Employees of the Four Seasons Resort The Biltmore in Santa Barbara march on Thursday to protest what they say is the hotel’s lack of communication about its continuing closure. 
Roberto Santana, who has worked at the Four Seasons Resort The Biltmore in Santa Barbara for decades, joins Thursday’s employee protest. “We need to support our families,” he says. “It’s not good to throw 43 years into the garbage can.” 
Mario Aguilar has worked for the Four Seasons Resort The Biltmore since 1993. “I’m really disappointed,” he says. 
Employees of the Four Seasons Resort The Biltmore in Santa Barbara march on Thursday to protest what they say is the hotel’s lack of communication about its continuing closure. 
Employees of the Four Seasons Resort The Biltmore in Santa Barbara march on Thursday to protest what they say is the hotel’s lack of communication about its continuing closure. 
Employees of the Four Seasons Resort The Biltmore in Santa Barbara march on Thursday to protest what they say is the hotel’s lack of communication about its continuing closure. 
Employees of the Four Seasons Resort The Biltmore in Santa Barbara march on Thursday to protest what they say is the hotel’s lack of communication about its continuing closure. 
Employees of the Four Seasons Resort The Biltmore in Santa Barbara march on Thursday to protest what they say is the hotel’s lack of communication about its continuing closure.
Roberto Santana remembers the celebrities. Presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton. Amazon and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos. He once took a special pride in serving Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari.
“The Biltmore has been the best,” said Santana, a banquet manager at the Santa Barbara hotel. “We just need to know. We need to support our families. It's not good to throw 43 years into the garbage can.”
Santana was one of 300 people on Thursday who marched in protest of the lack of communication from the Four Seasons Resort The Biltmore or Ty Warner, the billionaire owner of the hotel.
About 650 employees abruptly lost their jobs in mid-March amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of the employees have collected unemployment checks since the closure, but a good number of the employees are not citizens, so they aren't able to collect unemployment checks.
Santana said Warner gave everyone two months of pay, which lasted through May, but now they have no health insurance, benefits or income from the luxury hotel. Worst of all, they have been ghosted by the management. No one has told them when the hotel will reopen, or specifically why it continues to be closed.
The hundreds of employees say they want answers. They carried signs and began their march at the Andree Clark Bird Refuge, walked under Highway 101, along Coast Village Road, then hung a right at Olive Mill Road before turning onto Channel Drive in front of the Biltmore tennis courts. They walked by Warner's Montecito home and back to the refuge.
The protesters were peaceful in their march and in their actions. When the owner of the Montecito Inn asked a small group of protesters to move away from the sidewalk in front of his hotel, they obliged and moved to the middle of the intersection. When a police officer from a vehicle said through a microphone to get out of the street and onto the sidewalk, they did so.
Even their chants were dressed in respect. “We want answers and good communication,” they shouted.
Santana said he would just like to know why the management is being secretive. Representatives from the Four Seasons did not return Noozhawk calls.
“If I lose this job, who is going to give me a job?” said the 61-year-old Santana, who said he made about $45 an hour with tips. “When you hit 55, it's not easy to find a job.”
Gabriel Pena said he has worked at the hotel as a bartender for more than 20 years.
“They threw all the employees out,” Pena said. “They decided to close the hotel without notice. They don't call us. They don't return our calls.”
Most other hotels in Santa Barbara have reopened amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but the Biltmore, at 1260 Channel Drive, remains closed.
The Biltmore has said in a letter to its Coral Casino members that the facilities have been in need of repair and that the Warner Hotel Group is attempting to remedy that situation during this period.
The Coral Casino's website includes a message from June 26 that states: “While other clubs are partially to fully reopened, the Coral Casino and Montecito Club have taken a more prudent approach, and will not operate with upward trends and spikes of coronavirus cases in the county and across the country. As you are aware, the occurrence of a positive case of the virus could have dire consequences long term.”
Pena said it's the workers who make it a five-star hotel.
Since 1993, Mario Aguilar has been one of those essential workers. He began in 1993 as a dishwasher, then became a barback, then a houseman for banquets.
“I'm really disappointed,” Aguilar said.
He said he has been collecting unemployment checks since the hotel's closure, but he wants to get back to work.
“I am the one supporting my family,” Aguilar said.
— Noozhawk staff writer Joshua Molina can be reached at jmolina@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
