Anaheim Plaza Inn and Suites July 7-14

[dlinne]

My family (me, DH, DD9) stayed at the Anaheim Plaza from July 7-14 for our DL trip. I was really nervous about the reservation because I had seen some fairly negative reviews. I thought I'd post about our experience.

First off, what I was looking for in a hotel--
1--in the budget (which for me i was looking for about $75 per night---this is not what this hotel cost this July though)
2--cleanliness
3--within walking distance to DL
4--a decent pool
5--a refridgerator

Number 1 was budget. And I will mention that we have stayed at Motel 6 Maingate in Anaheim and were fine with it--we were not using the pool at that time though, which i think would have made a difference.

I probably would have cancelled the reservation after seeing some of the reviews, except that I had made a 6 night reservation using my airline miles (about 9500 miles per night) so I wasn't going to have much of an out of pocket expense for it. When i checked all the hotels near DL had gone up to the 20,000 or 30,000 per night range in my air miles so i couldn't do that).

I did call and upgrade to a preferred room. The air miles room gives the basic room with 2 double beds. I upgraded for $20 per night and got queen beds, better lines etc. I think the location was better too, but i'm not sure (there might have been a basic room next to me for all i know).

Then we ended up arriving one night early and rather than stay someplace cheap for that night and then move to the Anaheim Plaza I put out the $160 or so dollars for the one night's stay. I know a lot of motels are this and more but for how much i usually pay for motels, this was a lot. Probably worth it though, we were tired after being on the road for 2 days and wanted to just get settled.

Our Room

--2nd floor

--one of the closest rooms at the hotel in terms of walking distance to Disney

--preferred, white linens on the bed, desk area with chair, + nice stuffed arm chair, TV in a closet/cabinet, and in room safe

--fridge--froze water bottles in freezer after 2 nights in there

--several outlets, able to easily charge things

--large window next to bed, floor to ceiling--we had a partial view of fireworks from the bed with the curtain opened

--reasonably clean, linens looked and smelled clean

--beds were hard, not so comfortable, pillows were decent though

--room had a lot of space and a very large closet with mirrored sliding doors

--bathroom had a long counter with two sinks and plenty of counter space--this was great for me!

--housekeeping--this was a downside just because of their schedule--they seemed to want to clean our room around 3-4pm each day. Our break in the hotel was from about 1230-5 so it was inconvenient and many days i just got towels instead of the room made up

--lobby staff--ok, they had a little bit of a hard time "ringing me up" because of my miles + the 1 day in cash, plus the upgrade to pay in cash

--parking fee was $4 per day. I've seen other posts say they never actually charge this, but they did charge me. You can park until Midnight on the day of check out though

--lots of parking spaces, no problem getting a spot

--on 2 nights we had really noisy neighbors--i really don't think this was a problem with insulation though. I think it was just that they were REALLY loud at 1am

--restaurant on site--kids eat breakfast free, we had a the breakfast buffet one morning--pretty good but nothing to jump up and down about. It was 9.99 each for adult

--Pool--this is probably one of the cleanest pools I've seen at a hotel. It was big and nice, bright and clean. My daughter really enjoyed it. There were decent lounge chairs (big white plastic) and some shade though not a lot

--walking distance to the park--it took us about 15-20 min. I see other people post that it took 10-15--they probably walk faster, i can see how that would be doable but after being tired i don't walk so fast.

--Gardenwalk is right behind the hotel within walking distance. Its a neat outdoor mall and there are several placed to eat there. PF Changs, Cheesecake Factory and more.


All in all it was a good experience for us. I wouldn't pay the $160 or so a night if I was paying out of pocket, just because I think that is too much. But if I could use my miles or get a better rate (under 100/night) I'd stay there again.

For me the two best things were the spacious bathroom sink/counter areas and the pool. The other things (walking distance, room amenities, price etc) i think can be had at other nearby motels as well.

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Thank you for the report and review - it was very helpful! I just booked at Anaheim Plaza for two nights for my solo "sidetrip" in October during a conference in San Diego. I was able to get a rate of $59/night and since I'm by myself and will be spending very little time at the hotel, thought it would be a very practical choice for me. Also, thanks for the tip about how close the Gardenwalk Shops are - it gives me additional dining options for my second night there.

 

[Elk Grove Chris]

I stayed there for the first time last October when my son and I did a MHP trip. We had pretty much the same experience as you. Rooms were pretty clean, housekeeping was ok for us, not too bad of a walk.

 

[pixiewings71]

We've always been happy with our stays at the API, rooms are perfect, staff is friendly, it's close and the parking fee is very reasonable. We tend to pay $59-69 a night and we don't have any issues. I'm glad your stay there was good as well.

 

[Disco]

Yeah we did it last year. It was OK. Price was good.
The place looked a little more run down that we thought it would be but it was clean enough. Big bathroom counter, but the sink would back up a little.
We didn't have problems with any neighbors but man noise carries a long way there. You could hear people partying at 1am from several buildings away. All the hallways are enclosed and hard surfaced so sound was just bouncing around and amplified. People walking the hallways sounded like a herd of elephants.
The walk was a little taxing after a couple days. It's not that far but our room was like the furthest one away as possible and with pushing and carrying the little ones after a long day, it got a little bit exhausting.
This was probably our fault as we asked for a quite room so it looked like the tried to segregate us from everyone.
The pool was huge, I liked that. The breakfast was a good deal for the money.
It was weird though as their seemed to be weddings going on every day we were there. Having a bunch of large islanders loitering around everywhere we went was a little disconcerting.
I'd stay again but I think maybe a closer motel next time instead.