••• The Blue Door in the Funk Zone is doing a pop-up with eternally fabulous designer Betsey Johnson: “Betsey Johnson designed and collected vintage clothing, furniture and artwork on display, all for sale! Find original runway pieces, samples, and rare early designs by Betsey, as well as some of her personal collected pieces. Pop-up running through the end of the year with new pieces being added regularly!”
••• NS Ceramic has left its cool building at 25 E. Ortega Street. The sign on the door is cagey about the new location (602 E. Montecito St.), likely because the shop has shifted to appointment-only.
••• The barber shop that took over the Wolf’s Head Annex on E. Victoria has a name: Wise Guys Barber & Shave.
••• La Arcada Plaza (the one with the live turtles and trompe l’oeil sculptures) ran an ad in the Independent announcing a two new stores (Barbieri & Kempe Wines tasting room and Salon U hair salon) and two forthcoming ones (Desert Rose Hat Co. and Lucky Puppy eyeglasses for kids). I guess the hats don’t come with instructions.
••• When I wanted to have dinner at Bell’s without having to drive home, we spent the night at the Skyview Los Alamos. Aesthetically, it exceeded expectations: I’ve stayed at a lot of high-design motels, and Skyview was among the most appealing. That said, the room I reserved was $259, but the bill was $323—that’s 25% more. The $36.82 in taxes was out of the hotel’s control, but the $20 resort fee and $7 PPE fee were not. Resort fees—a way to make a room rate seem lower when you’re booking—are especially egregious when the property is not actually a resort. According to the hotel, the fee is for “wireless internet, self-parking, printing/scanning services, Linus bicycles, and morning continental breakfast and coffee.” Come on. No one needs prints or scans, the breakfast was poor, wi-fi is like water at this point, and there isn’t even enough parking for all guests at the hotel proper—if the lot fills ups, you’re told to park down the hill and text for a golf cart to come get you! Anyway, just a PSA if you’re thinking of starting there. (P.S. Bell’s was absolutely fantastic.)
••• It’s a sign of the times the you have to tell people they can’t camp in downtown Santa Barbara.
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Resort fees are tacky. It’s too bad our consumer protection laws aren’t more similar to Europe – the price you see on TripAdvisor, etc. is the price you pay. Which is great. Keep up the snark (I hope you’re not insulted or disappointed that I’m calling it that), because I love it. It’s charming and refreshing, and nice to see honest reporting.