Hotel deals for Ojai-Ventura film festival, Nov. 5-8

What’s better than watching a few good independent films? Seeing them in conjunction with a relaxing weekender, perhaps. It may be no Sundance; in fact, you may not have ever even heard of it. But the Ojai-Ventura International Film Festival, with lauded documentary “The Most Dangerous Man in America” among its features, is coming up Nov. 5-8 and is the perfect excuse to give yourself a little getaway to the charming small town of Ojai, in Ventura County.

Most of the festival’s screening venues are in Ojai, though films are also being shown at the Brooks Institute of Photography in Ventura, 15 miles southwest of Ojai.

See indie and classic flicks by night and/or day, and, out of the theaters, take in the area’s other offerings, which include good food, great hikes, day spas, a mellow vibe and spectacular sunsets. Following are a few festival-related packages being offered by hotels in the region. Contact venues directly for more details, cancellation policies, etc.:

Ojai Valley Inn & Spa
At this queen bee of Ojai accommodations options, the “gold package” for festival attendees costs $1,350 pretax and is based on double occupancy. It includes a room for three nights, access to all festival screenings, plus admission to the welcome reception on Thursday evening, the Screen Writers event on Friday night and the farewell gala on Saturday night. Use promotion code “OFFGD2″ when booking.

The Oaks at Ojai
The “Film Festival Special” here offers room rates starting from $119 for the first person plus $10 for each additional person in a room; these prices are pretax, and a two-night minimum is required. The package includes breakfast but NOT festival admission or Oaks fitness activities.

This is available only to festival attendees, and you’ll be required to show proof of Film Festival ticket purchase upon check-in.

Ventura Beach Marriott
The “Screening Package” here includes a room for two nights, overnight self-parking, breakfast buffet for two, and two passes for any eight festival screenings. The price tag is $428 per couple (pretax). Use promo code “CUE” to book.

Or do it yourself for less
If you’re on a tight budget and don’t need luxuries, you might want to skip the above options and customize your own trip, depending on how many films you want to take in. Various festival-ticket-package options are available through the festival website. For example, a four-pack screening pass is $35. A pass allowing entry to eight screenings plus the opening-night party is available for $100.

The well-reputed Best Western Casa Ojai has rooms for about $140 per night (pretax). I have visited the tranquil and lovely Ojai Retreat, outside of town, where rooms for the festival weekend were available, when I checked, for as low as $100 per night. Go the Priceline route, and you’ll find hotels in Ventura for even less.

– Susan Derby, Special to the Los Angeles Times

Photo: Ojai-Ventura International Film Festival poster for 2009. Credit: Ojai Film Festival

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This entry was posted on Thursday, October 8, 2009 at 11:57 am by Susan Derby and is filed under Arts & Culture, California, Deals, Festival, Hotels, Ojai, Ventura, Weekend Getaways. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.