LODGINGS WITH CHARACTER IN SANTA BARBARA- WITHOUT SPENDING A FORTUNE BED & BUDGET.

Byline: Eric Noland Travel Editor

SANTA BARBARA - There's an awful lot to like about this place:

Gentle climate. Considerable exposure to the coastline, and a thriving wharf area. A preponderance of charming, Spanish-influenced architecture - the result of brilliant zoning foresight by city leaders after a 1925 earthquake all but leveled the place. A number of interesting shops and fabulous restaurants along or near its main artery, State Street. And insulation against encroaching development through the presence of mountains, ocean ... and a thoroughly obstinate civic temperament.

Small wonder that for people caught in the tangle of greater Los Angeles' relentless sprawl, Santa Barbara has long been a popular weekend retreat.

For getaway visitors, however, finding a place to bed down here creates a bit of a puzzle. There is no shortage of choices at the high end of the spectrum: San Ysidro Ranch, Four Seasons Biltmore, El Encanto, Fess Parker's DoubleTree, the Simpson House Inn. At the other end are a lot of nondescript, boxy motels. In between is a vast gulf.

But travelers on moderate budgets should take heart. It's possible to find a weekend rate in the range of $100 or slightly over without completely sacrificing a sense of character in your lodgings.

On a recent investigative trip to Santa Barbara, a ceiling of $125 was pre-established, and eight properties were surveyed. In the cases of some of the city's more stylish bed-and-breakfasts, there might have been only a room or two that fell into the category - and in such instances that often meant the inn's smallest room, or one that opened directly off a common area. But the benefit was that you could still avail yourself of an inn's gardens, living room and turn-of-the-20th-century identity without busting a budget.

In other cases, the rooms were in hotels or motels that have been dramatically made over into boutique properties - with exposed wood, Mexican tiles, wrought-iron bed posts - to stand apart from the blandness of the budget motel chains.

This much was obvious: There are plenty of moderately priced rooms to be had in Santa Barbara for those persistent enough to search them out.

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2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Many travelers gravitate to bed-and-breakfast inns for a sense of charm, and there is plenty to be had in Santa Barbara's Bath Street Inn, housed in an 1890's Dutch Colonial Revival house.

(2 -- color) no caption (Two glasses stuffed with napkins on woven tray, with bottle of clear beverage)

Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer