Blue Iguana Inn, Ojai

Wanted a romantic getaway and this place was just perfect. I can't say enough about this great hotel. From the rooms to the staff my stay here was more then perfect. Will be back to see the snow.

Wish we could say how we liked/disliked this property, but we couldn't get past the reservation desk. We used their on-line reservation system to "book" a room for a Saturday and Sunday night. We were surprised that any rooms were left, but according to the availability chart - there it was, two green checksmarks for the "Toad Room". However, after waiting 24 hours for our confirmation e-mail, we called the hotel to confirm we indeed had a room. The clerk said she was busy checking some other guests in, and she'd call us right back. 45 minutes later, we called again. This time the clerk had time for us - or at least time to tell us that we in fact didn't have a room, that the hotel had been totally booked for that weekend for a long time. Evidently, website updates lag a bit. We asked to talk to manager. We were told the owners were unavailable, but we did get handed off to someone. She told us she was busy, but she'd call us right back. So, after another 30 minutes, we called again, this time to talk to the "manager." Long story short, no room. Don't bother trying to book this place on-line, and if you try calling, get ready for a game of phone-tag.

My then fiancé, now husband, and I searched for the perfect property to host our 3-day, wedding weekend celebration for our families and friends. It wasn't until we stumbled upon this aesthetically gorgeous hotel, that everything else fell into place. We ended up planning our entire theme for the wedding around this seemingly enchanting getaway. We ended up renting the ENTIRE property for 3 days, 1 cottage each for our parents', their brothers and sisters' families, grandparents, and a few friends. And if you're doing your math, people, that's a little over $6,000 the owners made off of us. I talked with the owner a few weeks before our arrival and she couldn't have been more lovely and accommodating. They'd had a wedding party there before us recently and were a little apprehensive about hosting another due to what they characterized as "bad behavior" on the part of those guests. But after we talked, she seemed as excited as I was to meet. Everything was pretty much okay with the owner until my side of the family began to arrive on the Friday before the wedding. You see, I am African-American, my now husband is Jewish. The owner became tense, rude, uncomfortable and began demanding extra charges that hadn't been mentioned before. We had already paid the bill with the wonderful lady that worked in the office, but then the owner came in and, after locking some of the rooms that had already been opened so I could place gift baskets in them, wouldn't hand the keys over to me until I paid her the extra money. I don't know about you, but where I come from, that's called extortion. We paid it, because at that point we had guests arriving, entire families, some of whom live across the country and hadn't seen each other in 10 years. After a few hours of her sitting in the office, glaring at everyone as they congregated by the pool before they left for the rehearsal dinner, she left, and was replaced by another amazingly wonderful employee. At this point, several of my husband's family members commented about how rude and abrasive the owner was towards several of my family members during check-in. I was so devastated about the owner's outrageous behavior, I didn't even attend my own rehearsal dinner. I'd spent so much time and money and energy trying to create this experience for our wedding and our families, had put so much of myself into this, and then to be treated like a second-class citizen was almost enough to ruin Ojai for me, which had become our little escape, our second-home. When we confronted the owner about her behavior at the end of our stay, there was no remorse on her part whatsoever. And it's so unfortunate on her part. We are and would have been amazingly loyal customers who not only returned every year for our anniversary, but my husband's family is a HUGE, warm (wealthy) family that loves to travel together for holidays, rent multiple homes in the summers together all over the country, and had fallen in love with this property, with Ojai. But now that they know how I was treated, how my family was treated, they, along with us, are never coming back to this establishment again. We will be taking our business and our money elsewhere. It's such a shame, really, because at the end of the day, we're good people who didn't deserve to be treated this way.

We reserved a room at the Emerald Iguana Cottages, in Ojai California, for 2 nights (September 16 & 17, 2006). At the time of the reservation, we were charged for the first night of September 16, 2006. At the time of check in we were charge the tax for the room, for the first night, plus the room and tax for the second night. We stayed in the room that first night, and we awoke to a city covered with ash on the morning of the September 17th. There was a large fire in the Ojai Forest that was growing and approaching the city of Ojai, where the Emerald Iguana was located. After returning from breakfast, it became apparent the fire was getting closer, so we watched the local news and they were issuing a voluntary evacuation notice for Ojai residents. We contacted the front office, told them our concerns and clearly stated that we were checking out and would not be staying the additional night. Because the Emerald Iguana was unable to provide us safe accommodations for the night of September 17th, I requested a refund for the second night charge at that time, when we checked out. The desk clerk informed me that she could not authorize a refund, and I would need to contact the manager on Monday, September 18th. When I contacted the Manager, she acknowledged that we had checked out a day early, but she would no issue a refund because it was their policy to charge guests for the full stay at the time of check in and not issue refunds if they had to leave earlier. When I tried to address this unreasonable charge with my credit card company, the Emerald Iguana Cottages provided both misleading and disingenuous to my credit card company. They distorted the facts and gave inaccurate information in order to skirt addressing the issue. Because the Emerald Iguana had me sign off on the second night charge upon check in, my credit card company could not reverse the charge. If we had chosen to check out a day early on a whim, I would not expect a refund. But we were understandably concerned for our safety because of the proximity of the fire. There were only four highways out of town, and two were already blocked by fire, and a voluntary evacuation notice had been issued. I find the fact that the Emerald Iguana would place the desire to make money over the safety of their guests to be reprehensible.

I have stayed at both the Blue Iguana and the Emerald Iguana. I really liked the 2 bedroom suite at the Blue Iguana. It was private and spaceous. At the Emerald, I very much enjoyed the "Lillypad" 2 bedroom, 2 story cottage. Thought both places were very nice and I wouldn't hesitate to return if it weren't for the staff. I found the staff to have poor customer service skills. I found them rude with no follow-up with regard to special requests and down right defensive (noone told us we had to checkin at he Blue Iguana when we were staying at the Emerald. The checkin person insinuated I was lying when I told her that we had not been informed. I must say the Ojai Inn and Spa is downright georgeous. If you can stand a big hotel with a full house just about every weekend, go for it.

While the Blue Iguana is right on the highway, it is, from inside, a secluded oasis from the rest of the world. I stayed there last year and completely enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere. It is a 'hike' into Ojai, but the 'hike' is lovely! One warning: DO NOT RELY ON THE TROLLEY SERVICE FOR TRANSPORTATION! I would HIGHLY recommend the Blue Iguana, but that might disrupt the peaceful, quiet atmosphere of this unknown gem.

The Blue Iguana Inn is really a great place to stay. They have beautiful kitchen suites and single rooms with hardwood floors, private patios, beautiful furnishings and original local artwork on the walls. The staff is friendly and the rates are great.

The Blue Iguana sounds great on paper, and looks good from a shot of inside the "walls", but don't be decieved. Its cute and clever decor do not make up for it's terrible boxed in location, several miles from downtown, right along a not very attractive stretch of the hwy.