Last weekend, Adam surprised me with a weekend at the immaculate Bacara Resort & Spa in Goleta, California, just minutes north of Santa Barbara. What surprised us both was how empty it was…surely a sign of the recession/coming apocalypse.
Normally during the winter holiday season, weekends at Bacara are full to the brim with couples escaping LA and the out-of-state cold; corporate conferences fill the resort during the week. Though it seems that much of Goleta is employed to care for every inch of the sprawling property (with its 311 rooms and 49 suites) we were two of approximately 20 guests between Saturday night and Monday morning.
Service was incredibly attentive, but tinged with unease.
After all, if a fully-staffed resort with great buzz and a virtually spotless reputation was this empty so close to Christmas, how will it possibly survive 2009?
The resort itself is stunning – Mediterranean gardens surround whitewashed buildings with Spanish roof tiles, three dramatic pools, a seaside golf course, and rocky beach cove full of birds and bordered by walking trails. Our garden view room featured Frette linens, and all the Fresh products we could smuggle…um, use.
Bacara’s jewel is its spa, at once sumptuous and peaceful, with a eucalyptus steam room, airy jacuzzi area, and huge, elegant treatment rooms; we cozied up by the waiting lounge fireplaces to watch palm trees wave in the breeze. We both recommend the Body Melt treatment if you’ve always longed to be a human noodle.
Bacara is also proud of its homegrown produce; if you’re eating a fruit or vegetable here, chances are it’s from the resort’s adjacent 1,000-acre Bacara Ranch. We skipped the uber-fancy Miro restaurant in favor of simpler fare at The Bistro, and fell in love with the potato-leek-cranberry cakes and field greens.
So, you can’t fault the beauty, the service, the quiet, or the romance of a place so well-prepared for its guests. That just leaves the price.
Bacara, in a cost trend that now extends to lodgings around the world, has a starting room price of $400 per night and rates that top $3000. Many other resorts and hotels now have room prices that start as high as $600-800.
It’ll be curious to see how many working couples will be scaling back their splurge weekends in the lean year(s) to come…unless hotels and resorts are the first to do the scaling.
In any event, it was clear to us: The full-blown luxury destination gig is, at present, just about up. But ah…it certainly was a lovely send off.
Oh this is such an adorable blog for couples-a total necessity too! Santa Barbara is ideal for traveling in a pair and loving every second of it. My boyfriend and I have done countless weekend trips here and jammed about a week of stuff into 3 days! Wine tasting, hiking, kayaking, love to do it all and with someone you care about is even better. The ideal place to say? The Sandman Inn (www.thesandmaninn.com). Affordable and basically pays for it self with the perfect location.