Desert Inn and Suites or Tropicana?

[tykayausjake]

My in-laws are footing the bill for our trip in September but I am in charge of doing a lot of the planning and deal finding. I have already booked the biggest suite available at DI&S for what I think is a pretty good rate. What do you think about the place? Also, I have been looking at the Tropicana which will be just a bit more money. How does it compare with DI&S? I am a bit nervous of picking a place that everyone might hate. TIA

 

[disneymama83]

Hello! Welcome to the DISBOARDS!!!


I've never stayed at Dessert Inn before, but I have stayed at Tropicana several times and we have always enjoyed it. The location is great! You are pretty much at the crosswalk to DL. Our rooms have always been clean and the staff was always accommodating. You get a mircowave and fridge in the room which is a plus. The free breakfast isn't that great, it consists of stale pastries/muffins, cereal, juice and fruit (bananas, oranges and apples).

I hope this helps and happy planning to you!

 

[Tanzanite]

We have stayed there but long time ago it was nice dont know about Tropicana

 

[sonnyjane]

I haven't been to Desert Inn, but I stayed at Tropicana just this past weekend as part of a last-minute visit. Clean rooms and bedding, mini fridge, microwave, flat-screen TV and coffee maker, and most importantly FREE PARKING! Great great great location. My only complaint, honestly, was that the pillows were "too big", as in too thick/fluffy. I have a memory foam pillow at home so it's hard for me to sleep on other ones. Guess I'm a pillow snob

 

[Angel Ariel]

Another vote here for the Tropicana. This will likely be our go-to hotel for any DLR visit, for the foreseeable future. The location can't be beat, and the free parking is definitely nice.

Sonny mentioned everything in the rooms - I just want to add that it's all less than a year old. We stayed at the Tropicana in May '10, and they were changing out all of the furniture and such the day we checked out.

We never did try the breakfast they offered, so I don't know about that..but I would caution against relying on the hotel's convenience store for food/drink - it's pretty expensive. We bought something there every day, and it added up quick. We would have been better off getting a cab to and from target our first day there and picking up some cereal/milk for the room.

 

[MrsPinup]

We stayed at the DI on our trip in October and I loved it. The rooms were clean and spacious, the hotel was right in front of the crosswalk to DLR, and the beds were comfy. There is free continental breakfast offered downstairs. I would defintely stay here again.

 

[tykayausjake]

Thank for the input!! It looks like the price difference between the two places is going to be a little more than $200. That's if I have done my math correctly in adding all the fees, taxes, etc. Anyone know exactly how they calculate all that stuff? If I decide to go with the Tropicana I will book through GAT which we have used before and been happy with. I do like how GAT gives you an upfront cost with taxes and tickets included. Any other experiences with DI&S? Does anyone know how strict they are with the one car per room policy? We have 9 in our group so we will have 2 cars and not sure if that is going to cause a problem.

 

[starshine514]

Does anyone know how strict they are with the one car per room policy? We have 9 in our group so we will have 2 cars and not sure if that is going to cause a problem.

We'll be staying there for our May trip. I emailed them about the 1-car rule. They replied that it was a general rule; however, if they have extra spaces, we could park a second. If they don't have extra spaces, there is another hotel down the street where we could park for $15 a night. Not the best solution, but at least they have a solution for a second car...

 

[sonnyjane]

Thank for the input!! It looks like the price difference between the two places is going to be a little more than $200. That's if I have done my math correctly in adding all the fees, taxes, etc. Anyone know exactly how they calculate all that stuff? If I decide to go with the Tropicana I will book through GAT which we have used before and been happy with. I do like how GAT gives you an upfront cost with taxes and tickets included. Any other experiences with DI&S? Does anyone know how strict they are with the one car per room policy? We have 9 in our group so we will have 2 cars and not sure if that is going to cause a problem.

I'm not sure about the other stuff, but the Anaheim hotel tax is 17% scared1: I know) if you're calculating on your own. I just checked my Tropicana bill in my email and there were no additional fees. It was just my room rate x 1.17.

 

[DizNee Luver]

We've stayed at both places.

The Desert Inn has big rooms. We had a family suite that had 2 queen beds, couch & bathroom on one side & 2 queen beds, table & chairs & bathroom on the other side. Came with microwave & small fridge. The beds were a bit hard but doable. We skipped the free breakfast, as it was just very basic pastries, fruit & drinks. The pool is inside & when we were there, very crowded. The parking is a nightmare.

The Tropicana Inn is your standard motel room size. We had 2 queen beds, table & chairs, bathroom. It had a microwave & small fridge. The beds were a little more comfortable here. We never made it down for the free breakfast, but I believe it's the same basic offerings. The pool is in the middle of the parking lot. We never had issues with parking here.....more spaces.

We had issues at both motels:

Desert Inn, we came back to our room to find out the upstairs people had overflowed their bathtub & the overflow was coming thru the light fixtures above one of our beds. When we called the office, they said they'd send a maid up with new bedding. My MIL said, we need a new mattress, this one is soaked. They didn't really want to do that, until my MIL went down there & insisted they would find us a dry mattress. We had a new mattress in our room by days end.

Tropicana Inn, we had an issue with our toilet & called the office. We had someone up there within 10 mins of the call. Much friendlier staff.

Both are very close to the pedestrian crossing which makes the walk to & from the parks very easy.

Good luck in your decision & have fun planning!!