Desert Inn and Suites.... Has anyone stayed here?

[bonita_babe232]

I was wondering if anyone has stayed here? I would like to know alittle bit about the hotel..... Things like how far away from DL it is.... clean, safe, quality, and if its good for kids... how your stay was all those kida things..... Any info would be great.... We were thinking of staying at BWPPI but i checked and this is a bit cheaper.... are the walks about the same or is one abit more? Again any help would be graet and Thanx in advance!

 

[jemilah]

We stayed there in October and i just did not like it , here's my thoughts
great and friendly staff
ok room kinda dated no frills at all
not a comfy bed
breakfast was awful, opens too late for MM and had a line of people outside waiting for it to finally open, dry sweet rools and BAD coffee
Pool is small and looks cloudy, we did not go in it , too cold for our desert blood but there were pleanty of people out there
location looks ok but I did not like walking with the boys late in front of the 7-11.
getting a luggage cart was hard too, the parking lot is kinda weird too, dark at night!

 

[bonita_babe232]

Wows its all the way on the corner by the 7-11... thats far! i thought it was right by the cross walk

 

[DSNY4ever]

This hotel is directly across the street. I have stayed there several times. It is nothing fancy but it is one of the closest hotels to the parks...I think it is an even shorter walk than when I stayed at the DLH. The rooms are plain, but clean. It is motel style (your door opens up to the outside rather than an inside corridor), but this is how almost all of the hotels across the street are. If you are comparing it to the BWPPI, they are about the same and they are the same distance to the park. If you are getting a better deal for the Desert Inn, stay there. If you want something a little nicer, try the Howard Johnson or the Carousel Inn and Suites (both walking distance as well).

 

[milliepie]

Pool is small and looks cloudy, we did not go in it , too cold for our desert blood but there were pleanty of people out there
location looks ok but I did not like walking with the boys late in front of the 7-11.
getting a luggage cart was hard too, the parking lot is kinda weird too, dark at night!

Are you sure you stayed at the Desert inn and suites, because they have an indoor pool and it's right across from DL so you don't have to walk by the 7-11? I haven't stayed there yet, but I know that just from the website.
I'm staying there this summer, so if anyone has any info I would also appreciate it.

 

[DSNY4ever]

I am about to stay at The Desert Inn again next week, so if there is anything in particular that you guys want to know or want me to take pictures of let me know!

 

[bonita_babe232]

I'm not going for while ( oct 09 ) but i'm looking because there is about 12 of us so we need good deals! I only ask about how far because i will have a 1 yr a 3 yr and 5 yr old plus my grandma who will 68 by then! Its about the same as BWPPI price wise but you can get a 2 room suite which i know the other half of our group would probley prefer! If its not that far down than maybe it would be ok........ we stayed at BW Stollvals last time and we liked it, we took the ART, but for the 6 of us we would need two rooms where as a suite would only be the one.... the same thing with hojo.... i was really thinking about there cause EVERYONE on the board seems to love them, but they look alittle far for the kids and grandma!

 

[Casey's Mommie]

Are you sure you stayed at the Desert inn and suites, because they have an indoor pool and it's right across from DL so you don't have to walk by the 7-11? I haven't stayed there yet, but I know that just from the website.
I'm staying there this summer, so if anyone has any info I would also appreciate it.

I stayed there in October and it is directly across the street from DL right next to the Park Vue which is next to BWPPI. It's not anywhere near a 7-11 so I don't think he stayed there.

I thought it was fine. It's not fancy and the breakfast is kind of blah... but the location is awesome, they are very reasonably priced and I like their family suite set ups.

 

[kristenhh]

Here is my review of the Anaheim Desert Inn & Suites:

Dates: May 8-May 12, 2007

Who: Me (37)
Sister in Law (38)
DD (12)
DS (5)

Room: Parlor Suite (sleeps 6)

The Parlor Suite consists of 2 rooms: The first room you enter, the “Parlor” has a TV on a dresser and a couch with a Double size pull-out bed. This room is great for kids, but I would not suggest the bed for adults. I slept on the pull-out the first night, and it was uncomfortable! My kids took turns on it the rest of the nights, and because they weigh less – it did not bother them. I put one child on the pull-out, and the other used the couch cushions to make a bed on the floor. There was room for them to share the pull-out, but they were unwilling! There was a wall fan in this room that blew from the main room so they could have some cool air. This room is also a really nice buffer for the other room – you don’t hear everyone stomping by your door.

The main room is separated by a full wall with a door. This room had 2 queen sized beds. It also had a desk, dresser space, and a “bigger than a dorm room” fridge and microwave. This was a nice big room with plenty of space. The sink was separated from the bathroom which allowed for multiple people getting ready. The Queen beds were comfortable and we didn’t have any complaints. Except maybe scratchy towels. Everything was clean and in good shape.

Breakfast: They do have a breakfast every morning which consists of: oranges, danishes, white or wheat bread for toast, coffee, milk, orange juice, or raspberry lemonade. I knew it was limited so we brought our own cereal for some days and had danishes the other days.

I would definitely come again – the location and price are excellent. It is especially good for large families/groups.

 

[DSNY4ever]

Well Bonita_babe232- we are going to be in one the family suite that sleeps ten and I will have a trip report with photos up after we get back on the 14th so feel free to check it out. We specifically picked it because it is so close and easy to get back to for the toddlers that will be with us.

 

[Sonya in Boise]

We stayed at the Desert Inn years ago, so I won't comment on the quality of the hotel since I don't have any current info, but the walk was very easy. The pool is inside a glass wall room (and I remember it looked cloudy when we were there) there were always people in it when we walked by. I did not care for the breakfast. I seem to remember it being stale mini danishes, bruised apples, watered down juice...but they did have milk (if I remember correctly). I also remember thinking their parking was a bit odd, but then found out they have an underground parking area. We were able to find a spot on the ground level and just never moved the car for the 3 days we were there.

 

[silence]

I was here this past week.

It was not as "clean" or "updated" as other hotels we have stayed at, but it wasn't like bad or anything.

I totally LOVED the shorter walk. Loved that it was next door to both Ihop and Denny's. The free breakfast was BLAH, we didn't bother after the first day.

Beds were OK. We were on the 5th floor directly under the hotel fireworks viewing area. No noise from upstairs. Walls were a little thin, I could hear the mom next door yelling at her kids.

Parking was an issue. You only get one car, and hope that you get there at the right time, otherwise you might end up with a really hard spot to get into!

We did the pool and spa on Saturday. They were both clean and kids had a blast.

We had no problems here and we would stay again, especially if I can get a good rate.

 

[bonita_babe232]

Well here and the BWPPI look about the same in walking distance so for now its a toss up between these too as to which as the better price when we go.... We were gonna go in october but now i think we might go in eairly septmber because its cheaper... I didn't know you guys don't have a labour day (in the us) which here we have a holiday for it! Plus going in september we will be there for my b-day Minnies party here i come .... lol do you think i could have a party for 11 people????????

 

[Casey's Mommie]

I didn't know you guys don't have a labour day (in the us) which here we have a holiday for it! Plus going in september we will be there for my b-day

Labor Day this year is Monday, September 1st. We do celebrate it and all schools and most businesses are closed that day so I would expect Disneyland to be pretty busy.

 

[mariezp]

We have stayed at the Anaheim Desert Inn for the past 7 years and are booked there again in November. I think they are just a couple doors down from the BWPPI. They have served us well every time we have stayed. We stay in their Parlor Family Suite C2, which is their largest suite with 4 queen beds, a small living room with a fold out couch, also a dining table and 2 full bathrooms. We are pretty easy to please. We mainly just want a place to shower and sleep at night but we do like plenty of space.

Rooms don't have a lot of frills like any of the resort hotels so if you are looking for something fancy you'd better head to another property but if you are like us we don't spend much time in our room if we can be at Disneyland. The main reasons we stay are that the price is right, rooms are clean and sizeable, beds are comfy and you cannot beat the fact that they are so close to the main gate. To me they seem closer to the main gate than the Disney hotels and you don't have to fight the crowds and temptation to spend money in Downtown Disney.

I think all rooms come standerd with refridgerators, microwaves and in-room movies. There is a tv in each room. Their pool is on the small side. However, it has never been a problem for us because we would rather be at the park. Their breakfast is a continental so I have never expected more than what they offer. It works well for us since we are not big breakfast eaters. We eat just enough to tide us over til lunch which allows us to only ending up paying for 2 meals a day. There is a convience store, which is not a 7-11, down stairs in case you forget anything, or in our case, they sell Dr. Pepper which keeps us from going into withdrawals. There is a Denney's conviently located on one side and IHOP on the other.

I thought about trying one of the Disney hotels but never have found a better bargain and my whole family refuses siting that staying at DI has become "traditional". So it looks like as long as we are heading to Disneyland, Anaheim Desert Inn can be expecting us to visit!

Oh yeah! The staff has always been nice and helpful. I have saved as much as $70 a night by calling them directly and booking our rooms as far in advance as I know our dates. I would much rather enjoy spending the money we always save on lodging and spend it on souvineers, snacks, and dining instead of over priced accomadations.

 

[bonita_babe232]

AWWW my mom said you guys didn't have labour day.... i thought maybe she was crazy but i was just hoping it would be less busy lol........ SO one other question i had which you kinda talked about was if i call instead of booking online i could get it cheaper? Because its a low price already but i noticed someone said they got the palour suite for $79 and online it said $101 and thats a big diffrence.... I could call in january next year maybe even eairlier to get my dates...... We're the same as you were just looking for somewhere to sleep! And to have a 24/7 dennys next door saves money cause we would just eat there on the way home after the parks! If anyone could let me know about the booking that would be great!

 

[mariezp]

It never hurts to call just in case they have a lower price. I have found it cheaper either way. As I mentioned, I saved $70 by calling but this year when I called it was cheaper online for part of our trip. They were very good and honored the lower rate for the days it applied.

We order take out a lot at Denney's on the way back from the park or order in A LOT of pizza or chinese food. It's a good way to have extra time in the park instead of eating and does save money. (We always watch a movie in our room while we eat and relax out little tooties from all the walking we've done all day. Trouble is, I am usually so tired I hardly ever stay awake to see the end of the movie! Luckily we watch the same ones over and over so I usually get to see the entire show by the end of our trip.)

 

[CinderellaDreamer]

I would add that the refrigerator is now in the front 'parlor' section of the parlor suites. (I don't think that we had a microwave...but maybe there was one. Looks like it in the photos on the website.) So you have a couch, a coffee table, a t.v., and refrig in that room, and then two queen beds, and a dresser in the 'bedroom'. There is no closet, but a rack behind the door between the parlor and bedroom. We could not use the wifi connection in our room as it was not strong enough of a signal to reach the back end of the hotel (we weren't quite to the end of the property). We had a wonderful view of the fireworks from our window beside the bathroom sink. We stood there in the dark while our three little children slept and watched them. Not the same without the music, but at least we could see them!

My only complaint would be that the coffee maker is bolted down to the bathroom sink. So my early rising husband could not make coffee without waking children. Nor could I use it to make oatmeal for any children who woke up early without disturbing those still sleeping. Just a pet peeve.

We found it to be a clean, cheap place to sleep. Like others, we were unable to use the breakfast on early morning entries. We did however like being able to get milk for cereal on later entry mornings. We would also get some fruit to take with us on our way to the parks.

The walk is what makes this place worth it. Such a quick walk to and from the park. And we had two 6 year olds and a 2 yr. in a stroller. We came back to the room in the middle of the day every day of our stay there.

Hope this helps!

 

[bonita_babe232]

Yea i'm really starting to think this is where we are gonna stay! Do they have vcr's in the room or did you just bring your own????

 

[mariezp]

I don't think they have vcr's unless you can check one out front the front desk. We did the pay per view. Kinda pricey, I know, but it has gotten to be "traditional" so we just add it once a year to the vacation costs.