Ojai Valley Inn’s First Remodeling Phase Targets Meeting Rooms

The 73-year-old Ojai Valley Inn has completed the first phase of a multimillion-dollar refurbishing that, among other things, is designed to expand the Ojai resort’s attraction as a business convention center.

Among completed renovations is the Topa Conference Center and Ballroom, which can accommodate as many as 400 people for business meetings.

The facility has been upgraded with new carpeting, furnishings and paint. Another area used by business groups, the Shangri-La Terrace, has undergone extensive reconstruction, according to resort spokeswoman Merrill Williams.

The terrace overlooks parts of the Ojai Valley that were the locale for Shangri-La in the 1937 film classic, “Lost Horizon.”

Other improvements include the renovation of 22 guest rooms in the inn’s Hacienda building and addition of space for meetings and banquets.

The rooms in the Hacienda have been redecorated in a style reminiscent of 1923, when the Ojai Valley Inn opened for business. In many cases, carpeting has been removed to reveal original hardwood floors and tile work.

These and other upgrades to be completed later this year will cost the hotel’s owner, the Crown family of Chicago, “several million dollars,” Williams said.

The Crowns are heavily invested in real estate and numerous other fields. Their holdings include Snow Mass Lodge in Aspen, Colo.

When the Ojai project is complete, all 207 of the inn’s guest rooms will have been refurbished. Decor will include specially designed California Mission Revival-style furniture, including four-poster beds, rustic armoires and adjustable Morris chairs.

The work has been scheduled so the hotel hasn’t had to close for business, Williams said.

At the Ojai facility and throughout the county, tourism has been staging a post-recession comeback.

An Ojai Valley Inn official declined to say how much things have improved, but the Ventura Visitors & Convention Bureau reports a 7.7% gain in hotel industry sales in 1995 over the previous year.

The increase reversed a two-year decline, according to Bill Clawson, the bureau’s executive director.