A Rare Diamond
Simpson House Inn is not a certain notorious Brentwood mansion now on the real estate market.
It is a stately 123-year-old home in Santa Barbara that has become the first bed and breakfast establishment ever to earn the coveted five-diamond rating from AAA.
Five other hotels and two restaurants have been added to the AAA five-diamond list this year, bringing the total to 57 lodging establishments and 40 restaurants. The awards were presented Sunday at ceremonies in Palm Beach, Fla.
In California, Simpson House Inn joins the Ritz-Carlton hotels in Laguna Niguel, Marina del Rey and San Francisco; the Peninsula Beverly Hills; the Four Seasons in Newport Beach; and the Chateau du Sureau in Oakhurst.
AAA’s five-diamond restaurants in California are: L’Orangerie, Los Angeles; the Belvedere in the Peninsula Beverly Hills; Campton Place Restaurant and the Dining Room at the Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco; and Erna’s Elderberry House, Oakhurst.
The five-diamond rating is based on unannounced inspections by a team of 60 full-time professionals. AAA guidebooks contain more than 34,000 lodging places and restaurants.
“AAA five-diamond winners represent the ultimate in world-class service and facilities,” said Alan Borne, managing director of AAA publishing.
Running a B&B; is a demanding profession, and running one well enough to grab AAA’s attention had been unheard of, said Linda Davies, who owns Simpson House Inn with her husband, Glyn.
“Almost all of the properties who get the five-diamond rating are corporate-backed and have staffs of 100 managers and have deep pockets,” Davies said. “For independent entrepreneurs to get it, it’s so exciting.
“We want to show other B&Bs; that it really is possible,” she said.
In 1976, the Davies rescued the Victorian house from developers who wanted to tear it down and build condominiums. The Davies restored it and raised their two children there, roughly four blocks from the historic Santa Barbara courthouse.
In 1985, the couple began operating the B&B; in the house and an old barn they had converted into suites. They added three cottages a few years ago to improve the profitability of the operation (although any excess that might be termed “profit” has been plowed back into the business) and to ensure that any future owners wouldn’t be tempted to bulldoze the place for the valuable land underneath, she said.
Simpson House Inn has held a four-diamond rating for three years, and “we feel we’ve been operating at close to five-diamond level for close to a year,” Davies said. “We’ve been spending the money and staffing at that level.”
“It’s a little bit scary,” she said. “Now we have to work hard to keep our staff happy.”
Most guests are couples looking for a romantic getaway or women traveling on business who want the security of a small establishment, Davies said. Weekends are in such demand that they must be booked several months in advance, she said.
Repeat customers usually request specific rooms, most of which are named after members of the Simpson family who built the house in 1874. Rates for the 14 rooms range from $145 to $325 per night, and the five-diamond distinction won’t translate into a price increase, Davies said.
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Nancy Rivera Brooks can be reached via e-mail at nancy.rivera.brooks@latimes.com or by fax at (213) 237-7837.
