Kimpton Canary Santa Barbara Review: Two Nights, $500 Off With Chase
We booked the Kimpton Canary through Chase Travel and both $250 Sapphire Reserve credits applied. The rooftop pool, the upgrade and the breakfast delivered. Parking was the catch.
The Kimpton Canary is the only hotel in Santa Barbara that qualifies for both of the Sapphire Reserve’s $250 hotel credits, the Edit credit and the 2026 select-hotel credit, so two prepaid nights on Chase Travel can come to $500 off. It is one of five Edit by Chase hotels in and around Santa Barbara, and the other four take one $250 credit each. We stayed two nights, both credits applied, and we left liking the hotel a lot, with one caveat that swallowed our $100 property credit: parking.
Key takeaways
- The Kimpton Canary is the only hotel in Santa Barbara that qualifies for both the $250 Edit credit and the $250 select-hotel credit, so two prepaid nights on Chase Travel can come to $500 off.
- We got every Edit perk: breakfast for two, the $100 property credit, an upgrade to a room with a Juliet balcony, early check-in and late checkout (we left at 2pm).
- Two nights came to $954.98 on Chase Travel. The two credits and a $4.38 price match brought it to $450.60.
- Parking is valet only, at $55 a night; our $100 property credit went on it.
- The rooftop pool, with views over downtown to the Santa Ynez Mountains, is the standout.
- Very dog-friendly, with bikes to borrow, and just off State Street. Hendry’s Beach, a short drive west, has an off-leash side for dogs.
- The select-hotel credit ends December 31, 2026; after that the Canary takes one $250 Edit credit per stay.
In this guide
Why we booked it, and what the credits covered
Kimpton is an IHG brand, and IHG is one of the seven hotel groups in Chase’s one-off 2026 select-hotel credit. The Canary is also in The Edit, Chase’s luxury collection. At hotels that sit in both programs, one prepaid Chase Travel stay of two nights or more collects the $250 Edit credit and the $250 select-hotel credit together. We booked two nights, paid with the Sapphire Reserve, and got $500 back on one stay.
The numbers: our two nights came to $954.98 on Chase Travel, at the Edit’s prepaid rate for two guests. The two credits took $500 off, and a price match claim took off another $4.38, so the stay cost us $450.60, about $225 a night with breakfast for two every morning, before parking. The hotel’s daily facility fee, which covers the Gold’s Gym next door, came included with the Chase booking, so nothing was added for it at checkout. The typical nightly Chase Travel rate we track for the Canary is about $654, fees included, so price your own dates before you prepay.
The price match was approved, but only as an exception. The lower rate we found elsewhere had different cancellation dates from our Chase booking, which puts a claim outside Chase’s rules, and Chase said so in the approval email. Our Chase Travel price match guide explains how to line up the refund terms so a claim does not depend on goodwill.
Our confirmation listed the Edit benefits: daily breakfast for two, a $100 property credit, a room upgrade at check-in if one is available, early check-in if available, a guaranteed 4pm late checkout, a welcome amenity and Wi-Fi. The guaranteed late checkout is more than The Edit promises in general, where late checkout is usually “if available,” so read your own confirmation. The upgrade and early check-in depend on the hotel, and both came through for us.
Check-in and the upgrade
We arrived around 2pm, earlier than a normal check-in, and our room was ready. We had booked a standard king, and at check-in we were upgraded to a room with a Juliet balcony. Everyone we dealt with was friendly, and that set the tone for the rest of the stay.
The rooftop pool
The rooftop pool is the standout. It sits between two pergolas with loungers and lounge seating around it, and the view runs over the red-tile rooftops of downtown to the Santa Ynez Mountains.
Breakfast for two
Breakfast for two each morning is one of the Edit perks, and it is the one you notice most on a short stay. These were ours: an avocado bagel with red onion, tomato and sprouts, and a shakshuka with grilled pita. We ordered the shakshuka vegetarian, and the kitchen added extra avocado and peppers for us.
The avocado bagel, and the vegetarian shakshuka with extra avocado.
On the other morning we had pancakes with strawberries and blueberries, alongside the vegetarian shakshuka again.
The catch: parking
Parking at the Canary is valet only, at $55 a night. On a two-night stay that is $110, and it is where our $100 property credit went. The credit cannot go on the room rate, taxes, fees or tips, so charges like parking, dining and the bar are where it gets used. It worked out, since the credit covered almost all of the parking, but it also means the credit did not go toward dinner or drinks the way it might at a hotel with free parking.
We looked at the alternatives. There is an open public lot near the Funk Zone for about $15 a night, but it felt less secure, and we did not want to leave the car there overnight. If you are driving, count $55 a night as part of the price of the room, and plan to spend the property credit on it.
Dog-friendly, with bikes to borrow
Our dog came with us, and the hotel is very dog-friendly: our dog was welcome everywhere we went, including the lobby bar. There is coffee in the lobby each morning and an evening social hour with wine, though the days and times vary.
The hotel also lends bikes free, first come, first served each day, and they are the easiest way to reach the water without waiting on the valet for the car. The beach is about a mile away, and once you reach it a bike path runs along the sand beside Cabrillo Boulevard in both directions.
Stearns Wharf starts where State Street meets the beach, and you can ride out along its wooden deck. At the far end there are benches along the rail and people fishing, and on our ride a pelican had a stretch of the railing to itself.
Around the hotel
The Canary sits just off State Street, Santa Barbara’s main street of shops, cafes and restaurants, so most of downtown is a walk or a short bike ride away. Heading down State Street toward the water, you pass places like Joe’s Cafe on the 500 block, with its neon sign and checked tablecloths.
The beaches
The coast is the other half of any Santa Barbara trip. We watched this sunset at Hendry’s Beach, officially Arroyo Burro Beach, near The Boathouse restaurant, a short drive west of downtown. It is a dog-friendly beach: the stretch in front of the county park is on-leash, and walking east, below the Douglas Family Preserve bluffs, dogs can run off-leash. Watching the dogs play in the water was one of the best parts of the trip.
Closer to downtown, the beaches on either side of Stearns Wharf are the ones you reach on the hotel’s bikes. On calm mornings sailboats sit at anchor off the harbor, and on a clear day the Channel Islands line the horizon across the water.
The light over the channel changes quickly toward evening. Look closely at the horizon and you can also pick out the offshore oil platforms in the Santa Barbara Channel.
Swimmers at the water’s edge with the Channel Islands behind, and an evening over the channel.
How it compares with Santa Barbara’s other Edit hotels
The Canary is the most downtown of Santa Barbara’s five Edit hotels, and the only one in the select-hotel program, so it is the only one where $500 comes off a single stay; each of the others takes one $250 Edit credit. Hotel Californian sits at the bottom of State Street by the beach and Stearns Wharf. El Encanto, a Belmond hotel, is up in the hills of the Riviera, with a typical Chase Travel rate of about $1,072 a night. San Ysidro Ranch is in Montecito, and the Ritz-Carlton Bacara is a resort up the coast in Goleta. For a walkable downtown base, and the one $500 stack in town, the Canary is the obvious pick. Our Santa Barbara Edit hotel page maps all five with their typical rates, and the California page covers the rest of the state. If you also carry the Amex Platinum, The Edit vs Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts shows which program suits a stay like this one.
Checkout, and our verdict
Our confirmation listed a guaranteed 4pm late checkout. We left at 2pm, so the last morning did not have to be a rush to pack.
Our verdict is good, with caveats. With both Sapphire Reserve credits applied, a rooftop pool, an upgrade, breakfast every morning and flexible check-in and checkout, the value was excellent, and the staff made it easy to like the place. The caveat is the cost of having a car: at $55 a night for valet-only parking, drivers should treat parking as part of the room rate. If you arrive without a car, or you are happy to spend the property credit on parking as we did, it is an easy hotel to recommend, especially if you travel with a dog.
If you go
- Book it to take both credits. Prepay two nights or more in Chase Travel with the Sapphire Reserve. The Edit credit and the 2026 select-hotel credit then apply to the same stay, up to $500. The select-hotel credit ends December 31, 2026. Our Edit Maximizer shows which nights the credits cover best.
- Budget for parking. Valet only, $55 a night when we stayed; the $100 property credit can cover it on a two-night stay. The hotel’s website has current parking and pet details.
- Ask about the upgrade and early check-in. Both are “when available” Edit perks, and both came through for us. Our booking also listed a guaranteed 4pm late checkout; we left at 2pm.
- Bring the dog, borrow the bikes. The hotel is very dog-friendly, and the bikes save you from getting the car out of the valet. For the dog, Hendry’s Beach has an off-leash side.
- Check the price within 24 hours of booking. If another site sells the same stay for less, the Chase Travel price match can refund the difference. Match the cancellation terms too: ours did not, and Chase approved our $4.38 refund only as an exception.
Where the Edit credit works in Santa Barbara
5 Edit hotels · from about $654 a night on Chase Travel
On a prepaid stay of two nights or more, the Sapphire Reserve gets you:
- $250 off with the Edit credit
- Daily breakfast for two
- A $100 property credit
- A room upgrade when available
Top rated here:
- Hotel Californian typically $1,037 a night
- The Ritz-Carlton Bacara, Santa Barbara typically $1,070 a night
- El Encanto, Santa Barbara typically $1,072 a night
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