Santa Barbara Biltmore

Four Seasons Resort The Biltmore Santa Barbara
Four Seasons Resort The Biltmore Santa Barbara
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.

History

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]