We use cookies to ensure you have an easy, quick and reliable experience whilst using the Virgin Holidays website. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies. For more details, see our cookie policy.
Most choose Best Western Beachside Inn for its location: just across the road from the beach and Santa Barbara Harbour, and a stroll from Stearns Wharf, with its seafood restaurants and boat trips. But it’s got more than a good address. It comes with little treats to make your stay in Santa Barbara both easy and comfy – like the complimentary WiFi and Continental breakfasts each morning, to the microwave and fridge in your room. Then there’s the swimming pool: hidden away in a courtyard-style setting, it has an intimate feel and Mediterranean styling that make it an utterly relaxing spot. But, if you prefer to do your swimming in the ocean, there are several stunning beaches just a short stroll away.
Amenities
Swimming Pool
Safety Deposit Box
Laundry Service
Internet Access
Close to Beach
Where is it
Seconds from the beach and Santa Barbara Harbor, both just over the road, the hotel’s only half a mile from Stearns Wharf, with its ocean view seafood restaurants, souvenir shops, sea life centre, and boat trips. There are other beaches within walking distance, and Santa Barbara Zoo is less than 2 miles away. Self-parking available $3 a night plus tax (payable locally, subject to change). Transfer time to airport: 1 hour 47 min.
Hotel information
60 rooms and suites. All with balcony, cable TV with premium channels, complimentary WiFi, clock radio, fridge, microwave, coffee maker, hairdryer, and iron and board. Queen Poolside Rooms have a pool view with 1 queen-size bed, sleeping max 2 adults.
King Bed with Harbour View Rooms have 1 king-size bed, sleeping max 2 adults. 2 Queens with Harbour View Rooms have 2 queen-size beds, sleeping max 4 adults. King Bed with Park View Rooms have 1 king-size bed, sleeping max 2 adults. King Bed with Queen Sofa Bed Rooms have 1 king-size bed and 1 queen-size sofa bed, sleeping max 2 adults and 2 children. Queen with Living Room Rooms have 1 queen-size bed, sleeping max 2 adults. 2 Queen Beds with Park View Rooms have 2 queen-size beds, sleeping max 4 adults.
Lobby breakfast area (with complimentary deluxe Continental breakfast and a microwave available). Heated outdoor swimming pool. Complimentary WiFi. 24-hour Front desk. Activity desk. Dry cleaning*. Safety deposit box.
*Denotes local charge.
Based on 69 reviews
Rating summary
Location
Sleep Quality
Rooms
Service
Value
Cleanliness
Traveller rating
Excellent (41)
Very good (14)
Average (4)
Poor (3)
Terrible (7)
Not worth the price
Jul 27, 2021DarleneF82
Unfortunately the Beachside Inn was not worth the price charged. We had several bad experiences over the three days we stayed there. The first night we discovered badly stained or dirty sheets on one of the beds and it took them over 30 minutes to bring new bedding but they just gave it to us to change the bedding and didn't take away the dirty…
Read more
Unfortunately the Beachside Inn was not worth the price charged. We had several bad experiences over the three days we stayed there. The first night we discovered badly stained or dirty sheets on one of the beds and it took them over 30 minutes to bring new bedding but they just gave it to us to change the bedding and didn't take away the dirty sheets. We had no hot water the second morning of our stay and called down to ask if there was an issue. We were told they would check on it but we never heard back from them. The pool was out of towels two times that we used it. We paid over $300 per night and it just was not worth the price.
Read less
Great location
Jul 20, 2021meilisat2017
We only stayed one night in Santa Barbara for a tennis tournament. The Beachside Inn turned out to be in a great location for us. Pershing park was right across the street and we could walk over to the public courts. After dinner, we noticed an evening baseball game going on at the park and spontaneously went to watch. If it wasn’t for the…
Read more
We only stayed one night in Santa Barbara for a tennis tournament. The Beachside Inn turned out to be in a great location for us. Pershing park was right across the street and we could walk over to the public courts. After dinner, we noticed an evening baseball game going on at the park and spontaneously went to watch. If it wasn’t for the Beachside Inn’s proximity, we wouldn’t have had so much unexpected fun.
Read less
Nice place on the beach in Santa Barbara
Jul 18, 2021michalushBerkeley, California
The building is unimpressive on the outside but the room was actually lovely. They upgraded us to a room with a king bed overlooking the park which was lovely. Assume that at some point they will be able to return to a breakfast beyond packaged goods.
Convenient to beach, pool, pier and harbor
Jul 17, 2021lynnf607Vista
Elaine was very helpful in getting us set up In-N-Out room and pointing us in the direction of nearby good places to eat.
The desk clerk in the morning was also very nice and accommodating.
The room was very clean and neat. The bed was very comfortable. Very good. We didn’t like the window being literally right on the sidewalk, and contrary to…
Read more
Elaine was very helpful in getting us set up In-N-Out room and pointing us in the direction of nearby good places to eat.
The desk clerk in the morning was also very nice and accommodating.
The room was very clean and neat. The bed was very comfortable. Very good. We didn’t like the window being literally right on the sidewalk, and contrary to what we were told, people could see into the room at night when the lights were on. Not worth the over $500 a night.
Read less
Great place to stay
Jul 16, 2021susieg629
Beachside Inn has a lot going for it. The location is great, right across from the marina and beach and easy walking distance to the wharf. Restaurants on State St (downtown on the other side of the 101) are less than a mile walk (some are a bit more than a mile but still an easy walk). The staff are amazing especially Chris who checked us in. My…
Read more
Beachside Inn has a lot going for it. The location is great, right across from the marina and beach and easy walking distance to the wharf. Restaurants on State St (downtown on the other side of the 101) are less than a mile walk (some are a bit more than a mile but still an easy walk). The staff are amazing especially Chris who checked us in. My husband and I booked a marina view balcony room. We got there early and there was a room ready but it was on the 2nd floor. I asked if there were any available on the 3rd floor and there was but it wasn't ready yet. We were totally fine with waiting so Chris stored our luggage for us so we could go explore. When we got back, he checked on the room and it still wasn't ready so we just hung out in the lobby. He told us about a great bakery to try and kept us up to date about the room. I have to mention how amazing an employee Chris is. There was a shift change while we were hanging out in the lobby and he was so incredibly thorough in updating the employee who was starting her shift. He made sure she knew everything that was going on with guests and guests who would be arriving. It was really amazing. He also stayed to help check people in because a bunch of people came at the same time. Give that man a raise please!
The room was a good size. The balcony was bigger than I expected which was nice and of course had a great view of the ocean and marina. The bathroom was an interesting layout. It was broken into 3 rooms, one main room with the sink and then a room adjacent with the shower and a smaller room adjacent with the toilet. It was nice having those separate however the shower room needed some work (I saw a comment from management that said this would be happening soon so that’s good), and the 2 bathroom exhaust fans were ridiculously loud. They were so loud, we could hear our neighbor's fans on (and unfortunately they left theirs on for hours at a time). Hopefully that’s something that will get fixed when they do the bathrooms. Things the hotel can't control but potential guests should know- the hotel is on the main street so you get a lot of traffic noise if you have a room on Cabrillo but with the sliding door closed, it's not that noticeable. There are also herons and egrets that live in the trees across the street on Cabrillo. They're very loud but we got used it. We would definitely stay here again. Even with the bathroom issues, it's totally worth the stay.
Read less
Your holiday may be affected by travel restrictions or cancellations
We are continually reviewing our flying schedules, taking into account the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) advice against all non-essential travel. Depending on when you are due to travel, your holiday may be affected and we’ll email you to let you know as least 21 days before travel.
Your next holiday is only a click away - our website has thousands of options ready to book. But if you need more help, just give us a call on 0344 472 9646.
With many customers needing our help, we are prioritising those customers due to travel before 31 December 2020. Log in to Manage my booking where you can message us about your options or you can give us a call. Bear in mind you may have to wait longer than expected. We continue to review this and working to open up these options to more customers. In the meantime check out our FAQs to see if this can help answer any immediate questions.
Rest assured; we will notify you as soon as we know if your holiday has been affected by email.
We are continually reviewing our flying schedules, taking into account the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) advice against all non-essential travel. Depending on when you are due to travel, your holiday may be affected and we’ll email you to let you know as least 21 days before travel.
Don’t worry if you’ve missed a payment or just need a little more time to pay; we have options available to help you. If your holiday is going ahead as planned, you can continue to pay for your holiday in Manage my booking, even if travelling in less than 12 weeks. If you’re unsure, you can delay any additional payments by choosing a new time to travel by requesting a call back in Manage My booking for one of our team to look at options. If your holiday is more than 6 months away, you may wish to set up a Direct Debit to spread the cost. This can be arranged whilst rebooking or afterwards in Manage my booking.
We understand that you may wish to change your holiday plans and we appreciate the need for flexibility.
We'll be in touch by email letting you know how to register to change your holiday plans. You can also log into Manage my booking to find the details there.
Please look out for emails from us or visit our dedicated Covid-19 (Coronavirus) page for the latest updates.
If we haven’t notified you of any changes, your holiday will be going ahead as planned but if you prefer to move your holiday to a later time we can help. You can call our team on 0344 472 9499 who can look at options for you.
Payments are being prioritised based on when the request was made, working in order from March 2020 onwards. We will always try to process refunds at the earliest opportunity, for requests before August our maximum timeframe is 120 days. As we are steadily reducing the maximum processing time for each new request, for refund requests made in August, we expect the maximum processing time to be 80 days, from the date the refund is requested. For those requesting a refund in September, we expect it to be processed within a maximum of 60 days, and then reduce to 30 days for refunds requested in October, before returning to normal levels.
To finalise the amendment, one of our customer advisors will phone you. We need to work through amend requests in departure date order so we can prioritise those with the most imminent travel plans, so you may have a longer wait than usual until we’re able to ring you back. We will help everyone that wants to move their holiday.
I returned early from holiday and have further questions?
You can contact our team by emailing feedback.backhome@virginholidays.com to discuss options on unused portions of your holiday. If you need to contact our team about amending an existing holiday or requesting a refund please log in to manage my booking.
Not worth the price
