Which Good Neighbor Hotel?

[traci bieber]

I've never been to DL. I'm from TX and have always gone to WDW. Please give me advice as to which hotel is the best as far as close to DL and clean. It will be my husband, 3 boys, and myself. . We are traveling mid June.

 

[msdaisy]

Yay for you! We are also from Texas and making our second trip to DL at the end of June. You will be shocked at how close some of the hotels are! We don't mind staying a little further away for a nicer hotel with a nice breakfast. But you can stay right across the street from the entrance which is awesome. I think as a WDW vet I can handle staying a little further away. We usually stay on property at WDW, but those hotels are a good distance away from the parks so it just feels normal to me. We loved DL! Have a great trip!!

 

[princesszelda]

We always stay at the Best Western Park Place Inn and MIni Suites. A lot of people also like to stay at the HOJO's

 

[Indiana Scott]

BWPPI is our favorite followed by Park View but that's only because we like their free breakfast a bit better. Cant go wrong with either one though.
Ramada isn't bad but the breakfast situation is lousy. There's no place to sit except a few seats around the pool.

 

[wdwfan22]

If a mod doesn't move this for you, you should ask your question again in the main Disneyland forum. You should get more responses there as that board has much more traffic. But since I'm here, I will say I've stayed at Tropicana, Hojo and Ramada Maingate. They were all fine. Hojo has gotten a little pricey I think. I'm trying the Desert Inn & Suites in May. For me, it's all about close walking distance and price, because so far, I don't think really there is enough of a difference in most of the motels in close walking distance to warrent a big price difference. You will see people who love/dislike all of them. Unless a continental breakfast is important to you. It really isn't to us. We pack some breakfast bars and juice in an extra suitcase if the motel doesn't have breakfast. It's enough for us to last til lunch. Plus we have an extra suitcase on the way back for our purchases!

 

[ADLFAN]

We have stated right across the street at the Best Western Park Place Inn and loved the walk to the parks. The room was clean and everything was functional, and the rate included a continental breakfast, though we found it pretty gross. The pool and hot tub were ok. We have also stayed at the Fairfield Inn a bit further down on Harbor and I preferred it to BWPPI. The lobby has a small kids area to occupy them while you check in, they offer infused water all day, and the beds were perfect. The pool and hot tub were smallish but relaxing and empty one late afternoon when we took a park break.

 

[lorijohnhill]

I stayed at BWPPI over Easter weekend and was not impressed at all. I've stayed at nicer Motel 6s. The breakfast was inedible. For a "suite", the room felt small. I was using an ECV and they put me in a room across from a stairwell (3rd floor). It was a challenge each morning to get the scooter over the threshold and make the tight turn without falling down the stairs. I had put the scooter in the notes on the reservation, and they gave me the key to the scooter during check-in, so they knew I had it. One morning my daughter (8) had to struggle to move the housekeeping cart from in front of our door so that we could get out.

The location is great, but the quality of the motel does not live up to the price being charged.

Just a little further down the street is the Castle Inn and Suites. We stayed there in October and were very happy with it! Nice, clean, large room with ease access. Free parking also.

 

[petals]

Stayed in the Castle Inn and Suites in November and it was great it is a 10-20 minute walk depending on how fast your party walks but the room was huge and comfy

 

[JinglePoem]

I live here, but we had to stay in a hotel for three weeks, while he were having major repairs done in our house. I highly, highly recommend the Annabella! It's a short walk to the parks (we always took the shortcut through the Grand Californian), every room is a suite (perfect for families!), it was clean, with washers and dryers, onsite, and you can watch the fireworks from the pool area

We got an excellent rate, booking in advance.

 

[DopeysMIL]

I have never had a bad experience (stayed many times) at the BWPPI and have reservations for Labor Day weekend. I'm pretty picky so the comments here are a little disturbing, but I'll find I out I guess.

 

[Indiana Scott]

I'm pretty picky too. Used to travel for work and know what to look for and the differences between ratings of hotels. I became very picky of where I stayed.
BWPPI has gotten better over the years and while not a 4 or 5 star hotel, they are still very clean and in good repair (and your not paying for a 4 star rating). Every time we go back they have made improvements to the building and grounds and I never hesitate to recommend them.

 

[AZpharmacist]

We stayed at the Desert Palms and Suites. It was about a 10 minute walk to Disneyland for us. 2 adults and a 17 month old. We booked 1 bedroom but I think when they saw us walk in with a stroller they upgraded up to a room with a second bedroom with bunk beds. It overlooked the pool area. The hotel was old (I think they all are?) but it was clean and the beds were comfy. My only complaint is that the room seemed a little dark. But overall, it was a nice place. Breakfast was ok. Scrambled eggs, a waffle station, cereal, fruit, and a breakfast meat/potatoes. Very standard. We usually had breakfast there around 7 (park opened at 9) and a snack once we got into the park. I would stay there again but if one of the hotels right across the street had availability, I would do that instead.

 

[Baklava]

We like the Carousel, Tropicana and Park Vue.

 

[LoveThatMouse!]

Several years ago, I started this thread http://www.disboards.com/threads/post-photos-of-hotels-here-dlh-hojo-bwppi-di-s-cci-etc.1745747/ asking folks to post pictures of the Good Neighbor hotels. We had never been to Disney and booking a hotel off property without a 'chain' reputation was nerve wracking to me.... For years, the fine folks here on the Dis Boards have been adding pictures and reviews of all the Good Neighbor hotels and you might find that 'a picture is truly worth a thousand words.' By the way, Have a Fabulous trip! We became fast and furious lovers of Disneyland after our first visit. In terms of eating the whole Disney elephant...you can absolutely do it at Disneyland and feel completely satisfied that you seen everything. MUCH more doable than the World...

 

[The Grays]

How is the Candy Cane Inn? how far of a walk is it?

Thanks

Dan

 

[lalasmama]

How is the Candy Cane Inn? how far of a walk is it?

Thanks

Dan

It's about a 10 minute walk, depending on how quick you walk.

 

[disadventurer]

How is the Marriott Residence Inn and how far a walk is it. Thank you in advance for any/all info. Is it a better place for adults only???

 

[Angel Ariel]

We have stayed at the Tropicana Inn twice, and have a third trip planned there for this year. It's very close to the parks (5 min walk to the turnstiles), we always found it to be clean, and the rate is quite reasonable. I would recommend it to anyone based on our experiences.

 

[Indiana Scott]

I honestly think all the hotels along Harbor are very decent places to stay. None of them are dirty, run down or lack good maint. and housekeeping. The area gets enough business that they have a good steady income and can afford to keep thing up.
So while some are closer to the entrance or have better free breakfasts, you won't go wrong with any of them.

 

[MichelleWDWfan]

I'm staying at the Ramada Maingate in late Sept.
They are completing a big renovation and I reserved one of the new rooms.
The construction is supposed to be complete so we'll see.
There's supposed to be a new breakfast area too.

Originally I booked at the Del Sol Inn for 4 nights which is right there at the entrance.
The rate was really good $507 total price for 4 nights
But I am using Wyndham rewards points at the Ramada instead....free is even better