This is a motel with pretensions of more!

Take the website with a pinch of salt - it's a motel with rooms on two levels, and a garden in the middle.

As such it should be compared pricewise with the big chains.

We had a "queen queen deluxe", which included a dated kitchen and very dated bathroom. The room was off the garden and backed on to a wall! As such it was probably the quietest room in the motel - the motel is on a busy road, and we were well away from the road.

Not the greatest of places, and we could have got a comparable place for probably half the price.

The Inn by the harbour is a great hotel for the money, room were large and ours even had a kitchen. A 10 minute walk from State street and the harbour make it's location excellent.

This inn is right next to a couple apartment complexes. I didn't feel too comfortable parking my car in their lot overnight, but what choice did I have? And there was very little parking! I think that some of the apartment residents parked there too. The picture that the Inn displays on [---------] and this website (among others) is quite deceiving, as some other customers have reported. The inn is on a busy street, and is pretty old when you get inside your room. My view. I open the curtains to find a nice big WALL. whatever! They're not THAT close to the harbor, and we definitely didn't feel comfortable walking to State Street or the Harbor after the sun had set. The front desk person was rather cold. Overall, I was pretty disappointed. Santa Barbara hotels are expensive no matter what, but I didn't feel like I got my money's worth at this hotel. I will not make this mistake again!!!

The Inn by the Harbor is actually about 2 blocks from the harbor, but within walking distance to the harbor, the pier, and State Street. We had a queen room on the ground floor, and it was nicely decorated with "country" furniture and attractive bedding. The room had a small refrigerator, microwave, and coffeemaker. There was a large sliding glass door opening on to the pleasantly landscaped courtyard. The bed was very comfortable. Only complaint was the lighting - very dim fluorescent lamps on either side of the bed made reading difficult. Front desk staff was friendly. The hotel offers afternoon wine and cheese, evening milk and cookies (store-bought), and continental breakfast. As we ate out, I cannot speak to the quality of the breakfast. They also have several different varieties of coffee and tea in "hot pots" in the lobby. All in all, a nice property for the price - we paid under $100 for a mid-week stay!