My fiancee and I planned to buy out all of the rooms in the entire hotel for our wedding on Sept. 19, 2009. The owner Tom (whom we were prevented from meeting) never came out to introduce himself to us.

Wendy (Sales) was the "Gate Keeper" to Tom and all our communication had to be filtered through her. For what reason? It still remains a Mystery to us both. Wendy seemed to work with us at first, even running our credit card to save the rooms. After numerous attempts to get a contract written, when we finally received it 1 MONTH LATER! They neglected to write in our contract we would have Nona's courtyard for our Reception. From the very beginning we were told by Wendy, it was included and that we could even us a side room for our bar! But nothing in the contract stated so. When we confronted her about it, she said she never promised that! Ridiculous..! Then we were told it would be an additional charge for the use of at room. It doesn't make sense. ALL OF OUR FAMILY was to be staying there! Nobody would be there unless they were family.

In addition to selling out his entire facility, my fiancee (owner a local magazine) and graciously offered to give them FREE a Full color ad , printed in over 10,000 copies distributed Ventura County & San Diego county. That's FREE advertising to potential tourists, especially in San Diego, (they have very high tourism $!) Seems like a good deal right?

Wendy said, Tom said , "Sounds good write me out a proposal." So he did and sent it over discussing the WIN, WIN situation for both the Bella Maggiore & our Wedding. A week past by of trying to get an answer and we were out of time! We had less than 2 months, when Wendy told us Tom decided to pull out of our agreement with selling out the entire rooms for us and our entire family. For what reason? He didn't give one! Can you believe that! For no reason at all!

So we said screw you all and left. Wendy (Sales), and Tom (the owner) are the worst hotel management has too offer. It doesn't surprise me, that we later found the Chef walked out and the Restaurant Manager did also 2 weeks later. I'm amazed they still have repeat customers and are in business.

***I would advise you NOT to stay with them, it is not worth it to sacrifice the service for peace of mind. Be warned.

This is the second time that I've stayed at the Bella Maggiore. We stayed for 5 nights, and had one of the rooms that shared a nice balcony facing the inner courtyard. The hotel reminds you of a typical Italian style family hotel, and it has a lot of charm. However, our garbage wasn't emptied for 4 days, I had to go down the hallways to find the cart to grab towels and soap, and it's a fairly noisy location. All that said, I still like the place. It has a GREAT location in the center of Old Ventura and only a few blocks from the beach. The wine hour is really nice as it includes a variety of fruits and cheeses with each day a bit different from the one before. One of the BEST things about the hotel is the breakfast which is included in the price. The manager of the restaurant, Joe, is amazing! He's smart, funny, and a hell of a cook. We had a group, and he busted his balls to please us, and he did it with a smile and sense of humor. He even recited a bit of poetry at the post-wedding Sunday brunch. I'm telling you, the guy has style! So, all in all.... even though there are pieces that aren't perfect, it is a really nice hotel with a European feel. I would recommend it. Ask for the 'quieter' rooms if that's an issue for you.

Great location -one block to Main Street Ventura -Downtown.
Pros: Onsite Nona's Cafe/RestaurantComplimentary: Sampled an Excellent home cooked breakfast from choice of 4 items in 3 egg omelet, free juice and coffee-great tasting
Friendly Male Waiter
Beautiful courtyard where breakfast is served with Fountain of Water and Ivy grown on 1914 historic Building
Nice ambiance
Room: Very clean, comfortable bed, decoration is eclectic: blue sofa modern against rust/fall colors
Reading area alcove with excellent lighting for reading and viewing part of downtown side street.

Cons: Old T.V. Cable not working as sound faded after 15 minutes of clear TV. The TV was clear but sound kept going out and then back on. Missing the remote control.
Made two complaints after check-in, the front desk clerk said she would try to find another remote control but could not locate one. Also the TV sound kept fading. The clerk should have offered to twitch to another room, but no offer was made, except her comment about switching if staying another night. (Katie) was nice but no offer of another solution.
At check out, informed the front desk-different clerk in the morning, the two problems about the TV but no discount was offered.

Also no wine and cheese in late afternoon to evening on the second floor as mentioned in other reviews.

The parking is in the rear of the building. Parking in the front of the inn is for 2 hours or for 20 minutes for loading or unloading.
Three Flights of Stairs
Room #32 large room with Queen with non working TV

Customer Service: Wendy is the outstanding front desk; she should be the owner and manager due to outstanding service beyond the call of duty. Thank you for your kindness and doing a great job.
Pluses: I left several items outside my room and Wendy, was nice enough to call my home and leave a message. Wendy was very nice as she said she made the phone call
Wendy is the nicest and most personable front desk, and took the time to clean my cooler out as it had perishables:organic vegetables from our garden.
Amanda was also very nice who took my reservation.
The very personable waiter, I can't recall his name, but he delivered A rated service and personality. He also should be in management of an inn, service with a smile is what hospitality in an Inn is all about.

Nice place tho my room overlooked a community parking lot on Saturday night--some interesting activity, but no problems with noise or sleeping. Large room, large bath. No tv, comfortable bed. Great breakfast and very nice courtyard seating--great Sunday morning guitarist (Segovia style) accompanied food service.