Searching for Its Niche, Pierpont Inn Undergoes Renovation

Brothers Spencer and Scott Garrett purchased Ventura’s landmark Pierpont Inn last year with two general objectives--maintain the tradition of the nearly 90-year-old hotel while modernizing it enough to remain competitive in a tourism-heavy region.

A $7.5-million renovation currently underway should go a long way in both regards.

The extensive project, to be completed over the next four to five years, calls for an increase in rooms from 72 to 130, an addition of a banquet facility to serve up to 250 guests, increased parking and improvements on all existing rooms and the lobby and landscaping.

At the same time, the Garretts intend to maintain the Craftsman-style architecture that the inn has nurtured since it was built.

“One advantage the Pierpont has over other [lodging] properties in Ventura is its long-standing history,” Spencer Garrett said. “Having been built in 1910, it has a certain quaintness and charm to it. All we are doing is trying to make sure we complement that.”

The Garretts, who own the neighboring Pierpont Racquet Club, formed a limited partnership last year to purchase the inn from the Gleichmann family, who had operated the Sanjon Road establishment since 1928.

Rod Houck, the general manager of the inn at the time of the sale, said then that the Gleichmanns realized that renovations were needed, but opted not to make such an investment. The Garretts, however, were prepared to make the changes needed to keep pace with larger hotel chains in the area.

“Today, you can’t stay the same, right? You have to improve,” Spencer Garrett said.

“We are trying to get a little bit larger,” he said. “Certainly we’re not ever going to be the biggest hotel in Ventura, but we are trying to find our niche. The renovations will be something that hopefully will elevate us to a higher-grade property. All of these changes are imperative to long-term success.”

Improvements on the existing main banquet room--which includes raising the ceiling and increasing the ocean view--are due to be completed later this week, Garrett said. Renovations of the current 72 rooms--including soundproofing and the addition of new furniture, carpeting and drapes--has a late-January completion date.

“We’re in the process of putting before the city our master plan, which includes the banquet center,” Garrett said. “Work on that hopefully will start by next summer. At the same time, we’ll be adding additional rooms. We’ll move from 72 to 100, and then a couple years after that move up to 130 rooms.”

All renovations will take place, he said, with the inn’s history in mind.

“We’re trying to uncover some of the original building and restore that in the Craftsman spirit,” Garrett said. “One of our challenges is to make sure the inn is always something that maintains its historical identity.”