Best Hotels in Anaheim According to U.S. News and World Report

[SD33]

For years, my wife and I have stayed at the Hyatt Regency when visiting the parks and thought it was the best non-Disney hotel in the area. But nearly every time I see any mention of it on these boards it's almost always maligned. Not entirely sure why...? Anyway, interesting that they ranked it #1 for the non-Disney hotels. Makes sense to me.

For those of you trying to navigate the area for the first time, this list might be a useful accessory to Trip Advisor.

https://travel.usnews.com/Hotels/Anaheim_Disneyland_CA/

 

[smartlabelprint]

It’s a 34 minute walk. If you have kids... that’s too much for us. And we can’t grab an uber because of car seats.

 

[SD33]

It’s a 34 minute walk. If you have kids... that’s too much for us. And we can’t grab an uber because of car seats.

That makes sense.

 

[AngiTN]

It’s a 34 minute walk. If you have kids... that’s too much for us. And we can’t grab an uber because of car seats.

Wow yeah, that eliminated it for us, even without needing car seats. A short walk is/was (for our trip we just returned from) our first priority. No way would I want to have to Uber to the parks every single day. Takes away one of the biggest perks of DL parks over WDW, in general.
Thing is, there's nothing better about it to deal with travel to the parks every day. I mean, really, they are all so close in rankings/etc that using distance is the easiest way to narrow down choices. That's why it gets left out for so many.
Anytime you are talking 30 min away, you'll find it less popular. Plus, that has so many more business travelers. Sometimes families fell out of place when a hotel is predomintely business. I am not found of Swan/Dolphin at WDW for a similar reason. There's this intangible thing I can't explain well but mixing leisure and business travelers just feels like mixing oil and water.
I actually wonder if that's what makes it #1 on this list. USN seems to focus more on Business travelers than Leisure.

 

[SD33]

Wow yeah, that eliminated it for us, even without needing car seats. A short walk is/was (for our trip we just returned from) our first priority. No way would I want to have to Uber to the parks every single day. Takes away one of the biggest perks of DL parks over WDW, in general.
Thing is, there's nothing better about it to deal with travel to the parks every day. I mean, really, they are all so close in rankings/etc that using distance is the easiest way to narrow down choices. That's why it gets left out for so many.
Anytime you are talking 30 min away, you'll find it less popular. Plus, that has so many more business travelers. Sometimes families fell out of place when a hotel is predomintely business. I am not found of Swan/Dolphin at WDW for a similar reason. There's this intangible thing I can't explain well but mixing leisure and business travelers just feels like mixing oil and water.
I actually wonder if that's what makes it #1 on this list. USN seems to focus more on Business travelers than Leisure.

Perhaps things will change for us once we take our kids to Disneyland (we have a two year old and a 7 week old right now). But Ubering has always been super convenient for us. It's extremely quick (perhaps even more so than a shuttle or some of the hotels that are within walking distance), and the Hyatt has amazing amenities. Both pools are wonderful. And the children's area has games like ping pong tables, etc., a fire pit, s'more packs, and a bunch of other stuff. We always see tons of families with teens there too, so maybe it's just a car seat issue ultimately.

Who knows--I'm happy that not that many families with young children seem to like it because it means it's more quiet and relaxing for us after a busy morning at the park. Cold drink by a quiet pool--totally cool with that

Though for all the reasons described, we'll be moving to a hotel within walking distance over the next few years. Can't wait to take the kids to the parks!

 

[smartlabelprint]

Perhaps things will change for us once we take our kids to Disneyland (we have a two year old and a 7 week old right now). But Ubering has always been super convenient for us. It's extremely quick (perhaps even more so than a shuttle or some of the hotels that are within walking distance), and the Hyatt has amazing amenities. Both pools are wonderful. And the children's area has games like ping pong tables, etc., a fire pit, s'more packs, and a bunch of other stuff. We always see tons of families with teens there too, so maybe it's just a car seat issue ultimately.

Who knows--I'm happy that not that many families with young children seem to like it because it means it's more quiet and relaxing for us after a busy morning at the park. Cold drink by a quiet pool--totally cool with that

Though for all the reasons described, we'll be moving to a hotel within walking distance over the next few years. Can't wait to take the kids to the parks!

I will keep this hotel in mind if we travel sans kids. I think I’d love ubering. I stayed at best western park place inn recently on adult only trip for the short walk. I just can’t stay in any of the harbor motels anymore. We just prefer hotels. Our Anaheim fave is homewood suites. It’s a 20 min walk. We’d sometimes take the free toy story bus, at least 1 way. But the double stroller is kind of a PITA. My husband liked the walk because it soothed our kids and was a nice transition from a loud park rather than a loud bus. They have SPD.

 

[lcp9]

Perhaps things will change for us once we take our kids to Disneyland (we have a two year old and a 7 week old right now). But Ubering has always been super convenient for us. It's extremely quick (perhaps even more so than a shuttle or some of the hotels that are within walking distance), and the Hyatt has amazing amenities. Both pools are wonderful. And the children's area has games like ping pong tables, etc., a fire pit, s'more packs, and a bunch of other stuff. We always see tons of families with teens there too, so maybe it's just a car seat issue ultimately.

Who knows--I'm happy that not that many families with young children seem to like it because it means it's more quiet and relaxing for us after a busy morning at the park. Cold drink by a quiet pool--totally cool with that

Though for all the reasons described, we'll be moving to a hotel within walking distance over the next few years. Can't wait to take the kids to the parks!

haha I have 4 kids - 7, 5, 3, 4 months. When you take yours, and your kids are either 1. so asleep they absolutely will not wake up to walk or 2. they are crying/screaming/whining because they are so tired - you will wish you were staying in a tent at the entrance. disneyland was always so fun when they were too little to complain...haha

 

[beejai]

I too love the Hyatt Regency, stayed there 2 times , hopefully a third next year.

 

[Animal]

We had fun staying there in 2012. It hasn't been renovated since. I'll be sure to stay after the next room update.

 

[SD33]

For those of you who do Disney without kids, what do you think the best non-Disney hotel is? We are always open to trying new places.

 

[ParkHopper1]

For those of you who do Disney without kids, what do you think the best non-Disney hotel is? We are always open to trying new places.

My personal non Disney property is Courtyard. Pretty new place and has the most amenities for a "motel" vs one of the service hotels and is nice and close.

 

[AngiTN]

For those of you who do Disney without kids, what do you think the best non-Disney hotel is? We are always open to trying new places.

We really liked it stay at the Fairmont last week. Close. Clean. Loved having Panera right in the parking lot. And Mimi's next door. On top of that we get points to use for our stays overnight at the airport when we fly out to WDW.

 

[MillauFr]

We really liked it stay at the Fairmont last week. Close. Clean. Loved having Panera right in the parking lot. And Mimi's next door. On top of that we get points to use for our stays overnight at the airport when we fly out to WDW.

Don't you mean the Fairfield? I wish they had a high end option like the Fairmont that was within walking distance.

 

[AngiTN]

Don't you mean the Fairfield? I wish they had a high end option like the Fairmont that was within walking distance.

Yeah. Sorry, auto correct

 

[Animal]

For those of you who do Disney without kids, what do you think the best non-Disney hotel is? We are always open to trying new places.

This is a tough one. We like to be walking distance and stay in a newer hotel. There are lots of choices at harbor and Katella. Hyatt House is my favorite. The new Residence Inn there looks nice. The Springhill Suites as well. We’re trying out the Hyatt Place this summer. It’s pushing a 20 minute walk, but you can catch a parking shuttle at the Disney lot next door. I like getting just a little more room than just a small room. All of these options above scratch that itch if you get the right room type. If you want to keep the walk around ten minutes, there are great options for that, but you’ll spend more $ for less space or get a dated room.

I would likely choose the Fairfield as mentioned above if I wanted a short walk. I love me some Mimi’s, Panera, and McDonalds.

 

[sbd78]

It's been 9 years since I was last at Disneyland, and what I loved about it over WDW was the walkability. Because of that, we wanted to stay close when we visit next month. We are booked at the Hojo and really excited about it.

 

[cinnaminny]

That seems really far away. Even without kids that would be way too far for me.

 

[fivehourdisney]

For those who do it with kids, what's your go-to off property hotel? I really like the grand legacy or courtyard. The furthest I'm willing to go is the hyatt house/residence inn/spring hill suites. Anything further than that is just too far to walk