Emerald Iguana Inn — Hotel in Ojai

My partner and I spent two nights at the Emerald Iguana for our honeymoon, and absolutely loved it! The property is so special -- the outdoor areas have a secret garden feel, every building looks like an adorable little fairy house, and the rooms are very comfy and welcoming. We're so bored with the Airbnb/mid-century minimalism of everything these days, so it was such a treat to stay somewhere with some character! This is not a super hip, super fancy, super modern spot. It's a charming, cozy, interesting, delightful, stand-out, memorable, lovely inn... which is so much better!!|We got the "Pink Moment Pamper Me Package," which was a fun honeymoon treat. The wine and chocolates were great, the other little treats were fun to have, and the in-room massages were excellent! Add to that the very comfortable bed (with good pillows!), cozy cabin-like interior (our room -- The Tadpole -- had wood and stone walls and furniture, a skylight, and a small private patio), and the inn's perfect location (tucked away from the main street, but only by a couple blocks, so walking to Bart's Books, local restaurants, and the main stretch of little shops and cafes was super quick and easy), and you've got a totally...

REALLY love staying at Emerald Iguana, given the beauty of the property and the amazing location. However, because I have to take calls and emails remotely, as I am on call most of the time, it doesn’t work well due to the really poor Wifi (ie, often non-existent) in most rooms, and cell signal here isn’t good. So it could really only be on a rare holiday for us that this place works for us. It’s a shame, due to the price, you’d think the Wifi could be tip-top shape in the rooms. DO NOT expect to be able to do reliable conference calls here or nearly anywhere even in downtown Ojai, it’s just not all that feasible (MAYBE at the Ojai Valley Inn) :(

I’ve been coming here for years and feel like the breakfast & coffee layout in the morning was 10x better 5+ years ago.

But if you can fully check out from your email, phone, etc for a couple days, it is definitely a place to enjoy.

Walk to downtown Ojai and many of the area’s best restaurants.

The pool is a lovely setting. Hot tub closing at 9pm is a little extreme, and gates locked until a fairly late (ho-hum/pretty non-existent) breakfast all kind of dampened the experience.

It’s nice that the parking situation is...

What to say? To call this place a 'hotel' would be to demean it. The Emerald Iguana Inn is a paradisiacal space, in the enchanted, tastefully hip town of Ojai. Beautifully designed by architect Marc Whitman, each casita or room is creatively arranged to offer its own uniqueness, and privacy. Elegant but rustic adobe; chic but authentic; outrageously comfortable; glorious eucalyptus trees rustling in the warm breeze; a quiet pool; a lovely family of raccoons around the place by night. Estimably bossy rules about 'quiet time' after 9pm, to secure the sheer CLASS of the place, and a subsequently respectful, quality clientele. In the office (and little boutique), the two Laurens and their colleagues are full of good ideas on how to spend time one is blessed enough to spend in this most beautiful corner of America - unsurprisingly, the setting for 'Shangri-La' in the movie 'Lost Horizon'. Few things are certain in life, but I hope that among them is a return to this place. Ed Vulliamy, The...