Dessert Inn and Suites?

[californiamomof4grls]

Is there anyone that can answer these questions for me?
How long was the walk to the park?
I heard they have a continental breakfast, was it good?
Clean and nice staff?
Is it two story?
Would you stay there again?
Any tips that would help us we are two families, 3 school age, 2 preschoolers, 2 babies.

 

[pinktink83]

I did a board search for Desert Suites like, 5 min ago, lol. There is a lot of info on them!

So far the consensus seems to be: older, but still okay hotel, may have noise issues, but may not, the suites with the outer living area seem to cut down on noise, and pool is indoors and was used daily. Cleaning is cursory at best, but lots of extra towels and "clean enough". A 5 min walk to the park. Multiple stories. Iffy parking (crowded and small spaces).

To me, it sounds like a great deal! We only use our hotel to sleep, so I dont care as long as its basically clean.

With that many kids, staying within walking distance of the park is a MUST in my opinion.

 

[californiamomof4grls]

LOL! I didn't even think of doing a search! I'll do that next!

 

[Luv Bunnies]

We've stayed at Desert Inn several times, most recently in 2009 in a 4-queen, 2-bath suite. It doesn't look like much from the outside, but the rooms are surprisingly nice. We didn't have any issues with housekeeping. In fact, while we were moving in a maintenance man knocked on the door and said he needed to tighten a loose toilet seat that the housekeeper reported. Later I called about a TV remote that didn't work and asked if I could come and get some new batteries. They said no, we'll bring you a working remote, and they did within minutes.

I never went to the breakfast room, but my DH went down a few times. He said there wasn't much besides cold cereal and danish. We were happier with our instant oatmeal, cereal, pop tarts, etc. that we brought from home. The room had a fridge, microwave and coffee maker so it was easy to make our own breakfast.

Parking can be an issue if you plan on moving your car. We found a good parking space and then never moved our car until it was time to check out. It was easy to walk to the parks and down to Gardenwalk so we didn't need the car. I've read reviews from people who say it can be tough if you get back to the hotel late at night. I believe they are now charging $8 for parking, but it was free when we stayed there. I've also read that you're only allowed to park one car per room. Even if two families book one suite together, they're only allowed one space. This may have changed since they instituted the parking fees, but I've read about it in the past.

The indoor pool isn't the greatest. We were there in early July and the kids definitely wanted to swim. The pool room is small and stuffy and has a strong chlorine smell. But, our boys still enjoyed it and we didn't have to worry about using sunscreen!

The hotel is three stories, but they do have an elevator. We found it quicker to walk up three flights of stairs when the elevators were busy. It got crowded at check out time, but we didn't want to carry luggage down so we waited.

The biggest danger with this place is having to pass by the Cold Stone Creamery on the way back from the parks. I know I had at least one too many waffle cone sundaes on that trip!

 

[californiamomof4grls]

Thank you Luv Bunnies! That is the room we booked! We booked it for 89 dollars a night. We are a family of 7 and you can't really beat that price! I asked about the elevators because we have a double jogger to get to and from the park! LOL! Can't wait!

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

FYI: I was just looking at their website yesterday, and they have a $4/night resort fee and a $12/night parking fee.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

Thank you Luv Bunnies! That is the room we booked! We booked it for 89 dollars a night. We are a family of 7 and you can't really beat that price! I asked about the elevators because we have a double jogger to get to and from the park! LOL! Can't wait!

Wow! How did you get such a great rate? I remember paying close to $200 a night for that room.

 

[pinktink83]

It says $8 parking fee per night for me.

Calimom- where are you getting the good deal? It says $99 for the 4 queen room when I go straight through the website! (thats not the one I'm getting though, I'm looking at the 2 queen, with sofabed suite! just wondering if I can get mine $10 off, too!)

 

[KTR]

I went back in 2010. I was not impressed with the hotel, but due to its price and location I might consider it again.

Is there anyone that can answer these questions for me?
How long was the walk to the park? Very short, you walk out the main entrance and you're basically at the cross walk that takes you to the main gate
I heard they have a continental breakfast, was it good? No, it was about the worst continental breakfast I've seen
Clean and nice staff? Staff was fine, the room looked clean, but had a musty smell. The smell really bothered me.
Is it two story? We were on the 4th floor, I think it went up to 5, but I'm not positive
Would you stay there again? Maybe, if the price were right. The location was awesome.
Any tips that would help us we are two families, 3 school age, 2 preschoolers, 2 babies.

 

[RedRosie]

I agree with Luv Bunnies. We stayed 5 nights in Nov 2010 it was great for us. Now maintenance or cleaning issues. Continental breakfast was just ok, but it was good to get juice and milk each morning for our own cereal. DH went to Dennys for take-out breakfast each day. Dennys is right next door. I have a picture from the Disney main entrance looking across Harbor so you can see just how close it is.

Can someone tell me how to post a picture here? I am a newbie! thanks.

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

It says $8 parking fee per night for me.

You are right. I swear it said $12 the other day.

 

[starshine514]

We just got back from there! We didn't have any issues with the room itself. The parking was problematic. We went shopping after checking in the first night and when we got back, there was one parking spot left - for a compact (not a dual-cab, full-size pickup truck). There wasn't enough space to turn around in the underground parking, so I had to call my dad down to back the truck out. Then, he had to had it over to the valets (valet parking was no extra charge). Once we got the truck back, we didn't move it again until we left. They only allow one car per room, but did offer to let you park at another hotel for $15/night. We were charged $8/night for parking and $4/night resort fee.

The breakfast was danish, apples or oranges, toast w/butter and jelly, corn flakes and cheerios (didn't appear to be name-brand), milk, orange juice, raspberry lemonade, and the worst coffee I've ever tasted (but in both regular and decaf).

The hotel appears to be 5 stories, at least the elevator went up to the 5th floor (and down to the Garage level, so 6 total stops). The elevator was a problem, especially in the morning. If you're on the second floor, you're out of luck. The elevator will always go to the top before coming back down for you and it will always be full in the morning. I carried the stroller down the stairs every morning, but DH couldn't do the same with his ECV, so he just had to wait, and wait, and wait. Most people didn't offer to get out and walk the single flight of stairs so he could get in...

The walk to the park was wonderful! There are maybe 2 offsite hotels that are closer is all. The room was clean enough. Internet worked fine for us, and was included in the price. We had some trouble with our safe (which was small compared to other hotels), but they came and fixed it for us.

I would stay there again!

 

[CarolAnnB]

Thank you Luv Bunnies! That is the room we booked! We booked it for 89 dollars a night. We are a family of 7 and you can't really beat that price! I asked about the elevators because we have a double jogger to get to and from the park! LOL! Can't wait!

When are you going? Because in July that room is $189 a nite! I can't decide between that and HoJo's Kid suite, which is $165 a night after 15% discount.

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

When are you going? Because in July that room is $189 a nite! I can't decide between that and HoJo's Kid suite, which is $165 a night after 15% discount.

They are going in October.

 

[pinktink83]

The elevator was a problem, especially in the morning. If you're on the second floor, you're out of luck. The elevator will always go to the top before coming back down for you and it will always be full in the morning. I carried the stroller down the stairs every morning, but DH couldn't do the same with his ECV, so he just had to wait, and wait, and wait. Most people didn't offer to get out and walk the single flight of stairs so he could get in...

WOW, good to know!! So ask for a top level room if you have to use the elevator! Thats too bad that no one let your DH on. :/

 

[davidsprincess]

We just got back from staying there and I would so stay there again. I loved the quick walk to the park, especially at night after a long day. The rooms were a really great decent size. My sis-in-law was able to keep out all the suitcases for her family of 5 and still had plenty of room. We had the B Family Suite that sleeps 8 and there was loads of room! We were on the second floor facing the courtyard. The staff was very nice and friendly. No issues whatsoever. The safe in the rooms was a nice size. We could fit a lap top and various other electronic devices into one with no problem. I also loved the large vanity with the sink that sat outside the bathroom. Loads of room there as well. The fridge was a nice size, not your typical bar size one. All in all I would recommend it. We also had no problems with sound. But then we put the air conditioner on at night. My in-laws didn't and could hear people if they were making noise. I really wish I would have taken pictures so that I could post them.

 

[californiamomof4grls]

It says $8 parking fee per night for me.

Calimom- where are you getting the good deal? It says $99 for the 4 queen room when I go straight through the website! (thats not the one I'm getting though, I'm looking at the 2 queen, with sofabed suite! just wondering if I can get mine $10 off, too!)

I booked it two or three months ago when I saw what a great rate there was. I went straight to the site. I know that there are fees but it's still cheaper and closer then what the Hojo told me. They wanted us to book two rooms.

 

[californiamomof4grls]

I am staying October like my friend said! LOL! The last week actually. I am going to email them right now and ask that we both (the other family I am traveling with) be put on the bottom floor. I don't even want to bother with the double jogger and getting down flights of stairs!
The breakfast sounds good enough. My kids eat cereal anyways so that works good. I just need to find parking once. Once we are there we don't leave.
Thank you everyone for all of your information! I really appreciate all of your help this is why I love the boards so much!

 

[kez518]

Thank you Luv Bunnies! That is the room we booked! We booked it for 89 dollars a night. We are a family of 7 and you can't really beat that price! I asked about the elevators because we have a double jogger to get to and from the park! LOL! Can't wait!

We booked the same room, same price for September!

I like the desert inn and suites with small kids that get tired quick it is nice to not have to wait for a shuttle to pick you up or walk a long time to get them back to the hotel. I thought the breakfast was fine and easy since we like to grab toast or a pastry to eat on the walk to the park. The workers were really nice.

 

[kez518]

I am staying October like my friend said! LOL! The last week actually. I am going to email them right now and ask that we both (the other family I am traveling with) be put on the bottom floor. I don't even want to bother with the double jogger and getting down flights of stairs!
The breakfast sounds good enough. My kids eat cereal anyways so that works good. I just need to find parking once. Once we are there we don't leave.
Thank you everyone for all of your information! I really appreciate all of your help this is why I love the boards so much!

Did you call them about requesting the bottom floor? What did they say?