SpaRatorHow SpaRator scores work
Treatments
Why this score
El Encanto's spa now runs an unpublished menu, and its last public one is a dead Belmond-domain PDF. The treatments themselves survive on reputation: Condé Nast Traveler once praised the botanical-led work, and an August 2026 guest found the "same faces" after the sale. The silence around them is the problem: spa appears in 16 of 209 TripAdvisor mentions, massage in 6 and facial in 0, against one Google spa review and a 3.7/7 Yelp spa rating.
Spa Facilities
Why this score
El Encanto's confirmed thermal asset is a pair of eucalyptus steam rooms, one in each locker room. Access is real, and the sauna half of the thermal story is not. Guests and every listing confirm no hot tub and no thermal circuit, and a sauna drops to Not Confirmed because no current source restates the old dry-and-wet claim. Seven treatment rooms survive only in the spa's last published listing.
Wellness Programs
Why this score
El Encanto builds wellness into the resort fee rather than a schedule: a 24/7 Technogym fitness studio with treadmills, bikes, ellipticals and Kinesis stations, classes from HIIT to restorative yoga, electric cruiser bikes, and a Mercedes Sprinter house car within five miles. No multi-day programming, diagnostics or recovery tech appears anywhere in the hotel's offer. Guests split on the gym: spotless in a February 2025 review, "embarrassingly small and cramped" in August 2026.
Staff & Service
Why this score
Service at El Encanto carries the widest gap in its own data: Booking.com scores Staff 9.2 out of 96 reviews, while TripAdvisor's Service subrating sits at 4.5 and slow or understaffed service appears in one of every six mentions. Named-staff recurrence is the counterweight: Armando at the front office appears four times between April 2023 and September 2024, and Javier in the dining room three. That handover-year dip is real: organic reviews hit 4.35 for 2025 stays, with documented phone and accountability failures into March 2026.
Experience
Why this score
El Encanto's 4.6 across 1,630 TripAdvisor reviews and #8-of-58 rank are the best evidence on the page, and the setting explains them: the view leads 32.5% of all mentions, the pool 26.3%. That warmth is real, but 58.9% of the 209 reviews I parsed carry the hotel's collected-in-partnership marker, and the organic mean runs 4.48. Recent stays add a caveat: food comes up in 45% of the 51 most recent reviews.
Value for Money
Why this score
Value at El Encanto now carries the fee stack as the verdict: a flat $65 nightly resort fee, taxed at 12% for $72.80 all-in, lands the all-in premium at 19.6% over the room in July and 22.8% in January. Within a single stay the weekend swing is worse: a July Friday at $1,675 against a Monday at $975. Both platforms mark value lowest of all attributes: TripAdvisor 4.2, Booking 7.8. Spa treatment prices remain unpublished, and Forbes-era rates run without a Forbes rating in 2026.
Spa Facilities
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Fitness Center
24/7 Technogym studio with Kinesis stations and classes from HIIT to restorative yoga
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Full-Service Spa
The Spa at El Encanto, open daily 10 to 6
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Pool Facilities
Outdoor zero-edge pool with an ocean view
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Steam Room
Eucalyptus steam room in each locker room; free to every adult hotel guest
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Wellness Programs
Studio classes, e-bikes and a five-mile house car inside the fee; no structured programming
Hotel Facilities
- Air Conditioning
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Bar
The Lounge; three dining outlets under Executive Chef Joel Viehland, appointed October 2025
- Concierge Service
- Garden Areas
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Restaurant
The Dining Room and The Terrace under Executive Chef Joel Viehland since October 2025; food leads 45% of the 51 most recent TripAdvisor reviews
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Valet Parking
Valet-only and charged; the hotel publishes no figure, guests report $35 to $40 a night
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WIFI
Included in the $65 resort fee
Pricing & Availability
About
El Encanto is a hillside cottage hotel first and a spa destination a distant second: seven acres of terraced gardens, 90 rooms, suites and bungalows, and a view that appears in nearly a third of guest reviews. It left Belmond in July 2025 and now runs independently, a $40M renovation underway while the hotel stays open.
The Spa, Specifically
The Spa at El Encanto runs 10:00 to 6:00 daily, and its two confirmed assets are the kind that survive ownership changes: a pair of eucalyptus steam rooms (one in each locker room, free to every adult hotel guest, not just spa clients) and a post-treatment lounge with detox tea or fresh juice. Everything else is harder to pin down. El Encanto’s spa page itemizes no treatment rooms, no menu and no prices. Its “Spa Menu” link opens the dining menus, and the last public spa menu is a dead Belmond-domain PDF. The old dry-and-wet sauna claim appears in no current source (steam versus sauna, explained), so the steam rooms are what you can count on. Seven treatment rooms survive only in the spa’s last published listing, and Forbes’ 2026 list rates no El Encanto spa. Belmond-era coverage named a Himalayan-salt body scrub and an Aromastone heated-basalt massage, neither priced today. ResortPass sells a $50 day pass. Across 209 TripAdvisor reviews I parsed, facials go unmentioned. An August 2026 guest praised the “same faces” after the sale, which counts for more than any menu.
Who’s Right, Who’s Wrong
Book El Encanto if the thing you are buying is the setting: a hillside garden above Santa Barbara, a view to the Channel Islands, and a free eucalyptus steam room at the end of the day. Price secures exactly that setting. Skip it if you are price-comparing against Miramar or Bacara, if you want a published treatment menu or a Forbes-rated spa, or if a $65 nightly fee taxed on top of the room will needle you. This is a narrow yes.
Where It Sits in the Santa Barbara Market
Santa Barbara’s spa market splits cleanly: Bacara (8.0) is the benchmark on scale, and Rosewood Miramar (8.3) holds the only Forbes-rated spa in town. El Encanto and Hotel Californian (7.3) are the market’s two boutique-scale steam-room spas, one on the hill and one a block from the sand. The flat $65 resort fee runs larger than the $40 at Montecito Inn or the $45 at Kimpton Canary, and it is regressive the same way — the same flat-fee arithmetic I ran at Montecito Inn and Kimpton Canary. It keeps the view and the bungalow seclusion; it gives up a spa worth crossing town for.
Updates & Review-Basis
Updated September 2026: El Encanto left Belmond in July 2025, sold for $82.2M to the Mateen and Cayton families, and now runs independently with The Leading Hotels of the World; a $40M renovation is underway with the hotel open. Rates and the fee stack are now checkout-derived: $65 nightly resort fee, taxed 12%. Forbes rates neither the hotel nor its spa in 2026. Recalibrated 7.8 to 7.2. Correction: 90 rooms, not 92. Correction: the $134M rebuild figure withdrawn. Correction: dry and wet saunas moved to Not Confirmed; hot tub confirmed absent. TripAdvisor 4.6/1,630; Google 4.6/873; Booking 9.0/96.
Platform ratings: TripAdvisor 4.6 across 1,630 reviews, #8 of 58 in Santa Barbara, Travelers’ Choice 2026; Google 4.6 across 873; Booking.com 9.0 across 96. A note on the corpus: 123 of the 209 TripAdvisor reviews parsed (58.9%) were collected in partnership with the hotel, and that program ended with the sale; zero of the 17 most recent reviews carries a marker. Sources: elencanto.com spa, dining and booking-engine pages, two founder checkout captures and two engine pulls (September 2026), Forbes’ 2026 Santa Barbara ratings, press reporting on the 2025 sale. Data gaps: spa treatment menu and prices, the current treatment-room count, sauna status, the valet-parking figure, and the spa director.
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What Guests Are Saying
“The steam room is available to all guests, not just those using spa services, and it's a revelation! Don't miss this experience.”
TripAdvisor reviewer, August 2026
“The transfer from a Belmond property seems to have been a positive move. Upgraded gardens, same warm helpful staff. Still an excellent spa experience, glad to see the same faces there.”
“For this price point (nearly $2,000 a night on the weekends for a small suite), the customer is left wanting a bit more as far as amenities are concerned. The pool is too small if occupancy is up. The gym is, for me, embarrassingly small and cramped.”
“There is a HUGE difference in the quality of the service since it has come under new ownership—not in a good way. The rooms and grounds are gorgeous; however, with the hefty rate comes an expectation of quality, attentive service. There were no towels at the pool.”
Excerpts selected by our editors from recent guest reviews across booking and review platforms; sources and volumes are listed in How This Review Works below.
What Guests Are Saying
No Review Available
No Review Available
Location
Guest Experiences
Frequently Asked Questions:
Where is El Encanto, and how far is the airport?
El Encanto sits at 800 Alvarado Place in the Riviera district above Santa Barbara, about 20 minutes from Santa Barbara Airport and 7-10 minutes downhill from downtown. A car or the hotel's Mercedes Sprinter house car (five-mile radius, inside the resort fee) covers everything beyond the Mission, which is walkable.
Is El Encanto still a Belmond hotel?
No. Belmond sold the property in July 2025 for $82.2M to the Mateen and Cayton families, and El Encanto now operates independently as a member of The Leading Hotels of the World. For guests, the change is a name on the door and a $40M renovation rolling through in phases while the hotel stays open. The Belmond website's El Encanto page is gone.
What is the resort fee, and what does it cover?
A flat $65 nightly resort fee, taxed at 12% for $72.80 all-in, is added to every booking. Included are daily fitness-studio classes, Wi-Fi, electric cruiser bikes, the Mercedes Sprinter house car within five miles, backyard games, morning lobby coffee, and a welcome bottle of local wine.
Can I use the spa without booking a treatment?
Yes. The pair of eucalyptus steam rooms, one in each locker room, carries no access charge or treatment requirement. Without a room, ResortPass lists a day pass starting at $50 for the steam room and tea plus 20% off one massage or scrub.
Does El Encanto have a pool?
Yes: one outdoor zero-edge pool with an ocean view. Guests mention it in 26.3% of TripAdvisor reviews, but an August 2026 guest found it too small when occupancy is up.
What is parking like?
Valet-only, and charged, although the hotel does not publish the figure. Guests have reported $35 to $40 a night. "Road to Riviera" bundles daily valet with a one-time food-and-beverage credit.
Is El Encanto good for families?
Conditionally. Children are allowed with a parent or guardian, and pets are too ($250 per stay), but the steam rooms are adults-only, there is no hot tub, and no kids club on record. Pool size runs small by resort standards.
What are the dining options?
Three outlets: The Dining Room, The Terrace and The Lounge, under Executive Chef Joel Viehland since October 2025. Food is the new-era flashpoint: it leads 45% of the 51 most recent review mentions, and the most critical recent reviews are food-led, though a repeat guest in April 2025 had the kitchen bring back a favorite dish for the week.
Is the hotel under construction?
A $40M renovation is underway in phases through roughly 2028, with the hotel open throughout and work scheduled into shoulder and low season. Construction noise is barely a guest theme: 4 of the 209 reviews I parsed mention it. Separately, a small fire in one detached cottage on January 2, 2026 drew an 18-person response, no injuries, and an undetermined cause.
How much do treatments cost?
Spa treatment prices and a current menu remain unpublished. A 2017 stay put a 50-minute signature massage at $180 plus a 20% service charge. Treat that as direction, not a current price.
What do rooms actually cost?
Entry Superior King rates run from $795 on a January weeknight and $875 on a winter weekend up to $1,675 on a July Friday-Saturday, with peak-stay weeknights at $975-$1,025. A non-refundable "Riviera Reserve" rate runs roughly 14% below the flexible best available rate, and a "4th Night Free" offer ran live at publish.
Is El Encanto worth it?
For a narrow reader, yes: a view-first couple who will use the free steam rooms, book Sunday-to-Thursday nights, and accept $72.80 a night in fees all-in. For anyone expecting a Forbes-rated spa, a published treatment menu, or Miramar-level polish at these rates, no.
How This Review Works
Every SpaRator score is built the same way: six equally weighted categories, scored from more than 40 documented data points per property through independent spa and hotel facility research and analysis of thousands of verified guest reviews, then averaged, never hand-tuned. The result is a consistent, comparable rating across every property we cover. How SpaRator works
Reviewed by James Sinclair, founder of Spa Hotel Finder and creator of the SpaRator methodology. This review reflects synthesized editorial analysis, not a first-hand visit.
Last updated September 2026 · Reviewed under Guidelines Version 9.5
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