Grand Vista Hotel

$16 PER NIGHT for parking in SoCal?!?! It pains me to be negative about Grand Vista, because my husband and I love it here. We and other relatives have been making this hotel our home-away-from-home for literally decades. The location and view are unmatched in Simi. Yes, it is an old property and a bit worn, but I don't mind that at all. It's clean and comfortable, and the staff are exceptionally helpful. BUT THE PARKING FEE IS DRIVING US TO DISTRACTION. I expect to pay for parking in a crowded urban center where every square inch of land must be monetized. I don't like it, but I accept it. But Simi Valley is NOT an urban area and Grand Vista's parking area is rarely more than 1/2 full overnight. So...what's the deal? What it LOOKS like is one of the two following possibilities. Either it looks like... 1. a sales ploy: a typical bait-and-switch. Perhaps the hotel marketing team feels that it's a good sales strategy to lowball the other hotels in town and then slap on the parking fee. I always read the details before I book, but many (most?) people don't. So this parking fee surprise is a rude way to welcome guests to this lovely this town. Or it looks like... 2. the hotel has been sold to some East Coast corporation with fancy Ivy degrees that knows NOTHNG about Southern California culture. I wonder if they know how insulting this parking fee is. Evidently not. The result for my husband and myself is that we now book Grand Vista for only two nights of each week-long stay. We spend the rest of our week at a competitor. Sometimes, we go to Simi for a week and just skip Grand Vista entirely, although it always makes me sad to do so. I still hold out hope that GV will stop thinking like an Eastern urban business and return to their roots. To the hotel management--you know that in SoCal, it's very rare for a hotel guest to arrive without a car. That's just the way we do things. Please honor the culture and compute your price to be whatever you need it to be to survive this economic hellhole in which all businesses now must live. My husband and I would pay what you ask. I do understand that the current economic conditions are extremely difficult and I do want you to survive this period of history! We're pulling for you and will continue to support you on a limited basis. But we're unlikely to return for longer stretches until you get rid of the parking fee.

Overnight Parking Charge - $16.00 The room was nice. It was tricky to turn on the dorm size refrigerator. It turns out there is a button on the side of the power strip that you need to press. This hotel is in the suburbs, yet they charge for parking your car. There is no on-site street parking. I think the charge is over the top considering you aren't in the middle of a city where hotels typically charge for parking. It strikes me as a way to get more money out of you. It left me feeling less favorable about the hotel. I booked it on-line through Priceline.

Recommend this hotel In Simi Valley for the Little House on the Prairie tv show 50th anniversary (whoch was fantastic), this was the hotel I booked a year in advance. My room was lovely with a view of the pool and mountains in the distance. Breakfast was tasty and the server friendly and professional.

Three nights in lovely Simi Valley. Beautiful hotel, beautiful views from the hotel entrance, everything very clean. Room with ample space, bed comfortable, pillows kind of soft for our taste. Bathroom well provisioned. Restaurant was excellent, at least for breakfast and personnel extremely friendly and accommodating. Only drawback was the fee for parking and the room rates, which was a little high for the time of the year when nobody uses the pool or hot tub.

Spend Your Money Elsewhere When the reservation was made, the continental breakfast was included with the $700+/ 5 night fare I had paid. Upon going to the restaurant, they asked me to give them a ticket for the breakfast. Ok... No problem... Went to the front desk, and asked for a ticket. The woman behind the counter and manager were both illogical and refused to provide me with the breakfast ticket I had paid for. Then they had the audacity to say that I had to pay an extra $15 per day for this. They tried to utilize technical language, to come up with answers such as "we have been having problems with the restaurant", etc. I knew they were all lying right through their teeth, in front of me. Any other place would have been more accommodating and more logical about the situation. Since they have decided to string me along with their excuses, I'll reveal some ugly discoveries in my room... My room's bathroom had a cigarette odor entrapped in it. I don't smoke, and had no idea where the scent was coming from. I had to prop the door with a garbage can to allow the AC to get rid of it. There was mold buildup on the bathroom ceiling, due to moisture and the door closing automatically. A shower tile was literally ready to fall out, with the press of one finger. The towels and bedding are as cheap as you can imagine. I read other negative reviews about this place, and agree with the obvious ones. This place needs a MAJOR management and staff change. It also needs some renovations. I'm a carpenter, and can easily point things out. There is no way I'm coming back here again. They just want more money, and will do anything to get it. My advice for you, would be to book your stay ELSEWHERE.