March 1, 2006 - A State Sale

In case you haven’t heard, Ed is not perfect. For one thing, he mumbles. So, when he called up hotels today and said, “Do you have a room?” He often got much the same response as Inspector Clouseau did in The Pink Panther Strikes Again. Whether speaking with a ridiculous French accent, or letting consonants flow into vowels, it doesn’t seem to make a difference. If people can’t understand you, then you might as well be using smoke signals. But, try telling Ed this! And no, his dog does not bite.

The reason Ed was on the phone, and not one of the members of the dedicated staff of edhat.com was, that the dedicated staff was all over town, like elephants with diarrhea. We were taking pictures for our March Ed-Ness competition - a month long Wednesday Where Is It (WWII) extravaganza that starts today. Not only are we going to be having WWII’s every day, but we are also going to keep track of people’s entries. Points will be awarded all month for successful identifications. Contestants with the most points will get prizes. Sounds like fun, eh?

Back to Ed … he was calling up all of the hotels on State Street to get an update to a story we did about two years ago. Ed wanted to know how much it costs these days to get a room in Santa Barbara during the summer months. Two years ago the average price was $136.00. House prices have probably risen about 20% during this time span. Did the hotel room prices rise in unison?

We told our subscribers yesterday, that we would be looking for a room in June. We could have tried to find lodging during the weekend of the 17th, but that would have been unrepresentative. That weekend, in case you don’t know, is UCSB graduation, a time when parents and other interested parties descend upon our little town to lay witness to the moment of achievement. And such a big occasion (which is the culmination of a significant financial investment for some) deserves more than a day trip. Last year, Ed tried to find a room for some relatives during graduation weekend and, even with connections and influence, the closest room he could find them was in Solvang!

So, Ed didn’t ask about that weekend. He pretended to look for a room for the weekend of June 2nd. He wanted 2 beds for 2 adults (despite what the tabloids say, Ed and his imaginary traveling companion maintain a strictly platonic relationship). At the Pepper Tree, the very friendly and courteous person on the other end of the phone told us all about the Hotel’s central location and all of its wonderful amenities. Then, without even taking a breath, she asked,

“Why are you coming to Santa Barbara?”

Ed thought quickly. He did not want to blow his cover.

“A wedding,” he said. Phew.

Price follows quality. The prices ranged from $91.99 for 2 full beds at Motel 6, to $239.00/night for 2 queens at the Hotel Santa Barbara. Of course this is before tax (12%, we think). The average price for all the places on State was $157.15, a 16% increase in two years. Most places offer some sort of continental breakfast, but many of them sounded like the breakfast might be plastic wrapped pastry with weak coffee to wash it down. If we were really visiting Santa Barbara, we would go for the early bird special at Esau’s, or maybe the Cajun Kitchen. In fact, we might go anyway.

In yesterday’s contest, DuckLos1, with a guess of 156.77 came the closest to the actual average. DuckLos1 wins an Edhat t-shirt that we will drop off for him/her the next time we visit.

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* picture shown above is of the the Double Queen Room at the Hotel Santa Barbara.