The Room - A critic's review of The Ventura Marriott

Jun 2010 - Last weekend, we spent a night at the Ventura Marriott after an unpleasant adventure at the Pierpont Inn (see previous review). Our room was very pleasant and the pool area was quite inviting. Not a tropical setting, but rather a comfortable atmosphere with poolside service. And yes, they had an outdoor Jacuzzi. It should be noted that the Pierpont Inn did not have an outdoor spa and suggested we use the local racquet club with an indoor Jacuzzi loaded with heavy amounts of chlorine. Points for the Ventura Marriott.

The Marriott has some decent dining options although we chose to hang out in downtown Ventura for the music scene. We have stayed at Marriott hotels in Paris, France and all throughout the United States. The comfort level was just as we expected. Great bedding!

Ok, now here's where they fell short - upon arrival, we had no reservations, but they had plenty of rooms available. After receiving the room rate, we proceeded to contact the Marriott call center for a better price. The price was the same, however the sales agent suggested we ask for a free upgrade to a suite. When we asked the front desk agent for an upgrade, he said no. We than asked to speak with the manager on duty and were again denied by the front desk agent stating that he can make his own decision and does not require assistance from a manager. The fact that he opted not to find the manager on duty was not acceptable.

The matter was later resolved, but this is a complete example of how our institutions are lacking customer service. In a time when our economy has been in a recession and consumers are searching for a good deal, hotels should be looking for a variety of ways to bring in new business without sacrificing their customer service. Why is we seem to pay more and get less? I just don't understand it. In any event, the Ventura Marriott scored well with their product but lacked quality customer service.

The Room - A critic's review of The Pierpont Inn

Jun 2010 - We wanted to write an article about a hotel in Ventura. We opted to stay at The Pierpont Inn because of its charm and beauty. As you know, there's no better way to know about a hotel than to stay at the place.

Our intention was to stay 2 nights and explore the nightlife. We have a business friend that used to work at The Pierpont Inn for many years. She recently left her position stating many negative quality issues with the new management change. Was it wrong for us to want to give The Pierpont Inn a try?

We thought it might have been sour grapes by our friend. We made reservations and asked to speak with General Manager, Miller Vargas. We left 3 messages over 2 weeks for him and never received a return call.

Upon arrival at the hotel, everything seemed to go well. However, the headboard was not attached properly to the bed frame and each time you sat on the bed, the bed squeaked. It was quite irritating. The room was not very comfortable. We had a long day and were thinking of taking a Jacuzzi. However, they did not have one on property and we were forced to use an indoor - chlorine laced - Jacuzzi at the local racquet club for an extra charge. Not really what we had in mind.

Our room came with a hot breakfast available in the restaurant from 7am - 10am. The next morning we arrived at the restaurant at 9:20am where we were accosted by the front desk agent and informing us the breakfast closed at 9:30am. We were told not to sit down and she very firm with her statement. Another group of 4 girls arrived the same time we did and we were all flabbergasted by the front desk agent's remarks to us. A waiter stopped by and told us that breakfast was available until 10am. We questioned the issue and the front desk agent never apologized for her actions except to state that she thought breakfast was over at 9:30am. We asked why she accosted us and also why she would stop us at 9:20am if they closed breakfast at 9:30am. Not a good experience at all. The breakfast was no better either.

Our friend was correct - ever since the facility has been under new management, lots of quality issues are apparent. It started for us with a lack of customer service and any attention from the General Manager and continued until the morning after we checked in. Looks like The Pierpont Inn has a long way to go before they get better.