A Brooke in the Air Travel Special: One more (Free for you) Review!
The Amanzi Hotel Ventura, CA
Official Brooke In The Air Travel Review – Amanzi Hotel, Ventura, California
Rating: 3.5/10.0
Room: King room, king bed, first floor
Price: $404 for 2 nights
Location: Heart of historic downtown Ventura, California (just off I-101)
This is a newer hotel (though not the newest) and represents Choice Hotels' first entry into the premium vacation/destination-focused hotel tier. As mentioned, this is an Ascend Collection hotel by Choice Hotels and their inaugural entry into the premium hotel category. For a vacation destination, I honestly expected much better from a property hoping to compete in the boutique hospitality market.
The hotel looked quite nice in the photos, but that mistake is squarely on me. The actual room was a wreck. The water pressure was extremely low, the bathroom ceiling had obvious water damage, the shower curtain was falling down, the shower rod was partially detached from the wall, and there were small random holes throughout the room's walls.
The HVAC system appeared ancient but at least functioned well enough to provide heat and air conditioning.
The Wi-Fi connection was unreliable, repeatedly dropping in and out before failing entirely halfway through our weekend stay.
The staff were also generally inattentive. When we arrived on Friday night and checked in, the front-desk agent had her feet propped up while playing on her phone and listening to music. The breakfast was nice (and free with vouchers), though basic, featuring a make-your-own waffle station. Aside from their inattentive nature, the staff were generally kind. Those are the only particularly positive things I can say.
Additionally, the wall-mounted television in the entertainment center worked properly, the bed was comfortable, and the refrigerator was efficient and kept items ice-cold. Those were a few other net-positive aspects of the stay. However, they were not enough to save what ultimately became a failing score.
The room smelled rotten and carried an odor suggestive of active decay. While housekeeping was prompt and efficient, the room still felt unclean and showed visible staining. Management provided no response to the review submitted on TripAdvisor, Yelp, or any other dedicated travel site, which speaks volumes about their approach to customer service.
The manager did eventually respond to my review on Yelp, and he appeared quite angry and irritated. However, such is the nature of the business. Furthermore, emotional reactions will not change a negative review—or a positive one, for that matter. At Brooke In The Air, we will never allow our reviews to be influenced by such responses.
Note: I never make it known to hotel staff or fellow travelers that I am reviewing a property. Doing so would compromise the anonymity of the review process and could result in special treatment, which would further undermine the integrity of what is intended to be a completely anonymous evaluation. The goal is to be treated like any other traveler. After all, I am not doing this for myself or my team; I am doing this for fellow travelers as an analysis of value and overall experience.
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