Crowne Plaza Hotel Ventura Beach

User Rating: 1 out of 5 stars

Hello,
I have rarely taken the opportunity to express my feelings over a restaurant. But today is the exception. My husband and I treated ourselves to the rare night out; sans kids. We chose C Street due to the various write ups in the local mags and the hype of the chef. We were greeted my a sleepy hostess whom we had to retrieve from the front section of the restaurant. We were entering from the back door area. Upon seating us she dropped our silverware with a curse word under her breath and then apologetic by that action. We sat and sat and remained seated before our waitress finally asked us if we would like a drink. Ten minutes later she re-appeared schlepping our drinks in her hands, of course no tray. Over the course of the 70 minutes we sat at the restaurant, I found myself wondering if the waitress forgot about us and had to get up to ask the yawning hostess to fetch us another drink. All this because our food still had not been delivered.....just poor service overall. We found ourselves staring in the direction of Aloha restaurant and were wishing we were over there verses where we were presently sitting. But...that place is over-hyped and not so good. This is why we were so bummed to have had such a horrid experience at C-Street. We were really wanting to find a decent restaurant in town more closer to our home verses driving to Hozy's in Santa Paula or up the 101 to Santa Barbara.
Overall, the hostess delivered my drink---not the waitress and we rarely did see the lady again. She did drop our bill off to us atop all our dirty plates, bread plates, butter, garlic spread dish, old water glasses. Never were we asked if we wanted coffee, see a dessert tray, zero. We both were clam mering to get out of the place as quick as we arrived. The food was good. The potato--cous cous "squares" served with my husbands stuffed chicken were like two little hockey pucks. Practically burnt.
My advice to this establishment is to severely tighten up the service of the waitstaff. It make every difference to a diner in this economic crunch time as to where one will drop his/her money for a great dining experience. Unfortunately, we now have scratched this establishment off our list and will continue to drive the extra mile for good eats.
Local Girl from Ventura

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User Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

I recently moved to this area and stayed at this hotel for a few weeks while searching for a home. The location on the beach made me feel like I was vacationing in Hawaii. Each morning I woke up and went out on my balcony for breakfast. My view looked out over the pool to the Boardwalk Promenade and the Beach. I enjoyed watching the many surfers out enjoying the famous C-Street break while the dolphins playfully swam back and forth behind them. Looking through the palm trees out over the Santa Barbara Channel set a very tropical mood, and after several days of staring out at the nearby Channel Islands, I decided to go whale watching and Sea Cave Kayaking around at the Channel Islands National Park. I highly recommend those thrilling adventures.
Historic Downtown Ventura is just two blocks off the beach and an easy walk from the hotel. I rarely needed my car for anything. In the evenings I would walk along the shore and either go to the north past the Seaside Park and the fairgrounds to watch the sunset over the Carpinteria coast, or walk to the south to the historic pier and look back across the ocean towards the town and the vineyards on the hills behind San Buenaventura Mission. I got to know the hotel staff quite well and they treated me like family. The C-Street Restaurant and the Aqua Beachfront Bar both offered great food and an excellent wine selection at reasonable prices. Many evenings I would sit in the lobby bar or the seaside patio lounge with my laptop and just people watch as people walked, biked, roller-bladed or pedel-carriaged by on the Boardwalk. It was also great being able to use the oceanfront pool and enjoy that same vibe. While I was there several weddings and corporate parties were held in this hotel which has a lot of business travelers and conventions during the week and a lot of families, reunions, and weddings on the weekends. Out of curiosity I went up to the 12th floor Top of the Harbor and Bayview banquet rooms to see what it was like. I arrived while they were setting up for a wedding reception and the friendly staff invited me in to see the view. WOW, what an amazing room and a beautiful 360 degree view of the Ocean, the hills, and the town. The floor to ceiling windows make for a very dramatic setting and the large rounded ballroom (I guess it used to be a revolving restaurant at one time) extends out over the side of the hotel to give one a sense that you are floating on air. The sunset looking west up the coast towards Santa Barbara was stunning. If I was having a wedding or gala business event I would definitely want to have it in this inspiring room. The fantastic Chef for the restaurant does all the Banquet catering as well, so I am told by party attendees I shared the elevator with. They said the food was awesome. I have moved into my new home now, but enjoy going back to the Aqua Lounge from time to time just to say hi to my new friends at the hotel and enjoy a cocktail at sunset and savor the fantastic seafood tapas. I occasionally run into business travelers that I have seen a few times before, and the living room atmosphere makes it easy to strike up conversations with fellow guests. For someone new to the area it is fun to be able to offer ideas for things to do nearby as I learned so much about the area from the friendly ladies at the desk. I feel like a local. The hotel is also pet-friendly (as is most of downtown Ventura) and when some of my family came to town they brought their dogs. This made the family outings to the beach all the more perfect. One Sunday we were enjoying the Sunday Brunch at C-Street Restaurant sitting on the outdoor patio around a firepit. We had one of our dogs tied to the rail just outside the restaurant (technically on the public Promenade adjacent to the hotel) and the beautiful waitress that was serving us brought us out a dog bowl of water for the dog. Talk about pet-friendly! Chef Nic also made a special and delicious vegetarian dish for my sister

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User Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

I visit Ventura, where I grew up, once or twice a year to visit my son, visit friends and attend high school reunions. During previous visits in the past ten years or so I've stayed at other hotels, but a friend recommended the Crowne Plaza chain. The view of the beach was very nice and the room itself was comfortable however the bathroom was horrid. The bathroom was small and paint and wallpaper we falling off the wall and mirror; very uncomfortable and small. I won't be staying here again since there are much nicer places like the Marriott, Sheraton Four Seasons and Holiday Inn Express. I asked to speak to the manager and he ignored my concerns and had me deal with the day manager. I travel a lot and this place is in need of remodeling. I very rarely complain of rooms, however this was bad enough for me to register a complaint with their corporate headquarters.

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