Best 1BR suite option?

[hobbes4444]

So our family of 3 is heading out west and ending our trip with a few days at DL. We're used to finding a nice DVC 1BR villa at WDW (not DVC members), and now have to sort out something among the dozens of hotels within walking distance of the park. I've narrowed it down to 3 options, all priced similarly (250-275/nt, certainly cheaper than WDW!!) and wondering if anyone has strong recommendations amongst them, or anything else I should (re)consider:

Hyatt House @ ACC 2Q suite w/sofa bed
Hotel Indigo 1King suite w/sofa bed
HoJo 1King suite w/bunk beds Bldg 1

Quiet is an important factor as my wife is a light sleeper (concern with HoJo in Bldg 1 and Indigo with the wood floors). Definitely want a separate sleeping space for our teenager. We generally do a quick cereal breakfast so a fridge with somewhere to eat in the room is a +. Not morning people, so EMH at the park not something we'll do.

Looked at the Courtyard (too expensive for off property), Doubletree, Homewood, Staybridge and ruled them out for one reason or another.

Thanks!

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

The only one on your list I have stayed at is the bunk bed suite at Hojo. We love that room. I am a light sleeper and will admit that I do have some trouble with the freeway noise, but I decided long ago it wasn't a deal breaker for me. If you are in the room doing normal activities, you don't really notice the freeway noise. It's when you are laying there in the dark trying to fall asleep that the sounds encroach on the consciousness. That said, I'm usually too tired for the freeway noise to be an impediment to my falling asleep, and it really isn't all that bad since they added the extra soundproofing. The only difficulty for me is if I happen to wake up too early like 4:30 or 5:30 in the morning, it can be hard for me to fall back asleep, but that can be the case for me with or without particular noises around. Why I won't let the little bit of noise be a deal breaker for me are the following reasons:

• 2 bathrooms!
• door that closes between the 2 rooms
• proximity to the parks
• cleanliness of the rooms
• excellent customer service I have gotten over the years

 

[hobbes4444]

The two bathrooms is definitely an upside and having a decent bed for our teen rather than a sofabed is also a plus. but as you said, waking and falling back asleep is a big issue. Can be an issue at any hotel. but hoping to minimize the risk. We don't plan to be in the room much other than breakfast and night time. so the most important thing for us is a quiet room with comfortable beds. We had a miserable experience at an extremely expensive suite at Beaches Turks and Caicos with uncomfortable beds and morning kitchen and laundry carts over cobblestone outside our suite. Ugh.

The other properties have separate areas with doors and seem to be a reasonable walk to the park. But maybe HoJo gets a bump up (leaning toward Hyatt House). . .

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

Yeah, the noise is the biggest risk and can be an issue at any hotel as you said. The beds at Hojo are very comfortable. There are podcast reviews here on the Dis of many of the area hotels. Maybe you should search to check if your other choices have been reviewed. That might offer more insight.

 

[StarlitNight05]

Last August we stayed in a 1 King suite at Hotel Indigo. There was a room above ours and the noise was quite considerable. There was a lot of stomping around early in the morning (we were getting up early anyway, but it was still pretty obnoxious). There is only 1 bathroom, but the shower (no tub) is really nice, very pretty tile work. The sofa area is separated by a longish hallway from the bed so there is some buffer room. Although, the sofa was pretty small -- more love seat size. It was just my husband and I so we didn't use it as a bed.

Another thing to consider is that Hotel Indigo doesn't offer breakfast--I've heard that Hyatt House's is pretty nice, so that's an added bonus.

 

[lcp9]

You didn't mention Residence Inn on your list that you researched - the one by the convention center on Katella was brand new in August, and it's awesome. It has a full breakfast, plus a full kitchen, so we really didn't need to do a lot of eating out. Just throwing it out there in case you hadn't looked at it The Maingate RI is ok too, but older.

 

[Sparrow78]

Not sure when you are going but building 1 at the hojo is starting renos in November, so if that's when take it out of your list!

 

[smartlabelprint]

I'd say Hyatt House hands down. Newest of all the properties you list.

 

[hobbes4444]

Well, six months late, but figured I'd at least post a quick report back. We stayed at the Hyatt House at the ACC and had a pleasant enough stay. We originally had a 1BR suite facing Harbor Blvd, high floor, fireworks view supposedly. Was very noisy in the AM, and we quickly switched to a room on the same floor facing the inner parking lot. Much much better. Very quiet. If you want to sleep in, get one of those rooms at check in. We were at the parks for the fireworks anyway.

The living room was tight with the sofa bed open. Decor was very bland, bordering on institutional; wife disliked it tremendously. Beds were decent enough. Sofa bed was not great but our 15 yr old son was ok with it for a few days. He's slept on a lot of sofabeds and while this wasn't the best, it wasn't the worst he's slept on either. We never made it down for breakfast since we spent late nights at the parks and were still jetlagged from our time in Hawaii, so the Starbucks downstairs in the building next door was a lifesaver. Easy 15-20 minute walk to the gates, though after a long day at the park it was not the highlight of our late night.

Thanks for the help. Think we made the right call for our family given the options available. Might look at some of the other properties if we return, but if Hyatt House was the best price, would be ok there for a few days. More than a long weekend, or just traveling with my wife, would definitely stay elsewhere.

 

[disneyland_is_magic]

Thanks for letting us know how it went, so often we help posters and never hear how it works out!

 

[chickapin parterre]

thank you for writing....so just to expand on what final room was chosen there are other choices around Disneyland....the downside is that nice suites are available but to find a good rate requires reservations in the 8-10 month window frame, once that time frame narrows , the price increases, just like purchasing an airline ticket. My wife also has room issues and she has found the MRI is the only choice for her. It has a large living room, though the kitchen probably extends the lounging environment. Sofa bed is great and the shades are clean though I can't speak to the decor being great because I have not noticed. The rooms are in quads, so noise is very limited in terms of occupants, but traffic noise is still an issue. And it has the resort environment that clinches the deal for my non-Disney wife. So my empathy to folks who are looking for specific environments, it is hard and MRI has been my answer to spontaneous Disneyland visits, so that I can keep coming back while wife lounges around environs. I would say pool, but MRI pool is not for adult lounging.

 

[Pamela M]

My favorite place to stay is the Marriott Residence Inn Maingate off Clemente - near the Garden Walk. It's an older property so it tends to be cheaper than other Marriott's In the area (Fairfield Inn, Courtyard, Residence Inn Convention Center)

Not a lot of people on this site stay there. I might be too far of a walk for some people. It's really 3 - 4 long blocks depending on where you stay on property. They have a 1 bedroom with sofa bed and also what they call a penthouse which is 1 bedroom and a loft( real bed) and 2 bathrooms.

I stayed here in September with my friends and we were really comfortable. I think I paid $259 plus tax for the Pent house. Other benefits is they provide breakfast for free(and it's a good variety of hot and cold food),free parking (which is becoming a rarity) and the property consists of only 4-6 units per building so you won't get too much noise. I think one side of the property sits on long the freeway but you should be able to ask for a building not near the freeway. I like to stay near the entrance of the property so I'm closer to Disneyland.

 

[smartlabelprint]

Do they have real 2 bedrooms? We need that for our kids.

My favorite place to stay is the Marriott Residence Inn Maingate off Clemente - near the Garden Walk. It's an older property so it tends to be cheaper than other Marriott's In the area (Fairfield Inn, Courtyard, Residence Inn Convention Center)

Not a lot of people on this site stay there. I might be too far of a walk for some people. It's really 3 - 4 long blocks depending on where you stay on property. They have a 1 bedroom with sofa bed and also what they call a penthouse which is 1 bedroom and a loft( real bed) and 2 bathrooms.

I stayed here in September with my friends and we were really comfortable. I think I paid $259 plus tax for the Pent house. Other benefits is they provide breakfast for free(and it's a good variety of hot and cold food),free parking (which is becoming a rarity) and the property consists of only 4-6 units per building so you won't get too much noise. I think one side of the property sits on long the freeway but you should be able to ask for a building not near the freeway. I like to stay near the entrance of the property so I'm closer to Disneyland.

 

[Pamela M]

Do they have real 2 bedrooms? We need that for our kids.

No but there are 3 beds plus a sofa bed. 2 queens in the bedroom and 1 king bed in the loft and 1 sofa bed in the living room. If you go to their site you can see pictures to see if it would work for you.

 

[lcp9]

Do they have real 2 bedrooms? We need that for our kids.

Residence Inn at the convention center has real 2 bedrooms I believe. We've stayed in the 1 bed suite (which has a closing door to one bedroom, plus a sofa bed in the living room) and I know they have 2 bed suites. RI Maingate has a 2 story loft which has 1 separate bedroom on the bottom, plus a loft at the top with it's own bed/bath (but I don't think it's closed off by a door, just stairs)

 

[smartlabelprint]

Residence Inn at the convention center has real 2 bedrooms I believe. We've stayed in the 1 bed suite (which has a closing door to one bedroom, plus a sofa bed in the living room) and I know they have 2 bed suites. RI Maingate has a 2 story loft which has 1 separate bedroom on the bottom, plus a loft at the top with it's own bed/bath (but I don't think it's closed off by a door, just stairs)

Ok. Someone on trip advisor was telling me there were 2 beds. I was sure when I went to main gate they didn’t. Lol must have been the new one.

 

[smartlabelprint]

Thanks. In the photo the top of the loft appeared to be open to living room. Mine are light sleepers with sensory issues.

Residence Inn at the convention center has real 2 bedrooms I believe. We've stayed in the 1 bed suite (which has a closing door to one bedroom, plus a sofa bed in the living room) and I know they have 2 bed suites. RI Maingate has a 2 story loft which has 1 separate bedroom on the bottom, plus a loft at the top with it's own bed/bath (but I don't think it's closed off by a door, just stairs)

 

[MonocularVision]

Residence Inn at the convention center has real 2 bedrooms I believe. We've stayed in the 1 bed suite (which has a closing door to one bedroom, plus a sofa bed in the living room) and I know they have 2 bed suites. RI Maingate has a 2 story loft which has 1 separate bedroom on the bottom, plus a loft at the top with it's own bed/bath (but I don't think it's closed off by a door, just stairs)

Yes, we have stayed here in the family suite and you get two, true bedrooms, each with a bathroom. It is very nice. The kids bedroom has bunk beds and the living room had a pull out sofa too. Could comfortably sleep 8, because the other bedroom had two queens.

 

[hobbes4444]

We chose not to stay at that older Residence Inn at the last minute after reading quite a few negative online reviews. I tend to ignore the random slams of properties, but that one had more than I felt comfortable ignoring. The penthouse seemed ideal for us though. It probably would have been fine in the end. But Hyatt House was cheaper and worked out ok.