DLH - is it really that bad?

[mm126]

Ok...we have reservations for July. I have been reading reviews on this hotel and they are not so good. The real reason we are staying at DLH rather than GCH is that my kids think the pool looks better. Please share your recent experience at the DLH...good and bad!

Thank you.

 

[karibritt01]

That's the hotel I am leaning towards, too. I would love to hear opinions!

 

[Mom of three]

We stayed there in October. It was nice, but I don't think I would be staying there again. Nothing extraordinary in my opinion.

We just went about 2 months ago and stayed at HOJOs. I was more impressed with that to be quite honest. In my opinion, the walk was about the same as the DLH, rooms were just as nice and the pool area was wayyyy cooler.

I dont regret staying at the DLH and have nothing negative to say, just not as impressed as I thought I would be. Too expensive, but at least I can say I tried it.

 

[pumba526]

We just got back from a 5 night stay at DLH. We have always stayed at the Candy Cane Inn but with the Buy 3, Get 5 promo, we decided to splurge and pay extra to stay at DLH. Certainly, it's a nice hotel, but it's nothing spectacular. It was nice being so close to the monorail and DTD. We went to a movie one night at 10pm and it only took 2 minutes to walk from the theater to the hotel...I wouldn't have done a movie if we had stayed at CCI. Our room was nice and the service was good. We spent a few afternoons by the pool and enjoyed that very much. Would I do it again? Probably. If I could afford the extra money at the time.

 

[teatime]

HAving stayed there a few night 2 years ago I felt the furniture was old looking and so out of date, I also thought for the price I would rather be out side the gate. like one said, the hojo is so nice and the pool erea is great for kids. The fairfield has a nice big pool and rooms are also very nice.
To me the Disneyland hotel has gone down hill. I even liked the paradise pier soooooo much better.

 

[SilentFeline]

I must disagree with the more negative posts of the DLH, although my opinion may be a bit biased, as I stayed there with my bf on our very first vacation alone together. We stayed from May 25-30 and the only complaints that I have of our standard hotel room are the absence of a microwave and the fact that there was only one chair in our room. We had to eat on one of the beds. The refrigerator was the same size as most other hotels, and I was very pleased with the service given by room service and the quality of food. It was also really nice being so close to monorail and some of the better DTD restaurants (ESPN Zone). We had a pretty nice view in the Magic Tower. We could see the pool on the left and a little coffee shop on the right, but the noise never bothered us because it was drowned out by the a/c. We never used the pool, but I'm sure your kids will love it. It's very Disney-themed. Plus, I must mention that the grounds are simply gorgeous if you take the time to walk them.

Oh, and one more thing that I have to add is that the pillows were the most comfortable pillows that I have ever slept on! I am very picky about pillows because I get headaches very easily from bad pillows. I even wrote down the name of the pillows so that we can buy some at home! Although it may seem strange, I had to add that because that little detail made our stay a lot more pleasurable.

My bf and I will definitely be staying there on our next trip. I guess you could say that the DLH will always hold a special place in our hearts.

 

[amyamya]

My take on the DLH isn't that it's BAD but that it is OLD. We stayed there last in '05 and it was OK. Like everyone said, nothing spectacular. It has its perks, like bigger, brighter rooms, nice grounds to walk around, proximity to monorail and DTD. We used to always stay there when the hotel was in it's heyday the '80s and then it was truly awesome. Tons of shops, restaurants and the monorail connected to the hotel. I like DTD and think change is good but do miss the old vibe when the DLH was the latest and greatest. We last stayed at the GCH and I liked it but am seriously considering DLH for our next trip. I didn't think the cost matched the value at GCH. Our room was a mess, broken items, ripped linens, dirty,etc. We did love the pool area and my kids said swimming and sliding was their favorite part of the whole trip!

If you stay at the DLH expect an older hotel, with sometimes noisy rooms and elevators, showing some wear and tear. They are planning to refurb the rooms and that should help. It needs updating terribly but at the right price I would stay there in a heartbeat...

 

[Sherry E]

Ok...we have reservations for July. I have been reading reviews on this hotel and they are not so good. The real reason we are staying at DLH rather than GCH is that my kids think the pool looks better. Please share your recent experience at the DLH...good and bad!

Thank you.

DLH is a beloved hotel among many DIS-ers here because it has the most Disney magic to it of the three. There have been some reports here and there that is getting a little run down and showing its age, but its grounds are beautiful and it is the original Disney hotel!

Have you read this recent thread from the DIS?: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2196765
There is all kinds of info on the DLH (and in fact, all three DLR hotels) in this thread, and Bumbershoot provides photos of the pool area. Check out the thread if you have not already seen it.

Bumbershoot has a great Trip Report over in the Disneyland Trip Reports section of the board involving her very recent stay at the DLH (she normally stays offsite or at the PPH). Bumbershoot has a lot of pictures in her report. Take a look at it: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2159388.

I think Leshaface's Trip Report (still in progress) also involves a recent DLH stay. So there is no shortage of info or photos and opinions!!

 

[Sherry E]

My take on the DLH isn't that it's BAD but that it is OLD. We stayed there last in '05 and it was OK. Like everyone said, nothing spectacular. It has its perks, like bigger, brighter rooms, nice grounds to walk around, proximity to monorail and DTD. We used to always stay there when the hotel was in it's heyday the '80s and then it was truly awesome. Tons of shops, restaurants and the monorail connected to the hotel. I like DTD and think change is good but do miss the old vibe when the DLH was the latest and greatest. We last stayed at the GCH and I liked it but am seriously considering DLH for our next trip. I didn't think the cost matched the value at GCH. Our room was a mess, broken items, ripped linens, dirty,etc. We did love the pool area and my kids said swimming and sliding was their favorite part of the whole trip!

If you stay at the DLH expect an older hotel, with sometimes noisy rooms and elevators, showing some wear and tear. They are planning to refurb the rooms and that should help. It needs updating terribly but at the right price I would stay there in a heartbeat...

Oh, how I agree with you! I was there during that '80s heyday as well, and I MISS all of those restaurants (especially the Monorail Cafe - such GREAT food) and shops that were basically hacked off to make room for DTD and to rearrange parking. I miss the old pedal boats and the old marina. I miss the toy shop, the sporting goods shop and the old little gallery they had, along with the crystal shop. I miss Sgt. Preston's Yukon Saloon/Neon Cactus and the old Pavilion Lounge. I miss the old location of Goofy's Kitchen. I miss Cafe Villa Verde (which turned into Stromboli's). I miss Mazie's. I miss the old Candy Cane Lane set-up they did during the holidays. There was so much more there in terms of eating and shopping. It was a real resort hotel at one time. Ever since all that was removed, I have to admit - I still go through the grounds of the DLH because I have to eat at Goofy's every trip, but I have not had the same urge to stay there as I used to, and I am content at PPH (or GCH if I can afford it). However, when I look at pictures of the DLH and see the cute Disney details around the property, I am almost tempted to stay there again, just for nostalgic purposes.

 

[godalejunior]

We love DLH and have stayed there three times now. We have stayed at the PP once and while it was fine, we noticed it seemed like a longer walk and did not have as much of the Disney feel as DLH. We stayed at GC for our Jan trip this year as DLH's pool was closed during our dates. DS (8) actually liked the pool better at GC as well as the hotel overall. If they are offering decent rates we will go with GC but DLH is a close second for us.

 

[fairycat]

I am probably in the minority but having stayed for the first times in these hotels DLH Nov. 08 and GCH May 09, I actually liked DLH more. If I could make an excuse to stay at DLH again I will (being semi-local makes it REALLY hard to splurge). While I so loved the details, extras and location of GCH I didn't think it was worth all the money.

I loved the Disney touches, and our rooms over the waterfall were so romantic! I loved listening to the water and was bummed they turned it off at night since I wanted to sleep to it (though I am sure many others would disagree ). I loved both views though the balcony was better at GCH.

I have not stayed at Hojo's and unless I get a great deal I doubt I ever will (if I am not splurging on one of the Disney hotel's I probably will go with the cheapest thing I get on Priceline). For me it's about the little extra touches.

I also wanted to add in regards to age I though the Polynesian looked way more dated and seemed more dated then DLH and some of that was after they did some remodeling. I think that over all the DLH was very pretty and fun! Though I agree I wish they brought some of the old time stuff back!

 

[Grim_Grinning_Girl]

I've only stayed there once, in December of 2008. Wasn't very impressed, have no desire to stay there again - unless for free. Really nothing fancy for the price we paid. Was very cold when we went, and our room heater was not working properly! Would take hours to turn on, if it turned on at all. TV was missing its remote, the previous guest had left it on but on a darken screen mode so it looked like it was off. The power button on the TV was smashed in so no way to turn it off, had to request a new remote.

We decided to put up with the heat issue because we had way too much stuff with us and were dreading lugging things to a different room. I'm sure they would have addressed our heater issue had we complained, but I've been quite satisfied with off-site places so I probably wouldn't spend to stay on-site again, unless we found a very good deal.

 

[Judy from Boise]

personally I think DLH is a poor value for the money, but that doesen't mean it is bad per se.....just that you aren't getting the normal buying power out of your dollars.

In fact I am wierd and think Concierge is actually a better value even though it is more expensive.

 

[JenDisneylandlver]

We love the DLH. Very comfortable, love the theming, and the Peter Pan pool. We always stay there if we can swing it over any offsite hotel.

 

[alvernon90]

The pool is pretty but it is not awesome like Stormalong Bay or anything like that. Given that people speak so highly of the HoJo pool, that might be a better bet. DLH must have been great back when there was transportation directly between the park and the hotel, but if you are going to walk that far you may as well get a similar offsite room for half the price.

 

[JenDisneylandlver]

HoJo just put in a water area for the kids (which does look neat), but that isn't a pool. The other pool they have doesn't have any theming. Hands down between the two, I'd pick DLH, no question. You can still take the monorail in to the park from real close to the hotel. But if I have to walk I enjoy the view of DTD then I do Harbor. If I'm staying offsite, pick one that includes as very little walking as possible though.

 

[VallCopen]

We go to Disneyland 1-2 times a year and have stayed at all 3 of Disney's hotels. DLH is our least favorite, although it is not far from DTD it actually seems a bit further from the park than the Pier, I also thought the rooms seemed a bit older at DLH. They do have a great Disney theme though. The Pier is the cheapest and when on a budget we always choose this one, the rooms are the largest of the 3 hotels (beach theme) and you can get a great view of the park too, although the pool is not much. We stayed at the Grand last month, which is why we decided to buy into VGC, and really enjoyed it. Being so close to park, and DTD is was awesome, the pools (2) are both great and the one with the slide was very warm. Although the rooms are smaller, like DLH, they seemed very cozy and overall we had a great stay. Good Luck and have fun whatever you choose.

 

[Judy from Boise]

we all remember that the monorail station, and the hotel wings themselves have not moved.....correct

 

[jerseygal]

Headed out to GCH this summer! We are using our Developer Points!
Can't wait! Feel its a "splurge", but hey, the Developer Points were freebies, so we decided to splurge and do GCH instead of DLH!

Shame that DLH sounds like it is in need of major repair!

Surprised to hear this, because at WDW properties like BC Resort, Polynesian are being refurbished...

Why would Disneyland neglect such properties when in my opinion if they were refurbished there would be more revenue generated in the long run ????????????????????????

Sad to hear folks are dissapointed, when they are paying decent rates to stay at DLR!!!!!!!!!!

 

[wdhinn89]

My take on the DLH isn't that it's BAD but that it is OLD. We stayed there last in '05 and it was OK. Like everyone said, nothing spectacular. It has its perks, like bigger, brighter rooms, nice grounds to walk around, proximity to monorail and DTD. We used to always stay there when the hotel was in it's heyday the '80s and then it was truly awesome. Tons of shops, restaurants and the monorail connected to the hotel. I like DTD and think change is good but do miss the old vibe when the DLH was the latest and greatest. We last stayed at the GCH and I liked it but am seriously considering DLH for our next trip. I didn't think the cost matched the value at GCH. Our room was a mess, broken items, ripped linens, dirty,etc. We did love the pool area and my kids said swimming and sliding was their favorite part of the whole trip!

If you stay at the DLH expect an older hotel, with sometimes noisy rooms and elevators, showing some wear and tear. They are planning to refurb the rooms and that should help. It needs updating terribly but at the right price I would stay there in a heartbeat...

Are you saying that the Grand Californian had broken items, ripped linens and was dirty?

I have heard that people did not think it was worth the price or it was to expensive or not Disney themed enough but never that it was worn and dirty. You would be the first.