Filming for 'The Bachelorette' Disrupts the Ojai Valley Inn

March 20, 2013 at 9:52 AM | by juliana | Comment (1)

Even though The Bachelor has ended (congrats Sean and Catherine, we give it a year!), this only means that The Bachelorette is just beginning. According to RealitySteve.com filming has indeed commenced for Desiree Hartstock and her boys.

While Steve has hinted that he knows where the show will go after they do a few elimination rounds in LA, he hasn't spilled the beans just yet. But that's ok because our friend Johnny Jet has a first-hand scoop on where the Bachelorette filmed one of their dates--The Ojai Valley Inn and Spa. And boy, it is not good. For the hotel at least.

Johnny and wife headed up to Ojai from LA last weekend for a nice quiet retreat. Instead they got helicopters, an over abundance of production crew and rude staff. He writes:

When I tried to pull up to valet, the hotel staff questioned where we were going � he almost seemed surprised we were hotel guests. He told us that only self-parking was available and he guided me to the parking lot as the Bentley was quickly coming up from behind. While waiting for them to finish their shot, I snapped the photo above. In between the retakes, we walked to the lobby to get a golf cart to the room since it�s a long walk and Natalie wasn�t feeling well.

The hotel staff couldn�t have cared less and they said it wasn�t possible to get a cart to our room. This is supposed to be a five-star hotel and �no� shouldn�t be an option, especially when a simple request like this one from a sick guest is involved. I went to the front desk and they said they would arrange something.
We were shuffled to the side of the lobby with the rest of the crew while bachelorette Desiree Hartsock walked in with her date. The couple seemed nice but we really saw firsthand how there�s nothing real about this reality TV show. That might be disappointing news for fans of the show, but I was more disappointed in the hotel.
Timing is everything and a hotel�s first priority should be to take care of their guests � especially the sick ones. I know that if we showed up 20 minutes later none of this would have happened but situations like this can really allow a good hotel to shine.
Unfortunately, they failed. And we weren�t the only ones they inconvenienced, as could be seen from the growing number of guests standing around waiting for the �ok� to move freely about the property.

Johnny later went on to say that he complained to the hotel's social media manager and they invited them back again for a free stay. So at least the hotel did make amends. But Johnny has a point--for a paying guest at a five star hotel, "no" shouldn't be an option. Especially not over a cheesy, staged dating show.

We'll be keeping our eyes and ears open for where "The Bachelorette" takes her road show over the next few months, especially as the production crew takes over more hotels. Got a tip about The Bachelorette filming in a hotel? Email us or drop it in comments below!

[Photo: JohnnyJet.com]

Comment (1)

Return to » Filming for 'The Bachelorette' Disrupts the Ojai Valley Inn

I've been on both sides of this type of situation. Years ago, I was Night Manager of a hotel where a movie was filmed. I had guests complain because they couldn't access the health club, indoor pool, or spa because of the movie. That was horrible because my hands were tied. I couldn't kick the film crew out; and, discounting the room didn't do much to mollify guests who expected to be able to use the hotel amenities.

Occasionally, I work on some of the TV shows shot here in South Florida. A few weeks back, we filmed in the lobby of one of the hotels in Ft Lauderdale. The production did a great job of not inconveniencing guests. While guests were prevented from walking across the lobby, that only happened during the shot. And, the longest any guest had to wait was about 4 minutes. Since guests could stand and watch the scene, no one seemed to be bothered.

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