The Mar Monte Hotel's white Spanish-Colonial facade and red-tile roof at golden hour, palms and the Santa Barbara mountains behind
Nº 11Hospitality PhotographySanta Barbara

Mar Monte
Hotel

A 1931 landmark across the road from East Beach.

Hospitality photography for the Mar Monte Hotel — nearly a century on Santa Barbara’s American Riviera.

Nearly a century on the American Riviera.

Mar Monte opened in 1931 as the Vista Mar Monte, built by hotelier Frederick A. Bartholomew in Spanish Colonial Revival style. Two hundred rooms across three buildings and three acres of grounds, sitting on Cabrillo Boulevard directly across from East Beach.

A long renovation returned it to its original name in 2020, now part of Hyatt’s Unbound Collection. The stucco, the arcades and the tilework survived it; what changed is everything you touch.

A wood-panelled library dining room with a chandelier and patterned banquette chairs at the Mar Monte Hotel
A man reading by tall windows in front of the wood library shelves at the Mar Monte Hotel, Santa Barbara
A shaded terrace lounge under the arcade, low seating framed by palms with the ocean beyond
A framed vintage print of a diver hung on a textured stucco wall
A guest on a balcony with French doors open to Cabrillo Boulevard, palms and the ocean at Santa Barbara
A couple playing bocce on a palm-lined court under a clear blue sky at the Mar Monte Hotel
A woman on a sofa in a warm guest-suite living room, table lamp lit and armchair alongside
A full-length arched mirror and a dark wood armoire in a light-filled guest room
A woman with a straw hat framed in a doorway mirror while a man waits on the sofa of a suite
A cocktail with an orange twist on a lounge table, green cushions behind
A man with a cocktail on a curved banquette by a bright window in the hotel lounge
A couple toasting cocktails in a green-leather booth beneath a gallery wall of framed art
A close toast — a woman in an orange dress holding a red cocktail
A couple with cocktails in mustard-yellow tub chairs by tall windows at the Mar Monte Hotel
A couple walking hand in hand along East Beach at sunset, shoes in hand, Santa Barbara
The Mar Monte Hotel's Spanish-Colonial exterior and sign framed by tall palms and mountains
Two cyclists passing the Mar Monte Hotel on Cabrillo Boulevard, palms above the red-tile roofline
A woman on a guest balcony overlooking Cabrillo Boulevard and the ocean, a man seated reading
An overhead brunch spread — avocado toast, a burger with egg and a grain bowl — hands reaching in
Pictures — Jacob SigalaMar Monte Hotel · East Beach, Santa BarbaraTwenty plates