Dear
Polite Travelers,
Lucky
us. With a credit card we use, we
receive free nights each year at Hilton Properties, which is fortunate as we
are Hilton Diamond Honors Members. These
nights can be used at any Hilton property.
So, as the pandemic waned here in California, we decided to hit the road
and travel south to Santa Barbara, also known as the American Riviera. Once here, we stayed three nights in the
Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort.
(Review)
Three
nights doesn’t offer much time to offer you, my polite travelers, a vast amount
of information. I do, however, have
some. Here’s what I found.
The Roundhouse
Since
we stayed for so few days, we never ate at the main breakfast restaurant,
The Roundhouse. I did, however, check
the menu. Basically, it was what one
would find in a typical coffee house, minus the substantial amounts.
Peeking
inside, I was surprised to find very few taking part in the $15 per day free
breakfast Gold and Diamond Hilton Honors Members are awarded. The award is limited to two guests per
room.
Unsure
if the low attendance was due to guests’ fear of inside dining, because of
Covid, or just didn’t care for the menu choices. Of course, not all guests are Honors Members
as well. The cost is somewhat higher
than some restaurants in the area.
Note
Gold/Diamond Members receive a daily $15.00 breakfast credit
per person (up to two) available at The Roundhouse or Java Del Mar.
Grab & Go Dining at Java Del Mar
For
our breakfasts we chose the Java Del Mar—a small grab and go counter-style
restaurant serving Starbucks coffee and tea.
The
breakfast options were the typical boxed oatmeal or cereal, two breakfast
sandwiches, one burrito, and a few pastries.
We chose the hot sandwiches: veggie with egg and ham with egg.
As
an older person, both sandwiches had too much cheese and not enough of the
other ingredients. The cheese appeared
to be the focus, making the sandwich excessively rich. Plus, my vegetarian option included dry
tomatoes which were cold. Not pleasant
in a hot meal.
Since
the breakfast sandwiches were not appealing, we chose pastries the next two
mornings. Yep, even though choosing pastries
seems counterintuitive, these were much less rich than the sandwiches. We chose the chocolate croissant and sticky
bun. Both were delicious.
The Set is the Place to Be!
The
breathtaking view of the Pacific Ocean
dictated dining at The Set a must for our three night’s dinners, for which we
chose only two options.
Since
our trip down the coast took eight hours, and we were exhausted, we chose what
we thought would be a simple dinner: a cheese and charcuterie platter, $26. Unfortunately, the cheese was cold making
this an extremely poor choice. Anyone
who loves cheese and serves cheese knows to allow it to warm before
serving. It had truly little flavor and
was too hard to spread on the crumbly toasted bread or crisp crackers. The quality of the charcuterie was
passible. However, I did enjoy the dried
fruit,
nuts, hot peppers, and gherkins.
The
next dinner was so tasty, we ordered it the following night. The Set Burger, $21, was ideal for intrepid
travelers who walked all day. It was
hefty enough to split. Perfectly cooked
to order, the 8 oz of Angus beef was topped with caramelized onion (yum),
avocado, lettuce, tomato, garlic aioli, choice of cheese and served with
fries. We chose the white Cheddar and
the aioli on the side. It was heaven on
a plate. I’m still dreaming of it.
Note
PDF Menu
Wine Time
The
wine was a toss-up, but I tend to be picky. Hence, you might not find the choices an
issue. I prefer lighter wines with lower alcohol for my whites and earthy,
fruit-forward, rich, round flavors in my reds.
Whew! Now that’s picky.
Currently,
the house wines—our
free glass—was a Chardonnay, Cabernet, and Pinot Gris. The Chardonnay tasted as if it was stored
improperly which causes wine to taste like sherry, as if it were
fortified. The Cabernet was drinkable:
typical house wine. The Pinot Gris was
also pleasant and my favorite choice of the three. Not great; not bad.
Our
Other Wine Choices
- Fess Parker Syrah $16: excellent and well balanced
- Four Graces Pinot Noir $13: slight fruit, herbal, a hint of cinnamon
- MS Margerum White Blend $12: excellent, we had two glasses
- Terlato Pinot Grigio—my personal favorite—from Italy $13
The
Terlato was a huge surprise. It was
fruity but not sweet. It held up in the
glass, even though I drank it over an hour’s time, and it was light—not thin.
For
cocktail lovers, there are several choices as well. Check out the Red Sangria $13, Chanel Islands
Mai Tai $16 or four other scrumptious offerings. Of interest is an extensive Whisky and Beer
menu as well.
Note
PDF Drink
Menu
The
Daily Resort Charge, $30 per day, includes one glass of house wine (max. 2
adults per day).
Please
Read
Kona Coffee
Purveyors, Spitfire Rotisserie and Flatbread and The Hula Grill
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