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Mar Monte Hotel in Santa Barbara, California is an oceanfront hotel that was designed in Spanish Colonia Revival style. The property became a Hyatt brand known as Hyatt Centric Santa Barbara. Now, it has been relaunched and rebranded as Mar Monte Hotel in The Unbound Collection by Hatt.
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| Mar Monte Hotel |
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Mar Monte Hotel Santa Barbara History
Here’s a quick history of the Mar Monte Hotel:
- The hotel was named the Arlington Hotel and was designed in the Spanish Colonia Revival style by the Los Angeles architectural firm Walker & Eisen.
- The hotel was damaged by the earthquake and the owner renamed the hotel to be Vista Mar Monte (View of Sea and Mountains).
- After several years, Hyatt acquired the property and rebranded it as Hyatt Santa Barbara, and later on, its name got changed again to Hyatt Centric Santa Barbara.
- In August 2020, after months of renovations, the hotel decided to go back to its original name Mar Monte Hotel in the Unbound Collection by Hyatt.
- The meaning of Mar Monte is Sea Mountains.
Location of Mar Monte Hotel
Mar Monte Hotel is an oceanfront hotel, but it’s not a beachfront hotel. There’s a road between the property and East Beach in Santa Barbara.
It’s very close to the Santa Barbara Zoo and it takes about 30 minutes to walk either via the beach or pedestrian/bike path from the property to the Stearns Wharf and downtown. You can also use the property’s complimentary bicycle if you don’t want to walk. The area is very bike-friendly so you can securely lock your bike and explore what Santa Barbara has to offer.
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| East Beach in Santa Barbara |
Mar Monte Hotel Category Hyatt Points
The Mar Monte Hotel is part of The Unbound Collection by Hyatt. The property used to be a Category 4 within the World of Hyatt program. It was one of the most redeemed Hyatt properties using World of Hyatt points or Hyatt Category 1-4 Free Night Award.
After months of being renovated and rebranded as the Mar Monte Hotel, Hyatt decided to move this property from a Category 4 to a Category 5 property, which requires 20,000 Hyatt points per night.
Booking Mar Monte Hotel
When Hyatt broke the news that they moved Mar Monte Hotel from a Category 4 to a Category 5 property, I was proactive enough to score the old redemption Category 4 using three (3) of my Hyatt free night awards that were earned from the Chase World of Hyatt Credit Card and Hyatt Milestone Reward.
Room Upgrades For Globalist
As a Hyatt Globalist, you should receive a complimentary upgrade to a standard suite if available. Mar Monte Hotel does have suite rooms, unfortunately during my stay, the standard suites were sold out so the hotel upgraded my Standard Queen Room to a King Room with Ocean View Balcony instead, which was very nice.
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| Mar Monte Hotel King Bed Balcony Ocean View Room |
I love the Hyatt app more than its competitors such as MARRIOTT and HILTON. On the day before my check-in date, I was able to tell right away if my reservation received an upgrade or not by the property. The room type and upgrade are all shown on the Hyatt app before my arrival. I did not perform check-in through the mobile app though. I waited to check in when I arrive at the property to learn more about the property amenities and additional elite benefits.
King Bed Balcony Ocean View Room
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| Mar Monte Hotel King Bed Balcony Ocean View Room |
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Our room got upgraded to King Bed Balcony Ocean View room located in the 3rd building Santa Maria, second floor. There are three floors in the Santa Maria building.
- The room has a low ceiling and the decor is a little bit dated but that may be intended.
- The bed and amenities in the room are very boutique style.
- There’s a door and a sliding screen door that opens to the balcony.
- The balcony offers a full ocean view. There are a couple of low chairs and a small table.
- Our room does not have a see-through balcony so it’s hard to enjoy the ocean view when seated. More below.
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| Mar Monte Hotel King Bed Balcony Ocean View Room |
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| Mar Monte Hotel King Bed Balcony Ocean View Room |
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| Mar Monte Hotel King Bed Balcony Ocean View Room |
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| Mar Monte Hotel King Bed Balcony Ocean View Room |
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The room also has a few downsides:
- While there’s a divider between each room’s balcony, if you are there at the same time with other guests, you’ll be looking and hearing each other’s conversations.
- Short people may not like the low chairs at the balcony because you barely see the beach when seated. You can, however, see the ocean far away. There are rooms at the hotel that have a see-through balcony so if that’s what you want, be sure to ask the hotel to put you in a see-through balcony ocean view room. See the photo below to understand what I mean by that.
- The room does not have good soundproof. If you are staying downstairs, you may hear guests upstairs walking around.
- Road noise is the main downside of the room. Mar Monte Hotel is an oceanfront hotel but it’s not a beachfront hotel. Meaning you still have to cross the main road to get to the beach. So road noise is inevitable. However, at night we just had the screen door closed so that we could hear the sound of the ocean waves. It did not bother us that much from the road noise but light sleepers may not find that enjoyable.
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| Mar Monte Hotel King Bed Balcony Ocean View Room |
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Balcony Ocean View Room Video
$30 Breakfast Credits
Mar Monte Hotel offers Hyatt Globalist elite members $30 per person up to two people staying in the same room for a total of $60 credits. The credits can be used towards breakfast at the on-site Café Lido which is located by the swimming pool. You can also use the credit towards room service for breakfast ordered from Café Lido. I personally love their smoothies.
Keep in mind too that the bill contains a 20% service charge no matter what. I guess in a way that’s the tip you pay. You can tip extra if you want and there’s an additional tip line on the receipt.
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| Classic Style Breakfast at Café Lido |
To receive the breakfast credits for Hyatt Globalist, you simply write down your room number and your name, then sign the bill.
There’s one good thing that I noticed too is that although the hotel specifically said that Globalist receives $30 breakfast credit per person per day, in reality, it appears that Mar Monte Hotel actually compensates the entire breakfast bill even if you spend more than their allowed $30 credit. It also covers the 20% service charge and taxes too. Basically, you and your companion receive complimentary breakfast every morning. This is such a great deal for being Hyatt Globalist!
Below is the Café Lido Santa Barbara’s breakfast menu:
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| Café Lido Santa Barbara Breakfast Menu |
Other Globalist Benefits
- 30% bonus points
- Daily bottled water
- Late check-out 4 PM
Parking & Amenities
- Complimentary bike rental: You speak to the valet attendant for that. You’ll be required to sign a waiver and there’s a 3 hours limit but not enforced. Just be considerate that other guests may want to use the bicycle too! You can ride the bike to Santa Barbara downtown or Stearns Wharf through the Coastal Route.
- The swimming pool is very small, but Café Lido‘s pool bar service is good for drinks and food orders. Please note that the bill includes a 20% service charge.
- The onsite fine dining costa Kitchen & Bar offers an Italian menu. You can charge your expenses there to the room as well. This restaurant does not include the 20% service charge. It was nice that they gave me a complimentary birthday dessert surprise there.
- There’s no beach umbrella and beach chairs for guests. Only pool towels that you can take with you to the beach.
- Valet parking only and it costs $36 per day. However, the parking fee is waived for Globalist members on award stays.
- We received complimentary white wine Chardonnay for turning down the housekeeping service. This is because of the COVID-19. You simply let the front desk receptionist know and they will offer you either white or red wine.
- See the paper document below that I obtained from Mar Monte Hotel when check-in.
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| Mar Monte Hotel Complimentary Bicycle |
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| Mar Monte Hotel Swimming Pool |
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| costa Kitchen & Bar |
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| Birthday Surprise Dessert at costa Kitchen & Bar |
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