West Beach Inn completes bathroom renovation
The West Beach Inn, located at 306 W. Cabrillo Blvd., has remained open through the pandemic due to rigorous cleaning protocols.
Some things are worth the wait, and that includes West Beach Inn’s most recent renovation project.
A project five months in the making, the Santa Barbara hotel, located at 306 W. Cabrillo Blvd., completed a renovation project to all 46 of its bathrooms. The total cost of the project was nearly $1 million.
“It’s so exciting to welcome back our locals and people that are coming and visiting Santa Barbara to something so new and exciting and something that looks very nice,” Doug Rigoni, president of Coast Hotels USA which operates West Beach Inn and helped oversee the renovation, told the News-Press over the phone.
The new bathrooms include LED-lit mirrors and premium fixtures to elevate the overall guest experience in each modern and spacious guestroom. The bathrooms were gutted and replaced with new tile, countertops, glass showers and freshly painted, Mr. Rigoni said.
“They really did a nice job on all these rooms. The West Beach Inn is a family owned hotel and it’s been owned in that family for decades and decades, and they really take care of their property and their hotel,” Mr. Rigoni said.
“But this family really takes care of their employees and I think it’s important to note that these are caring people and they care for all the people that work there. They’re reinvesting in the asset, but they are also reinvesting in their employees and it’s great to see.”
As the hotel seeks to achieve sustainability, it has also gotten rid of shampoo bottles and instead has pumps near the shower for a person to shampoo their hair.
The hotel has remained open through the renovation project and even through the current pandemic, something Mr. Rigoni credits to the staff for taking even more responsibility to keep everything clean.
“We have really upped our deep cleaning sanitizing standards. They were rigorous before and now we’ve increased those cleanliness standards to welcome our guests back,” Mr. Rigoni said.
Mr. Rigoni was also quick to credit the general manager of the hotel, Teresa Stiff, as well as the assistant general manager, Patricia Prada, for continuing operations during the pandemic and renovation project.
“Those two women are strong and super knowledgeable people. I could not talk enough about them and all the work they did with the renovation and all they did to help us get through COVID,” Mr. Rigoni said.
“They are just very strong women that we appreciate. They are in leadership positions for the hotel for a reason and they are just fantastic. They are hard working women and they look after the employees.”
As reopening efforts continue throughout Santa Barbara, West Beach Inn has also been able to offer a bit more to its customers.
For one, the hotel has now brought back its free continental breakfast, which features food from local vendors, including The Berry Man and Debbie’s Delights.
Additionally, West Beach Inn has opened its pool while also following all the county’s protocols, allowing just six people in at a time.
“We are just excited to be welcoming people back into this beautiful place and we hope they could join us soon,” Mr. Rigoni said.
email: jmercado@newspress.com
