This hotel is perfect for a relaxing one or two-night stay in Ventura. All rooms have small balconies and face the gorgeous Pacific Ocean. Determine whether you want the glare of the sun bouncing off the ocean when you awake (South-facing rooms) or at dusk (North facing). For the offseason price of $140 for a king, this place couldn't be beat.

They have upgraded many of the rooms and all have flat screen TVs and soft, comfy beds. There is an outdoor pool and sitting, firepit area off the lobby bar.

The quaint "downtown" Ventura area is less than a 10-minute walk which allows you to leave the car at the hotel ($10 per night) and simply walk to drinks and dinner. Eric Erickson's fish restuarnt is just steps away on the long pier. Perfect for a happy hour cocktail overlooking the ocean.

The best food in town is at Lure, a new high(er) end oyster and fish house. Freshly shucked ostyers are $1.50 per between 4-6pm. If you like brew (and don't care about particularly good food), check out the Anacapa Brewing Company.

You may also want to step back in time to the beginnings of California living with a visit to the Mission Santa Bueanaventura at the end of Main Street ($4 per person. Self-guided tours).

There are several motels in town that might be a few bucks less, but if you're looking for a full-service resort with a killer view, spend a couple extra bucks at stay at the Crowne.

We were very happy with this hotel. The rooms were okay, they were clean but the bathrooms were small. It had everything you needed. You have to pay $10 a day for parking, but you never have to move it. The hotel is right on the beach and a couple minutes walk from the Main street. The best thing about this hotel, other than location, is the staff. They were VERY friendly, and not in a suck up annoying way, they just seemed to be very nice people. We went to happy hour at the bar and everyone there was helpful and nice. When we were there the bartenders name was Erin and she was very welcoming. Unlike other comments, the train didn't bother us. We only heard it a handful of times in our two day stay. Overall, we were very happy with our stay.

This is as much a lament as praise.

We had a great stay at Crowne Plaza Ventura Beach this Martin Luther King Weekend. We took Amtrak from our home in L.A., and had excellent summer-like weather in January. We may consider more short getaways like this in the future. Hotel room was fine for us: 2 adults and kids aged 10 and 12. The room was large enough. We could get two of us seated at the desk with laptop computers. We were on the 5th floor, toward the beach end. The seashore noise (waves breaking, seagulls squawking) drowned out the Amtrak and freeway noise. I think the best views are located from the 4th floor up, to see over the ground floor lobby building. Every room has a beach view because the hotel building is oriented perpendicular to the shore. Our room faced west (or shoreline north) with a good view of the surfing activity, which was plenty.

We rented a bicycle surrey that held the 4 of us and we pedaled up and down the boardwalk. Then we strolled over to Ventura's Main Street for dinner and dessert and I was impressed by the array of restaurants and shops there.

The lament is that this hotel has a monopoly on beachfront hospitality. If we couldn't get a room here, the other hotel choices are on the other side of the freeway and railroad tracks from the beach. Main Street could be an even livelier place with more hotels like this: on the beach but walking distance to Downtown. It was a good mid-range valued hotel. We wouldn't consider staying overnight elsewhere in Ventura, because we could have done a day trip from our home in L.A.

Our family was in town for a funeral. We grew up in Ventura but currently reside in Oregon. We had a LOT of people and thus a lot of rooms. For starters, they changed the price on my mom when she went to book 2 more rooms. We has made reservations for 5 days, 5 rooms. Ok, fine, pricing changes after reservations, blah blah. We were coming home and on the beach. The downstairs is lovely and you can tell they cater to people who uses those services. The second you are on the elevator, you feel like you are in a time warp back 20 years. Literally, you get off on your floor and you feel like its a different hotel. The rooms. Oh my the rooms were so small, you can barely open the door all the way! For the price we paid per room, It was a bit ridiculous, but then again, you are paying FOR THE VIEW. No fridge, no microwave, and the hardest bed I have ever slept on in my life! I'm too young to be waking up with back pain. The light on the bathroom was so poor, forget about caring how you look...I did my makeup by the window. I will say this. The restaurant is FANTASTIC! I will go back just for the restaurant! Too bad we couldn't take our leftovers...no fridge. I would have given it a better rating if it weren't for this... My mother had her watch stolen and my brother had money stolen!! Granted, I told them you never leave valuables laying around, but really?! Absolutely unbelievable! So much for a classy establishment! My entire family spent THOUSANDS in just hotel rooms, not to mention the restaurant. One meal for all of us was $300+. My mom spoke with management and he supposedly talked to the maid staff. Like they will admit to anything...right. So, we can't prove it since we weren't physically in the room. we are going with the theory that a seagull came in and picked it up. It has potential, but the maid staff beyond that incident was horrible and I had to call twice to see if they were bring room service. 1.5 hrs later, it came.
In summary:
Room- mediocre but view and sounds of the ocean are amazing
Service- horrible and disgraceful
Restaurant- awesome, GO TO THE RESTAURANT

The sad thing, my mom and aunts went back a month later when visiting another family member with cancer. They miss the beach so much, they stayed there again just for that experience. Apparently, the service was still poor, the rooms still "suck" but the view and accessibility to the beach is worth it. NOT worth it for me. I'll stay somewhere else and walk to the beach.