Vitamin Sea Gives a Whole New View of Life in Santa Barbara

A staycation at the Rosewood Miramar Beach is certainly unlike any other. My husband and I were lucky enough to do an overnight stay the night after the general election, and let me just say that unplugging at the Rosewood Miramar Beach is about as close to an escape from reality as I can possibly imagine.

The place oozes with a throwback to Hollywood glam and the impeccable service of yesteryear from the moment we pull up to the valet in our Honda Accord, which is surely the least fancy car they’ve seen that day. Nonetheless we’re greeted like VIPs and escorted through the stunning black-and-white lobby to check in before we’re driven in a golf cart to our room.

“So this is how the other half lives,” I said, as we looked around our beautiful bungalow room. Now a Triple Forbes Five-Star Property, this room is a far cry from the bungalows of old, which were so “shabby chic” that my family and friends rented one for us to celebrate my bachelorette party back in 1994. Now the Cape Cod–style architecture of the exterior opens up to a high-class yet comfortable room, with plush beds, linens, and robes, and an in-room bar featuring top-shelf spirits. It also has a separate closet/dressing room that’s bigger than my kitchen at home, as well as an equally expansive and oh-so-gorgeous bathroom. 

The shower — I could write a whole essay on how fabulous the shower is, with multiple showerheads and room to sit down and relax if you’re so inclined. There’s also a clawfoot tub and stunning marble-topped sink — the room is so large you could fit an entourage of hair and makeup artists in here pretty easily.

There are subtle beachy-blue and sandy-gray accents throughout the bungalow to liven up the white, which is everywhere on the property. So many white roses and other white accent flowers! The gardens are predominantly white and green and so painstakingly well-kept that I feel certain that if I plucked a petal and dropped it, a groundskeeper would magically appear within minutes to clean it right up. 

Our garden bungalow is surrounded by lush green gardens with a beautiful pair of oaks in the center courtyard next to a firepit and some white Adirondack chairs. The perfect place for a glass of wine before dinner. I’m so relaxed it’s hard to tear myself away from the fire, but our evening reservation awaits! 

It’s sometimes easy to take the ocean for granted when you grow up in Santa Barbara, but the views at Caruso’s — the resort’s Michelin-starred fine dining restaurant — definitely take my breath away when go there for dinner. And what a dining experience it was! Chef Massimo Falsini and his team (including the lovely Chef de Cuisine Shibani Mone, whom I met during our Cheese the Day adventure) went all out with a prix-fixe experience that was simply off the charts. Our four-course menu went way over and above, adding many more courses, starting with a lovely glass of champagne and a stunning amuse bouche with five (!) perfectly composed bites, including miniature gougères with truffle crema and truffle garnish that I’ll be dreaming of for the rest of my life. That was followed by a mini cone stuffed with crab salad and squash and topped by some gorgeous caviar and gold leaf. And mind you, this was all before the first course.

We got the “Sense of Place Wine Pairing” with excellent regional wine pairings. Because there were two of us, we tried two things in each category —antipasti, primi, secondi, and dolci e formaggi — and each was individually paired with a different wine. Among the highlights: the Baja Kanpachi crudo with a beautiful verbena lemon and lime tea sauce; the Santa Barbara spiny lobster girasoli; the buttery, perfectly prepared New York strip; and the incredible house-made, artisanal sourdough bread, which features Chef Massimo’s 30-year-old sourdough starter and was served with house-made olive oil (from olives grown on the property) and a house-made seaweed-infused butter that was simply heavenly. 

Along with the amazing meal, what made our dinner even more outstanding was the level of service. You know how on Downton Abbey when they have a special dinner, there’s a perfectly choreographed presentation for each course? That’s how this was, with multiple wines precisely poured at the exact time each dish came to the table. I definitely felt like we were royalty for the night — but without all those pesky tabloids to worry about. 

We spent the next morning walking around and exploring the property, which, although I had been to the Revere Room and the Manor Bar several times, I had never actually done before. Those two venues are both located in the main building (with ocean views), and so is the lobby  — December is a great time to visit, as the Christmas tree display is always exceptionally stunning — and the spa, Goop boutique, and a few rooms. The bungalows, where we stayed, are around both the gardens and the pool areas (there are two), where there’s also a beautiful pond, a bocce court, the Cabana Bar, and the Scoop Shop, which has casual poolside bites, as well as scoops of ice cream.

The train tracks (where an affable, liveried guard greets you) separate these areas from the beachfront, which is where Caruso’s is, as well as the Miramar Beach Bar (with the beautiful blue sign that launched a thousand Instagram posts), and easy stairs down to the beach itself, where guests have “beach butler service” as well as complimentary use of chairs, umbrellas, beach toys, and water sports equipment. 

Is staying at the Rosewood Miramar Beach a splurge? Sure, at least for most of us (rooms start at $1,485 a night; the four-course prix-fixe menu at Caruso’s is $175 per person, plus the “Sense of Place” wine pairings add $155), but it’s definitely an incredible place to go to celebrate some major life moment or if you really wanted to indulge your luxury fantasies. And for us lucky locals, Visit Santa Barbara currently has a locals-only lodging promotion, offering 30 percent discounts for residents from Goleta to Carpinteria who book overnight trips to the Santa Barbara South Coast. The deals apply to stays through early 2025 at more than a dozen properties, including the Rosewood Miramar Beach. 

Although this off-season deal is only for locals, area residents can extend the offer to their visiting friends and relatives. Dates of stay, as well as terms and conditions, vary by property, and blackout dates may apply. To view all the available offers, terms and instructions for booking, visit: santabarbaraca.com/locals.