We stayed at the new Homewood Suites last week from 11/18-11/22 and wanted to share some information:
We don't don't go to DL often, but I do spend a lot of time researching. Normally we have our four kids, but this was a trip with just my DH. With our kids we've stayed at DI&S. Loved the location, price, and huge rooms. This trip I wanted something nicer so distance from the park was a huge gamble. We originally had a reservation at Candy Cane Inn. I've heard that is a great place but I've never been so I can't compare. The terms "really nice" and "across the street" are hard to put together at hotels/motels near Disneyland. You can get one or the other but not both. (On-site being the exception.) I also didn't want to pay the new Courtyard rates.
We got a good online rate of $139 for a regular king room. (For comparison, CCI was $169). We got there at 10am (early flight) and they checked us in right away and upgraded us to a king bed family suite with bunks (and trundle) with a sofa bed. I don't know the room capacity, but it could sleep 7. I half-way expected they would check us in early and upgrade because it just opened and they would have availability. The staff was very friendly the whole time and I loved the nice, comfortable feeling of the hotel. Hot breakfast is provided every morning, dinner is provided Monday-Thursday (including beer/wine), coffee and hot chocolate are available 24 hours. We ate dinner there once - carnitas nachos - and I really liked it. I'm not a big breakfast person but I thought the variety was good and the staff was helpful. Overall I thought the hotel was great. We went down to the pool area and it is pretty big with lots of seating. There is even a fire pit that was nice to sit by.
The hotel is just south of the Toy Story lot (literally right next to it) so that was our plan for getting to the parks. I was nervous because I've never done this. Taking the Toy Story shuttle worked really well. One thing to consider is that they don’t open early for Magic Morning. On our morning with MM, we took a taxi. The hotel called someone. It wasn’t a yellow cab, but something private. Cost was $8 plus tip. Well worth it to get to MM early! We had a 7am MM and got there about 6:30. We were riding Peter Pan by 7:12. I was told that the shuttle started running at 7:20 when the parks opened for regular entry at 8. The earliest we got there was 7:25 and we didn’t have to wait. The distance from hotel front door to stepping on the Toy Story Shuttle was .3 miles. I don’t remember the time, but it was quick (maybe 5 minutes). We never had to wait more than a couple minutes to go to DL. I'm starting to think that using a taxi to get to DL might be a viable option if we could get a great rate at a nice hotel that isn't within walking distance.
On Friday night the line to get on the shuttle back to Toy Story was a little longer than my DH liked (it probably would have gone fast) so he thought it would be good to walk back. It wasn't horrible, but I would never do it with kids. The distance from hotel front door to where Toy Story shuttle drops off at Disneyland was right at 1 mile. We walked it at a quick pace but it took 18 minutes with street lights. We went back to the hotel for afternoon naps on two of the days and used the shuttle. I think if we had to walk more than the .3 miles regularly it would have gotten old.
Now for the two problems (one little and one big): the sheets and pillow cases were made of an odd material. It wasn't smooth, but a little rough. Even cheap sheets are smooth so I was puzzled. I didn't think it was very comfortable. My DH didn't notice, and we were both so tired we slept just fine. Unfortunately, the big complaint was that they had hot water issues the whole time we were there. We had hot water on one of our four mornings. Overall I think it is a great hotel, especially if you want something bigger with a kitchen. However, they need to get their hot water fixed fast. We thought they had it fixed on day 2. Day 3 we hot water in the morning, but Day 4 was barely warm. Being so new, I expected some problems. We chose to not let it ruin our trip but I was glad I didn't have little kids with us.
One last thing - the upper level rooms facing North have a good view of DL Fireworks.
We don't don't go to DL often, but I do spend a lot of time researching. Normally we have our four kids, but this was a trip with just my DH. With our kids we've stayed at DI&S. Loved the location, price, and huge rooms. This trip I wanted something nicer so distance from the park was a huge gamble. We originally had a reservation at Candy Cane Inn. I've heard that is a great place but I've never been so I can't compare. The terms "really nice" and "across the street" are hard to put together at hotels/motels near Disneyland. You can get one or the other but not both. (On-site being the exception.) I also didn't want to pay the new Courtyard rates.
We got a good online rate of $139 for a regular king room. (For comparison, CCI was $169). We got there at 10am (early flight) and they checked us in right away and upgraded us to a king bed family suite with bunks (and trundle) with a sofa bed. I don't know the room capacity, but it could sleep 7. I half-way expected they would check us in early and upgrade because it just opened and they would have availability. The staff was very friendly the whole time and I loved the nice, comfortable feeling of the hotel. Hot breakfast is provided every morning, dinner is provided Monday-Thursday (including beer/wine), coffee and hot chocolate are available 24 hours. We ate dinner there once - carnitas nachos - and I really liked it. I'm not a big breakfast person but I thought the variety was good and the staff was helpful. Overall I thought the hotel was great. We went down to the pool area and it is pretty big with lots of seating. There is even a fire pit that was nice to sit by.
The hotel is just south of the Toy Story lot (literally right next to it) so that was our plan for getting to the parks. I was nervous because I've never done this. Taking the Toy Story shuttle worked really well. One thing to consider is that they don’t open early for Magic Morning. On our morning with MM, we took a taxi. The hotel called someone. It wasn’t a yellow cab, but something private. Cost was $8 plus tip. Well worth it to get to MM early! We had a 7am MM and got there about 6:30. We were riding Peter Pan by 7:12. I was told that the shuttle started running at 7:20 when the parks opened for regular entry at 8. The earliest we got there was 7:25 and we didn’t have to wait. The distance from hotel front door to stepping on the Toy Story Shuttle was .3 miles. I don’t remember the time, but it was quick (maybe 5 minutes). We never had to wait more than a couple minutes to go to DL. I'm starting to think that using a taxi to get to DL might be a viable option if we could get a great rate at a nice hotel that isn't within walking distance.
On Friday night the line to get on the shuttle back to Toy Story was a little longer than my DH liked (it probably would have gone fast) so he thought it would be good to walk back. It wasn't horrible, but I would never do it with kids. The distance from hotel front door to where Toy Story shuttle drops off at Disneyland was right at 1 mile. We walked it at a quick pace but it took 18 minutes with street lights. We went back to the hotel for afternoon naps on two of the days and used the shuttle. I think if we had to walk more than the .3 miles regularly it would have gotten old.
Now for the two problems (one little and one big): the sheets and pillow cases were made of an odd material. It wasn't smooth, but a little rough. Even cheap sheets are smooth so I was puzzled. I didn't think it was very comfortable. My DH didn't notice, and we were both so tired we slept just fine. Unfortunately, the big complaint was that they had hot water issues the whole time we were there. We had hot water on one of our four mornings. Overall I think it is a great hotel, especially if you want something bigger with a kitchen. However, they need to get their hot water fixed fast. We thought they had it fixed on day 2. Day 3 we hot water in the morning, but Day 4 was barely warm. Being so new, I expected some problems. We chose to not let it ruin our trip but I was glad I didn't have little kids with us.
One last thing - the upper level rooms facing North have a good view of DL Fireworks.
