Westlake Village Inn plays gracious host


GRATEFUL GUESTS—Members of REO Speedwagon and their crew received a complimentary stay at the Westlake Village Inn for their recent benefit concert. Courtesy photo

GRATEFUL GUESTS—Members of REO Speedwagon and their crew received a complimentary stay at the Westlake Village Inn for their recent benefit concert. Courtesy photo

After 50 years doing business in the Conejo Valley, the proprietors of Westlake Village Inn didn’t think twice about stepping in to help in the wake of November’s mass shooting and wildfires.

The inn was among several local businesses that helped contribute to the success of the Jan. 12 and 13 benefit concerts at Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza by offering free room and board to members and the sound crew of headlining act REO Speedwagon.

The shows, featuring special guests Richard Marx, Eddie Money and John Ondrasik, raised an estimated $350,000 to share between the victims of the November mass shooting at Borderline Bar and Grill and those impacted by the same month’s Hill and Woolsey fires.

“This has been a difficult and devastating time for our community and we can all feel a little helpless,” said Chris Cuilty, chief operating officer of Westlake Village Inn. “As a leader of our community we are happy to help to ensure we get our neighbors back on their feet.”

The inn also housed FBI officials sent to Thousand Oaks to investigate the Borderline shooting.

After the inn was evacuated at 3 a.m. Nov. 9 due to the Woolsey fire, Cuilty came back with his 14-year-old daughter Amelia to clean rooms and make beds so they were ready for the FBI agents by 4 p.m. The agents had worked 24 hours straight.

“Our housekeepers and all staff who could get here rushed in from evacuation centers to assist,” said Maria Solorzano, the inn’s director of sales and marketing.

The inn was one of the first local hotels to offer food and beverages to the first responders to the massacre.

Though the inn was under mandatory evacuation orders, it kept open Stonehaus, its coffee shop/winery bar to serve firefighters and deputies working around the clock during the blaze.

“In addition, we held fundraisers at Bogies, donating all the proceeds from the door to the Ventura County Community Foundation (and) totaling over $10,000,” Solorzano said.

Acorn staff report