Shangrila Paradise Private Spa & Retreat

Booked a romantic weekend away with my GF for Valentine's, sold on the idea of a small, private oasis where we could indulge ourselves. I was asked to pre-pay $710 for two nights - expensive, but Ojai isn't cheap and I thought a "private spa & retreat" would be worth it. Basically, the 'private cottage' described to us was in fact an additional room partially attached to the owner's house. I can only liken it to staying with some distant cousin, from the dated, worn sheets to the direct view into their private living area, separated only by a couple of steps to their outdoor patio. Upon arrival, Stacy the owner (who I mustn't fail to mention was sweet and attentive, calling several times before our arrival to ask about dietary requirements, etc), informed us that she was going out of town and leaving 3 male friends in charge of the property. For some people this may not have been an issue - and you welcome the weird in Ojai - but when you don't feel any sense of privacy, your room has doors leading to other guest rooms, there's an angry dog, and the private spa is a tiny, overly landscaped back yard with plastic green chairs, then all sense of indulgence and romance goes out the window. I probably wouldn't have minded if i wasn't being charged a luxury resort rate of $355 a night for the experience and could see myself actually finding the place charming in a david lynch movie kind of way if at least half the price.We cancelled our second nights stay with Stacy, promising to refund our unused night. We will see - I'm giving her two stars for the benefit of the doubt, but if not then I couldn't recommend this place less.I'm not in the habit of going on negative rants, but because this place has apparently been operating for 14 years without any reviews to go on and a website that it 'under contruction', I wanted to at least give like-minded guests the much needed heads-up.

Stayed there some years ago. It is tucked away and kind of interesting with the landscaping. It feels a bit like a little jungle. As for privacy, we didn't have much. It is true that the room is connected to other rooms and there are several doors leading into the room. The owner does live on the premises so it was a little uncomfortable when being in the jacuzzi to have someone walk around the grounds.