Villa Santa Barbara

I arrived at Villa Santa Barbara 2 1/2 weeks ago after a two year process of discarding and downsizing my condo in New Jersey. I am most grateful for my original contact person, Apple Pelare who explained many of the details needed to become a resident here,, not the least of which was informing me of the medical resources available in Santa Barbara, a challenge after having the same doctors in New Jersey for three decades. I have found the staff and the residents to be friendly and helpful, and the fact that Villa Santa Barbara is located in the middle of town is so convenient; besides, I can see the ocean on a clear day from my one bedroom apartmentl with a balcony. And the dining room offers many tasty choices. I have enjoyed so far, tai chi, movies, a read-aloud group, exercise in their exercise room as well as having my linnen changed weekly and my place cleaned. I enjoyed an outing to Shoreline. Park and a shopping trip to Trader Joes's--an especially nice perk for those who do not drive. In short, I am very glad to be here. Natalie Beaumont

We are looking ahead. Of 3 places we’ve seen, this is our first choice

We we’re looking for a place for my mom and dad. We had done a lot of research. We had a lot of reservations about this particular place. It didn’t have a great reputation in the community and lately they have had multiple licensing investigations. We have a family member who works at community care Licensing, and without them breaking any rules or laws, he informed us of the past and present issues/allegations against them. It was concerning, but we decided to investigate for ourselves. The place seemed lovely enough. The nursing staff & Front desk staff (which they call concierge) were wonderful. We went in for a tour in Mid January 2026, With the executive director at that time. It wasn’t a great experience. At one point I believe he thought we had walked away and that we were out of ear shot, But we were not. We were able to hear him speaking terribly about one of the residents there. One of the nursing staff had come to him with an issue. I don’t wanna go into a lot of detail, but it made us very uncomfortable. When we realized how disrespectful he treated his staff, that was enough for us. We jammed out of there and started looking at other places. Recently, It came to my attention that there was a new director there. So we decided to give it another chance. We went back and met with the new executive director. Her name is Apple. She is beyond lovely. We just Don’t have enough great things to say about her. She was honest, upfront, very caring and really knowledgeable. She pointed out things to us that we hadn’t even thought about. It was such a wonderful experience. she was very genuine in all of our conversations and we had a great second tour. With this place under her new leadership and guidance we feel much better about moving our parents here. We are so happy and pleased. Hopefully my parents will be moving in soon. We’re so grateful that we met The new executive director and we had a different experience. I would encourage anyone who may have had a similar experience, to give it another shot.

The very best in town! Caring staff, beautiful garden and patios, clean--an all around great experience,! Thank you so much for taking such wonderful care of Marilee.