A road trip from Monterey to Orange County, California, a free IHG Chase credit card night and newly upgraded IHG Diamond elite status gave me a reason to finally stop at the high-rise hotel located directly off Highway 101 and on the beach in Ventura. I had driven by this Ventura Beach hotel dozens of times over the past 50 years and often wondered what it would be like to stay there.
“It is the one property that everybody recognizes as they go through the community,” said Taylor. “If you don’t know of any of the other hotels, you certainly can see that one on the freeway from both directions.”
Opened in 1972, The 12-story Holiday Inn Ventura Beach Resort Receiving $8 million Remodel and Conversion to Crowne Plaza – August 17, 2005.
Southern California greeted me with its familiar afternoon delight of crawling for 70 minutes to travel the final 35 miles from Santa Barbara to Ventura. Slow traffic meant watching sunset from the car rear view mirror rather than Ventura Beach.
Self-parking at Crowne Plaza Ventura Beach is located in the public parking garage adjacent to the hotel at $10 per night. I temporarily parked in the valet parking lot by the pool for check-in and moved my car to the public garage after getting a room key card. Parking was charged to the hotel.
My first test of IHG Diamond elite benefits was to find out if we would get the choice for complimentary breakfast as a Diamond member amenity.
Kelley was very happy to hear breakfast at Moofish Cafe was available from 6:30 to 11:00am. She is generally not an early riser.
Kelley turned on the air conditioner and set it for cold. Then she claimed the bed located farthest away from the air conditioner, leaving me with the bed subjecting me to arctically chilled blasts of air on my face. Needless to say the air conditioner worked fine.
Aqua Bar
Aqua bar was happening with a bunch of people watching Ravens and Buccaneers Thursday Night NFL game. We had beer and food packed from home and settled into the room for the evening. Ice was available right by our room to chill drinks.
The ground floor lobby at Crowne Plaza Ventura Beach had all the hotel facilities with Aqua Bar, reception, fitness room, computer center and Moofish Cafe. Floor 12 at the top of the hotel is an event space with picturesque views of the Pacific and vineyards on the hillsides. No pictures from me. There was a memorial service set up in the large room. The wall mural in Moofish looks like it depicts the view from Floor 12.Â
The fitness room had weights and a running map for the beach area.
The coffee I made in the room was ruined by the package creamer that turned the coffee into a clumpy emulsion. Seeing the coffee station outside the elevators in the lobby was a welcome sight for a morning coffee do-over.
Moofish Cafe Breakfast
Last month’s brief opportunity for complimentary instant IHG Diamond elite upgrade motivated me to change my original booking from a Holiday Inn Express to Crowne Plaza Ventura Beach. The Diamond elite breakfast benefit is significant added value for my IHG stays with another 18 nights booked for 2022.
These $19 breakfast dining plates added quite a bit of value to our stay.
 Crowne Plaza Ventura Beach pool
The pool is located between the outside lounge area of Aqua Bar and the hotel parking lot.
Ventura Beach
A lot of days surfing in California is just about being in the water.
Crowne Plaza Ventura Beach hotel review
Pro:
- Hotel located right on Ventura Beach
- All rooms appear to have an ocean view, higher floor the better. Rooms on north side of hotel for sunset view.
- Outdoor pool and beach bar.
Con:
- Train track is next to hotel and train horn blasts loudly as it passes. Really loud!Â
- Highway 101 next to train tracks and road sounds carry when balcony door open.
- $10 parking at public garage next to hotel, but cheaper than most California beachfront hotels.
- In 2020, Crowne Plaza Ventura Beach was a 25,000 points per night hotel. Reward nights tend to be higher now and frequently over 35,000 per night.
I used my Chase IHG Mastercard annual free night for this stay. The standard reward rate was 34,000 points and the best flexible rate was $298.34 after tax.
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