While the Four Seasons Resort The Biltmore was set to reopen after four years this past May, the iconic Santa Barbara hotel still has a ways to go in terms of renovations, improvements and landscaping. 

On Thursday the Montecito Board of Architectural Review (MBAR) evaluated conceptual designs and denied the resort preliminary approval to renovate guest rooms, guest services, add a new pool complex, and back-of-house facilities.  

The hotel, at 1260 Channel Drive in Montecito, has been the face of controversy and mystery over the past four years after it closed in 2020 due to the pandemic. The closure resulted in 650 employees being furloughed and a lengthy legal battle between the Four Seasons and the workers. 

The owner, Ty Warner, used the closure as an opportunity to update the property, but plans have been held up by the Montecito board. 

The main issue the board discussed on Thursday was the plan to construct a family pool complex, which would include 3,557-square-foot irregularly shaped pool with a beach and rock waterfall feature and a 9,716-square-foot circular river-like pool with two beaches on the other side of the rock waterfall feature. 

The 3,557-square-foot pool would be part of an 8,267-square-foot pool facility with a towel station, outdoor showers, and restrooms.

The circular pool would be no more than 20 feet wide and 150 feet long. The pool would have an island in the center with a service bar, restrooms, snack stand and outdoor showers.  

Mark Lloyd, a private land-use agent working with the Biltmore, told the board that they need these new pools because they lost access to the pool across the street at the Coral Casino Beach and Cabana Club.

Biltmore guests were previously allowed access to the casino pool, but all that changed in July 2023 when the County Board of Supervisors approved limiting pool access to casino members and their guests. 

“We need to embark on our next century of luxury hotel use at this facility, and having another pool is a critical element of that,” Lloyd said. “This property cannot open without another pool complex area.”

While the 9,716-square-foot pool may look like a river, Lloyd made it clear to the board that this is not a lazy river. 

“I know that there’s concern in some aspects of the community that this thing is going to be full of plastic rafts and innertubes; that is not what’s going on here,” Lloyd said. “This is a tranquil area.”

The board considered other aspects of the renovation including constructing 38 hot tubs at the cottage bungalows, construction of a new 5,770-square-foot outdoor dining terrace for a new 125-seat restaurant, relocating the children’s facility, and converting existing space for retail use. 

Board Chair John Watson said his biggest concern about these improvements is that they will ruin the character of the Biltmore. 

“My concern has always been that this project is going beyond the point where it retains the character of the Biltmore that was originally built and has existed for almost a hundred years,” Watson said. 

A historian working with the Biltmore on the project argued that many aspects of the existing character will stay intact by keeping designs consistent with the Spanish Revival design that Reginald Johnson originally implemented. 

She argued that the pool will be at the edge of the property, shielded by landscaping, and won’t interfere with the center of the property. The historian argued that the amount of changes in the project are not enough to deplete the hotel’s integrity and make it no longer historic.

Watson argued that if this new pool is caused by the broken connection between the resort and the casino, then that decision may need to be reversed. 

“In understanding of the project before us, this might reveal that that was a terrible decision and that what this board might recommend is to go back and re-establish that link between the Coral and the Biltmore,” Watson said.

Board members were concerned about the size of the pool complex and the number of hot tubs that were being added. Throughout the meeting, board members took issue with the historian’s findings and asked for a peer review or a second opinion. 

Board Vice Chair David Mendro took issue with the green wood fencing around the bungalows, the fiberglass hot tubs, and the size of the river-like circular pool.

“They all really lack the elegance, beauty and timelessness of that historic Biltmore property,” Mendro said. “I know you want to create a luxury hotel with amenities, but I think in those areas you’re really falling short; it’s shortsighted not to do that right with a property of this magnitude.”

At the end of the hearing, Watson told the Biltmore representatives that they needed to make a choice: either return the hotel to its original historic nature or turn it into a completely modern resort. 

“I think the bottom line here is a project that appears to want to be a modern contemporary project, but yet still fit within historical context,” Watson said. “The problem might be you’re trying to be historical at the same time. I would like to ask you to go back and reconsider whether you want to walk away from that idea and just do a modern hotel; if not, please respect the history, the heart, the ambiance, the view, the character of what’s there — I see it going away.”

The board denied the resort preliminary approval, causing another delay for the project. 

In a statement to Noozhawk from Sean Lavelle, president of development for Ty Warner Hotels and Resorts, Lavelle said it is their goal to have the hotel open in early 2025 and that any further delays will prevent that. 

“This was an unfortunate public hearing with an unproductive outcome,” Lavelle said. “If our current effort to position the Biltmore to attract today’s luxury traveler is going to be held to a 1920s historical standard, we will always miss. That standard no longer exists, nor has it for half a century.”

Lavelle went on to add that the board exceeded their limit of authority and that the historian was ignored and belittled. 

“We will continue forward in an appeal and are confident that our plans and architectural integrity are at the forefront of this revitalization,” Lavelle said.