The Genevieve Reviews

We recently had the most magical wedding at The Genevieve in Santa Ynez, and we couldn't be happier with our choice! From the moment we stepped onto the property, we knew this was where we wanted to celebrate our special day.

Our ceremony took place in the enchanting garden, surrounded by lush greenery and the sweet scent of flowers. The setting was absolutely idyllic, and our guests were in awe of the beauty that surrounded us. Pam Roberts was an absolute dream to work with. Her kindness and warmth made the entire planning process seamless, and her flexibility ensured that every detail was perfect from beginning to end. Pam's genuine soul truly shines through, and we couldn't imagine anyone better to oversee our dream venue.

Following the ceremony, we enjoyed a delightful happy hour on the Lawn, where our guests mingled and enjoyed delicious hors d'oeuvres. The atmosphere was lively and joyful, setting the tone for the rest of the evening.

For dinner, we moved to the private and intimate Coach Room, where the ambiance was cozy and romantic. The venue's character added a unique touch to our celebration, making it truly unforgettable. And let's talk about the food - it was absolutely divine! Nothing like any wedding meal we've had before. The culinary team at The Genevieve surpassed expectations.

Not only is The Genevieve a fabulous and unique venue, but the entire experience was elevated by the exceptional service and attention to detail provided by the staff. From the premium beverage service to the spacious lawn with firepits, every aspect of our wedding was flawlessly executed.

We also opted for a wedding experience, turning The Genevieve into our own private paradise for the weekend. The luxurious accommodations and amenities provided the perfect backdrop for pre-wedding pampering and post-reception relaxation.

Overall, our wedding at The Genevieve exceeded all of our expectations. If you're looking for a wedding location on the Central Coast that combines luxury, sophistication, and garden glam, look no further than The Genevieve. We can't recommend it highly enough!

We recently held our wedding at The Genevieve in June 2023. The experience was amazing! The entire staff and managerial team were so helpful and everything exceeded our expectations. The hotel and grounds are so beautiful. The food and drink served at the wedding was delicious and our guests raved of its quality and presentation. The most important things to us was the atmosphere, food and entertainment. As mentioned, the atmosphere and food was amazing. We brought in a Mariachi band for cocktail hour and had a DJ for the reception. The managerial team was so flexible with all our requests and assisted all our vendors to make sure they had everything they needed to make sure our day went off without a hitch. There is nothing we would have done differently, and there were no hiccups during the entire wedding day. We would chose this venue over and over again!

I can’t even tell you how many venues I researched.. easily hundreds. But as soon as I came across The Genevieve (formerly, Santa Ynez Inn), something inside me knew this was the one. I kept researching, comparing prices, packages, possibilities, but I kept coming back. For us, it was very important to have our closest family members and bridal party on site, to serve incredibly delicious hot food, and to be able to have multiple different venues within one.

The Genevieve, being a B&B at heart, knows how to emphasize service and put people at the forefront of every decision, and that was felt by us, our families, and every guest who shared that special wedding weekend with us. From check-in to check-out and all questions in between, it was all smiles and kickass service. There are 20 fabulous rooms on site, a perfect amount for a smaller wedding to fit your closest guests. If you do plan your wedding here over a weekend, note that you will need to do a full buy-out. But honestly why would you want anyone not at your wedding staying there during that time? Also that honeymoon suite… I mean COME ON!

Like I mentioned above, food is a serious priority to us. When we arranged our food & beverage tasting at The Victor, the new on-site restaurant, we got to select a handful of drinks and appetizers/main courses. We had no idea we were in for SUCH A TREAT. Everything served to us was displayed so beautifully and the flavors matched the aesthetic. We got 3 main courses that were all cooked to perfection and all were steaming hot when dropped. When I tell you we had 74 guests at our wedding, and 75% ordered the filet, and all of them came out HOT and cooked to perfection.. How do you even cook that many perfect filets? I’m still at a loss, but that’s exactly what we wanted and what Beto delivered.

You may not have really understood what I meant by “to be able to have multiple different venues within one” so let me explain. The actual inn is on its own, that’s where all the rooms are, where breakfast is held, etc. Then there is the ceremony lawn, which is split into ceremony on one side, and post-ceremony happy hour on the other side. It’s green, there are tons of trees and beautiful flowers all around. You walk through this section towards The Victor, hang left, and you’re at the Coach House, this grand indoor dining room. But wait, first there is an amazing bar too! Then open the doors at the back of the Coach House, behind the bride & groom table, and there is an outdoor dance floor. We absolutely loved that throughout the wedding day, we were able to use every inch of this beautiful venue. And it was like a little surprise for guests, every new spot we went to!

Beyond the actual event, planning and coordination with the team was very easy. They had a list of to-do’s with due dates, and being organized myself, it was pretty swift from start to finish.
I wish I could thank Pam, Kris, Chef Beto, Dana, and Esme (and everyone else!) even more. It was quite literally the best weekend of our lives and they played such a big part in that. We can’t wait to come back just the two of us for a future anniversary! I would recommend throwing the wedding of your dreams here to anyone, especially those who value having your loved ones with you on site, eating unbelievable food, and not having to jump around from venue to venue. I could say so much more but I’ll leave it to you. Go check it out and fall in love with it for yourself!

I have worked as a wedding planner in the Santa Ynez/Santa Barbara area for almost a decade now. I've gotten to watch the area grow as a destination for people travelling from all over for wine and weddings alike. I have to say without a second thought that the Genevieve is by far one of the best hotels and locations to host a wedding.

The property is beautiful and feels very private but has the added bonus of being right in the middle of downtown Santa Ynez - walking distance to all the restaurants, coffee shops, salons, etc. The hotel itself is beautiful inside and is decorated so cute - there is no shortage of photo ops plus the hotel rooms themselves are fantastic. You can actually buyout the entire hotel for you and your guests and literally have the entire place to yourself for your wedding weekend. There are indoor and outdoor spaces to host the various parts of your event and each of them are beautiful in their own ways. The staff are all the most wonderful people I have had the pleasure of working with and will do anything and everything they can to make your wedding weekend amazing - added bonus the food is soooo good and the bar staff can create all kinds of tasty signature cocktails for you too.

If you are shopping for a phenomenal wedding venue and/or hotel in the Santa Ynez area make sure to put The Genevieve at the top of your list to check out! Or even as a place to stay while you're venue hunting! You won't regret it!

We had our wedding at the SY Inn last month and it was truly perfect. We knew the second we a the venue that it was perfect for us. We knew we wanted the venue to be intimate and for everything to be at one venue (no separate locations for ceremony/reception). Our only concern was outside music/party having to end by 10 pm which was quickly solved w us renting out all rooms at the inn. We booked all 20 rooms at the Inn so that we could have full use of the venue, all of our wedding party and family members stayed at the inn. Once the 10 pm curfew hit we were able to move inside to the 'parlor room' and continue the dancing until around 1 am. It felt like the perfect after party yet all at the same location. John and Julio were both amazing. John was our main contact for all our planning needs and Julio was there for anything on site, both of them were very accommodating and easy to work with. Wedding planning was made insanely easy, the Inn provides the food/bar/tables/chairs/etc, we still had a day-of wedding planner to push things along but besides that I took care of everything with the help of John.
As far as the actual wedding, everything went PERFECTLY. The food was so good, our guests told us that it was the best wedding food they've ever had. The coachhouse perfectly fit our 2 long table and about 90 guests. The dance floor was exactly the right size so that everyone wanted to dance. And the fire pits were a great touch for anyone wanting to just chill. I can't say enough amazing things about this venue and all the staff, highly recommend booking for a weekend away or your wedding!

We recently got married at Santa Ynez Inn and it was the most beautiful, perfect day we could ever imagine. Our wedding had been postponed due to Covid, however John Schultz and the staff at SYI had been completely accommodating for us as we dealt with the changing guidelines. They were completely professional with us throughout the whole process. We had about 65 guests with our ceremony and cocktail hour in the garden area, and the reception in the coach house. Our guests were completely in awe of how beautiful the space is. The food was amazing, drinks were freshly made, and staff was on top of it. Staying at the inn made the day even more special, the rooms are pristine and hospitality that is unmatched! We had our rehearsal dinner at The Landsby, under the same ownership, with the same delicious food and amazing staff. I have nothing but great things to say about our wedding weekend! Highly recommend.

We had our wedding scheduled for October but had to recently cancel due to COVID. Throughout the entire process, John and the staff at the Santa Ynez could not have been more helpful and flexible with adapting to the unexpected changes and closures. The venue is absolutely beautiful and affordable. We had to make the difficult decision to officially cancel, and John called me personally. He is the best person to work with, offered us a full refund, and made an emotional and difficult decision easier for us. My husband and I plan on returning to the Santa Ynez Inn for our anniversary and for many more trips in the future.

My husband and I were looking for a beautiful, lowkey spot for our small ceremony in January and found exactly what we were looking for in the coach house at the Santa Ynez inn! John on staff was extremely helpful and communicative, and our vendors had no problems getting on site to set up florals. My bridesmaids and I all got ready in one of the suites at the Inn and it was MAGICAL and beautiful, and the library downstairs was the perfect spot for the groom and groomsmen to get dressed and toast whiskey in. We could not have asked for a better venue for our ceremony!

I got married at the Inn on October 1st, and it could not have gone better. I was so happy with the service, the attention and the communication by the Assistant GM Kristopher Salloway, he made sure to go over every detail with me from start to finish! His attention to detail, exceeded our expectations. My husband and I stayed at their sister property, The Landsby for a few nights before staying at The Inn, and Kristopher made it a point to come by to welcome us. This venue is absolutely stunning. We'll absolutely be back to visit Kristopher and The Santa Ynez Inn. I would give 10 stars if I could.

My husband and I chose to have our wedding at this hotel. We couldn't have chosen a better venue. It was so lovely and surpassed my expectations!

Planning a wedding at this venue was as stress free as it could have been. Kristopher, the wedding coordinator from the Inn, was available to help us at every step of the way in the planning process and the day-of event execution. He helped us write out a timeline, create a floor plan, arrange a tasting of the menu, and was very accommodating in providing ice tea and water for guests at the ceremony, and a few decorative tables as well. He also threw in extra roasted vegetable dishes at the reception buffet that we weren't expecting! The Inn provided tables, linens, dinnerware, chairs, a full bar, a full buffet and servers. I loved that I didn't have to worry about clean up or coordinating with a million vendors.

The atmosphere at the Inn made the wedding so lovely. The vintage architecture and all of the greenery and flowers gave us some amazing photos. We held the reception in the coach house, which has beautiful wood floors, huge romantic barn doors, bar area, and big chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. It was perfect for an elegant, intimate, candlelit reception.

As far as staying at the Inn, that was a great experience as well. My husband and I got the honeymoon suite, complete with jacuzzi, fireplace, and balcony. The Inn provides a continental breakfast every morning, as well as hors d'oeuvres and dessert in the evenings. I am used to the standard boring continental breakfast from chain hotels, but this was 10 times better than that. Delicious gourmet pastries, berries and fruit, artisan granola, and omelets, crepes and pancakes made to order. Also great coffee and a fancy selection of teas.

We were so impressed by this hotel and couldn't be happier that we decided to have our wedding here!

VERY reasonably priced and well worth it! The event coordinator, accommodations, food and attention to details was impeccable1

The Santa Ynez Inn was the absolute perfect place for my wedding ceremony. The staff was amazing. Very helpful and friendly. The Inn was also a beautiful setting for pictures. We will be back for anniversary's to come!

The venue was beautiful. We had our ceremony in the outside area and the reception in the Coach House. The cost for the venue was more than reasonable. Catering was done by the venue and the food options were varied and everyone enjoyed the food.

The event planner (Bobby Rosenstrauch) was very helpful, providing advice regarding additional vendors as well as staging and timing of the event. Bobby helped us coordinate the entire event through e-mails and phone calls as we lived over 3 hours from the venue. The wedding day went very smoothly and that was in large part to Bobby's assistance throughout the process.

Highly recommend venue for ceremony and coach house for reception. All dinner selections were outstanding. Kristopher and his staff did a great job with attention to detail.

I had my reception here and they also referred me to other vendors for my linen and dance floor rentals, flowers, decorations, and cake. I worked with Bethany and she was great! The rental fee was much less than it would have been in Santa Barbara, and I got a lot of help with planning too! Overall, it worked out great and I would recommend it for the reception and other planning needs.

Everyone was excellent
And personable and accommodating

We booked the SYI for our wedding in November 2014 with a wedding day of January 2, 2016. We have a detailed review that we left on Yelp (check it out). But for the character limit, here’s the synopsis:

-Kirsten did not set up any meetings or follow up with communication, I ALWAYS reached out to her regarding logistics and meetings
-Our deposits were never charged automatically, I ALWAYS called the hotel to remind Kirsten to charge our card. Apparently she never saved our new address or card number either so I had to give it her multiple times
-Prepare to ask Kirsten the same question multiple times...and get different answers
-Our rehearsal dinner was cancelled here 4 weeks prior (we had to find a replacement)
-Expect there to be last minute changes because Kirsten is not detail orientated (i.e. seating chart was not set up per layout, lawn was not flipped from the ceremony per layout, no juice station per layout & discussion, menu items missing from tasting, ect...)
-Expect the bill to be incorrect. We received the bill at 2pm on our wedding day. Check. Their. Math!!! Then expect to go back and forth via email for a week to discuss compensation. When the final is finally correct, the itemization on the bill wasn’t fixed...just a line item at the bottom that says “Adj Group Attrition / refund for disputes”.

Gorgeous venue, beautiful hotel, amazing hotel staff that is helpful and understanding. The poor front desk staff was caught in the middle while we were trying to reach Kirsten and Kristopher. But in the end, we will always remember our wedding as the best day of our lives because we made it so. We didn’t let anyone ruin anything.

We were HUGELY disappointed with Pam and Kristopher's planning, oversight and coordination of our wedding at the Santa Ynez Inn (now called The Genevieve). We were informed that Kristopher was hired as the new General Manager several months after we signed our contract in January, 2022, and we made sure to meet with him right away to review all of the contractual and verbal agreements that were promised by John, Reservations Manager, who we had previously been planning with. We were happy to hear from Kristopher that everything would be honored.

Ten months before our wedding, it was John who put us at ease with the Inn's rain plan (using the parlor for the wedding, and flipping the coach house reception area to a dance floor), as well as using the parlor for the after party, all of which are referenced in emails. John explained to us that since we were renting out every room in the inn on top of our site fee for our wedding, the usage of the parlor would be included as a part of our wedding events.

Seven months before the wedding, a Director of Sales and Catering was hired (Pam), and we were assured by Kristopher that she had been brought up to speed on everything. This was not the case, as she attempted to renege on key details of the wedding plans, citing repeatedly that if they were not detailed in the contract they were not valid and would not be honored, even though we produced numerous emails documenting our previous conversations. We were told that we could use their parlor for an after party and then we were told that the party had to end by 11pm (one hour after our reception) - so we had to pay for the bar next door instead.

Pam and Kristopher allowed us to have the ceremony in the parlor, but tried to charge us more money closer to our event and said the ceremony would be standing room only - no chairs. I had to email a video of a recent wedding where they allowed someone else to use chairs. Standing room only for 87 people in a venue where we had already paid a site fee and rented the rooms for the entire Inn seemed very unreasonable to us. After expressing that this felt dishonest given we were told we could use the parlor room by Pam’s predecessor, they allowed us to use the room and put in enough chairs. Pam also attempted to charge us higher prices for our entrees than what was stated in our contract, and only when we pushed back did she say she would “honor the contract” which at best felt like she was very disorganized.

Under two months before the wedding, Pam informed us that our rain plan that John had approved would not be honored, and that we would have to place the dance area outside under a tent. After battling all of the other key points she tried to renege on, we agreed to the outside tent in the area that she designated. However, the week of our wedding a tent company informed us that providing a tent would be more of an obstruction to our guests due to Pam's restrictions (no anchors for the tent could be placed on astroturf or near plants which would limit the size of the tent to 40 people (we had 87), and one hook could not be attached to the building to stabilize tent's rain gutters to keep rain out of the tent) - the tent company gave us a full refund, with their empathy.

The day before our wedding the power went out while our guests were arriving and the inn’s backup generator was broken so there were no lights or ability for people to check. The power was restored at 1pm, but a ladder to the attic was left open in the middle of the hallway while my guests were arriving (see attached picture).

The list goes on and on, and we felt if the attitudes and customer service had been better, the obstacles of unexpected weather would have been manageable. Overall Pam’s attitude in particular was awful, she argued the entire time, couldn’t keep details straight and we felt she never took responsibility even when we told her she was ruining our wedding - and we felt Kristopher was an absentee General Manager, and let all of this transpire. There are so many beautiful places to get married, I would not recommend that you do it here!