Four Points Ventura, CA 2006 on [Master Thread]
 

Had a big shock at one of my favorite Four Points this week.

Those of you that know this hotel are aware this property consisted of two buildings...the Main Building and the Marina Building across "the bridge." The Marina Building which is the building that's still showing as the hotel's main photo on the web site. The Marina Building being most desirable because it's right on the Marina (as opposed to across the street) with many wonderful ground floor Jr. Suites and the vast majority of good upgrade opportunities. Even the 2nd and 3rd floor regular Marina view rooms in this Marina Building were very desirable.

Were.

Effective a few days ago on June 1, the entire Marina Building ceased being part of the Four Points Ventura Harbor and it is now a Holiday Inn Express. :(

There is now a plastic temporary Holiday Inn Express sign hung over the Four Points signpost, and the old Four Points signs sit sadly on the ground behind the hotel. See this photo.

Same owner and the two hotels are still sharing housekeeping and engineering staff. But it's got it's own small lobby and they are operating as a separate hotel now.

While the Main Building remains a Four Points and is very nice IMHO, and is still far better then many Four Points with beautiful grounds, pool, tennis courts, restaurant, bar, etc...it is across the street from the Marina (not on it like the Marina Building) and it only has 2 officially upgradeable Suites for Platinums in the entire building. Making for very tough Platinum Suite upgrade opportunities now. There are 2 other Suites, but these are considered Specialty Suites (with fireplaces) and while not impossible to get upgraded into one...it requires a bit of mooching and an accommodating staff member.

I still enjoy this hotel, but be aware of this change...it's a fairly big one. I'll have a fresh review, undated photos of a current Marina View (from across the road now though) Deluxe Room in the Main Building, photos of one of the Fireplace Suites, as well as some other comments and scuttlebutt from this property...posted here in a few days. But thought I should get this news out right away in case anyone was counting on the Marina Building as part of their plans or hopes.

So, as the Starwood web page on this hotel still currently starts their property description with this boast:

...well...they're not gonna be able to make those claims any longer. There's now a Holiday Inn Express sharing that acreage. :(

Many thanks for the update, PremEx. I am considering the FP Ventura for an upcoming trip.

Meh. Sad news, headed to the 4pts this weekend. Will take pics and report any new items.

Here's my review since my most recent stay. Since this hotel has changed somewhat substantially recently as mentioned in Post #1 above...I'm going to give a brief lay of the land as it exists now, for those not familiar with this property.

The Four Points Ventura Harbor sits across the road from Ventura Marina. A very nice and quiet seaside area. While the guestrooms themselves are more-or-less typical of Four Points hotels in style and furnishings, the grounds and facilities are quite nice and set it apart from most other Four Points. The hotel features beautifully landscaped grounds, a very nice swimming pool, tennis courts, and a Jacuzzi set in a dome-like structure. The hotel features a full service restaurant called Alexander's, which is rather well known locally for their great Sunday Brunch. It has a lobby bar with big screen. The lobby bar has some great Happy Hour specials from the menu, including great burgers, club sandwiches, wings, etc...for just $3.95, as well as some specials on cocktails. Very popular with the locals during Happy Hour. A band plays Wednesdays and Thursdays.

The fitness center/room has been moved down to the East end of the building into a bigger room. About 6 pieces of equipment, but I was told some newer stuff will be coming soon. In the location of the old fitness center, is a new self-serve business center with those credit card type internet computers and printers. The entire property including guestrooms is covered by Complimentary Wi-Fi by a provider called Skyriver. Wireless cards are available free (with a deposit) from the Front Desk, if you need to borrow one.

The property was designed by the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation in a very FLW style. It's built long and horizontal...3 floors. Opened in 1983. The hotel is shaped like an upside-down L with the short end wing featuring rooms that face inward toward gardens, pool and tennis courts. The long end of the L has rooms that face outward toward the Marina. All the rooms have enclosed balconies with a couple of chairs.

The Marina is across the street, but it's a very short stroll either on the ground or by bridge which connects the hotel to the Holiday Inn Express on the other side.

My stay was pretty much like my past stays have been...very enjoyable. Check-in was efficient and friendly. Platinum amenity offered. The desk staff is very young and some are definitely more experienced than others. When I asked about a Platinum Suite upgrade, the guy really tried to find me one. But because they only have a few and they had several wedding parties inhouse...none were available. He told me to check back the next day as they should have some by then.

I was upgraded to a top floor room facing the Marina. It's designated as the SPG Floor. Very nice room with the Four Comfort Bed and a nice view from the balcony. Pretty much your standard Four Points guestroom. General decor was not new, but wasn't too dated either. The worst thing in the room was the fridge...one of those old mini-fridges with dark wood contact paper decoration. Looked out of place compared to the light woods of the rest of the room. But no big deal. Here's some photos of the room:

http://members.aol.com/premexfiles/4pointVEN321.jpg

(That's the view from the room in the bottom photo, with the Holiday Inn Express showing on the left)

As advised, the next day around noon I inquired as to an upgrade to a Suite. They have two basic Suites, both on the top floor...The Topsail Suite and The Mainsail Suite. Additionally they have two ground floor deluxe Suites with fireplaces down at the East end in an almost separate one-story structure. The Manager's "house" is down at that end too. They have a few larger irregular rooms too, at various locations throughout the hotel. I was told they don't normally upgrade Platinums into the Fireplace Suites, but since neither of the regular Suites was available for the rest of the duration of my stay and one of the Fireplace Suites was...they agreed to give me one. :)

The Fireplace Suite is very nice...but it is sort of a weird bird. It's weird because the really nice bathrooms with separate tub and enclosed shower stall, toilet room, and double vanity and it's own closet...what you would think of as the Master Bathroom...is off the Living Room would serve as the Guest Bathroom. While the Bedroom has a normal small sized single vanity bathroom with a tub/shower combo and a toilet. Kinda screwy in design.

But screwier still is the bedroom itself. Because of the footprint of this part of the building and Suite...the bedroom is sort of like a bunker. It has no windows. And it has a funky cabinet arrangement in it that seems like it was part of a kitchenette at one time. Strange set-up. Almost claustrophobic.

But the advantage here is in the Living Room section. A huge room. Has a full kitchenette with fridge, stovetop, microwave, plates, utensils, etc. Desk against the wall would double as a dining table if you pulled it out with the extra chairs. Sitting area. Gas fireplace with nice sandstone brickwork. Nice big enclosed patio with glass windbreaker screens. I'd call it a partial Marina view because you can see the Marina. You just have to look through the bridge to see it. But lots of room on this side of the Suite, that's for sure. Here's some photos of that:

http://members.aol.com/premexfiles/4pointVEN131.jpg

A good Four Points in a great location. It's only about a 10-15 minute walk weaving through the Marina and past the pleasurecraft, boatyards and fishing boats to the Ventura Harbor Village with dozens of shops, restaurants and activities. I particularly enjoy the food at Spinnaker's there. Cookin' with Mesquite! :)

With the conversion of the old Marina Wing across the street to a Holiday Inn Express, there are plans to add another 70 rooms and suites to the Four Points in a new building to go somewhere around where the tennis courts are now. But no firm dates as to that. There was also some scuttlebutt that they were attempting to get re-branded with full Sheraton status...but apparently there's some rule that says you now have to have enclosed hallways to get that. So don't know where that might lead.

That's it. Another great stay. Might have been better if they still had the building right on the Marina. But still...for a Four Points...very good, IMHO. And for a nice harbor stay on Award Points...its Category 2 rating gives some real value here, IMHO.

We got upgraded to one of those ground floor "Fireplace Suites" as a lowly Preferred Plus member in April, might have even been the one in your photos? It was the first suite on the right after entering the hallway, directly across from the fitness center. It was great for our little one, as he had plenty of room to crawl and roam around. Agreed, the layout (and bathrooms in particular) seems odd. And the temperature control in the living room was finicky, given that it was cold in Ventura in April :( All in all, it was an enjoyable base of ops for exploring Santa Barbara and other areas.

Yep. That's it exactly. Suite 131. :)

Any recent updates for this property?

Thanks.

My last stay was New Year's Eve (Dec. 31 '07) and it was pretty much as described above. We were upgraded to a suite as Plat.

No upgrade since the hotel was very full, and it really was!

Poor design, the hotel is noisy, can hear people walking all night long...poor insulation.

Other than that, it is just another 4 pts.

I'm not certain, but I think it only has 2 suites. Too bad.

If you need ice, I hope you're close. From suites it is nearly a 5 minute walk.

I'm just a lowly Gold, so I don't expect upgrades with SPG (although I do get them sometimes - but never to a suite). It sounds like pretty much all of the complaints about this hotel are from Platinums who expect a suite.

I go to Santa Barbara once a year, and I've found the Four Points Ventura Harbor a very affordable (with points), nice place to stay. It's only half an hour from Santa Barbara (and an incredibly beautiful drive!), and since it's a category 2, it's only 3000 or 4000 points per night. The way I value points, that's basically $75 to $100, which is about what you would pay for a Motel 6 in that area (and it's much nicer than that). They're a 3-star hotel according to most sites (and I concur), and they typically run about $150, so it's a great value for 3000 or 4000 SPG points.

I concur with adventurous' post. I don't mind staying there when I'm out in Camarillo doing outlet mall shopping.

Plus, having a balcony and having the breeze throughout the afternoon is a nice way to relax from the bustle of the week.

So, I think they're blocking out Sat. night arrivals.

I checked every weekend (and started a couple of months ago) to see if there was availability for a Saturday arrival, and nothing.

I'll call the PLT line at some point and ask, but it's pretty frustrating.

I think they require at least a two-night stay over the weekends. I tried several Saturdays with no availability, but showed availability if I entered Sat-Sun(two nite) stay.

I made a mid-May reservation here back in January, then cancelled and re-reserved in Feb., again in March and then again yesterday. Each time got a lower rate.