AP regular - looking for a hotel versus motel this time..

Astylla

Disney Fanatic
Joined
Oct 27, 2011
Messages
2,791
Hi all ,

My DH and I will be arriving Jan 2nd - Jan 7th for the end of the holidays at Disneyland and though we typically prefer to stay across the street and have found Camelot Inn / Desert Inn and Suites/Grand Legacy our go to , I am kind of wanting a more hotel type vacation for once. Usually our trips are at most 2/3 nights so with the ability to stretch things out i'm looking for input or preferences. We are flying in so no parking fees to worry about which is one huge reason I'm considering a newer property/hotel too.
I will say I have been listening to the podcasts about the newer hotels too !

Right now I have these booked - all direct/cancellable.

Sheraton at the Park - Club level - $699.00
Pros : Hotel - can walk to toy story or walk to park - club access for breakfast/snacks
Cons : Wifi charge/ a bit longer walk than we usually do/ possible hard to break midday

SpringHill Suites Anaheim Convention Center - 1 king bed suite - $789.00
Pros : Free breakfast , wifi - closer walk - newer hotel- CVS open 24/7 below
Cons : Higher price

Hyatt Place - $754.00
Pros : Free breakfast and wifi/ , 2 queen bed suite
Cons : Farther walk

I still have this booked if all else fails but any personal insight on the above is always appreciated and if I missed any worth checking out please let me know.

Candy Cane Inn - $785.00
Pros : Free breakfast, wifi , dedicated shuttle and we have stayed here before, walkable
Cons : Breakfast can be crowded and price similar to others
 
Courtyard by Marriott Them Park on Manchester, Holiday Inn Express on Manchester, Residence Inn on Clementine, Residence Inn on Katella, Hotel Indigo and the Red Lion on Harbor are similar to the ones you have mentioned, and worth checking prices on.

The two on Manchester are the closest, baiscally right ther on the Harbor Blvd row of Motels.
 
Define what you are looking for in "Hotel" over "Motel"

Most of the time that means full service hotel with room service, drop of laundry, lounge, onsite restaurant, concierge and such. Most of the properties you listed still fall into the Motel category by that definition.

The new Courtyard however is one of the nicest properties I have stayed at off site and comes closest to full service amenities...and is nice and close...but can sometimes be as almost as much as the PPH which I would take any day over an off site option if budget allows.
 
Define what you are looking for in "Hotel" over "Motel"

Most of the time that means full service hotel with room service, drop of laundry, lounge, onsite restaurant, concierge and such. Most of the properties you listed still fall into the Motel category by that definition.

The new Courtyard however is one of the nicest properties I have stayed at off site and comes closest to full service amenities...and is nice and close...but can sometimes be as almost as much as the PPH which I would take any day over an off site option if budget allows.

Ah that's a good point about the definition. For Anaheim hotels I more meant inside corridor versus outdoor in this case.
Amenities are nice to have but not a must. The new courtyard is just too much for our needs though I agree it looks very nice.
We stay at HOJO often and love it but it's actually booked now for our dates so seeking all options.
 

We stayed at the new Courtyard Marriott Theme Park Entrance hotel right across the street and LOVED it. We're Camelot Inn people too, and while we really enjoy that place, it was nice to have a "hotel" experience this time. It is a bit pricier than others, for your nights it's sitting at $234 a night (an excellent deal for there, though). It's a bit closer than the ones that you listed above.

ETA: oops, just saw your above comment. Sorry!

I don't have any experience with the other hotels you listed, but my cousin stayed at the Hilton and I believe she liked it. That one is just so far away (well, compared to the Camelot lol).
 
We stayed at the newer Homewood Suites Anaheim Convention Center this past month and really liked it! I booked way out and got about $145 per night.

For the first time ever, we didn't rent a car, and LOVED that the Toy Story Lot is right next door. We used it everyday, and were very pleased.

Although HoJo is my first love, hubby definitely preferred this place. Nice breakfast too. Granted we were there during a somewhat slower time - Tues-Friday week after Thanksgiving.
 
We stayed at the newer Homewood Suites Anaheim Convention Center this past month and really liked it! I booked way out and got about $145 per night.

For the first time ever, we didn't rent a car, and LOVED that the Toy Story Lot is right next door. We used it everyday, and were very pleased.

Although HoJo is my first love, hubby definitely preferred this place. Nice breakfast too. Granted we were there during a somewhat slower time - Tues-Friday week after Thanksgiving.

Yeah the homewood suites is on my radar too and have only heard great things overall. Sometimes it comes down to what room types they have as we are only two people and taking a family suite room does us no good , lol. But again thanks for the advice. I'm just being incredibly indecisive for some reason..
 
You might also want to check out the Desert Palms Hotel and Suites (on corner of Harbor and Katella, next to the Harbor 7-11 and Candy Cane Inn). It has inside corridors and a really great free breakfast (they had bacon, eggs, donuts, waffles, pancakes, seasoned potatoes, cottage cheese, etc. last time we stayed there). I was going check for your dates, but they have so many different room types that I wasn't sure which would work best. They have an Annual Passholder discount, as well.

I thought the Desert Palms was very similar and just as great as the Courtyard Theme Park Entrance (but then again, we aren't too picky in hotels). Both are very nice. In fact, the Desert Palms is the hotel we are staying at next for our trip in a few months.

http://www.desertpalmshotel.com/
 
Yeah the homewood suites is on my radar too and have only heard great things overall. Sometimes it comes down to what room types they have as we are only two people and taking a family suite room does us no good , lol. But again thanks for the advice. I'm just being incredibly indecisive for some reason..

Actually it was just my husband and I in a king bed studio room. I did book it way out though, so that room type may no longer be available.
 
Sheraton at the Park - Club level - $699.00
Pros : Hotel - can walk to toy story or walk to park - club access for breakfast/snacks
Cons : Wifi charge/ a bit longer walk than we usually do/ possible hard to break midday

Hyatt Place - $754.00
Pros : Free breakfast and wifi/ , 2 queen bed suite
Cons : Farther walk

The last time we stayed at the Sheraton Park (July 2015), Wifi was free for guests staying at the Club level. I don't know if this is still the case. Also, we are quite satisfied to make their evening hor d'oeuvres offering our supper, which saves us the price of a meal.

We stayed at the Hyatt Place in August 2016 for a week. Great hotel which gets bonus marks from me because they offer tomato juice at breakfast. They also had a happy hour every afternoon with both beer and fancy nacho platters on for half price.

My new favorite hotel is the Homewood across the street from the Hyatt Place. What's not to like about free beer, which Homewood offers Monday through Thursday evenings???
 
Actually it was just my husband and I in a king bed studio room. I did book it way out though, so that room type may no longer be available.

I do know they have several types and actually just booked a 2 queen 1 bedroom suite for our dates due to constantly researching lol. I booked it for now because it's fairly new and gets great reviews here whom I trust and so close to Toy story too.



The last time we stayed at the Sheraton Park (July 2015), Wifi was free for guests staying at the Club level. I don't know if this is still the case. Also, we are quite satisfied to make their evening hor d'oeuvres offering our supper, which saves us the price of a meal.

We stayed at the Hyatt Place in August 2016 for a week. Great hotel which gets bonus marks from me because they offer tomato juice at breakfast. They also had a happy hour every afternoon with both beer and fancy nacho platters on for half price.

My new favorite hotel is the Homewood across the street from the Hyatt Place. What's not to like about free beer, which Homewood offers Monday through Thursday evenings???

Yeah regarding Sheraton Park I've read conflicting info so it's not super clear. I actually just grabbed a reservation at the new Homewood suites for a good AAA rate and had originally planned to stay there after they opened so it's probably top of my list currently. Because we are there during the week for once and can take advantage of the happy hour type offerings it's definitely looking good.

Thanks everyone I always value your feedback here!
 












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