Disneyland good neighbor hotel recommendations?

[CamAnd]

We are planning a San Diego/DisneyLand trip this August. We've never been to the DisneyLand resort but are used to Disney World. Can anyone recommend a nearby hotel preferably less than a mile from the parks.
We have 2 kids * 8 & 7 who love to swim so a nice pool on property would be great. Also, I'm very picky about hotels and cleanliness. I usually don't do budget but I don't think the Grand Californian price is worth staying on site.

 

[BayAreaE]

I haven't stayed there, but I hear the Howard Johnson has a great pool area.

 

[StEpHandMiKe<3Disney]

My DH and I love HOJO at Anaheim. The pool area is great, especially for kids! I would highly recommend it as would many other Dissers.

 

[nannyz]

I've stayed in a lot of the nearby hotels. The best one that is really close is the Desert Inn & Suites. It's an easy walk to DL and the rates are good. And they have a decent free breakfast.

 

[emacat]

Definately the Hojo! The service and rooms are fantastic, and the prices very good.

I briefly thought about trying a different hotel, because they had really inexpensive "suites", but in the end I just wasn't willing to risk anything less than the excellent experiences we have at the Hojo. (On a big plus side, if you call their in-house reservations, I think we at Disboards get a special discount, too.)

 

[Dobie]

When we stay off site, we stay at the Sheraton Anaheim. It's about a mile away, and they have a dedicated shuttle. The rooms are huge, and there is a lovely pool area and landscaped grounds. It is very quiet.

 

[J. Galt]

We are WDW veterans who have done DL the past couple of years. Per info on this board we have stayed at the HOJO both times and really liked it. Just for background info, at WDW we only stay in Deluxe... AKL, Grand Floridian Beach Club Villas. While the HOJO is not really apples to apples comparable to a WDW Deluxe, we have been quite comfortable there. I call it the "poor man's Polynesian". The rooms are spacious and clean. You can get a room overlooking DL park, monorail and fireworks. It is approximately a 10 minute walk to maingate. They have both a traditional pool and an awesome "splash zone" type area with slides and water cannons. It is very inexpensive, considering the relatively nice accomodations. Bonus for our family.... you can easily fit a rollaway bed in the rooms (for a very small charge) and our kids don't have to sleep together! We sleep like rocks there. The staff is very courteous and helpful. Oh... and we usually stay for a week and we still think it is nice even after a whole week! I tell people back here that we stayed at the HOJO and they think we are crazy, but I have to explain that it is the nicest HOJO around.... I think it was built by the same architect who built the Disneyland Hotel.... I think it might be their "premier property". We stayed at, what I think was a Hampton Inn once in Memphis and I was soooo skeptical about it, but my hubby assured my it was their "premier property" and oh my.... it was absolutely luxurious! Not like your average Hampton Inn along the side of the highway. The Anaheim HoJo must be the jewel in the HoJo crown.

The cons I can think of.... if you are used to deluxe type WDW accomodations... there really isn't any "theming" at the HOJO. Its just a motel (although, they do have interior hallways, unlike many motels in the area). You are not surrounded by the magic... you have to leave the magic and walk a few minutes in the "real world" to get to your motel. There isn't a fabulous lobby you can hang out in at night with a cocktail... you'll have to just hang out on your balcony and you can hear the freeway from that balcony. There is no hotel restaurant (although there is a pretty good one next door and a pretty well-stocked gift shop/convenience store onsite). We haven't yet stayed onsite at DLR, but I'm assuming that if those things are important to you, you might want to look more closely into staying at those hotels.

We are hoping to go back to DLR next year (this year it is WDW again!) and we will probably stay at the HOJO again.

 

[Angel Ariel]

DH and I just stayed at the Tropicana Inn -right by the crosswalk to DLR (5 mins from our rooms to the turnstiles). It was a clean, comfy room. They were replacing all of the furniture the day we left, so it will all be new. They were also adding flat screen TVs soon (they hadn't come in yet as of 5/3/10, but they were scheduled to arrive soon).

We had no complaints about the hotel. Service was fine, it wasn't overly loud (though that may be different at a higher season when there are more people. No issues with cleanliness

our room only had a shower stall, no tub. However others have said there are rooms with tubs..you may just need to specify that when you make the reservation. I posted pictures in the hotel thread (you may need to go back a few pages to find that thread).

We were really happy with what we got, esp. for the price. We would stay there again, absolutely.

 

[CamAnd]

Thanks everyone for the recommendations. These boards are always so helpful.

I see there are shout outs for the HOJO. I have to admit, I passed it by on tripadvisor just because of the name. But I will now consider it from the good reviews and children's water area. Plus, it seems like an easy walk. We are very good hikers, even my 2 young ones.

. While the HOJO is not really apples to apples comparable to a WDW Deluxe, we have been quite comfortable there. I call it the "poor man's Polynesian".

>J.Galt, That had me laughing. Last year, we stayed onsite at WDW and chose a Deluxe(Beach Club) over other categories. The themeing, amenities(awesome pool) and location(steps from Epcot) was important to us. But Disney themeing is not a priority to us for the upcoming CA trip since we just returned from a week in FL. But I still want something clean, nice, and fairly close to DisneyLand.

I'll look into the Tropicana too. I like the idea of newly refurbed.

I've been using TripAdvisor and was considering the Residence Inn Maingate. It seems like a lot of space if I book a family suite. Has anyone been to or heard of this property?

 

[femommy]

I will be a lone vote for the Best Western Anaheim Inn. Very clean rooms, comfy beds, great walking distance. Perfect! We loved it. I would stay there again. When we drove by HOJO I thought it was too far away compared to BWAI.