Wine Stone Inn - Orcutt, California

Andrew C.

I haven't patronized this establishment in almost 3 years and I haven't had an alcoholic drink in 2 years. I hope this place has changed in the last few years because it was overrated and a bit of a mess when I last went there. This place is in walking distance from my house. I'm surprised it's even open still.

The Wine Stone Inn is modern and mostly quiet but I remember it having two-faced employees that occasionally talk bad about each other and their own manager. Maybe the management has changed since then, but the manager they had at the time did not seem to know how to run a successful business.

This place serves commercial wine (and some beer) that is overpriced. They would claim to be open until 9pm or 10pm (depending on the day of the week), but there are no defined closing hours. Several of the staff members frequently displayed a lack of work ethic and tended to want to close the place early even when there are customers attempting to visit. It's almost as if they want to push customers out the door. One employee that was the exception was Justin. He was a hardworking, friendly dude.

It seems that the manager, Jason, is still the same clueless man who ran the Wine Stone Inn 3 years ago. He will respond to this review and attempt to say harassed customers and staff members. What actually happened? I went into the establishment to confront a grown adult male who was spreading gossip about me to people in the community behind my back. The man I confronted tried to judge me right to my face so I did admittedly get a little heated, but by no means did I threaten him or staff, or lower myself to any violent behavior.

Never once did I "harass", bother, or aggravate any staff members. And to be completely transparent, l was several times irritated by some of the staff's shenanigans. Some were gossipy and some wouldn't show up for their shift because they were out drinking/golfing or just didn't want to go in. The manager suggests that they have definite closing times, but I was simply explaining my experience.

On more than one occasion, I was told they were closing early because it was slow and I have seen other patrons pushed out the door when they had come in before closing time. I'm not at all making this up!

I have since quit drinking and have changed quite a bit. Apparently, this place is still run by someone who has to prove a point and has not changed at all.

Jason also seems to have so much time on his hands that he can respond to reviews within seconds rather than work on improving the establishment. Stay away if you have good sense.

Peter C.

Arrived Dec. 24 with no heat in the room. Front desk was not able to help. Still no heat the next evening, but by then we had acquired a space heater. The front desk wasn’t aware that we still had a problem with the heater. Sent email to management as per the front desk’s recommendation on the 26th. They had the problem fixed by the time we returned that evening. For some reason, they had set the heat the upper 80’s. We had to leave our door open for a while before going to sleep to try to cool down the room.

The room had no hand soap in the bathroom. The front desk put some in one of their shampoo bottles for us.

The shower controls are very difficult to get right. They seem to get stuck on all hot. Turning it down to cold and then slowly back up seems to be the trick.

Avoid room 12. It’s on the corner and you hear all the street noise and garbage trucks beeping (early in the morning).

I had to call the day after we checked out to get them to email me our folio. The reservations were made online, you’d think that’s what they were going to do since they didn’t offer to print one for us at check out.

The previous time we stayed here the wifi and TV was not working. The Wine Stone Inn is very conveniently located for our visits to this area. However, we’re going to have to explore other options for future visits.

Garth O. K. N.

Used to like this place (2 or 3 prior visits) but got there and the AC was broken, and on my wife's birthday. No one informed us till after we got to the room and then returned to the front desk. After firms and polite negotiation, the remote "consultant" made a price reduction offer which we rejected. Subsequently we negotiated to not take the room and to receive a full refund; desk person kindly wrote that on a business card. Hotel did not contact us--we disputed the charge with credit card company and about 100 days later the credit card company confirmed we did not have have to pay for the room. They lost a customer and I urge caution in your dealings with this property.

Laura H.

Wow! My stay here exceeded my expectations. I've stayed at *both* chain hotels in Santa Maria, and the experience here was much better. The room was cozy, clean and had a lot of natural light. The view was lovely. The bed was super comfy, and the snack basket was such a kind treat to see after a long drive for a work trip. The bathroom was spacious, the shower had good water pressure. Employees were super kind as well.||My only small complaint has to do with the pillows, they were a bit small especially for a King bed. Everything else was wonderful, and as you can see it wasn't enough of a problem to take even 1 star off! I will be staying here again next time I am in Santa Maria.

Andee W.

Very cute Inn but not run very well. Here’s the good: they have a lovely little bar on the first floor and wine tasting is free until around six. Jennifer, the young woman who was the host there, was wonderful. Bathrooms were large in the rooms and well laid out…bed was a little too soft for us. Italian restaurant nearby delivered food for us as we were too tired from driving to go out….which was very nice! We ate that in the little bar.||The bad: our bathroom sink did not drain well….when we told the gentleman at the front desk he was rather indifferent about it. Said “yeah, the previous guest told us that”. It was not fixed. The breakfast that came with the price of the room was meh. Coffee weak…you could see right through it, no butter for the muffins. For a full house only three yoghurts were available. No milk for coffee because “the milk was outdated so we can’t put it out”. I’m sure there was a grocery store close by for milk, right? No microwave to heat the instant oatmeal….who wants to use water to make oatmeal? |Kleenex box in room had only one tissue left in it……”our supplies haven’t come in”. Yet there is a Costco 15 minutes away…which is the brand they use. I made sure to put the empty tissue box ON TOP of the garbage can so they’d know to replace it. Not done. I had to seek out housekeeping to get Kleenex. And my room coffee cup was not replaced with a clean one.||For $350 a night I think we were over charged!!!

Susan H.

I feel bad for not leaving this review sooner, but we had such an incredible stay at the Wine Stone Inn back in early April. We had 1 night away for our anniversary and we were so lucky to have found this gem of a hotel.
When we checked in (at the very tiny reception), they said to enjoy a complementary drink at the bar, and right then the live music started playing.
They bring us up to our room and it was incredible! It was the front room (I think #12) with views across the street to the beautiful rolling grassy hills. They left us a hand written note with a complementary bottle of wine. The snack box that they leave for all guests was also such a nice little treat. It was a bit windy that day, but a cute little patio to enjoy the wine and views.
Rooms were clean, staff was very friendly. The bar area is where they serve breakfast in the morning and was the perfect start to our day.
I had never been to Orcutt before, but I would absolutely go back.

Shauna M.

A hidden gem of a place and location! The beds are so comfy, rooms are clean, modern but cozy and the staff could not have been friendlier. Coming back!

Chellie H.

I was super excited to find this gem. So close to the base! I travel here once a month usually for a couple nights. The staff has always been incredible. The bartender Mariah is the best! Great location, amazing staff and quiet, clean rooms.