Thought it would be a good place for a getaway w/ my significant other. Think otherwise now. Though the place has a cool flavor to it, bohemian in nature, "W" hotel like music playing, its got way too many cons. The same breakfast served everyday for 4 days in a row, how many eggs and nutella rolls can you eat in a week??? This place is expensive for the service you get, rooms are not cleaned daily - even Howard Johnson's does that for you. We had to ask for clean towles after 2 days, nasty. The owner does seem to have a teeming social life and is shows with the endless amount of her friends that pop in and out, with loud conversation and music in hand. If you expect peace and quiet, don't come here. On the plus, the girl who takes care of the place, Vicky, is a real gem. Sadly though, lack of service, clean rooms, and all the other things you would expect for paying 290 dollars plus, make this place a bad investment. Overall, don't come here, stay at the Four Seaons in Santa Barbara instead for the same price!!

I read all the reviews first and thought I knew what to expect.

Bottom line: You're on your own at this place. The owner barely showed us our room and then went back to entertaining her friends. She was having an open studio in the house and people were wandering around the property, including into our room with our luggage. I had to track her down and ask for a key to lock our room to cut down on the traffic.

Speaking of keys, they don't lock the door at night and the building is unattended other than the sleeping guests. You can draw your own conclusions about that.

Want a cup of coffee in the morning before breakfast? Good luck. There is none of the normal B&B feeling. No menus of local restaurants, no evening wine.

In general the entire time I felt like someone had just offered me a spare room and charged me $200 a night (it's more on the weekends).

The good: Location is great, the house is fun to see and there's fun things to see in every room. The soaking tub is cool and the shower is great. They must have sunk millions of dollars into the house and I suspect the B&B was done solely for a tax write off.

My husband surprised me on our anniversary with a quick getaway to the sanitarium and it was incredible. We had just visited a winery, so the first thing we did was share a glass of wine in the amazing tub in our room. The place is so relaxing. Our hostess Nicky took great care of us and even referred us to an incredible Italian restaurant for dinner. The best part was getting a hot stone massage the next morning in one of the rooms downstairs. We were only there for a night but we left feeling completely renewed! We will definitely be going back soon!

We stayed at the Sanitarium B & B for 3 nights in April 2007. I had looked at countless B & B websites in that area, looking for one that was really beautiful. I'm surprised how many B & B's I consider ugly. They may be comfy, but they're too fussy or have terrible colors. This one really caught my eye. It's owned by an artist, and it shows. All the background colors are white, which sets off all the art and unusual, whimsical sculptures beautifully.

The staff were very friendly, welcoming, accommodating and fun to talk to. Breakfast was delicious.

Our room was lovely, roomy, and comfortable. The bed was wonderful. The bathroom was huge, and there was a large deck outside our room. We tried both the soaking tub and the steam shower, and I recommend both.

They had cruiser bikes we could borrow, which I really appreciated.

One caveat: it can be a lively place. The owners use the place for entertaining - having friends over for a weekly painting night, dinner parties, etc, so there can be noise, especially in the evening. We didn't mind it at all, and it didn't go too late. And they even invited us to paint with them, and offered us pie! But if you're looking for a super quiet place, this isn't it.

One tip - it's $100 per night more on the weekend, so we re-arranged our trip a bit so we stayed there on weeknights.

I will definitely stay there again the next time I'm in SLO.