El Encanto, A Belmond Hotel, at 800 Alvarado Place on the Santa Barbara Riviera, has 20,657 sq ft of function space across seven acres of terraced gardens, from the 3,000 sq ft Riviera Ballroom to the Arbor and Lily Pond and the Pacific Lawn. Above the Line provides audio, video, lighting and LED for events across the hotel.
Most of El Encanto's event space is outdoors, in gardens, lawns and terraces spread across a hillside above the city. We plan sound and lighting that fit those gardens, with quiet power and weather-ready gear, and size every setup from the hotel's own capacity chart.
Venue names, dimensions and capacities come from the capacity chart in the hotel's fact sheet at elencanto.com. Photos are the hotel's own, from the same fact sheet. Production notes describe a typical Above the Line setup for each space.
The hotel's largest indoor room, on the first level, used for weddings, conferences and launches.
Reception 250 · Banquet 200 without a dance floor, 150 with one · Theater 200 · Classroom 120 · U-shape 60
With a 12-foot ceiling, we keep the screen low and wide, and for a wedding we plan the dance floor and DJ into the room plan, since the chart drops banquet seating to 150 once they're added.
The ballroom's two sections, one twice the size of the other.
A: reception 100 · banquet 50 · classroom 50 · theater 50. B: reception 140 · banquet 70 · classroom 60 · theater 60
When the room is split for a general session and a lunch, we put each half on its own audio zone so the two events don't bleed into each other.
A long patio beside the ballroom, with a covered area, and the Riviera Lawn outside.
Patio: reception 150 · banquet 60 · theater 100 under the covered area. Lawn: reception 100 · theater 75 · banquet 50
For a cocktail hour on the patio before dinner inside, we run a separate speaker line along the 74-foot length and fade it as guests move into the ballroom.
A second-level meeting room with its own terrace and foyer.
Room: reception 55 · theater 40 · banquet 30 · classroom 30. Terrace: reception 50 · banquet 40. Foyer: reception 40 · theater 40
For a board meeting or breakout, one large display, a conference camera and table mics are enough, and the foyer works for a coffee break.
A first-level room with an adjoining patio for small dinners and meetings.
Room: reception 40 · theater 40 · banquet 30 · classroom 25 · U-shape 25. Patio: banquet 40 · reception 25
For a fireside dinner, we keep it to background music and a single wireless mic, with warm lighting that suits the room.
Two small rooms in the chart, without published capacities. The fact sheet mentions an impressive wine room among the hotel's dining venues.
For a tasting or a small private dinner, a compact speaker and a tablet-controlled playlist keep the gear out of sight.
The hotel's largest outdoor space, an arbor-lined garden along a long lily pond.
Reception 250 · Banquet 200 · Theater 200
Down a long, narrow pond, we run small speakers along the arbor rather than a pair at one end, and use battery uplights on the pergola posts after dark.
The fact sheet shows ceremonies held along the pond's boardwalk.
For vows here, a lavalier on the officiant and a speaker pair hidden in the planting carry the ceremony along the length of the aisle.
The garden spaces around the arbor also take round-table dinners.
For a garden dinner, we run power quietly from hidden points and add soft festoon and table lighting for after sunset.
Three more outdoor spaces. The fact sheet notes that the Pacific Lawn's fire pit and furniture can't be moved.
Pacific Lawn: reception 100. Oak Tree Patio: reception 40 · theater 40 · banquet 30. Sunken Garden: reception 80 · banquet 60 · theater 60 · classroom 20
Because the Pacific Lawn's furniture stays in place, we plan speaker and lighting positions around the fixed fire pit and seating.
Capacities as published in the capacity chart of the hotel's fact sheet. A few cells the hotel leaves blank are filled from its Cvent venue listing, as noted below.
| Venue | W × L | Height | Sq ft | Level | Reception | Banquet | Classroom | U-shape | Theater |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indoor | |||||||||
| Riviera Ballroom | 43' × 69' | 12' | 3,000 | 1 | 250 | 200 / 150* | 120 | 60 | 200 |
| Riviera Patio | 74' × 14' | 12' | 1,036 | 1 | 150 | 60 | 100† | ||
| Riviera A | 12' | 1,000 | 1 | 100 | 50 | 50 | 20 | 50 | |
| Riviera B | 12' | 2,000 | 1 | 140 | 70 | 60 | 20 | 60 | |
| Channel Islands Room | 14' × 28.5' | 9' | 400 | 2 | 55 | 30 | 30 | 20 | 40 |
| Channel Islands Terrace | 16' × 35' | 560 | 2 | 50 | 40 | 20 | |||
| Channel Islands Foyer | 28.5' × 15.5' | 9' | 442 | 2 | 40 | 40 | |||
| Santa Ynez Room | 15.3' × 24.5' | 9' | 380 | 2 | 44 | 30 | 20 | 12 | 44 |
| The Wine Room | 20.5' × 13' | 9.5' | 270 | 1 | |||||
| Fireside Room | 17.5' × 28.7' | 9.5' | 530 | 1 | 40 | 30 | 25 | 25 | 40 |
| Fireside Patio | 20' × 30' | 580 | 1 | 25 | 40 | ||||
| Outdoor | |||||||||
| Pacific Lawn | 30' × 104' | 3,120 | 1 | 100 | |||||
| Arbor Lily Pond | 4,100 | 1 | 250 | 200 | 200 | ||||
| Oak Tree Patio | 23.5' × 21.5' | 505 | 1 | 40 | 30 | 40 | |||
| Riviera Lawn | 20' × 73' | 1,460 | 1 | 100 | 50 | 75 | |||
| Chef’s Table Sunken Garden | 1,274 | 1 | 80 | 60 | 20 | 60 | |||
Source: capacity chart in the El Encanto fact sheet (PDF, elencanto.com). Retrieved October 24, 2026. A blank cell means the figure is not published.
* Riviera Ballroom banquet: 200 without a dance floor or DJ, 150 with one. † Riviera Patio theater: 100 under the covered area.
The fact sheet notes that the capacity chart is subject to change, and that the Pacific Lawn's fire pit and furniture are not movable.
Not an official El Encanto or Belmond website. Confirm every capacity with the hotel before contracting.
Planner source: where the hotel publishes no figure, these cells come from the hotel's Cvent venue listing: Santa Ynez Room (reception, banquet, classroom, U-shape, theater). Cvent's cocktail-rounds figure is used for Reception. Retrieved October 25, 2026.
Photos: the Riviera Ballroom and Fireside Room and Patio photos are the venue's own, from its Cvent venue listing.
The illustrated property map from the hotel's fact sheet. No room-level floor plans are published.
Wireless and podium mics with a PA tuned for the Riviera Ballroom's 12-foot ceiling.
Projection and bright LED displays sized to each room and its daylight.
Warm lighting and uplighting for dinners, receptions and award nights.
LED walls for general sessions, launches and award moments.
Cameras, switching and streaming for hybrid meetings and boardrooms.
We draw layouts from El Encanto's own room specs and a site walk.
Weather-rated audio and lighting for the lily pond, lawns and garden terraces.
Itemized budgets for El Encanto, with every line explained.
Our technicians work alongside the hotel's event team from load-in to strike.
Gear ships from our own Southern California warehouses.
We maintain our inventory from VUE, Shure, Barco, Avid, Yamaha and Sony.
We work up and down the Central Coast, from Montecito and the Riviera to the Santa Ynez Valley.
We build walk-in loops, sponsor slides and award graphics sized to your screens.
Our itemized budgets match what is actually in the room.
We keep you updated clearly and consistently from proposal to strike.
Our proposals are drawn from the hotel's own room specs.
In 16 years and 2,113 events, including 85 concerts, our team has handled everything from early design to show day.
Learn More →We support executive retreats, launches and weddings, from the Riviera Ballroom to the gardens.
Learn More →Above the Line, your AV partner at El Encanto, A Belmond Hotel. Succeed Today →
Send your RFP or room plan for El Encanto, and we'll return an itemized quote.
