Best Off-Site Hotel WITH Kid's Suite?

[Mugglemama]

Happy Holidays!

Does anybody have a personal suggestion for an off-site hotel with a kid's suite?

We have done the Comfort Inn Maingate kid's suite before, and don't want to go back there (it wasn't very clean, and we'd like a closer hotel).

Right now, I'm looking at the Portofino. Points to consider:

1. Would love it if the hotel were within walking distance of the parks.

2. Would like the nicest hotel that is close - we were going to actually stay at GCH this trip, but because we have 6 in our family and can't have more than 5 to a room, we are looking off-site. So, we'd love a nice hotel.

3. A continental breakfast isn't important because we never use them anyway.

4. Would prefer a room that has a fridge.

Any suggestions are really appreciated! Thanks in advance!

 

[jenpace]

The only time we stayed offsite in a kids' suite was at Hojos and I have nothing but great things to say about it, I just wish Hojos wasn't across the street! If they're offering the Entertainment rate for your dates it's only $99.00/night for their kids' suite.

 

[AnneUCSB]

We just got back 2 days ago from a 5 day stay at the HoJo in a Kids Suite. It was PERFECTION! I would highly recommend it. We walked to Disneyland, DCA, and DTD from the hotel with a 3 yr old, 5 yr old, and 5 month old in tow without a problem. Also, my parents were with us (they are 65 yrs old) and they had no problem with the walk to the park. It was about .8 miles from the hotel. We adored the Kids Suite and my parents had a Standard Room that was perfect for them. Definitely stay at HoJo

 

[Mugglemama]

Thanks for the replies!

Hojo's was one of the first places I checked for a kid's suite, but we have 6 people in our family, and it appears that Hojo's only permits 5 people per room in the kid's suites.

 

[aidan04]

We are trying Hojos this year but stayed at the Camelot Inn last year. The family suite was huge (nothing fancy but very large). The living room had a pull out sofa and a king bed. The bedroom had 2 queen beds.

 

[Funball]

I pick Hojo!

Hojo is the best hotel off site with a kid’s suite.
Better value, clean and close to park!

 

[Mugglemama]

Phoooey! They said 5.

 

[Cagirl767]

What about Carousel right at the Ped Crosswalk?

Farther down Harbor Blvd is Residence Inn with 2 room suites. Probably some of the extended stays have 2 bedroom suites too. They're not walking distance though. Some people consider the Residence Inn on Clementine walking distance. There's also Portofino, I'm not sure how many people max there though.

 

[so_oregon]

Happy Holidays!

Does anybody have a personal suggestion for an off-site hotel with a kid's suite?

We have done the Comfort Inn Maingate kid's suite before, and don't want to go back there (it wasn't very clean, and we'd like a closer hotel).

Right now, I'm looking at the Portofino. Points to consider:

1. Would love it if the hotel were within walking distance of the parks.

2. Would like the nicest hotel that is close - we were going to actually stay at GCH this trip, but because we have 6 in our family and can't have more than 5 to a room, we are looking off-site. So, we'd love a nice hotel.

3. A continental breakfast isn't important because we never use them anyway.

4. Would prefer a room that has a fridge.

Any suggestions are really appreciated! Thanks in advance!

we did Embassy Suites down the road with six (4 adults, one toddler, one baby). Has a fridge and a lion in the lobby (animatronic) which roars on the hour. ART stops right there. Hot breakfast included.

 

[so_oregon]

Happy Holidays!

Does anybody have a personal suggestion for an off-site hotel with a kid's suite?

We have done the Comfort Inn Maingate kid's suite before, and don't want to go back there (it wasn't very clean, and we'd like a closer hotel).

Right now, I'm looking at the Portofino. Points to consider:

1. Would love it if the hotel were within walking distance of the parks.

2. Would like the nicest hotel that is close - we were going to actually stay at GCH this trip, but because we have 6 in our family and can't have more than 5 to a room, we are looking off-site. So, we'd love a nice hotel.

3. A continental breakfast isn't important because we never use them anyway.

4. Would prefer a room that has a fridge.

Any suggestions are really appreciated! Thanks in advance!

why not get two adjoining rooms at HOJO?

 

[Mugglemama]

we did Embassy Suites down the road with six (4 adults, one toddler, one baby). Has a fridge and a lion in the lobby (animatronic) which roars on the hour. ART stops right there. Hot breakfast included.

Thanks! Definitely going to check this one out. I think we may do ART this time, as opposed to walking (which we had originally planned to do - getting so tired of the parking structure routine after many years of using it!).

 

[specialks]

We are staying at the Residence Inn Garden Grove on our upcoming trip in a 2 BR 2 BTH kids suite and planning on taking the ART. I have a PTR started and will post photos when it goes live -- if that will help any. Our trip is Dec 7-14. We don't stay in walking distance because my husband requires a full breakfast with make your own waffles when on vacation. For some reason he just loves having that while on vacation. However, seeing as you don't care about breakfast I would check out the website for every hotel in walking distance because I can't stand the ART and/or parking. However, I feel for us, the other perks we get at the extended stay hotels make up for the inconvenience of not being in walking distance.

 

[Mugglemama]

why not get two adjoining rooms at HOJO?

That's a helpful suggestion. However, I don't like having an extra door in a separate room, just for safety reasons (we have 4 kids). It would mean that my husband and I would have to sleep in separate rooms, and split up so there was an adult in each room. And that's no fun!

We are staying at the Residence Inn Garden Grove on our upcoming trip in a 2 BR 2 BTH kids suite and planning on taking the ART. I have a PTR started and will post photos when it goes live -- if that will help any. Our trip is Dec 7-14. We don't stay in walking distance because my husband requires a full breakfast with make your own waffles when on vacation. For some reason he just loves having that while on vacation. However, seeing as you don't care about breakfast I would check out the website for every hotel in walking distance because I can't stand the ART and/or parking. However, I feel for us, the other perks we get at the extended stay hotels make up for the inconvenience of not being in walking distance.

Thanks for the heads-up about the ART! I was planning to use it (trying to give my husband a break from driving during our trip, since it's a 10 hour drive for us just to get to DLR). Can you tell me what you dislike about ART?

I also have read that the Portofino, which is the hotel I'm leaning towards right now, is about 15 minutes walking distance to the gates. So, that's not too bad. Although, I don't think we'd love doing that at night on the way back. Which is why I was considering the ART.

Please share it's negative points with me! Thanks!

 

[tink2dw]

try Desert Inn and Suites!!
Check this out
http://www.anaheimdesertinn.com/room_suites.htm

 

[Cagirl767]

During peak seasons, the ART can be crowded and you may have to wait for the next one to come along.

Homewood Suites on Harbor Blvd has its own shuttle (not free) and that could solve your ART problem. We've never had a problem with ART and go several times a year, but never at peak times. Homewood has a free breakfast and full kitchen en suite.

Hyatt also has their own shuttle. I believe Sheraton does too.

 

[specialks]

Thanks for the heads-up about the ART! I was planning to use it (trying to give my husband a break from driving during our trip, since it's a 10 hour drive for us just to get to DLR). Can you tell me what you dislike about ART?

I also have read that the Portofino, which is the hotel I'm leaning towards right now, is about 15 minutes walking distance to the gates. So, that's not too bad. Although, I don't think we'd love doing that at night on the way back. Which is why I was considering the ART.

Please share it's negative points with me! Thanks!

We haven't used the ART yet. I have heard the negative points are at the end of the night the shuttles become busy and it is hard to get on one. You sometimes have to wait for multiple shuttles. Also, I have read that trying to manage strollers with ART can be a pain. I am thinking it is going to be very similar to the parking garage tram situation -- which I can't STAND. So, I am preparing for that and hoping it is better than I expect. Also, I have heard that the time schedule is confusing and you don't really know a set time to expect the ART to arrive at stops. It says every 20 min -- but every 20 min from where?? Does it start it's pick ups at the :00, :20, :40 minutes? I have heard that the fewer hotels on a route can mean for a little better service, but I don't know if this is true. We are staying at the RI GG on Route 1 with only 1 other hotel. We will have 2 young kids (6, 4) 3 adults and we will have a stroller, so I will let you know how it goes.

During peak seasons, the ART can be crowded and you may have to wait for the next one to come along.

Homewood Suites on Harbor Blvd has its own shuttle (not free) and that could solve your ART problem. We've never had a problem with ART and go several times a year, but never at peak times. Homewood has a free breakfast and full kitchen en suite.

Hyatt also has their own shuttle. I believe Sheraton does too.

I love the Homewood but they don't have kids suites. They Hyatt does have new kid's suites that look fabulous but they seemed a little small when I was researching. They were running a 50% off suites sale, but it was still expensive.

 

[01spirit750]

We have used ART in the past (on two seperate trips) and found the service to be unreliable and inconsistant.

If you have kids, I would not recommend it.

The actual pick up interval for us was about 60 minutes between buses.

On one night there was no bus for over 70 minutes and we finally asked and they confirmed there was no bus available for our route. They put us on another bus who made a special stop for our hotel.

We will not use ART again. We will either stay onsite or across the street.
We are going to try the Hyatt this year for the first time. They have their own private shuttle which has gotten good reviews, we will see.

 

[kiwitravel]

America's Best Value Inn, the one on Katella has one bedroom suites which have three queens (one in the bedroom and two in the room). Includes fridge and microwave, free wifi and parking. It would be slightly closer than portofino, its less than a 100 yards from the corner of Harbor and Katella. Less than 10 minute walk to the resort sign on Harbor (15minutes to the gate). Also with negotiation direct to the hotel you should get this for less than $90... Great pool and jacuzzi, smaller 40 room hotel so not crowded..

 

[Mugglemama]

try Desert Inn and Suites!!
Check this out
http://www.anaheimdesertinn.com/room_suites.htm

Thanks a bunch for sharing this link! This hotel is definitely within walking distance, and now that I've heard so much negative feedback about ART, DH and I are really thinking we should just stay close enough to walk easily. The 8 person suite is actually cheaper than the 6 person suite, and with an extra bathroom, I think this hotel is going to be hard to beat. Off to read reviews!

During peak seasons, the ART can be crowded and you may have to wait for the next one to come along.

Homewood Suites on Harbor Blvd has its own shuttle (not free) and that could solve your ART problem. We've never had a problem with ART and go several times a year, but never at peak times. Homewood has a free breakfast and full kitchen en suite.

Hyatt also has their own shuttle. I believe Sheraton does too.

We won't be going at a peak time, either, but I'm leery of dealing with the ART after reading everyone's posts. Thanks for the info about Homewood...although we wouldn't be using the breakfasts OR the kitchen (not on this particular trip, anyway - but I will keep it in mind for future trips). Thanks for the info, though!

We have used ART in the past (on two seperate trips) and found the service to be unreliable and inconsistant.

If you have kids, I would not recommend it.

The actual pick up interval for us was about 60 minutes between buses.

On one night there was no bus for over 70 minutes and we finally asked and they confirmed there was no bus available for our route. They put us on another bus who made a special stop for our hotel.

We will not use ART again. We will either stay onsite or across the street.
We are going to try the Hyatt this year for the first time. They have their own private shuttle which has gotten good reviews, we will see.

I really appreciate your feedback. We WILL have kids with us, 4 in fact! And even though one is grown, another is a teen, and we won't be needing to use strollers on this trip, I still definitely do NOT want to get stuck depending on unreliable transport! We are the ones in line at the security tables an hour before opening, so we need to be able to be in control of our own transportation schedule. Thanks a lot for the insight! Now I know not to use ART.

America's Best Value Inn, the one on Katella has one bedroom suites which have three queens (one in the bedroom and two in the room). Includes fridge and microwave, free wifi and parking. It would be slightly closer than portofino, its less than a 100 yards from the corner of Harbor and Katella. Less than 10 minute walk to the resort sign on Harbor (15minutes to the gate). Also with negotiation direct to the hotel you should get this for less than $90... Great pool and jacuzzi, smaller 40 room hotel so not crowded..

So, I can just call the hotel and say I only want to spend $90 for this suite? Sorry if it's a stupid question...I've just never negotiated with a hotel about pricing before.

Free wifi is definitely a bonus...I'm going to check out this hotel's website. Thanks for the info!

 

[kiwitravel]

So, I can just call the hotel and say I only want to spend $90 for this suite? Sorry if it's a stupid question...I've just never negotiated with a hotel about pricing before.

Free wifi is definitely a bonus...I'm going to check out this hotel's website. Thanks for the info!

I have found to get the best deal is ring the hotel itself and just ask for the best possible quote price for the dates and room type you are after, let them know you are phoning around to different hotels to get the best price.. Don't go through online booking systems, just use them to get an idea of the price... Especially with chain hotels like this one and Hojos... Look for the local number for the hotel not the 0800 as this can often go through a booking agent or centralised chain office.

I still have the email of the manager but I think it might be on their website...

It was a clean hotel, nothing particularily flash, a little old fashioned decor like most hotels. Only gripe was the cleaner came at random times and some times when we had come back at 2pm for a nap... Also the breakfast was the standard danish and donuts... Great grounds and pools though and no hidden extras...