Suite Surrender

By Kevin Wing
Host, Suite Surrender: America’s Best Resorts

(Editor’s Note: This column, showcasing America’s best hotels and resorts, is written exclusively for AARisings by Kevin Wing, a two-time Emmy Award-winning San Francisco Bay Area television journalist. Since early 2005, Kevin has authored another AARisings column, Beach Trip, which showcases America’s best-loved beaches. Kevin has worked for most of the Bay Area’s major network news affiliates, including KRON, KGO-TV, KTVU and KNTV. He is a field producer for ABC News and is executive news producer and interim executive director at TV30 in Pleasanton. Kevin is also a Bay Area voiceover talent. He is also writing a children’s book, which he hopes will be published in 2009. In this edition of Suite Surrender, Kevin takes you to the Fess Parker Doubletree Resort in Santa Batbara, California.)

One of the true blessings of living in California is the magnificent 900-mile-long Pacific coastline of the Golden State. From the Oregon border to the Mexican border, there isn’t one mundane section of coastline. And, Santa Barbara is no exception.

Santa Barbara – also known as the American Riviera – is a lush, sun-drenched and relaxing paradise situated seductively between San Francisco and Los Angeles. It has always been a lure for California residents who live north, south or east of it. Of course, it’s also a vacation destination for people from across the country and around the world.

The city is one of California’s best-kept secrets, even though it’s one of the state’s most well-known communities. The city basks in sunshine nearly 75 percent of any calendar year, and its beauty and cultural sophistication create a place where you can take life – or your vacation – at your own pace.

If you do visit Santa Barbara, I want to recommend a resort hotel in the city that is unlike any other. It’s the Fess Parker Doubletree Resort.

Located on Santa Barbara’s Cabrillo Boulevard across the street from the Pacific Ocean, the resort is easy to spot: its very long expanse of Mission-style arches, red-tiled roofs, Spanish accents and its beachfront location make it an immensely popular place to stay while in Santa Barbara. Who’s Fess Parker? If you must ask, he’s been part of American pop culture for more than half a century. He was TV’s “Davy Crockett”. He now owns the Fess Parker Winery Inn and Spa in nearby Los Olivos. Parker is also opening up a new beachfront hotel in Santa Barbara, called Fess Parker’s Santa Barbara Beach Front Hotel.

The average year-round price for a one night’s stay at the Fess Parker Doubletree is about $320. It’s a little pricey, but if you can afford to splurge, it’s well worth it. You will remember the experience for a long time.

The hotel is an exceptional, luxury beach resort. If you want to feel like a king or queen, this is the place to stay. The hotel is a full-service resort, extending across 24 acres of prime Santa Barbara beachfront property. There is something for everyone at this resort: tennis courts, a putting green, basketball courts to shuffleboard. The hotel is also a fitting place for meetings and conferences, with its newly renovated ballrooms, elegant meeting spaces and full banquet and catering facilities.

The rooms and suites are light, bright and Mission-influenced. Accommodations feature views of the ocean, the hotel garden or the majestic Santa Ynez Mountains.

What’s nearby? Everything. The Santa Barbara Zoo is just a mile away. Of course, there’s the city’s famous beaches and Stearns Wharf, the latter of which is about a half-mile away to the west of the hotel. The famous Botanical Gardens are nearby, and the city is home to a number of art galleries and museums. Shopping? Head downtown on to State Street to visit Santa Barbara’s historic downtown shopping district. You’ll also find El Paseo shopping center there as well.

Of course, a visit to Santa Barbara isn’t necessarily complete without a stop at Mission Santa Barbara. The old Spanish mission was founded in 1786 and is considered the “Queen of the Missions” in California’s chain of 21 missions that stretch from San Diego the Bay Area.

A visit to Santa Barbara is a stay with a city with one of the most pleasant year-round climates in the country. Temperatures in Santa Barbara usually range from the mid-60s to the mid-70s throughout the year, except summer temperatures are usually in the 80s.

Have you ever wondered about the origin of the famous Santa Barbara architecture? In 1925, a massive fire ravaged the city. When it was time to rebuild, city leaders decided to implement the architectural design of Spain. It is actually a blend of genres, including Spanish, Mediterranean and Moorish/Islamic. Key features of this world-famous architecture – gleaming white stucco surfaces, the famous red tile roofs, courtyards and the wrought iron used to ornament windows and accent light fixtures and staircases – are truly prevalent throughout Santa Barbara.

The city, of course, is smack in the center of Santa Barbara County’s cultural abundance. If you’re a foodie, chef, an appreciator of quality cuisine or a wine dork like me, this is the place to be.

There are also wineries everywhere, so if wine-tasting is your thing, you’ll enjoy a pleasant day throughout the county to visit the various wineries. Remember the movie “Sideways”? You can live the experience, right here in Santa Barbara.

Back at Fess Parker’s Doubletree Resort, come back and relax at this little piece of paradise. Enjoy dinner California Continental cuisine style, in a casual setting at the Café Los Arcos. Or, for fine dining, stop by Rodney’s Steakhouse.

Enjoy your sumptious room with its ocean, garden or mountain view. You know you’ve had a great vacation in Santa Barbara when you don’t want to leave. This is one of the few places in the world that are like that.

Enjoy your stay in Santa Barbara. It’s an experience you won’t soon forget.

How to get there: Fess Parker’s Doubletree Resort is located at 633 East Cabrillo Boulevard, Santa Barbara. From U.S. Highway 101, exit Cabrillo Boulevard and head west about one mile. The resort will be located on the right side of the street. Between Calle Puerto Vallarta and South Calle Cesar Chavez.

Next time from Suite Surrender: Kevin continues his trek through southern California with a visit to the Doubletree Golf Resort, formerly known as the Doubletree Carmel Highlands Resort, in the Rancho Penasquitos area of San Diego.

To learn more about the new Suite Surrender television show and Kevin Wing, as well as the Catch a Wave television show, go to www.catchawavetv.com. You can e-mail Kevin and the Suite Surrender crew at suitesurrendertv@aol.com.

Suite Surrender. Where the Destination is Paradise.
Copyright 2008
All Rights Reserved
Kevin Wing / Toby Dog Productions
Issue 4 / January 2008

Archive:
April 2007
September 2006
July 2006

Photo used by permission courtesy of Kevin Wing. Photo copyright by Kevin Wing.