May 24--Santa Barbara's newest boutique hotel is preparing to open in early August, aiming at the high-end leisure and corporate traveler. 

Designed much like an Old World Spanish family home, the 23-room Inn of the Spanish Garden has a small street presence but extends deep into its nearly one-acre lot. 

Set at 915 Garden St. in the city's oldest neighborhood, the inn is within a short walk of downtown businesses, theaters and restaurants. 

This is the first hotel built locally by a partnership including Rich Untermann of Santa Barbara, a former urban planning professor and current director of the Metropolitan Transit District. Total project cost is approximately $4.5 million, including the expense of building a 25-space underground parking garage. 

Each room has high ceilings, a fireplace and its own garden or balcony. Mature landscaping, plenty of tiles and deep bathtubs will be complimented by DSL phone lines and high-tech meeting rooms. 

"We've tried to epitomize the spirit of the city by honoring its Spanish Colonial tradition while re-creating the history, romance and intrigue of Old Town Santa Barbara," said Larry Broughton, whose Huntington Beach-based Broughton Hospitality Group is managing the property. 

Room rates will be $225 to $325 per night, Broughton said. That's at the high end for South Coast hotel rates, according to the Santa Barbara Conference and Visitors Bureau and Film Commission, but there's strong demand for upscale rooms. 

A similar project farther north, the Santa Ynez Inn, is set to open in late summer. The two-story, 14,000-square-foot Victorian-style inn will have 14 individually decorated guest rooms and suites, a fitness facility with sauna and private massage room, and other amenities as well as extensive gardens. Rates will range from $195 to $395 per room. 

Santa Barbara typically has some of the highest hotel occupancy rates in California, according to the UCSB Economic Forecast Project. Even with approximately 3,000 rooms in town, developers are renovating some hotels and proposing new ones, some aimed at business travelers. 

"We've built hotels together in Seattle the last 20 years and we're continuing our friendship and partnership with this hotel," Untermann said. "We've had a lot of support from our neighbors, the Santa Barbara Trust For Historic Preservation, the David Chavez family next door and Michael Towbes on the other side." 

The project was approved in June 1999 by the city Planning Commission. The developer transferred development rights from another property to build this inn, a city official said. 

Heavy construction is finished and activity is now focusing on interiors. A swimming pool at the rear of the property is about to be dug. Mature trees and bushes are to be planted soon. 

Interior design is by Barbara Chen Lowenthal Designs, construction by Parton-Edwards Construction Co. and financing through Mid-State Bank. 

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(c) 2001, Santa Barbara News-Press, Calif. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.