What is the nicest of the "Right Across The Street" Places on Harbor

[jrtoastyman]

Planning a trip for Spring 2014 which will include DD5. Of the places that are on Harbor right next to the parks, which are the nicest? I know there are Hiltons and Sheratons in the area, but I'd like to stay either at a Disney hotel or something right next to the park entrance since we'll have a little one in tow.

TIA!

 

[crystal1313]

It's really hard to compare the DLR hotels with the "motels" right across the street. The Disney hotels are much nicer....but also much more expensive! Our favorite of the Disney hotels is the Paradise Pier. It's the least expensive of the 3. To us, the rooms are larger and quieter.

Across the street we like the Candy Cane Inn and the Ramada Maingate.

Good luck! It's difficult to choose

 

[HydroGuy]

Planning a trip for Spring 2014 which will include DD5. Of the places that are on Harbor right next to the parks, which are the nicest? I know there are Hiltons and Sheratons in the area, but I'd like to stay either at a Disney hotel or something right next to the park entrance since we'll have a little one in tow.

TIA!

The two that rise to the top are not right across the street but down the street a little ways - HoJo's and Candy Cane Inn.

The others in between are closer but generally considered to be a notch lower.

The absolute closest is the Best Western Park Place Inn. It it gets consistently good reviews as being clean and quality - but not super great. Other places along Harbor have varying reputations.

 

[Aladora]

It really depends what is important to you and your family.

If ambiance is top, then absolutely go for one of the DLR hotels.

If a great pool is top and you don't want to go for a DLR hotel, then HOJO is your best bet.

If location is top, then I would personally pick the Desert Inn & Suites.

We've done a 2 bedroom suite at the DLH and it was freaking AMAZING...but that trip also cost the same as my first two cars put together.

After that, we have stayed at the Park Vue Inn, then DI&S and most recently at the Castle Inn.

I won't go back to the PVI, it is more expensive than other motels in the immediate area and they have cut back on their amenities, specifically the free bottles of water any time.

The Castle Inn was a last minute trip and it was all we could get. It was okay but the walk was far compared to the PVI and DI&S, plus the wifi was non-existent in the room.

We're planning another trip in March and have already booked a room at the DI&S. If you book there well in advance, you can get a really great rate. When I looked at our dates in early March, the rates ranged from $69/night for their Deluxe Room, $99/night for their smallest suite and up to $149/night for their large suite that sleeps 10! They also have a free continental breakfast, although we never tried it.

Hope that helps and as always, these are just MY opinions, YMMV!

 

[Tommy_B]

The Best Western Plus Park Place Inn, Best Western Plus Anaheim Inn and Fairfield Inn are probably the nicest of the "right across the street" places.

How little is the little one?

 

[jrtoastyman]

She's 5.

Proximity is really the most important thing to us, in part because she's 5 and will likely be coming and going at least a couple times over the course of the day. We typically stay deluxe at WDW not because we care about the amenities, but just because they are the closest to the parks. Price is not the number 1 consideration, but the Disney-run hotels are SO MUCH MORE EXPENSIVE than the good neighbor places and in some cases they aren't even closer to the parks, I'd like to at least look into other options. As long as a place is clean, safe and close, we'd be interested.

Thanks for the input so far, I appreciate it!

 

[squirrel]

DI&S is close and if you get a parlor room you would have a place to watch TV after she falls asleep without disturbing her.

 

[julieboolie]

I may be a dissenting opinion here, but we love the Anaheim Del Sol Inn. It's really, really close to the parks and serves a bare minimum breakfast. Although it's older, it's clean, big and we really loved it. We stayed at Hojos too, a week after Del Sol and we preferred Del Sol.

Everyone will have a different opinion, but that's my $0.02.

 

[jacs1234]

The carousel inn has some awesome looking suites though I've only looked into it and never stayed there. Hojo's was great but I didn't expect the "retroness" of it and the walk was quite far for little legs.

 

[lovedworld]

We recently stayed at the Candy Cane Inn, it is on the same side of the street as DL and only about a 10 minute walk. The rooms are really nice and it has a very good breakfast that is included. We loved it and this will probably be our go to motel from now on. It also has a shuttle to the park that runs every 30 minutes if you don't want to walk. We have also stayed at the Desert Palms which is just a little farther than the Candy Cane. It is very nice also and has a very good hot breakfast. We have found that alot of the motels right across the street from DL can be a bit run down and don't offer much in the way of breakfast, if that is important to you. We have stayed at the Park Place Inn and the Tropicana which are directly across the street and probably the very shortest walk. I noticed that the Park Place Inn was under going a renovation when we were there last May so it would probably be a good choice if you want to get a little closer.

 

[KCmike]

I've stayed in several of them and Fairfield Inn is my favorite/nicest on Harbor Blvd..

Grand Californian is the nicest on the resort.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Recently stayed at BW Anaheim Inn and it was clean and close.

 

[Barry Browning]

One vote for the Tropicana Inn Executive Suite.They face the parks have great view of monorail.They are right by the crosswalk closer than the Disney hotels actually.They have balconies facing the park and you can sit and watch fireworks.

Two baths one with jacuzzi, two 50 inch plasmas, living area with pull out, king size bed, fridge micro wave, package store directly underneath with food , cokes, milk, etc.Runs around $200 a night.These are awesome rooms way better than the regular ones.Great pool large hot tub.

Runner up is Embassy Suites Garden Grove.You would need to take the tram it's further away but great breakfast and happy hour.Lion animatronics in lobby kids love it there is abridge with koi underneath also inside in lobby.

 

[mikedoyleblogger]

The carousel inn has some awesome looking suites though I've only looked into it and never stayed there. Hojo's was great but I didn't expect the "retroness" of it and the walk was quite far for little legs.

Just a note referencing this issue for the OP, the HoJo (my favorite Harbor hotel) has an ART stop, so you don't have to walk to the parks if you don't want to.

 

[Aaron70Monte]

We stayed at the Fairfield Inn in 2010 and it was decent. I believe its even a closer walk than the PPH. In 2014 we will be staying at the Carousel Inn since it had a suite that suited us perfectly.

 

[KellaCat]

We like the Ramada Maingate. Right across the street, easy walk.They just built a new building with suites and with "superior" rooms. They're a little pricier than the normal rooms, but new and clean.

 

[rainyday77]

We stay at Desert Inn and Suites when we go in the winter with my parents as they have two attached rooms and a sitting room for as low as $150. They also have an indoor pool which is nice in the winter. It has a free limited item continental breakfast.

Our new summer location to stay is Tropicana. Great prices (cheaptickets.com often has 20% off), nice outdoor pool and hot tub, and great convenience store with food, coffee, etc. Down fall is no free breakfast.

We have stayed at the Carousel. It was nice but more expensive then Desert Inn and Tropicana which is why we stay at the other two now.

Disney hotels are nice but when we go back we will do Tropicana as you can pay for a lot of extra's (like character breakfasts) with the money you will save on a non-Disney room.