General Questions
Tropicana Gardens is a residence hall that is managed by Tropicana Student Living management company. To most students, life in their first-year dorm or residence hall is at the heart of the college experience. It’s where friends are made, learning habits are tested and lifelong memories are created. That’s why your first-year housing choice is so important. Tropicana Gardens is committed to providing UCSB and SBCC students with the ultimate first year experience. We work closely with UCSB and SBCC faculty and staff to make that happen.
Tropicana Gardens provides a home for University of California, Santa Barbara students.
Yes, (RAs) live on every floor in each quad to ensure an environment suitable to academic excellence for our residents at Tropicana Gardens. In addition, our RAs help promote a convivial atmosphere by putting on a large assortment of events and programs for our residents. Some of these programs include: trips to Disneyland or Big Bear, Easter egg hunts, Quad Wars (pool jousting, tug-of-war, etc.), yoga lessons, soccer games and much more – you’ll essentially never have to look beyond the walls at Tropicana Gardens to have a fun time!
A suite includes bedrooms, bathrooms and a living room — but no kitchen. It’s a combination of dorm and apartment living, giving you the best of both worlds. You will enjoy apartment-style living, while the Trop Cafe provides all of your meals for you!
No! Many residents bike, skateboard and scooter to class, but Tropicana Gardens is a walkable distance from campus. Students may also take the Santa Barbara Metropolitan Transit District (MTD) to and from campus. With your activities chip on your UCSB Student ID card, it is free to ride any MTD bus. For more information regarding the bus, please visit www.sbmtd.gov.
Resident Assistants are chosen in February-March for the following school year. We also hire students to work at our front desks. Check our website for other job postings. College Fresh, our food service provider, occasionally hires students as well.
Front Desk Hours:
Monday – Sunday: 8 am – 10 pm
Business Office Hours:
Monday – Friday: 9 am – 5 pm
Please call our front desk at (805) 968-4319, e-mail us at info@tropicanastudentliving.com, or click on the live chat icon on our web page. Our Director of Leasing, Director of Residence Life and our Executive Director can all be contacted through the front desk.
Contact:
Phone: (805) 968-4319
Fax: (805) 968-5703 Email: info@tropicanastudentliving.com
Web: www.tropicanagardens.com
From the South
- Take the Ventura Freeway (101) north. Exit at Los Carneros (it is past the UCSB exit), turn left towards the ocean.
- Follow Los Carneros until it dead-ends at a stoplight on the corner of Los Carneros and El Colegio Road. Turn left on El Colegio Road. Turn right on Embarcadero Del Mar (the first stoplight.)
- Make a right into the Tropicana Gardens parking lot.
From the North
- Take the Freeway (101) south. Exit at Los Carneros (it is past the UCSB exit), turn left towards the ocean.
- Follow Los Carneros until it dead-ends at a stoplight on the corner of Los Carneros and El Colegio Road. Turn left on El Colegio Road. Turn right on Embarcadero Del Mar (the first stoplight.)
- Make a right into the Tropicana Gardens parking lot.
- Bank of America ATM is located on campus in the Arbor next to Woodstock’s pizza.
- Chase Bank & ATM is on the corner of Embarcadero Del Norte & Pardall.
- Montecito Bank & Trust branch is located at Hollister and Storke with drive-thru ATM and with ATMs on the UCSB campus inside the Coral Tree Café next to Cheadle Hall and inside the Courtyard Café.
- Santa Barbara Bank & Trust branch is located at the Camino Real Marketplace.
Located on Storke Road, Camino Real Marketplace is your best bet for all basic shopping needs. The shopping center includes Home Depot, Staples, Costco, Best Buy, Home Goods and Ross. You can find this marketplace by going west on El Colegio and turning right onto Storke Road; it will be located a few blocks down on your left-hand side. Target is located on the corner of Storke Road and Hollister Road.
You can find a couple of restaurants in Isla Vista like Freebirds (Mexican), The Habit (burgers), Woodstock’s Pizza, Wing Stop, Sam’s to Go (sandwiches), Dominos, and Sushiya (sushi).
In Camino Real Marketplace you can find an array of nice restaurants. They include: Los Agaves, Anna’s Bakery, Chili’s, On the Alley, Mesa Burger, Blenders in the Grass, Starbucks, Hollister Brewing Company, and McDonald’s.
Mailboxes are in the lobby, next to the office. Please use your suite number when using your
mailing address in the following manner:
(Your Name)
Suite # (Your Suite Number)
Tropicana Gardens
6585 El Colegio Road
Goleta, CA 93117-4614
The Tropicana offices have a bin for outgoing mail. Mail is picked up and delivered all
throughout the day and will be processed as they arrive. Please be patient with our front office
personnel while they are processing your mail and packages. We sort the mail and place it in
the proper mailbox for each of our residents. Mail and packages will be processed as it arrives.
Packages are held for residents behind the front desk and require identification and a signature
for pick up.
USPS, UPS, and FedEx do not deliver or pick up on Sundays or National Holidays.
Contract Questions
At Tropicana Gardens, you sign an individual contract for a bed space in a shared residence hall suite. The pricing is per person, so you are responsible for you and only you, not your roommates. Your all-inclusive payments include:
- Rent for your bed space in a shared residence hall suite
- 10 meals a week with the ability to change it to 7, 14, 17 or 19 meals
- All Utilities
- Light Housekeeping twice monthly
- Use of Tropicana Gardens’ community amenities including heated pool, recreation room, cardio room, and study room
- Tropicana Gardens residents are also welcome to use all amenities at nearby Tropicana Del Norte including a fitness center and 27-seat private movie theater.
- Laundry and parking are not included.
Certain changes can be made. If a change is needed please please email our Director of Leasing, Laura Versola, at lversola@tropicanastudentliving.com with your request.
Yes. Tropicana Gardens offers 9-month academic year contracts as well as one or two quarter (UCSB) contracts. If you are interested in any contract period other than the standard Academic Year or Semester, contact Laura Versola at lversola@tropicanastudentliving.com for more information. You may apply for the Spring quarter during the academic year, as there may be vacancies available.
Tropicana Student Organization (TSO) is an elected group of residents that contributes ideas and votes on how to spend the activities budget. Some of the $150 activity fee that is paid at the beginning of the year goes towards this budget. All residents are invited to participate in TSO and run for positions such as President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, and Quad Representatives at the beginning of the year.
For current residents, please consult the Contract Termination section of your contract on your MyTropAccount.
Tropicana Student Living has a cancellation policy as follows:
- Cancellation within the first 72 hours of signing of the contract = $0 cancellation fee.
- Cancellation received through June 30 = $500.00 fee.
- Cancellation received July 1 – July 31 = $1,500.00 fee.
- Cancellation received August 1 through day before contract start date = $2,500.00.
- Cancellations are not allowed after the contract start date (Resident must find an acceptable replacement student to take over the contract and subsequent payments).
BEFORE THINKING OF CANCELLING – HAVE YOU THOUGHT ABOUT THE FOLLOWING:
- Try resolving any issues you may have with roommates that may be potentially causing conflict?
- Have you tried including a Resident Assistant or another Tropicana Staff member to help resolve any potential conflicts?
- Have you considered requesting a room change (Note: there is a $200 room move fee)?
- Have you considered placing an ad on Craigslist, UCSB’s Housing Site, to see if someone would be willing to take over your contract?
Notes about the Cancellation Policy:
- Student/Guarantor has the right to find an acceptable replacement that Tropicana Student Living agrees is a suitable replacement (must meet the same admissions criteria required for all residents) to avoid paying a cancellation fee. A $500.00 Administrative Fee will be assessed for lease replacements. You will continue to be responsible for your contract until a confirmed replacement is found. The replacement will be charged beginning the day they sign their contract through the end date of the contract. Similarly, you will be charged from your contract start date through the start date of the replacement contract. Any financial incentive arrangement between you and the replacement will be handled between the two of you. Your account will include charges for the pro-rated occupancy and the $500 lease takeover fee. The replacement account will be billed for the pro-rated period beginning with their contract start date and concluding at the end (or later) of the originally signed contract. All payments due on the account must be received and verified before the replacement is approved.
- Your Tropicana Student Organization Fee will be forfeited.
- Your security deposit will be returned less the $50.00 cleaning fee and any other damage charges and outstanding balances. (The $50.00 cleaning fee includes steam cleaning of the carpet and normal cleaning, but does not include removal of items, etc.)
Note:
If you are a member of the United States Armed Forces on active duty and receive change-of-station orders to permanently leave the local area; are returned to active military duty; or are a national guard or reservist called to active duty, then you may terminate the Contract by giving written notice to us from the US Government.
See important dates for the move-in dates for our contract options.
We offer two types of early move-ins for Tropicana Gardens. The first early move-in option is $200 to move in the Saturday before the scheduled move in day, or $400 to move in the Friday before the scheduled move in day. If you are interested in this option the form is available on the My Trop Account after the contract is complete.
The second option is TEMPO: Tropicana Early Move-in Program and Orientation. For $650, you are able to move in on the Tuesday before the scheduled move in day, and you can participate in fun-filled week of activities like movies, downtown dinners, tours of Santa Barbara City College, and many helpful workshops.
For questions regarding TEMPO, please email leasing@tropicanastudentliving.com
Residence Halls traditionally close for the Thanksgiving holiday, Winter Break (includes Christmas and New Year’s) and Spring Break. If you are unable to go home during UCSB academic breaks because of school, athletic or work obligations, you may make arrangements to stay at Tropicana Gardens. Requests must be made in advance at the front desk and are approved on a case by case basis. Please note that there is a fee of $50 per day and there is no food service during academic breaks. We are open Martin Luther King Jr. Day, President’s Day, Memorial Day and Veteran’s Day.
Safety
The Front Desk can assist if you are locked out, by providing a one-shot key that is active for 15 minutes. There is no charge for the first three lockouts per semester. Starting with the fourth lockout there is a $5.00 one-shot key charge. If the suite key is permanently lost, or if the one-shot key is not returned, there is a $10.00 key replacement fee.
If you are inside a building during an earthquake, stay inside.
Sit or crouch against an interior hallway or take cover under a desk or table.
Stay away from all glass areas such as windows and mirrors.
Leave the building when the shaking stops and remain outside.
Do not stand under overhangs on the outside of buildings. Move into the open and stay away from power lines.
Follow safety instructions given by staff.
Fire in the Building
Upon discovery of a fire, make sure that everyone is out of the room. Leave the room and close the door behind you. Break the nearest fire alarm box, pull the fire alarm, and dial 911 to report the fire. Contact the nearest staff member and evacuate the building. All fires must be reported, even those which were self-contained and were put out. According to state and federal law, the fire department needs to investigate every fire.
Fire Alarm Evacuation Procedure
- Test your door for heat or smoke before exiting.
- Should the door be warm or the hallway impassable.
- Place towels or a blanket at the base of the door.
- Telephone the fire dispatcher at 911, giving name, address and room number.
- Go to the window and make your presence known.
- If the door is cool, exit the building immediately by the route which is posted on the back of your front door.
- Grab your shoes, jacket, and keys before evacuating.
- If you are in your room, lock your door and take your key when leaving.
- Once outside in the designated area, maintain 100 feet of clearance from the building. Please wait for instruction from staff or a trained professional.
- Re-enter the building only after receiving instructions to do so.
Food/Meals
Tropicana Gardens only offers different meal plan options to fit the needs of our residents. Residents can choose from 7, 10, 14, 17 or 19 meals a week for different rates. Please see our pricing page for the most up-to-date meal plan rates. Through our management company College Fresh we offer one of the finest university dining service programs available. Each meal is prepared daily with a strong emphasis on nutrition using fresh, grade-A ingredients. A variety of menu items are offered at each meal, including low-fat, vegetarian, and vegan options. A salad bar and fresh-baked desserts are offered daily. Our menu is listed and updated weekly in the café.
We utilize a QR code system for access to the cafeteria. You can access your QR code with your phone from your MyTropAccount.
We work hard to accommodate a wide variety of tastes and needs. Each meal is properly labeled and offers at least one vegetarian meal option. It is best to alert our management staff to your needs:
Andreza Holt
Food Service Manager
andreza.holt@collegefresh.net
Office: 805.869.1401
Hours are subject to change.
We offer a late night “to-go” 8:00 PM – 10:00 PM in the Tropicana Del Norte cafe.
The Trop meal plan is only valid at our onsite café at Tropicana Gardens and at Tropicana Del Norte (1 block away.) If you will miss a meal, be sure to schedule a late meal or sack lunch in advance with the café.
Non-residents are welcome to purchase meal cards. Meal Card are:
- 10 meals for $140.00
Suite Information
We provide numerous different room options. We offer single, double, triple, and quad occupancy bedrooms in the three different bedroom sizes. A single means one person in the bedroom, while a double means two people sharing, a triple means three people sharing, and a quad means four people sharing the one bedroom.
With our suite styles, we specifically offer:
- Single in the A Bedroom
- Small Double in the A Bedroom
- Standard Double in the B Bedroom
- Large Double in the C Bedroom
- Triple in the C Bedroom
- Quad in the C Bedroom
Please refer to our suite layouts for a better understanding of the room options.
2 Bedroom/1 Bathroom Suite
3 Bedroom/2 Bathroom Suite
Tropicana is a co-ed building. The individual suites are assigned by gender. If you have any questions or special requests about your housing, please email lversola@tropicanastudentliving.com.
Residents will be able choose their suite or room though our online Roommate Matching and Room Selection service. Room choices will become available in late summer. Students who complete their contract by the time room selection takes place mid summer will have the opportunity to choose their own room.
Once your contract has been accepted, we will use your Profile to match you with compatible roommates, or you can find your own roommates by comparing profiles with other Trop residents. To use this feature, log in to My Trop Account. Choose your Term under the Application Tab, then click on Roommate Profile in the left column. Click the box to be included in the roommate searching process. Set up your own Profile Screen Name (for privacy reasons, we recommend using a nickname). Enter a short description of yourself that will be viewable by potential roommates.
You may search for roommates in three ways under the Roommate Request section:
Know who you want to room with? Search by first and last name, email and birth date.
Search by Profile Questions, selecting those questions that are most important to you.
Browse through other student profiles and see your compatibility score with them.
Find someone interesting as a potential roommate? Send a message, using this feature as a sort of interview for each other. Only your screen name is used during this interaction, so if you decide not to room with that person, your privacy is still protected. Once you find a good match, you can choose to room together by sending a Request, which they can Accept or Decline. Please remember that roommate requests must be mutual and accepted by both people for us to place two people together.
Students in the A and B bedroom share a bathroom, and all the students in the C bedroom share a bathroom. The number of students in those bedrooms depends on the contract type you choose and what suite mates you have.
Your suite comes furnished as follows:
- LIVING ROOM
Suites come furnished with a sofa, 1 chair, and coffee table. - SINGLE IN A BEDROOM
Twin XL bedframe and mattress
2 small dressers
1 desk and desk chair - SMALL DOUBLE IN A BEDROOM
2 Twin XL bedframes and mattresses (bunked due to space)
2 small dressers
1 shared desk and desk chair* - DOUBLE IN B BEDROOM
2 Twin XL bedframes and mattresses
2 large dressers
2 desks and desk chairs - TRIPLE IN C BEDROOM
3 Twin XL bedframes and mattresses
4 small dressers
2 desks and desk chairs to share* - QUAD IN C BEDROOM & SUPER SAVER
4 Twin XL bedframes and mattresses (must be bunked due to space)
4 small dressers
2 desks and desk chairs to share*
* Shared desks are at the request of the majority of students that have lived with us in the past, to allow as much space in the room as possible.
If you bring your own furniture, note that the furniture provided by Trop must stay in your suite.
Things that you should bring are sheets (extra long twin), blankets, pillows, pillowcases, bedspread, towels, washcloths, toilet paper, alarm clock, computer, radio, beach towel, bicycle, lock, iron, non-halogen study lamp, and toiletries. You may also want to bring a personal TV for a bedroom (TV in living room is included), personal items, laundry soap, and a personal refrigerator All rooms have blinds on the windows.
Pianos, organs, drums, electric guitars, hookahs, guns, weapons, dart boards, pets, candles, incense, water beds and fire arms/explosives are not allowed at Tropicana Gardens.
All suites come furnished with a microwave and refrigerator. Please know that cooking is not permitted in the suites.
Cooking equipment, including but not limited to hot plates, toasters, George Foreman type grills, electric fry pans, toaster ovens, unattended cookers such as slow cookers or pressure cookers, rice cookers, hot oil popcorn poppers, open coil heating devices or anything with an exposed heating element, is not allowed in the residence hall.
Closed-element appliances, such as hot air popcorn poppers, single serving coffee makers (like a Keurig), blenders and refrigerators are allowed.
Yes, there is an Ethernet connection in each suite. Each resident may have several devices (laptop, smartphone) registered on our wireless connection.
Tropicana has an outside provider named Pavlov Media that hosts all of our Internet-related questions. Tropicana has both wireless and hard-wired Internet for your convenience. The Pavlov Media staff is available 24 hours a day/7 days a week. Their number is 1-888-472-8568 and their website is www.pavlovmedia.com.
With our 500 Mb of bandwidth, Tropicana should have high-speed service with excellent coverage. However, if you do experience slowdowns or other issues, be sure to email our Director of Technology at technology@tropicanastudentliving.com if and when you experience any Internet issues, giving as much detail as possible (date/time, computer & browser used, wired vs. wireless, etc.).
If you have any internet issues, we want to hear about them! We have worked hard with our Internet Management Provider, Pavlov Media, to enhance the quality and strength of our wireless networks over the past year, and if there are any issues, don’t hesitate to let us know immediately so we can investigate and resolve them quickly!
The first step you can take is to verify that you are connected to the PavlovMedia wireless network, and make sure your wireless card is turned on.
If you have internet but it is slow you can go to http://tropicanastudenthousing.com/internet and submit an Internet Issue to our technology department. They will investigate the issue and get back to you as quickly as they can with an update or solution.
Alternatively, if you don’t have internet, or prefer not to go to the website above, you can always call our front desk or speak with your RA, and we would be happy to submit the Internet Issue for you, so our technology department can begin investigating.
Additionally, you are welcome to call Pavlov Media’s tech support line and have them help you troubleshoot issues. You can call their 24/7 phone number at 1 (888) 4-PAVLOV, or 1 (888) 472-8568. If you decide to call the Pavlov Tech Support line, you can also inform our technology department at technology@tropicanastudentliving.com, so we can help follow up with Pavlov and you. If you choose to call Pavlov, it is important for you to call them as it is happening because they may ask you for specific information about your computer and connection.
There is a 24-quiet hour study lounge located onsite. In addition, our sister community, Tropicana Del Norte, has private study rooms and an additional 24 hour quiet study lounge. UCSB campus also offers plenty of of study space for students.
We have vehicle parking above ground and underground available for sale and plenty of bike parking. Parking applications will be available in early August with move-in information.
Tropicana Gardens has two on-site laundry facilities which are located in the St. Croix and Barbados Quads. You can pay to wash and dry your laundry with a credit/debit card.
Community Standards
Guests are welcome up to three days in a 14-day period if all suite-mates are in agreement, with the exception of the Halloween and Deltopia period, when no guests are allowed on the property. You will find out more about this from your RA during a suite meeting during your first month here at Trop.
Tropicana Gardens is a 100% smoke-free building. We do not offer any smoking areas on premises, and smoking must be done off property. The same policies apply to all vapes and e-cigarettes. They can not be smoked in the suite and we do not offer any smoking areas on premises.
The best place to start is with your Resident Assistant (RA), who is a student staff member living on your floor. The Director of Residence Life and the Executive Director are professional staff members who focus on the students’ concerns while living at Trop. There are also counseling services available on the UCSB campus.
The Community Standards can be found in the Student Handbook, located on our website. Each resident will also receive an orientation to our community standards during the Town Hall meeting on move-in day and during a suite meeting with their RA during the first month of school.
International
All early arrival scheduling can be arranged through Laura Versola, the Director of Leasing, at lversola@tropicanastudentliving.com.
Tropicana has summer camps moving in immediately upon the closing of the academic year, but we may be able to accommodate you. If you will be departing later than the closing date of Tropicana Gardens please contact Laura Adams, the Director of Leasing, at lversola@tropicanastudentliving.com.
Every year we house more than 50 international students at Tropicana. We have welcomed residents from all over the world including Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Kuwait, Mexico, New Zealand, Serbia, Slovakia, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand and many more.
Yes. Many residents take the Santa Barbara Metropolitan Transit District (MTD) bus to and from downtown Santa Barbara and the nearby Camino Real Marketplace. With your UCSB student ID card, it is free to ride any MTD bus. The 24x bus line south takes you downtown and 24X heading north takes you to Camino Real Marketplace.