A restoration project is under way at Pacific Crest Santa Barbara, a beachfront hotel whose owners are cleaning up the mess — and damaged reputation — left by a longtime manager.
Natives Greg and Jennifer Mishkin are renovating the rooms, grounds and image of the hotel at 433 Corona Del Mar, a 26-room hideaway that opened a stone’s throw from the Pacific Ocean in the 1960s.
Greg’s parents, Hal and Barbara Mishkin, bought the hotel in 1977 when Greg was a teenager, adding five rooms and establishing a reputation as a clean, affordable getaway with ocean views near East Beach called Pacific Crest Inn. A room rented for as low as $50 a night.
When they decided to retire 20 years ago, they signed the lease over to a manager who they say let the motel turn into a rundown nuisance to the city and its neighbors.
Online reviews clued Greg Mishkin into the real damage done — horror stories involving unkempt rooms, unsavory guests and awful customer service that advised vacationers to steer clear.
“We’re fixing it back up,” said Greg Mishkin, who took on the task late last year with his wife.
The couple, who spent 20-plus years as insurance brokers, are spearheading renovations and a cultural shift to market Pacific Crest Santa Barbara as a boutique hotel with personal touches typical of a bed and breakfast.
The couple added Santa Barbara Roasting Co. coffee in all the rooms, providing a continental breakfast and hands-on management the property so desperately needed.
“You should feel special,” Jennifer Mishkin said.
Crews ripped carpet out of the rooms and replaced it with hardwood floors, installed new beds, flat-screen TVs and silent heating and air-conditioning units, and added beachy décor in spaces pre-designed for two people.
New landscaping and lighting adorn the grounds, including a swimming pool and a mural in the parking lot, which could soon boast more local art.
Rooms have been available for rent — at rates closer to $200, competitive with neighboring hotels like Motel 6 and the Hyatt — and the couple expect at least 20 rooms will be back in regular circulation by later this year.
The old hotel had people living there, but the Mishkins are finding word of the restoration has already started to spread.
They hope Pacific Crest Santa Barbara will once again be known as a safe, clean and quiet getaway for visitors of all ages and incomes, playfully plugging the hotel’s brief cameo in Aerosmith’s “Crazy” music video.
“We’re just trying to make it part of the community,” Jennifer Mishkin said, noting a grand opening would be planned for later this year.
— Noozhawk staff writer Gina Potthoff can be reached at gpotthoff@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.