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Review: Hyatt Santa Barbara – Ocean View Room
1st property after achieving Diamond status!
One of the great benefits of the Hyatt Visa Signature from Chase is the annual free night certificate on hotels category 1-4. Miles is based out of the Los Angeles and while we lost a great staycation hotel a couple years ago when the Andaz Sunset was upgraded to a category 5, it had been an ambition to stay at the Hyatt Santa Barbara, and now I can say it’s a great spot to check out! The award night was set to expire on August 30th so we just got this one in under the wire!
This was a fantastic redemption! We were automatically upgraded to the highest room category available at check-in, given a 1000 bonus points, and also reminded of our breakfast options ( which we opted for room service!), AND given a late check out of 4pm. It was $419 before taxes! Not bad for a $75 annual fee.
Hotel has a great Spanish Beachy feel
Our room was in the Santa Cruz building
It’s where the gym is too. As if Miles ever needs to lift a weight!
Everything about this hotel just feels so fresh and so clean, clean
We were at the end of the hall. Corner room. Top floor. Ocean side. BYAH
We had two full walls of windows in the bedroom!!!
After settling into the hotel we went to Bistro 1111 for a bite to eat.
I’d say that the food is a mix of beach fare with wine country cuisine. It’s certainly not cheap tho, but considering we were staying free and eating breakfast free….not too shabby of a package!
The breakfast we received was great! Delivered to the room hot and very tasty. It was also $76! Say whhhhaaaaaaa. The annual fee on the card was made back just on breakfast, not to mention the upgrade was well over $100, and the 1000 bonus points. Diamond status is great, as are free nights!!! BYAH!
Ultimately, we made great use of the location by taking walks on the beach and trying some restaurants that were just a few minutes walk away. Another tip would be to find street parking because the hotel parking, whether valet or self it’s the same price, is very expensive. The hotel’s staff was very professional, polite, as was the restaurant’s staff, and I honestly couldn’t ask more from a free night award. The annual free night is the biggest reason why this card has been in my wallet consistently since I got it back in 2012.
Another little tidbit I’ve never seen in a hotel. A list of what you can take and what you can not. LOL. Seriously tho, it was pretty helpful. Free Bottle Opener? Ok!
Not gonna lie…the good life feels good. It feels even better when it’s for the price of… FREE!
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Offer
Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027.
- $95 Annual Fee
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex® and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
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