Hotel Reviews: I spent last weekend in Santa Barbara, California in the Montecito foothills relaxing at San Ysidro Ranch. The Ranch has 41 accommodations and features a number of private free standing cottages, including the Kennedy cottage where John and Jackie Kennedy stayed in 1953 on their west coast honeymoon. Most importantly, San Ysidro Ranch prides itself on being very pet friendly since the 1930's. Their Privileged Pet Program features in room pet massage, a special dog room service menu and the staff goes out of their way to make sure guests traveling with pets feel right at home.
At check-in I even got to sign my name in the privileged pets guest registration book and they had dog cookies for me. Guests traveling with pets need to make a reservation for a free standing cottage. Cottages are the Ranch's signature accommodations and offer a complete sense of seclusion. We stayed in "Creek" cottage which is a 1250 sq ft one bedroom cottage. The cottage had its own private deck with a hot tub and outdoor shower. Designated parking is conveniently adjacent to your cottage. A special touch was the adorable wood sign with my name, Tokyo, listed right on the outside of the cottage. Once we got to our cottage, they also delivered an amenity package with a dog bed, bowls, dog bags, cookies, and a cute yellow "Woodstock" toy (you know, Snoopy's cool bird friend). San Ysidro Ranch charges a modest one time $100 pet cleaning fee for the duration of your stay (and yes, meowies are welcomed to stay too.) 
So what did I do? Well, the beautifully landscaped Ranch has 17 miles on trails, so I did lots of important investigating and of course some very important cottage napping. I say paws up. I highly recommend staying here. -woof!
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