.5 to 3.0.
Our room was vintage Best Western...firm mattress (a little too firm as we both had sore backs in the morning), "country bumpkin" furnishings (floral wallpaper from the '70s, lazy-boy recliner also from the '70s, etc), bathrooms in good working order but that haven't been updated since the '70s. Bathrooms were very clean, however.
Now don't get us wrong. The room was immaculately clean (though there was an odd musty sort of scent). And for a Best Western, it's unusual that they use Crabtree and Evelyn bath products. The property also appeared to have been freshly painted. These are all very nice features, and they deserve to be noted. Also, the front staff were friendly and offered up useful information. Also a plus!
The restaurant, A Capella had very nice ambiance (physically). We only ate breakfast there and, well, it was kind of awful. We think the oil they used to cook with was expired and made the potatoes and eggs taste...well....nasty. Oh well...
So, if you are content with Best Western/Choice Hotel type room and ammenities, then this is probably the place to stay if you're looking for a room in Santa Barbara. If you fancy a hotel with better ammenities than a Best Western, this hotel is probably going to disappoint you despite all of the positive reviews here. The reviews here, in our opinion, are just a little too hyped up on this particular hotel. It's not a "dive". But "it ain't all that" either.

I was looking for a nice economical place to stay in Santa Barbara for one night with a friend of mine. This fit the bill perfectly. The pillows were nice and fluffy, the bed comfortable and the room cozy and the in-room supplies (i.e. soap etc) were nice as well. This is probably not the place for Starwood (Westin, W) snobs, but if you are looking for a nice place to stay where the rooms have some real character, the staff pleasant, and the location close to everything, then this is the place. We had a nice room with a balcony.