Ventura Grand Inn

Five hours into our drive to Mammoth, we received an email requesting proof of our service dog. However, no such documentation is required by law or actually exists. As a result, they essentially turned us away, forcing us to book and stay elsewhere. I intend to pursue legal action for discrimination.

For the AWESOME location, the price of our room was fantastic and surprisingly inexpensive, despite the huge Beer & Bluesaplooza fest going on down the street (we attended Saturday). Please take the negative reviews with a grain of salt (or however that idiom goes). It's not a luxury hotel. It's a motel. The room in which we stayed was clean and comfortable: No bedbugs, a refrigerator that keeps food & drink cold, working plumbing & AC, etc. Sure, it's not perfect. Maybe it needs some paint touchups on the baseboards, a less rusty shower curtain rod, a more secure backup door lock (it's a chain)... but everything one needs is provided and it all works just fine. It's located in a very walkable neighborhood with good food nearby. Absolutely NO COMPLAINTS! We plan to return in the winter for snowshoeing and biking, and will stay at the Ventura Grand Inn again!

I arrived 45 minutes later than their apparent 10pm check-in window (which I was not aware about). The front desk was locked. When I called, a lady came to the door and told me fairly rudely that she told my travel agent (Chase Travel) where she hid the key (she would not give me that info herself - I guess wanted to teach me a lesson?). Checked my email - nothing. A call to Chase Travel resulted in 20 minutes of confusion. (Later I did find a voicemail telling me where the key was hidden, but I could not easily access my voicemail at that moment). Just booked Shilo Inn across the street in person instead.

There is a reason---in fact many reasons---why The Ventura Grand Inn is #28 out of 29 'hotels' in Mammoth Lakes! They had to 'try' quite hard to 'achieve' such a notorious 'status' of second WORST 'hotel' in Mammoth Lakes! But hey, don't just take my word for it. Look at literally the dozens of other scathing reviews written by: Bill S, Stephen B, Fredie V, Kristina S, C.O. and many more, who I completely concur with... Even calling this place a hotel would be like comparing a 'meal' at McDonalds to a meal at Spago in Beverly Hills, prepared by Wolfgang Puck himself! A 'hotel' that is second to LAST place should have been THE red flag that got me to read the reviews more closely. But, it was a late night decision made after a long day of driving and I was tired. Oh well, we all make mistakes... We pulled up around back and walked down the stained, torn and very tired hallway, wreaking of a myriad of foul odors, towards the lobby. As I pushed the broken sliding door open, almost cutting my hand on the rusty edge, we entered the "reception" area, and ohhh were we received! We arrived at 1:30pm and asked if we could check in (90 minutes early) and that's where the wrath of this toxic woman was unleashed on us! A torrent of condescension, scorn, disdain, contempt, and outright aggression unlike anything I have EVER experienced rained down on us like a monsoon... I mentioned that we saw there was availability late the night before and thought we would check if we could get into our room just a bit early. She started demanding proof and telling us that we were "liars". As my wife and I looked at each other in disbelief as to how we were being 'received' and spoke to each other without speaking, it was quite clear that we had made an epic bad decision to book a room here! She continued to unleash on us and told us to come back at 3pm, the official check-in time. We walked back to our car, sat down and with a heavy sigh of frustration considered our options, which, considering it was the week of July 4th seemed to be few. So, we left and came back at 3pm. We reentered the lobby and found her sitting behind the desk. I said we'd like to check in and she matter of factly told us that she cancelled our reservation because she "didn't like our attitude"! To that I said, you asked us to leave when we arrived at 1:30, told us to come back at 3pm and intentionally wasted our time! Moreover, she told Booking.com that we were a "no show"! They say that truth is stranger than fiction... Folks, no amount of detail can ever illustrate the other-worldly absolutely horribly disgusting attitude this person in the (in)hospitality industry showed us. My hope is that by sharing the exceptionally unfortunate experience we were subjected to, this evil woman and the Ventura (not so) Grand Inn can finally achieve the status it deserves of #29 out of 29 (WORST) 'hotels' in Mammoth Lakes...

Location was good and staff was friendly. The Inn is in need of an overhaul. A newer flat screen TV mounted in the room but the room is old and in need of an upgrade. Pool and spa were unusable, badly damaged or under construction. No fan in bath room so after a shower the entire room is wet. Still hair possibly animal from previous guest on the floor. No maid service so your using the same towel and sheets for my 4 night stay. Trash overflowing and walls very thin. I could hear the room next door.