Cute, quiet

Guest: Vacationer (California)
Date of Stay: 05/01/07 Review Submitted: 07/24/07

We stayed for a week in this place and had a great time. The house isn't huge, but there was plenty of space for us especially because of the patio and outdoor furniture which, being right off the living room and kitchen, was like another 500 square feet of living space. The decor is super cute. We've not experienced a vacation home this well-stocked in our six years of vacation home stays. Ping Pong was fun as was the hot tub - jets were good at soothing sore muscles after our sailing and body surfing at the beach. We took walks to the Village for groceries and dinner. If you like to park your car and walk, this house a good one. The "Village" - as they call it - is 15 minutes and uphill on the way home, great after stuffing yourself at Alcazar (tapas bar) or Sczechuan Chinese - yumm

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This Birds Nest has everything you wish

Guest: Karin (Uppsala, Sweden)
Date of Stay: 12/17/11 Review Submitted: 01/15/12

This house has everything we wished for for a Santa Barbara vacation - close to beaches, mountain views (and ocean d:o! with sunsets), nice and safe area, close to the pleasant Mesa Center with quality food stores. To be able to walk (or jog) to pick up morning bread - unusual, but valuable to us. Both the dining area outside and the backyard are very private. We loved the jacuzzi and the flowers in the well kept garden (lawn watered every morning). The house inside is decorated in a tasteful and cosy way. VERY comfortable beds! (Our visiting adult children however had preferred twin beds instead of the - beautiful - queen one) Thanks to Scott and Lynn for answering questions and being so ready to help the few times we needed. Things to do besides beach walks was visits to Ellings Park and Douglas family reserve nearby, easy to reach and with marvellous sunsets. Our young ones enjoyed tennis and tried a couple of gyms. Santa Barbara Yoga center a welcoming place with a huge variety of classes. Favourit restaurant Olives and Lemon. All in all, we´ll certainly come back!

Owner response:Axel and Karin, thanks very much for this kind review. Was a genuine pleasure to meet and chat with you both - wish there had been more time to visit and share a cup of coffee/glass of wine. We look forward to being neighbors again in November. We'll see you soon. Lynn and Scott

Recommended for:Romantic getaway, sightseeing, adventure seekers, girls getaway, age 55+, families with young children, families with teenagers.

Great Place

Guest: Lovesantabarbara (Hartford, CN)
Date of Stay: 06/14/11 Review Submitted: 09/28/11

Clean, great views, quiet area, close enough to be where we needed to be in a few minutes. The place has parking for one car and free street parking too. We had trouble last year being downtown and finding parking so this was a treat. We used the BBQ and sat outside to eat most nights. The birds were singing and the palm trees from a neighboring property singing in the wind. We totally got carried away with the Santa Barbara scene. We shopped on State Street on a couple occasions and there were the typical high-end places, but my daughter and I found a few cute boutiques with all clothes $20 or less (one was $10 or less). Great memories were made...loved it.

Owner response:So happy to hear you guys enjoyed your vacation and this home, but we're even happier to hear you found great treasures on State Street. At one time everything was so expensive it was just for special occassions so it's been a treat over the last couple years to see these fun boutiques pop up. Hope to see you guys again in the future.

Recommended for:Sightseeing, adventure seekers, girls getaway, families with young children, families with teenagers.

So Relaxing and Pleasant

Guest: Miller Sheen (Boston, MA)
Date of Stay: 08/08/11 Review Submitted: 09/27/11

Our family of five had a really great time at Casa Cortita. The kids loved the beach boogie board and skin board and played several of the board games. We hiked to both Rattle Snake Canyon and Inspiration Point (found in the home's hiking books) and ate a couple times down in the Mesa Village (Rose Cafe and Giovanni's). The views of the mountains were lovely and we felt lucky to catch a couple beautiful sunsets during our stay (thanks to a rogue thunderstorm). The furnishings and beds were very comfortable and the house was clean (and I'm a bit of a neat freak...). We are hoping to return to our home-away-from-home next summer.

Recommended for:Romantic getaway, sightseeing, adventure seekers, girls getaway, age 55+, families with young children, families with teenagers.

Pleasant Stay

Guest: Richard (Oregon)
Date of Stay: 08/08/11 Review Submitted: 09/27/11

We had such a wonderful time in Santa Barbara at Casa Cortita. The house is so sweet, furnishings are new and the beds were very comfortable. My kids are ping pong players so that went over quite well. We enjoyed the boogie board and other beach items. The views at this home are lovely and we had a few nice sunsets. We are eager to return to our home-away-from-home next summer.

Recommended for:Romantic getaway, sightseeing, adventure seekers, girls getaway, age 55+, families with young children, families with teenagers.

Just a wonderful place to stay

Guest: edx18 (HAcienda Hgts, CA)
Date of Stay: 09/19/11 Review Submitted: 09/26/11

Sherry and I had a very wonderful time. We just could not get over how marvelous are stay was in you place. The kitchen, bedrooms, bathrooms and the detail made us feel right at home as soon as we walked in.

Recommended for:Romantic getaway, sightseeing, girls getaway.

Perfect location!

Guest: Jayme (Manhattan, KS)
Date of Stay: 09/15/11 Review Submitted: 09/22/11

This was our first trip to Santa Barbara, and we came so I could participate in my first Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. The house was perfect for us - very clean, beautiful views of the mountains, close to the start of the walk and to the beach, and most importantly, the outdoor hot tub was essential after walking 13.1 miles! We would definitely stay in this house again should we return to Santa Barbara. We enjoyed the numerous parks just down Carrillo along the coast and were very impressed with the amount of green space saved right on the coast as parks. We walked on the beach at Shoreline Park and also at Ledbetter Park, where we also had some great fish tacos at the Shoreline Beach Cafe. Albertson's was quite close for grocery shopping, and we ate breakfast and lunch at the house most days. However, we did venture out for breakfast one morning and loved the breakfast at the Mesa Cafe in the same shopping center as Albertson's.

Owner response:Jayme and team, thanks for the comments on the home and surrounding areas. Most importantly, thank you for taking time out of your schedule to help find a cure for Breast Cancer. We saw many of your pink-dressed comrades all over town and were both inspired and shocked at the same time; shocked at the huge volume of good-hearted people walking for the cause. Hope you took home great memories from the weekend.

Recommended for:Romantic getaway, tourists without a car, sightseeing, girls getaway, families with young children, families with teenagers.

Ridiculous rental

Guest: Francisco (Burlingame, Ca, USA)
Date of Stay: 04/06/11 Review Submitted: 07/24/11

Be carefull with the owner and their ridiculous demands. When we arrived the entrance to the garden was unkept and dirty. You could notice that a person was living there fulltime because all his stuff was in the house. The photos of the house aren´t what they are. The owner, when you arrive is constantly spying on you therefore you don´t have any privacy as she lives next door. We feel she is a crook and out to get more money out of you so be careful renting this place.

Owner response:Unfortunate situation... This guest smoked inside the home, was charged to clean carpets, drapes and linens and that is likely the reason for the misstatements above. No one but vacation guests live in this home, spying is not done, photos are up-to-date, and the garden is maintained weekly. In seven years of renting to wonderful guests, including smokers who light up outside, we've never had an issue with smoke smell. We cherish our guests, each one of them, and to that end only charged this guest half of what it cost to remove the smoke smell, nor did we pass along the charge for the discount provided to the next guest who commented about the smell.

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Rest & Relaxation

Guest: Rose (Visalia, CA)
Date of Stay: 11/28/10 Review Submitted: 12/07/10

My husaband and I enjoyed our stay. It was a much needed vacation. My husband got in a lot of golfing and I hung out and did a little shopping and nothing at all. The house sets nicely among trees that provided some privacy. We would definitely visit again.

Recommended for:Romantic getaway, pet owners, girls getaway, families with teenagers.

Guest: Piper Family, Wisconsin (-)
Date of Stay: 02/01/10 Review Submitted: 09/21/10

Comment from TripAdvisor.com: "We love our February home-away-from-home on Calle Cortita in Santa Barbara. We especially love the location of this small house, in the hills overlooking the city of Santa Barbara. We love getting away from Wisconsin winters and living in Santa Barbara in a neighborhood where we can walk to wonderful stores, to the Ocean, downtown for lunch. We love winter walking without worries about ice and snow. We love looking at the sky over the mountains as we sit at the breakfast table in the mornings. We love the patio at our little house in the hills. This is our Feb. home."

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