Castle inn

[jordansmomma]

Has anyone stayed here? I am thinking of booking it for Dec 23-29, 2007. I am just wondering what people thought of this place.

 

[Amy&Dan]

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUser...Castle_Inn_and_Suites-Anaheim_California.html

If you click on that link, you can see some reviews on tripadvisor. My neighbor stayed there and loved it. I don't hear too much about it on the dis however.

 

[munchkinsmom]

Another DISBoard member sent me a PM asking about Castle Inn since my signature showed that I had stayed there a few times in the past. I've pasted my response below. HTH!

"Yes, we've stayed at Castle Inn and Suites and each time was a nice experience. Quiet, clean and a 7-10 minutes walk to Disneyland's entrance. We used their Family Suites each time we stayed there and loved the layout.

It reminds me more of a motel rather than a hotel in its layout, where vehicles are parked outside the rooms but that was just fine w/ us. It was very easy to get to our van when we needed something. It's certainly NOT a resort, so if you're looking for lush landscaping and an awesome pool-area, you'll be sorely disappointed. They do have a pool, but it's in the middle of the parking lot, with privacy provided by fencing and bathrooms. There is plenty of free parking, so if you take off and come back you won't have a problem finding a spot.

The hotel is a bit on the older-side, so it'll be showing its age, but for the price you pay, it's just fine. The staff was friendly and quick to respond to our requests.

If you're used to a Marriott, Sheraton, Hilton or Westin, you're not going to enjoy your stay there. But, if you don't mind the lack of "fluff" more upscale hotels provide, then you'll be fine. We liked staying there because the price for what we got made it worth it for us."

 

[JenDisneylandlver]

We stayed there in 2005 and won't again. We did not have a clean room, we had no TV for 3 days (cable was out) of our stay, and the first day we got there the water was out for several hours (couldn't flush toliet or wash hands even). Our room had a hole in the wall, and the bathroom was not very clean. We found the staff to be very unhelpful and rude. The manager we asked to speak to was never available and never contacted us over our 5 night stay.

We had stayed there 11 years ago and loved it, but nope never again!

 

[munchkinsmom]

We stayed there in 2005 and won't again. We did not have a clean room, we had no TV for 3 days of our stay, and the first day we got there the water was out for several hours (couldn't flush toliet or wash hands even). Our room had a hole in the wall, and the bathroom was not very clean. We found the staff to be very unhelpful and rude. The manager we asked to speak to was never available and never contacted us over our 5 night stay.

We had stayed there 11 years ago and loved it, but nope never again!

Oh, what a bummer to have had a terrible experience there. We never had problems during any of our stays there (last one in 2006) and the staff was always helpful and quick when we'd call down for help. Again, it's not a fancy hotel, but it's a decent choice if a family on a budget needs a suite.

 

[JenDisneylandlver]

Oh, what a bummer to have had a terrible experience there. We never had problems during any of our stays there (last one in 2006) and the staff was always helpful and quick when we'd call down for help. Again, it's not a fancy hotel, but it's a decent choice if a family on a budget needs a suite.

Yeah our experience went pretty similar to a lot of those traveladvisor reviews! Maybe it depends on the room you get, and unfortunately our trip landed when they were having problems with the cable and plumbing. It didn't ruin our trip (were at DL after all). But after that and a few other bad experiences (at other motels) we will only stay onsite now!

But like I said 11 years ago when we stayed there we really liked it. It was very charming, and the castle theme went quite well with being at DL. Liked how it was close by, and everything with the room was just fine! We expected our stay to be the same in 2005, which was why we were so disappointed!

 

[mommy2allyandaveri]

We stayed there a few years ago, nothing special. But I don't remember anything particularly bad about the place. It isn't very close to the crosswalk though, probably 10-15 min walk to get to the crosswalk.

 

[honeymom]

It's the place that my husband always stayed in as a little kid. He has really fond memories of the place, but that was from nearly 40 years ago!

 

[JenDisneylandlver]

You know even though we had a bad experience in '05, hopefully it was just a fluke. Things can happen, even in the nicest hotels, the cable can go out, and there can be plumbing problems! We really tried to be understanding, I think we would have had a better opinion of things had the manager and office staff communicated better with us.

I will say the housekeeping staff was very nice though. In fact when there was no water when we checked in it was housekeeping that was trying to help us at first!

So I don't know, were too spoiled with staying onsite now. But my DH and I have always said we've had some bad luck with hotels anyway! So I wouldn't base your decision on our experience, it was hopefully just bad luck! I am glad to hear that others here have had good stays there, as we do have fond memories from when we first were married and stayed there. As anything and anywhere I'd just do my research and plan well on where to stay! If you do decide to stay at the Castle Inn I hope you have a wonderful trip, and some better luck then we have!

 

[jordansmomma]

Thanks for everyones input. Since we will be in WDW in September i am looking for a budget hotel for Christmas in Disney Land. I just booked the Castle this morning for $88 a night. So I guess I get what i pay for? But hopefully we will have a great time, and have no plumbing or cable problems. For 6 nights it was around $550. I have no intentions of spending a lot of time in the hotel. My DS10 & DS6 their Christmas presents are a suprise trip to DL (they have only been to WDW), Seaworld and maybe US. Plus a day at the beach. and sight seeing on the way home. Call me crazy we are driving from Eastern Washington to DL. But will be traveling with a friend and her family also.

 

[kelmac284]

I was going to say we stayed there this past November and I enjoyed it. We also wanted something inexpensive and we booked through Getaway today and got a great deal and then they upgraded us to a suite and the room was HUGE. WE were there again a few weeks ago and stayed in the hilton and I can say that the room at the castle was much nicer in my opinion.

Sure there are not a lot of frills but it was good size, clean and not far from the park. My dh and kids thought it was too far to walk since we left for mid day breaks so we most likely won't be staying there again but will probably stay at one of the hotels right across the street.

If the distance wasn't an issue though I would def stay there again.

 

[JenDisneylandlver]

Yes, I hope you have a wonderful free of problems stay. I can only say what our experience was. At the time we were just wanting a room to sleep in (and relax during our afternoon breaks). No frills, but then again I don't really think cable and water are "frills". LOL But from those who have recently gone, sounds like maybe they've done some upgrading, which is good to hear.

Now, we just make sure and stay onsite. The "frills" are nice, but after 3 bad experiences with just getting the basics offsite, we don't take our chances with offsite motels anymore! Hope you have a wonderful trip!

 

[jordansmomma]

We are staying onsite in WDW, and i cant imagine paying the price of the DLR hotels. I am not cheap but even in WDW i cant get a nice place for a little less. But I am not there to spend my time in the room.

 

[tynkerbell]

We stayed there many years ago. It was your typical budget motel but we had no complaints. We're only there to sleep after a long day at the park.

 

[JenDisneylandlver]

We are staying onsite in WDW, and i cant imagine paying the price of the DLR hotels. I am not cheap but even in WDW i cant get a nice place for a little less. But I am not there to spend my time in the room.

Well that's true. For us we probably spend more time in our room because we have a young child that needs a break during the day (well us as adults appreciate it too!). So we need a decent room for the time we do spend there. For us the money is completely worth it (for more reasons then I'll go in to here). But I realize that varies from person to person, and things like preference and budgets also come in to play. We obviously all have to do what were comfortable with.

 

[Dakota_Lynn]

I've stayed there twice and really enjoyed both visits! For me, a hotel is to sleep and shower so I really don't care about having a bunch of extras. I thought the place was cute with the castle theme and I enjoyed the pool. I really do like it a lot. Last October I thought about getting an on site hotel, but the more I thought about it the more I couldn't justify spending four times more to shower and sleep. If you're the type who is up and out to the parks first thing in the morning and comes back on time to clean up and go to bed, then I'd strongly recommend it. If you're more into chilling out at the hotel, then you might want something better! But me, I loved it and will continue going there!