Fairfield Inn vs. Anaheim Marriott

[Reepicheep]

I've stayed at the Marriott by the convention centre several times, but have never tried out the Fairfield Inn. Based upon the prices on the Marriott website, the Fairfield Inn always seems overpriced to me.

For example, during my next stay starting Sunday July 5 for 5 days, here are my choices:

$139/night - Anaheim Marriott, no concierge lounge
$189/night - Anaheim Marriott, concierge lounge access
$179/night - Fairfield Inn

Based upon the above prices, I booked my stay at the Marriott with lounge access (excellent breakfast, bottles of water and juice available to take to the park, quite good evening meal with hot food, excellent late evening desserts). Typically, when I've booked Marriott concierge in the past, the Fairfield is consistently only $10/night cheaper.

Granted, I've never so much as set foot in the lobby of the Fairfield, so I have no idea what the hotel is like. But other than a location closer to Disneyland, I don't see why people would choose the Fairfield over the Marriott with concierge lounge access.

Is there something about the Fairfield that I'm missing?

 

[figment_jii]

I think it all comes down to proximity. The Fairfield is within easy walking distance to DLR, whereas the Anaheim Marriott is further away. I've stayed at the Hilton by the Convention Center and while I liked the hotel much better than the motels on Harbor, it's further than I'd want to walk late at night and/or after a full day of walking at DLR.

 

[beachdreamr1229]

I've stayed at both, though I've never gone to Disneyland while staying at the Marriott at the convention center. In terms of quality, I prefer the convention center. Fairfield seems like an overpriced motel 6 to me. In terms of walking, I have no comparison, but I'm guessing the Fairfield is better since it only took us about 5 minutes to walk to and from the parks.

 

[DizMe]

For your dates, you might consider the Disneyland package if you're bringing a car. It's $269/night, standard room, but the rooms are really nice. It doesn't come with breakfast. HOWEVER, it does come with free parking (if you have a car, the parking at that property is very expensive! It's $25 or so/day), shuttle tickets for 4 on ART each day (which you can sell back to them if you want for face value), and...a $100 Disney gift card for each night you stay at the package rate.

The Toy Story parking lot is right across Harbor and you can use their transportation if you don't want to walk or pay for the shuttle.

You might also look into the Marriott Suites or Residence Inn on Clementine if you're with your family.

The only thing about FFI that would make someone choose it over Anaheim Marriott is the proximity IMO. It's just a motel. Pool is basically in the parking lot and is small; rooms have outdoor corridors though they are a little more private than most motels; rooms inside are clean but definitely motel. Food/beverage offerings are of the fast food variety, or were when I was there.

 

[Reepicheep]

Thanks for your thoughts, everyone. It appears we all agree that closer proximity to the park is the only reason to choose the Fairfield over the Marriott.

It appears from Google maps that the walk from Fairfield to the park is roughly the same distance as Marriott to Toy Story parking lot, so taking the Toy Story bus would mostly eliminate the Fairfield proximity advantage (total travel time would be longer from Marriott, but walking distance would be about the same).

 

[ImTooExcitedToSleep]

I was staying at the Marriott the other night (about $150 at the last minute). A couple at the hotel bar was telling the bartender that they got bumped from the Fairfield Inn (oversold) and were sent over to the Marriott instead.

They were as happy as could be for the "upgrade", but I couldn't help thinking that they probably paid more than I did.

 

[MommyJKM]

For your dates, you might consider the Disneyland package if you're bringing a car. It's $269/night, standard room, but the rooms are really nice. It doesn't come with breakfast. HOWEVER, it does come with free parking (if you have a car, the parking at that property is very expensive! It's $25 or so/day), shuttle tickets for 4 on ART each day (which you can sell back to them if you want for face value), and...a $100 Disney gift card for each night you stay at the package rate.

The Toy Story parking lot is right across Harbor and you can use their transportation if you don't want to walk or pay for the shuttle.

You might also look into the Marriott Suites or Residence Inn on Clementine if you're with your family.

The only thing about FFI that would make someone choose it over Anaheim Marriott is the proximity IMO. It's just a motel. Pool is basically in the parking lot and is small; rooms have outdoor corridors though they are a little more private than most motels; rooms inside are clean but definitely motel. Food/beverage offerings are of the fast food variety, or were when I was there.

Where is this package offered please DizMe? I only got the email for 25% off
I could probably convince DH to book an extra trip for that price!!

 

[DizMe]

Where is this package offered please DizMe? I only got the email for 25% off
I could probably convince DH to book an extra trip for that price!!

If you go to Anaheim Marriott's website (http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/laxah-anaheim-marriott/), plug in your dates and click on packages. It isn't offered for every date, so switch your dates around to see. When I put in the OP's dates, they all came up as available for the package. I took a couple of screenshots so you could see:

 

[2boysmom1998]

We've stayed at the Fairfield several times. As a matter of fact I am staying there again next month. It's clean, lots of pillows and an easy walk to Disneyland. I like the Fairfield. Hopefully our stay will be as enjoyable as it usually is next month .

 

[MommyJKM]

Thanks DizMe!!

 

[TechGuy]

I have been to FFi several times. It is not a fancy hotel. It has good beds and concrete walls (covered with sheetrock). It makes a great place to sleep (very quiet outside of screaming in the outside hallways) between my "rope drop"-"shut the park" visits we tend to make.

We only sleep at the hotel and maybe swim on the first or last day. The pool is very large in my experience of hotel pools and well maintained but is in the parking lot variety with a nice planter to make it feel no so "parking lot". When you are in the pool, you wont notice you are near the driveway.

There is essentially no food at the hotel; outside of a funky (but tasty) Pizza Hut express or the gift shop downstairs. The Mimi's out front is an excellent coffee shop. The McDonalds next door is a 2 minute walk from the room. We normally hit Mimi's for breakfast on the way tot he park, walk to the park (5 minutes) and walk from DLR back after midnight. You can ride the ARC bus to the park but it takes longer than walking. The ARC is a waste of money if you are able to walk all day.

I will be there in a couple weeks.

 

[elaine amj]

When we planned our DLR trip, high on my list of wants was to stay as close as possible to the parks. I considered the Anaheim Marriott and the Springhill Suites. After a ton of debate, I decided I was willing to pay more and have a lesser quality property so we could cut our walking distance down.

I am super excited about our upcoming stay and happy about our decision. I feel it will be a big part of our DLR experience to be so close. We are used to endless bus rides at WDW so this will be a big change. I just don't want to have to take a bus or a shuttle or walk 15 minutes at the end of a long park day to get back to our hotel. I think it is really cool that we have the opportunity to do this (for an affordable price) at DLR since deluxe hotels at WDW are typically out of my price range.

We'll see if we choose to do this in future trips

 

[Chiomaca]

The Mimi's out front is an excellent coffee shop. The McDonalds next door is a 2 minute walk from the room. We normally hit Mimi's for breakfast on the way tot he park, walk to the park (5 minutes) and walk from DLR back after midnight. You can ride the ARC bus to the park but it takes longer than walking. The ARC is a waste of money if you are able to walk all day.

Just a warning - I stayed there this weekend and the Mimi's is closed. Still plenty of crummy food options on the strip though...

My family usually stays at GCH, but for the marathon weekend I didn't make reservations in time, so went looking for other options. Fairfield Inn was close enough to be walkable to/from the starting line of the races but far enough to be a nice warm up. It worked for the two non-runners in the group as well. As others have said, it isn't fancy, but all I did was sleep and shower there and the beds were comfy. I may have liked the pillows better than the ones at the GCH, actually.

 

[TechGuy]

I am checking on the Mimi's, with the corporate Twitter people.

 

[TechGuy]

Looks like I misspoke in my review. It's "Millie's" in front of the FFI and it IS CLOSED, there is a Mimi's next door that appears to be open. I will miss my meals at Millies. I eat GF, so I guess we will be buying groceries and eating fruit and granola for breakfast. We frequently carry our own treats anyway. We are on a driving trip so stores are easy.

 

[Keels]

We're staying at the Fairfield for Half Marathon weekend. Using a corporate code from a client, I was able to get rooms for less than $140/night.

I thought about the Marriott because I prefer to stay at the higher-bonus Marriott properties if I can, but even though the walk would be the same, I don't want to have to wait around for a shuttle/bus/tram to get to and from the park.

That said - I'm a total Marriott loyalist, so I don't think you can go wrong with either place!

However, if you haven't had concierge access at a Marriott before, I wouldn't pay extra for it. In most cases, it's not open on weekends - so I would check with the hotel and make sure you'll have access to it on the weekends. Generally, they'll give you something like a $25/night credit for nights when the concierge isn't open, but you've paid extra for it, so ...

I usually stay at JW Marriotts and Renaissance hotels and the only thing they have available on the weekends in the concierge area is baby bottles of water and canned soda. Maybe some dry cereal and coffee, but certainly no hot breakfast, fresh juice, etc. So - just double check!! It's a nice perk since I have status, but there has never been anything available to me on a weekend trip (or a trip in general) that I would say is worth an extra $50/night. I know each hotel is different, but I just want you to be aware!