Best Western at Ventura Pier — Hotel in Ventura

My partner and I decided to stay here for our first vacation together. For the majority of the stay, it sufficed well enough, although not without a few flaws.

We stayed in a room with one queen-sized bed; the bed, bathroom, bathtub, mirrors, floor, and pretty much all else was clean. The hairdryer worked well for my hair, And the bed was comfortable enough, even though it took some time to get used to. There was also a coffee machine and refrigerator; we never used the coffee machine, But after setting the fridge to the coolest setting, it worked well for keeping our drinks nice and cold. Guests have to be sure to turn the dial on the inside to the setting that they wish so that the fridge does its job.

The bathroom included complementary shampoo, conditioner, and body wash, but I brought my own (my partner tried the complementary products, but they weren’t that good). The TV has lots of channels as expected, and allegedly, guests can cast what you’re playing on a mobile device to the TV wirelessly, but we were only able to get audio to come in when trying this. No matter how many times we tried, we could not get videos to cast onto the TV (and it appeared to be a useless effort since the TV would have to be on the same Wi-Fi network as the mobile device you’re using, but changing the network on the TV was literally impossible). This didn’t really bug us, but it would’ve been nice to have as a feature.

The breakfast they provide with the stay got the job done when we had it. There was a variety of options, and I’d best describe it as “average, but enough.” It was served from 6:30am-9:30am, daily.

The service is where things get a bit rocky. In terms of interaction, my partner or myself spoke to 3 personnel during our stay. There was Morgan (employee), Roger (employee), and Carlos (manager). When we checked in at the front desk, it was evident Morgan was being shadowed by Carlos, which in itself was fine. However, the way Carlos was directing and speaking to Morgan on what to say and do, tonally, sounded curt and a bit impatient. In turn, we could tell Morgan was getting annoyed (and she wasn’t really getting constructive feedback), but we didn’t hold it against her whatsoever. I think this is important to mention because it can affect the level of hospitality/feeling of being welcomed.

One issue, my partner, and I had was with our room keys - mine worked, but hers stopped working after the first day. I went to the lobby and Morgan attempted to fix the card, which resulted in my partner’s card working, but mine now not working. I did not go back to fix the card again and we go through the trip with one working card, but this could be problematic for bigger families or groups.

The lowest point of service was when, on the third day of our stay, I went to the front desk to ask for housekeeping to clean the room. Primarily, we wanted new towels and the bed to be made. I gave Morgan this request, and she said she was going to let housekeeping know - I saw her write the room number down and request, too. Yet, after having been out and about in Ventura for literally several hours, my partner and I went back to our room twice, and housekeeping NEVER came by (we even left the tag on the door handle that tells housekeeping to clean the room, but to no avail). At this point, I went to the lobby to get new towels, and Roger was there to fulfill this request. Roger found it odd when I mentioned that housekeeping never cleaned our room, and he apologized even though it wasn’t his fault, which was sweet of him. Rogers attitude was very nice and he was prompt on giving me the towels I requested.

The biggest plus side about this hotel location is how guests near lots of local shops, restaurants, beaches, and other businesses that make staying in Ventura easy and very pleasant.

All things considered, this is a very solid hotel, especially if you’re going to be out and about in Ventura and the surrounding areas. Just beware that the service seems hit or miss depending on...

I had a horrible experience with the general manager Carlos and advise you to stay away. When we walked in to check in and asked to do so, Carlos said "who are you? Check in is at 4" it was off putting, but we explained that our landlord had already been in that morning to arrange for early check in as we're currently displaced from our home. Carlos then started to process our early check in, and while he did so he picked up a phone call where he was describing another occupant staying at the hotel and described her as "allergic to everything, mentally disturbed, something wrong with her" because said occupant was requesting towels as blankets. He openly discussed, in front of us, how the other occupant told him he had horrible customer service and that they would be reporting him as well, and he continued to call this lady mentally unstable and crazy for her request while we waited to check in. Carlos took multiple other phone calls while we stood there and continued to behave disgruntled and burdened by servicing us and checking us in. Carlos was upset when my partner and I asked if we could just get the key and check in after he took our card information for incidentals. This upset him, so he told us we couldn't check in anymore and should just come back at 4- meanwhile, all of this was already settled and communicated before we came and our room was ready for check in at 12:00. Another employee entered the room and told Carlos to give us the key and he continued to refuse and escalate the situation. We asked for a printed refund, which Carlos refused. He was offended that my partner used a curse word and took out his phone to start recording and threatened to call the cops and our landlord (because of cursing I suppose?). All that being requested at this point was a printed refund so we could leave and not stay in this hostile environment. It was clear that Carlos was in a bad mood from the moment we walked in the door and from the conversation he chose to have in front of us, insulting other patrons. When I calmly attempted to communicate with Carlos and explain how it felt walking in and that it was immediately uncomfortable as someone who is already displaced from my home and trying to check in and get out of their way, he turned around and closed the door on me. I have never been treated this way in any hotel or business and I'm still appalled that this happened. I'm so disappointed by...

There are a few pros and cons with this location. Cons: Public Park adjacent to site that has large homeless community sleeping in throughout the day, additional $30 pet fee per night not included in room charge that they did not disclose I found out when reviewing my credit card statement and saw the extra charge, floors were disgustingly filthy my brand new socks were black within 5 minutes of walking around the room and this was right after check in. I then requested housekeeping to clean floors specifically, left for a few hours and came back to same filthy floors, my daughter hand cleaned the floors it was gross, woke up with horrible back pain due to cheap mattress luckily I had blankets in my car that I added to mattress that brought some relief for rest of stay. Pros: breakfast was eggs, waffles, sausage, yogurt, fresh fruit, everything was in walking distance a site was not in heart of busyness, motel was fairly quiet, room was decent set up/size, blackout curtains, staff were polite and super friendly, animal friendly. I would not stay here again because of mattress and dirty floors, as well as hidden pet fee. I booked and paid for everything prior to arrival and NOONE SAID “hey, by the way it’s an additional charge for pets to stay or I might’ve opted for a different hotel that doesn’t charge. ALWAYS ASK so you won’t be blindsided! I hope this helps! Almost forgot: the pool was supposed working but was freezing cold, no assistance with addressing the issue, was 1 of the other reasons we booked the site:( will try another place as Ventura is one of my fav staycation so I won’t let that experience discourage me from returning again this summer:) Update 1/14/2025 Although the manager from this location responded to my post, there was no attempt to make right the above concerns, only "we are sorry about your experience blah, blah, blah, and we hope you give us another chance" ummm no. I will not expose myself to filth, especially when I am paying for it. Nor will I allow another company to blindside me with hidden fees. Seriously disappointed with how BW made no attempt to make right this situation. I will...