Bella Maggiore Inn

If I were to have reviewed the Bella Maggiore approx. 4 to 5 years ago I would have given it a 5 star review. However, since that time I believe it has started to go downhill. I blame this on what I think is a change in ownership and or management? over this time period. For instance the wine and cheese happy hour used to include several types of crackers, cheese, smoked salmon, humus, fruit and mini-​sandwiches and on several occasions it was held in the sitting room next to the outdoor sundeck. Now it is held in the lobby, by the front desk. Our last stay this past weekend there was just a few pieces of cheese and a few grapes. When we asked about crackers they told us they were all out of them. When we mentioned to the staff member how nice this used to be, she apologized and said that it could no longer be done that way due to a cutback in staff. Upon are arrival in our room my wife turned down the bed and found hair and crumbs in our sheets! on our last stay we found unflushed feces still in the toilet bowl upon checking in to the room. The front desk clerk was nice enough to come and change our sheets for us, but this should have never happened in the first place. The breakfast and service were great, and used to be available 7 days a week, however when we went downstairs on Monday morning to our surprise the café was closed. They informed us that they were no longer offering breakfast on weekdays, another cutback, unfortunately we were not told this when making the reservation or checking in. I guess the price is still fairly reasonable considering what you are getting, hopefully the management will take notice of these things and try to rectify them. Even if they had to raise the price of the rooms a few dollars more, I would be willing to pay that to bring it back to the way it used to be.

Absolutely wonderful! Spent New Year’s 2015 – 2016 and had the best experience ever. Cozy, conformable rooms with a kiss of family warmth. Friendly and caring staff including a wine & cheese happy hour and the best ever included breakfast. Bella Maggiore is a taste of Europe with the best of service. I would recommend this Hotel on a 5 star basis.

This is my boyfriend and I first Christmas and we decided to spend it here at the Bella Maggiore Inn. This is both our first time staying at a bed and breakfast inn. We enjoyed are time here and are getting ready to leave. The staff was very nice and friendly, the lobby cozy. Our room is outside in the courtyard, actually only room downstairs I believe. when we open the full length curtains we face the fountain. Everything is walking distance, the beach, the movie theatre, restaurants. We have no complaints. We slept good in our comfy bed. We plan on staying here again.

We checked in at the counter at 12 but couldn’t t check in until 3 and that was okay. We parked then walked downtown for lunch. There were many. Places to eat. I read some yell reviews concern about air conditioning and bed bugs. Well, when you stay at the beach just open the window and turn on the ceiling fan. That is enough to keep you comfortable and didn t have any beg bug bites we slept on the Cinelle sheets. I pleasant time was had by all.

What a hidden gem! My husband and I decided to get out of LA for the weekend and made a last minute reservation for one night at the Bella Maggiore Inn. We were shocked at how low the rate was for a Saturday night. The location is PERFECT. We loved being right on California street and it’s so conveniently located near Main that we were able to come back after walking around and enjoy their «wine hour» complimentary wine and cheese reception. Right across the street from Lure, where we had a fantastic seafood dinner. Included with your stay you get a incredible breakfast at Nona’s café. Enjoyed a delicious eggs Benedict and my husband had a Denver omelette. We sat outside in a charming little courtyard.
The room itself was small and lacked AC. Bearable, as we kept the window open and fan on. Our room was on the second floor and faced California street but it was very quiet. Accommodations are comfortable and clean and you can’t beat the location. It has the old world charm of an east coast B&B. Hopefully next time we will see the ghost…;) We will be back!

We’ve stayed here several times because the location is so good. However, they miss the mark in a lot of ways. For instance the linens in our room this trip need to just be thrown out. I can’t recall sheets this bad in any place I’ve ever stayed. They must be years’ old; they smell, they’re rough, they’re threadbare and stained and the owners should be embarrassed. Time to upgrade your linens, guys.
The breakfast is really great and the lobby and courtyard are beautiful. They have a lot going for them but they just fail in some of the most basic ways. A little reinvestment in your business would go a long way. I’m not sure if we’ll come back again after this trip as I write this review laying in our bed made of sandpaper sheets.

This hotel is extremely old and outdated. This was not my idea of «old world charm». The room was dirty, smelled bad, and we found a dirty washcloth under the bed. Gross. My husband was just recovering from hip surgery so not having an elevator was ridiculous. And when I mentioned that the stairs might be a challenge for him, we were told that there was also no bell service. It was only when I told them we were leaving early that they suddenly had a first floor room available. No thanks.

RUED!!! Stopped in to see about a future visit, and was totally dismissed, and told to come back tomorrow. Explained we were from out of town and still was told sorry. Another lady there offered to show us the balcony, and she was told no, that we couldn’t go upstairs. Should name this place Bella Ignore. We will defiantly not be back for a future visit.

Let me start this review by saying I frequent Ventura for sporting events and my husband and I stay at the Bella Maggiore Inn 2 – 3 times a year. We have told all of our friends to stay there and this weekend probably had 6 rooms at the small Inn filled with our friends. When we got to the hotel yesterday we stopped in at the Front Desk around noon and were told that check in was at 3. We were fine with that, we threw the parking pass in the car and went and walked around for awhile. We came back at around 1:30 to check on the room’s availability and the lady at the front desk this time rudely reminded us check in was at 3 and they were very firm about that. (funny not the 6 – 8 other times we have stayed at the hotel) so from 2 o’clock on we decided to just hang out in the lobby along with other people waiting for their rooms. I went up at about 2:45 and said to the girl we were there when they are ready to release rooms. Another girl starts at 3 she told me and it wasn’t her shift. It would have been nice if the girl at the front desk instead of saying no to everyone would have taken people’s credit card info so at 3 there wouldn’t have been a line, but no at 3 o’clock there was the line. It was more irritating when we got to our room and it was freezing AC blaring and had obviously been sitting vacant for a few hours. I’m sorry when you are a little B&B and only have 25 rooms to begin with if the room is ready give it to the guest. Whatever. so we went up and went about our business. As we were leaving for dinner our friends were checking in and the long dark haired skinny woman (who is never seen before and was so incredibly rude) was telling our friends they couldn’t keep their 3000.00 bike in the room or store it somewhere that could be accessible for him to get at 5am. Ridiculous! Ventura was hosting a Century Bike Ride, Marathon &
Half Marathon they obviously had no clue. What happened to our great Bella Maggiore? Why has the customer service totally tanked? So sad. I don’t think we can stay there again and we will take our dozen friends and gladly pay more to stay elsewhere. #BUMMER

I am not quite sure how to approach this rating because this a perfect place to stay for Halloween and that is the only time I would stay there, so my review is a bit prejudiced. It is funky, has loads of character, and is fun to watch the party goers while hanging out one of the windows facing the main street. It is a great place to get ready for the Halloween festivities and merriment. The whole town parties that night. Who knows who decorated this Inn but it has an unusual «theme» to it. But it all adds to this crazy night in Ventura befitting of the Halloween mood. It has it’s place to call it a great Halloween locale. The tariff is pretty good.
Oh… before I book the next time I will have to be convinced that they have addressed the bed bug situation as quite a few reviewers have mentioned. All should call and put pressure on the owner so visiters can enjoy this «kookie» place.

It’s a lovely building, lovely rooms, wonderful courtyard, delicious breakfast, and personable staff. And the location is primo.
Just one problem: Our room (22) had bedbugs. I woke up at 4AM itching, took out a light, and killed 4 that were full of my blood. Since I react badly to bites, that kind of wrecked the night’s sleep and my stay. They said they knew the room was infested recently, but had treated it and thought it was now fine. Well … no. If I were sure they solved this, I’d stay again. But if not, I’d avoid.

Quaint hotel on Main St. Ventura… comfortable bed and clean! Great price $ 110! Full breakfast included!

This place was right in the heart of downtown! Perfect location for walking to the beach and restaurants. It’s nothing fancy, but the hotel staff is great and the breakfast is even better! I definitely recommend getting a room with an AC we were very thankful we had one. Only minus one star because there was no counter space in the bathroom and the pillows and blankets need to be updated. But we will definitely stay here anytime we go back to Ventura!

My fiancé and i stay here any chance we can get to Ventura. Its located in the heart of downtown, directly across from Lure (probably some of the best seafood we ever had.) We stayed in a room on California and it didn’t seem too noisy like everyone said. The room was clean and the the staff was friendly. It has some old world charm, they run off of a hand written system which we thought was pretty cool. They offer free breakfast (you get to pick off a full menu, not buffet style) and we really enjoyed wine and cheese hour it made for a very relaxing start to our evening before we went to dinner across the street.
No, its not a five star hotel but we had an amazing time and will be staying here everytime we visit Ventura. If you’re one of those grumpy people and just complain all the time like the ones that gave this place a bad rewiew then go spend $ 300 on a room at Crowne Plaza.

BED BUGS, BEWARE!!!
This was probably the worst place I have ever stayed in. If «European» is equivalent to dingy and dark, then ok, I’ll describe it as «European» (P.S. I’ve traveled to Europe and also to countries in Southeast Asia — always stay in a B&B so I feel like I am not coming from a chain hotel American point of view). First I was quoted a price that made no sense to me. I had a party of 6 so I booked 2 rooms that fit 3 – 4 people each but I was to pay $ 20 per person over 4 people. I asked if this was because of the included breakfast but it isn’t. Luckily I was able to cancel the 2^nd room and the extra people who ended up not coming anyway.
To top it off, the clerk called to alert me to the fact that they were remodeling the kitchen and there would be no hot breakfast, just continental. Now often times a continental breakfast can suffice. This one was sparse. A few pastries and some fruit. No juices, no hard boiled eggs, cereal, nothing. And they didn’t adjust the price to reflect that. I ended up not eating and really wish I could’ve partaken in a delicious hot breakfast that they usually have.
As I’ve mentioned before, the room is very dark. We stayed in a small suite of sorts (Room 31) on the third floor. It had a small bedroom with a queen bed and a living room with a pull out couch. Even with the light on and windows open it was hard to see. The worst part was sleeping though. Two of our party slept on the bed and the other two slept on the pull out couch, which was the most uncomfortable bed I’ve ever been on! I could feel every spring and coil, and one of them was broken so I felt the popped out wire by my foot.
If it sounds like it can’t get any worse, well, it does. The two who slept in the bed ending up getting bitten by BED BUGS! One woke up to find 35 bites which then turned into hives! The other is also covered in bites. Never again. What a waste of $ 155. Bella Maggiore, it’s been over 30 years since you’ve remodeled. It’s time to burn all the furniture, rip out the old green carpet, invest in some new light fixtures, and start over!

The inn is ancient. My allergies flourished.
Staff is friendly. Maid service is so-​so.
Noise everywhere, hard to sleep.
No A/​C, windows don’t fully close.
If not for the above, charming would’ve been.

I wanted to love this place. I really did. From reviews on Unilocal to recommendations from friends, I thought this would be the best place for our long weekend getaway. It is quaint but not comfortable. I chose an interior room because I was forewarned about the noise on California Street. My bad that I did not check that the hotel had air conditioning. It does not and we happened to hit a couple days of very hot weather. I’m sensitive to the heat so if this is a concern to you, be warned.
I had made this reservation with the knowledge that breakfast would be included at Nona’s Café. A day or two prior to our leaving, I received a phone call that the kitchen was being remodeled and breakfast would not be served but rather a continental breakfast (but only on the weekend). I don’t do bagels, muffins, etc. I have a medical condition that makes those items particularly unfriendly to me. Again, not a big deal, but I had to rearrange my schedule to allow time for breakfast off site.
Lastly, the rooms are nice, but not if you need to pull out your computer for some work. My husband and I both needed time to do this. The desk was nice for one of us, but the chairs in the room were not very comfortable. The bathroom was meh… it wasn’t the absolute worst I’ve stayed in, but it really could use some updating.
Would I stay here again? I’m leaning towards no. The location is excellent as it is downtown and close to lots of great shops and restaurants, but I just wasn’t comfortable (bed, pillows, no a/​c, bathroom/​shower, no breakfast).

Checked in on ³⁄₂ and was supposed to check out on ¾. Ended up leaving just before midnight on the 3^rd due to the fact we had BED BUGS! I noticed some bites on my arm the morning of the 3^rd but didn’t think much of it. Wife and I saw/​killed at least 5 of them on our bed as we were getting ready to fall asleep. Don’t stay here especially in room 31 until this issue has been taken care of.
ps. they did issue us a full refund, but that’s not the point. I’ll be itching for days and don’t want anyone else to have to deal with the issue of BED BUGS!

Yes, rooms on California St can be noisy and yes the rooms are a little outdated, but that is part of the charm and history of this place, taking you back in time a bit. The Inn is in a class all its own and is still reasonably priced. My husband and I travel multiple weekends each month, we stay here when we’re in town and have always received 5-​star service from J. — who goes above and beyond for his guests. And yes, their complimentary gourmet breakfast is a beautiful bonus :)

This place is great! As you will read in other reviews, don’t stay here if you’re looking for luxury — it is a very simple yet accommodating hotel.
I can’t believe the free breakfast they provide. I thought it would be a limited selection but it’s a whole menu of omelets, pancakes, and even eggs Benedict (that’s what I got and it’s amazing!) and they’re not stingy on it… Our waitress told me I can order as much as I want!
We stayed in room 1, which overlooks the busy street, and they warned us about the noise level and they weren’t lying — it’s noisy! But that really didn’t bother me, especially since we got such an awesome deal on it ($ 90/​night on a holiday!) if you close the window then the noise goes does down a lot. The location of the hotel overall couldn’t be more perfect.
Our room is pretty small, but perfect for two people. The bed is comfortable and the tv is small, but I don’t mind that either; I don’t come on vacation to watch tv!
I honestly have not one complaint. My boyfriend and I have already decided this is where we will be staying every year for our annual trip!