Desert Inn vs. HoJo's...discuss

[MommyWithDreams]

Here's my dilemma....

I currently have HOJO's reserved with the ET rate for our trip 2/27-3/5. I LOVE HOJO's.

I also found I could book the Desert Inn for $20 more.

My dilemma: although the walking doesn't bother me, (I walk in the park all day anyway)..but I'm thinking about my Dad who will be going on this trip with me. He doesn't care either way, he's left me as the travel agent pretty much. The other thing is the breakfast would be nice, I mean it's nothing to write home about from what I remember but it's better than nothing.

My questions: Has Desert Inn been "cleaned up" since 2007?
Also, do they charge anything on your CC when you make the reservation or do they just hold it like HOJO's does?

 

[tdashgirl]

My dilemma: although the walking doesn't bother me, (I walk in the park all day anyway)..but I'm thinking about my Dad who will be going on this trip with me. He doesn't care either way, he's left me as the travel agent pretty much. The other thing is the breakfast would be nice, I mean it's nothing to write home about from what I remember but it's better than nothing.

My questions: Has Desert Inn been "cleaned up" since 2007?
Also, do they charge anything on your CC when you make the reservation or do they just hold it like HOJO's does?

The walk is much shorter. We just stayed there in December. It was fine. I don't think their rooms are anything fancy, just standard. Warning: they do charge for parking now, so if you have a car, factor in about 8 more dollars a day. I don't care for their breakfast at all, so that's not a factor for me. They don't charge your credit card when you reserve.

 

[MommyWithDreams]

The walk is much shorter. We just stayed there in December. It was fine. I don't think their rooms are anything fancy, just standard. Warning: they do charge for parking now, so if you have a car, factor in about 8 more dollars a day. I don't care for their breakfast at all, so that's not a factor for me. They don't charge your credit card when you reserve.

We won't have a car so that's one plus. The funny thing is when I called he quoted me $10 more than when I looked at it online. Same thing happened to us in 2007 when we stayed there. They quoted my sister a different rate for the same thing than when we called.

 

[camouseketeer]

The only Harbor motels I have ever stayed in are Hojo's and DI. Both are fine.

I stay at Hojo's if it is cheapest.

If it's not, I'll still stay there in the summer/warm weather days due to the water area. It's the best for my kids. The long walk is worth the water features.

If it's going to be cold weather, I'll stay at DI because of the proximity. You just can't beat the walk, and the accommodations, from my experience, are on par with Hojo's. If my kids are not going to play in the water, the two hotels are about the same for me, and I'd prefer a shorter walk.

My DH, who normally will only stay at the GCH, stayed at the DI with me in November. He was happily surprised with it. It was clean and comfortable.

Your choice will depend your priorities.
My priorities are:
price
water features in summer
short walk in winter

 

[captsparrowslady]

when we were at Desert Inn in Jan 2008 and Aug. 2009 it was very clean and nice. Desert Inn also has AAA rates, so if you have AAA, ask about their AAA discount rates. We did, and the price was great for the suite we had. Desert Inn is really a 'no frills' hotel, and that's fine by me and my parents. We're not there to spend time at the hotel, we're there to spend time at *Disneyland*! The hotel is just a place to sleep. All we need from a hotel is a microwave, minifridge, and comfy beds and lots of pillows for my mom. And my requirement is a seperate sleeping area from my parents (they snore too much! it's like a symphony of snores! ). But we cannot afford 2 seperate hotel rooms with a 'connecting door'. So we stay at hotels with suites. When we stayed at the Desert Inn, I stayed in the 'living room' on the pull out couch which was surprisingly comfortable. And my parents said the beds were very comfortable too. The breakfast isn't all that spectaular... dry cereal and donuts, I think, but it was filling for breakfast, and at least it was free!

We kept the 'Do Not Disturb' sign on the door to keep the maid out mostly because the second day, the maid had come in and put my 'bed' back into a couch, which really annoyed me after coming back from a long day at Disneyland and having to pull out my bed again. Also if you're paranoid about the maid staff stealing, it keeps them out of your room so you don't have to worry about it (what? who? me? paranoid? nooooo.... ). Whenever we heard the maid walk by, we'd just put the trash outside the door for her to pick up. We're not overly messy people... we don't trash the hotel room, so we don't really need the bathrooms or the rooms cleaned every day... just the trash taken out.

If your Dad has issues with joint problem and walking is difficult for him, or if he gets tired easily after walking short distances, perhaps you should think about renting an off-site ECV scooter. We had wonderful service with Alan's Wheelchair & Medical. And they're really great with return customers (for future trips ). They keep your name on file forever pretty much and for loyal customers, they offer a discount, but even without the discount, their prices are still really good (at least the last time we were there). They will deliver the scooter to your hotel, and Desert Inn will let you keep it in the lobby to charge over night. Then he can just hop on his scooter, go across the crosswalk and scoot all over DL and DCA without the hassle of renting from DL/DCA and having to switch every time you switch park.

The walk back to Desert Inn and Suites is *MUCH* shorter than to HoJo, as much as people like to proclaim HoJo is "not that much farther". Honestly, I don't think you can get much closer, except for the Grand Californian. Here's a Map outlining the distance between HoJo and the pedestrian entrance to DL/DCA and the distance between Desert Inn and the pedestrian entrance. (sorry if the map is a bit big, I tried to make it smaller....)

 

[deesquared]

One thing that we appreciated from our stay at DI&Suites was that they had an indoor pool. We stayed there in November, so it wasn't really hot enough to play in an outdoor pool. It was great to be able to walk back to the hotel in the afternoon, and take the kids for a swim and a rest.
Also, we really liked being able to put the kids to bed in the separate room with their own TV. Hubby and I could then stay up longer, and watch some TV in our room. It was great! I hate hotels where everyone has to sleep in the same room. It's too hard with small children.

 

[captsparrowslady]

One thing that we appreciated from our stay at DI&Suites was that they had an indoor pool. We stayed there in November, so it wasn't really hot enough to play in an outdoor pool. It was great to be able to walk back to the hotel in the afternoon, and take the kids for a swim and a rest.
Also, we really liked being able to put the kids to bed in the separate room with their own TV. Hubby and I could then stay up longer, and watch some TV in our room. It was great! I hate hotels where everyone has to sleep in the same room. It's too hard with small children.

yeah, I liked that too, having my own TV and the indoor pool... they also have a hot tub for the adults which is really nice and relaxing after a long day at Disneyland.

 

[MommyWithDreams]

yeah, I liked that too, having my own TV and the indoor pool... they also have a hot tub for the adults which is really nice and relaxing after a long day at Disneyland.

I guess you could call me a pool snob, I just can't bring myself to get in a pool or especially a hot tub at a hotel.

I went ahead and booked DI, I still have time to make a decision. I'm now at $100 more from where I very first started.

 

[captsparrowslady]

I guess you could call me a pool snob, I just can't bring myself to get in a pool or especially a hot tub at a hotel.

I went ahead and booked DI, I still have time to make a decision. I'm now at $100 more from where I very first started.

okay... I'm kinda brain dead do you mean that you're spending $100 *more* or that you're *saving* $100?

Just out of curiosity, have you looked into the AAA discount for DI? (not sure if you have AAA or not...). That's how we got the great rate we had the last time we were there.

As for hotel Pools and Hot Tubs, I'm not a germaphobe so it doesn't bother me, and the hot tubs are hot enough to kill any bacteria in it. lol.