Four Seasons Resort The Biltmore Santa Barbara | |
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General information | |
Location | Santa Barbara, California |
Address | 1260 Channel Drive |
Coordinates | 34°25′01″N 119°38′31″W / 34.41696°N 119.64196°W |
Opening | 1927 |
Owner | Ty Warner |
Management | Four Seasons Hotels |
Design and construction | |
Architect(s) | Reginald Davis Johnson |
Other information | |
Number of rooms | 206 |
Website | |
Official website |
The Four Seasons Resort The Biltmore Santa Barbara is a luxury resort hotel located in Santa Barbara, California known for its Spanish Colonial Revival architecture and gardens. It opened in 1927 as the Santa Barbara Biltmore, part of the Bowman-Biltmore Hotels chain. The hotel closed in March 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Santa Barbara Biltmore was designed by architect Reginald Johnson and landscape architect Ralph Stevens in 1926-1927.[1] Their design of the hotel and outdoor garden rooms synthesizes Mediterranean Revival, Spanish Colonial Revival and Moorish Revival styles of architecture. The $1,500,000 construction cost was funded by the Bowman-Biltmore Hotels Corporation of New York City, with a 5 March 1927 groundbreaking.[2] Since its 1927 opening, the hotel has been known popularly simply as 'The Biltmore'.[3]
Allied Properties of San Francisco bought the Biltmore in 1936. They sold the property in 1976 to Marriott for $5.25 million and the hotel was renamed Marriott's Santa Barbara Biltmore. Marriott sold the hotel to Four Seasons Hotels in 1987 for $55 million[4] and it was renamed the Four Seasons Resort Santa Barbara. In 2000, billionaire Beanie Babies creator Ty Warner purchased the hotel[5] for $150 million,[6] while retaining Four Seasons as the management company. He restored the hotel at a cost of $240 million and brought back the historic 'Biltmore' name soon after, renaming the hotel the Four Seasons Resort The Biltmore Santa Barbara.[3] The hotel closed in March 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[7] The hotel has remained closed, due to a dispute between Warner and the Four Seasons chain.[8] In August 2023, it was reported that Warner and the company were nearing an agreement, and the hotel might reopen in late 2024.[9]
Coral Casino Beach and Cabana Club, built across the street in 1937, was also purchased by Warner in 2000.[10]