I got a tour of Hotel El Roblar when it opened last month, and I was so impressed that I convinced my husband, Adam, that we should spend a night in Ojai on our way to L.A. That the place is gorgeous comes as no surprise: the owners are Warner Ebbink of Little Dom’s and Bar Lou; Eric Goode of the Turtle Conservancy, Tiger King, and many New York City projects; Jeremy McBride; and Ramin Shamshiri of architecture and design firm Studio Shamshiri.
The site—right downtown, catercorner to Libbey Park—has been home to a hotel since 1919, when the original El Roblar opened; the Oaks at Ojai spa was there from 1977 to 2017. The new Hotel El Roblar respects the history of the main building, while adding second-floor decks across the front facade. Behind it are the swimming pool, “bungalow” guest rooms, and a structure called Sycamore House, still under construction. The hotel has 50 rooms: 31 in the main building, 11 rooms are in the three bungalow buildings, and eight in Sycamore House.
Having been brought down to the studs, the main building feels both completely fresh and like it’s been there forever.
For such a new hotel, the grounds are remarkably verdant. Below: a bungalow room and a bougainvillea trellis that will be stunning one day.
We booked a King With Terrace room under my husband’s name, and I was only recognized after we had checked in. The room was listed on the hotel website for $605, which includes the $30 per day resort fee but not the $107 in taxes, so the total was actually $712. People with kids should know that the property “is intended for adults 18 years and older,” which means children are allowed to stay there but the hotel doesn’t have many rooms that can accommodate them, and it doesn’t offer rollaway beds. You’re encouraged to call and discuss the options and mutual expectations.
I had seen rooms on the tour, of course, but living in one is different. When I go back to the hotel, especially if for more than one night, I’ll splurge on a bungalow room, because of the way the main building is laid out. Where new-build hotels put the bathroom near the door, creating a vestibule that offers both privacy from the hallway and bathroom, our bathroom was across from the foot of the bed. As a result, the room is more exposed to the hallway and bathroom. The hotel wasn’t busy the night we were there, which spared us the problem of hearing neighboring doors slamming shut. And while I wouldn’t have thought a closet was important to me, hanging my clothes in this manner felt like the sad side of quaint.
Our deck was huge and the view is beautiful, but the noise from Ojai Avenue—the town’s main thoroughfare—is fairly constant. If I do stay in the main building again, I will try for one of the ground-floor rooms on the west side.
Throughout the property, the details are amazing. No major hotel company would ever allow so much money to get spent on so many delightful little touches. There’s a powerful sense of place that no other hotel in the area can match.
And El Roblar offers turndown service, which is always welcome, including truly excellent chocolate chip cookies that didn’t quite make up for the air conditioning shutting off—the way it tends to do at hotels these days—in the middle of the night.
The property has two restaurants. La Cantina serves breakfast and lunch, and only to guests—a concession made by the hotel rather than adding more parking. As you might expect, it’s a very handsome space.
We arrived in time for lunch—here’s the menu—and returned the next morning for breakfast, where you can supplement the buffet with dishes from the kitchen. (Don’t miss the strawberry pastries.) It’s just as well that we had a cappuccino at Highly Likely, because I would’ve been peeved to discover that the “European-style breakfast” included in the resort fee gets you only drip coffee or tea. I don’t recall a European hotel ever charging for an espresso-based drink.
The adorable Snug Bar is in a room off the lobby. The seats were all taken when we stopped by, so we had a drink in the lobby proper, which by the nature of the building is dark. Adam was convinced that the hotel should utilize the event space’s light-filled bar during summer months.
The second restaurant, accessible to all, is Condor Bar. It had yet to open during our stay—the photo below was taken during my tour—so we walked across the street for a terrific dinner at Rory’s Place.
The centerpiece of the hotel is the pool. It’s perfect—even I wanted to sit on one of those plump chaises longues for a while, and I almost never feel that urge. And you can’t see it in the photos, but the flagstone deck is fantastic.
Besides the pool, amenities include a handful of first-come, first-serve bikes you can take for a spin, a gym, table tennis (love it!), and a spa under construction across the street.
Even better than table tennis are the two Aldabra giant tortoises hanging out behind bungalow 8. The one in the planter preferred to munch away in peace, but the other one liked when I scratched between its shell segments (which I learned about on a tour of the Turtle Conservancy a while back). Signage nearby says that the hotel can arrange for hotel guests to visit the Conservancy; a staffer said the cost is $25, but I later learned that price is only for students and seniors, so we must have looked like students. It’s $100 for everyone else.
Despite my quibbles, I loved staying at the hotel and look forward to doing it again. For me, El Roblar is a better fit than the quite nice Ojai Valley Inn, because it’s much more walkable, and I’m happier exploring than hanging out at a resort. We almost always see Ojai in the middle of the day, popping over for a few hours, and there was something refreshing—and lovely—about stretching out and enjoying our time there, particularly in the early morning and at night.
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Previous travel coverage:
••• There’s More to Peru Than Machu Picchu
••• On a Backroads Tour of New Zealand’s South Island
••• Navigating the North Island of New Zealand
••• Don’t Be So Quick to Write Off Phoenix
••• The Most Magical City in the World
••• One and Done in Sedona
••• A Proper Visit to Santa Monica
↓↓↓ A Quickie in San Francisco
••• Dipping a Toe Into Southern Corsica
••• The Exquisite Luxury of Taking Paris for Granted
••• Santa Rosa Island in One Day
••• Soaking Up History at Castle Hot Springs
••• Driving Through the Heart of Hokkaido
••• Tokyo Is a World Unto Itself
••• Paso Robles, Pinnacles National Park, and Beyond
••• A Review of the Inn at Mattei’s Tavern
••• Another Quickie in L.A.
••• Sitting Pretty at the One & Only Mandarina
••• The Mysteries of Istanbul
••• Palm Springs: Midweek at the Oasis
••• Exploring the Sea Caves of Santa Cruz Island
••• A Summer Swing Through the Northeast
••• Why Is Everyone Going to Portugal?
••• Patagonia Made Easy
••• A Quickie in L.A.
••• From Penthouse to Pavement in Mexico City
••• Do Greek Islands Live Up to the Fantasy?
••• Splendid Isolation at Utah’s Lodge at Blue Sky
••• Three Reasons to Visit Paso Robles Now
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gorgeous hotel!!!!
The hotel has a firm “no kids” rule. They are ‘allowed in the lobby’ but cannot stay in the rooms or go near the pool or restaurants. Bummer.
May I ask who told you that? Because that is not what they told me.
The receptionist. We called twice to confirm.
It’s mentioned on their website that the hotel is 18 and up. Don’t mind kids but feel the decision is appropriate for this hotel. Though if they are allowing yappy dogs then might as well allow children too.
No kids in the hotel.
they allow dogs.?
I’d rather allow kids than dogs and I love dogs. Just not in planes, hotels or restaurants
I’d rather allow dogs than kids, anywhere. Hotels, planes or restaurants. Most are better behaved and most you’d never know are there. And to say to not have fogs on planes, I bet there’s been dogs on planes you’ve been on but you definitely didn’t know they were there. You can’t say that about kids.
Good overview of the hotel, appreciate the description and pictures. I stayed at the Oaks Inn prior to remodeling so this is a nice option for a luxury stay in Ojai.
I just walked through the hotel last week and it has such an authentic, rustic, old-world vibe. The exterior is lovely and the interior is exquisite! I was surprised at how much I liked the dark, moody lobby. It’s a stark transition from the outdoors, but it works! It transports you right away to another era…another place and time, which is perfect for a getaway. And everything from the rugs to the furniture, the light fixtures to the art…all have been selected so mindfully and tastefully. And the brass and leather keyring! WOW! I would like to know the name of the artist that made those beauties. I also would like to know who painted the gorgeous mural on the interior of the hotel lobby depicting scenes of the Sespe Wilderness, local wildlife, iconic Ojai architecture, Chumash history and much more. Erik, did you happen to ask them who the artist was/is when you were there? Also, I couldn’t help laughing out-loud reading about the closets being “on the sad side of quaint.” Because, well, that is just a very funny description. Like something David Sedaris would say! There was also one other detail that I thought was very intriguing in the hotel restaurant…the La Cantina. It was the terra cotta tile on the walls. It looks like they used the back side of the tile instead of the front side creating a rustic, corrugated, adobe brick-like feel. I’ll have to ask about that design decision next time I pop in. It makes the restaurant walls look so earthy and unique with the feel of old brick walls, but much more interesting! Thank you for the great photos, Erik. Especially the view from the second floor patio overlooking the Ojai Playhouse and Rory’s Other Place. That is a view that I will never see myself, so it’s nice to live vicariously through you! p.s. I loooooooved seeing the giant tortoise on the property being cared for so beautifully with GIANT piles of kale for snacking and terra cotta saucers filled with water for hydration. A fantastic invitation to The Turtle Conservancy on the east end of Ojai, which is a MUST see! Manci Rasmussen was our educator and guide and she was fantastic! So generous with her knowledge about the turtles and TRULY a lover of nature and animals. If I remember correctly I think she mentioned having a degree in Zoology. You can tell that she LOVES her job, which makes the tour of that gorgeous property with it’s MAGICAL turtles even MORE delightful!
Incredible! I lived in Ojai for many glorious years and raised two amazing daughters there.
Love it. Thank you
I’m intrigued by the tortoises would like to meet them place sounds cool
Thanks Eric, As always a very reliable sounding review. To use your word “quibble” I’d like to add to the discussion about family friendly places in our area or the dearth thereof. Where do we take our families out to lunch and dinner when we are entertaining nieces and nephews and grandchildren besides the wonderful Padero Grill and its picnic atmosphere? I mean a friendly, casual sit at a table with grownups and practice your table manners place. Our town used to be full of such places. I don’t mean walk up to the counter and order. That with a retinue of kids is a nightmare for everybody especially the poor couple waiting behind you. I guess there is the noisy Nugget and some of on the beach places. But I mean restaurant. Via Via was perfect.
We like Third Window Brewery, SB public market and Los Agaves for kid friendly atmosphere combined with good food.
$712 for one night? Sorry, Ojai is pretty, but one look at those rooms and it screams $212 not a penny more. IF the writer got a comp she ought to say so, too.
I paid my own way. (And I’m a man who has a husband. It’s 2025.) I suggest you go check out the property before you write it off.
So let’s be frank: Gay marriage may not be for long in this country…it’s 2025 ;-) . I guess there’s always Ireland etc.
Politics aside, the only idea more outmoded and derivative than gay marriage is of course that of marriage itself.
In any case if you choose to put out $712 for a room that was probably half that a few years ago (albeit a different name, but I stayed there numerous times and don’t see much difference in the guest rooms today), good for you. The fact is that it’s a rip-off, and that is something I’m prepared to write off ecstatically.
Writing about that like it’s Ok — because it really isn’t — is like normalizing highway robbery. I’m from Santa Barbara, I know little Ojai well, and the big (BIG) picture is the ridiculous price gouging going on not just here but everywhere in this country: it’ not just New York City anymore! Again, to somehow normalize that instead of questioning it is to be complicit in the escalating cost of living crisis. And I don’t think it shows much compassion either but hey, as you say, 2025.
I say: Power to the people! Not to a bunch of investors. Thanks & happy trails! Antoine