Fairfield Inn - Comments About Your Recent Stay?

[OrcaPotter]

So, it's looking more likely that my group won't be able to afford a stay on-site this July, so our current reservation at the Fairfield will go unchanged. After searching the boards, reviews and such about the Fairfield are relatively outdated. I know that the hotel has recently renovated their rooms. So! I'd love to read your thoughts about the following:

- How "renovated" were the rooms? I've seen photos of some rooms that show a "Disney" theme, featuring certain franchises. Are these in all of the rooms, or a special category? If not, do regular rooms have any Disney "touches"?

- The pool looks like nothing special. Did you use it at all? Worth a trip mid-day to cool off? Debating if I should bother to pack the suit.

- About how long does it take to walk to the parks? Also, we have a 7 AM reservation for Goofy's Kitchen -- is it pretty far to the DLH?

- Was the staff friendly? Any rude custodians pounding your door at 7 AM and complaining you didn't put the "do not disturb" sign on the knob?

- Did you use the laundry facilities at all? Dirty? Scary? Pretty cool?

- Did you fly in to LAX or Long Beach and what transport did you use to get to the hotel?

I'd really appreciate your thoughts!

 

[cloudconnected1039]

I stayed at the Fairfield Inn for Thanksgiving week 2010 and I was pleased with our stay. We never used the pool, mostly because we never use the pool anywhere , so I can't really comment on that. But the rooms were clean and they accommodated our request for adjoining rooms. Check in took a little longer than I would've liked, but I'm sure my impatience was due to the fact that I couldn't wait to get into the parks!!

I drove to the hotel, but if I did fly in I would've used John Wayne (SNA airport code). It's much closer to DLR than LAX and LGB and easier to manage (with the exception of LGB which is basically three gates and a baggage claim it's so small ). But if you can't fly into SNA I would do LGB because it's convenient and closer to DLR than LAX is.

 

[robinjh7]

I can answer some of this:

Disney themed rooms are not worth the extra $$$ to us. Your milegage may vary. Our family GOES while at DLR. We both open and close the park and go home exhausted. (We live 600+ miles away so it's an event when we go.) We have stayed at the FFI many times. The best thing about the renovations are the new paint and carpeting.

We were upgraded to a Disney room in April. Everything is the same except for the wallpaper border, the fabric across the end of the bed, and the prints on the walls. I found Jack Sparrow staring at me while I was going potty to be a little...er...inhibiting!

(I would post photos of the Pirates room we had, but I don't have enough of a post count yet.)

My kids use the pool. It's a pool. Nothing special, but since we come from the frozen north, they love it. You will have to decide it it's worth it to leave and cool off. Sometimes we do, mostly we don't. (Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiide!)

It takes us about 10-15 minutes to walk to the front gate.

Staff is usually great but we have had housekeeping pounding on our door in the morning. We were never asleep, usually just running late leaving.

 

[Kittyskyfish]

I stayed in the refurbished Disney room on my last trip--February 2011.

- How "renovated" were the rooms? I've seen photos of some rooms that show a "Disney" theme, featuring certain franchises. Are these in all of the rooms, or a special category? If not, do regular rooms have any Disney "touches"?
Completely renovated! New carpet, furniture, mattresses, shower surrounds/curtains, lights, flat panel tv, pretty much everything was brand-new except the fridge. It works just as well as a new one so that's not a big deal. The old room style has a framed Disney character poster. The new style has more Disney touches - I feel bad for not remembering the details b/c we were raring to go out the door. I think it's enough for kids without feeling too much like a kid's room. As two traveling adults, I would choose the themed room again because, even though it costs more per night - it's a really FRESH renovation and it's nice to be in a room that new. Hope that makes sense. The older rooms are a little dated and threadworn, but definitely fine too.

- The pool looks like nothing special. Did you use it at all? Worth a trip mid-day to cool off? Debating if I should bother to pack the suit.
We never use the pool because we never find the time (and pools are NBD to us anyhow). Anyhow, we always walk by it and notice that it's always clean, and though it is small-ish, and I would recommend it to soothe tired legs and hot heads.

- About how long does it take to walk to the parks? Also, we have a 7 AM reservation for Goofy's Kitchen -- is it pretty far to the DLH?
About 6-7 minutes. I never walked to the DLH, so I can't answer that one. Maybe someone else can?

- Was the staff friendly? Any rude custodians pounding your door at 7 AM and complaining you didn't put the "do not disturb" sign on the knob?
Always friendly! I've never had a problem with any FFI employee and I've stayed there quite a few times. No problem with housekeeping, either.

- Did you use the laundry facilities at all? Dirty? Scary? Pretty cool?
Never used the facilities. Sorry! I think there might be pix on tripadvisor.

- Did you fly in to LAX or Long Beach and what transport did you use to get to the hotel?
I've always used SuperShuttle and on my last trip I flew into SNA-John Wayne this past February. For a round-trip: Two adults + 18% tip - QWEST % 15 discount code came to $41.20. SuperShuttle's website has a fare generator so you can find how much your trip will cost - down to the penny.

I just checked my SuperShuttle reservations from LAX to CCI for next month - it's about $23 more for the round trip (same # of travelers). $64.19.
HTH!

 

[Kittyskyfish]

It takes us about 10-15 minutes to walk to the front gate.

This sounds reasonable for a slower pace. I quoted 6-7 minutes for my pace, which is a 3.5 mph stride.

Not sayin' yer slow, robin...just slower!

 

[Kittyskyfish]

Here's some of my FFI pics from a few years ago - 1 King Bed room. The older rooms should generally still look the same. HTH!!

 

[OnTheRoadAgain]

Glad to read they replaced the carpets! We stayed in summer 2006 and our socks were black from the carpet in our room. Other than that I would stay there again if the price/package was acceptable when compared to other higher-rated Good Neighbor hotels within a 10-15 minute walk.

 

[robinjh7]

This sounds reasonable for a slower pace. I quoted 6-7 minutes for my pace, which is a 3.5 mph stride.

Not sayin' yer slow, robin...just slower!

I'm not slow...I just have really short legs!

 

[darph nader]

I'm not slow...I just have really short legs!

Are you related to my wife?

 

[momto2nenas]

We stayed there last May, it was nice enough. Our room looked exactly like the one posted above. They were very accomodating and have a nice lobby.

We asked for a ground floor room closest to the park and we got exactly that, the very end room of the building and it was close to the pool. The pool was a typical motel pool but my DH, DDs, and some local friends enjoyed it.

I got very sick while there and DH called the front desk about the nearest ER and they arranged a taxi for us

We also recieved a free pizza dinner during our stay (not sure if it was b/c of the length of our stay 6 nights) or came with the Costco package. The pizza is Pizza Hut but was very very good!

We've stayed at Castle Inn and Suites, HoJo, Fairfield Inn, and Best Western PPI. Fairfield would be our #2 after HoJo. The walk is much nicer than from the HoJo!

Oh and we had 2 maintenance issues and they were taken care of immediately AND we could step outside our room and see the fireworks.

 

[NewbieMouse]

We've stayed at Castle Inn and Suites, HoJo, Fairfield Inn, and Best Western PPI. Fairfield would be our #2 after HoJo. The walk is much nicer than from the HoJo!

momto2nenas, you said you've stayed at both the BWPPI and FFI. How would you compare the walk between the two? The price I can get for the FFI makes it cheaper for us, but the walk is really important to us (so much so that even though Hojo has ent rates for our stay, I don't think we would choose that). Why would you choose the FFI over the BWPPI?

TIA!

 

[skiingfast]

momto2nenas, you said you've stayed at both the BWPPI and FFI. How would you compare the walk between the two? The price I can get for the FFI makes it cheaper for us, but the walk is really important to us (so much so that even though Hojo has ent rates for our stay, I don't think we would choose that). Why would you choose the FFI over the BWPPI?

TIA!

If the walk is that important, you can't beat the BWPPI because it almost directly on the crosswalk into DLR. However the PPI is just as close as the BWPPI, between the two how close you are is simply a matter of what room you get.

FFI is about 3 minutes further.

 

[momto2nenas]

momto2nenas, you said you've stayed at both the BWPPI and FFI. How would you compare the walk between the two? The price I can get for the FFI makes it cheaper for us, but the walk is really important to us (so much so that even though Hojo has ent rates for our stay, I don't think we would choose that). Why would you choose the FFI over the BWPPI?

TIA!

Fairfield was just nicer and cleaner IMO. BWPPI wasn't dirty, just not as new and the outdoor walkways and stairwells were pretty dingy. A plus to the BWPPI is the free breakfast they offer. It was the typical muffin, donut, juice, apples and oranges but enough to get you going in the AM.

The walk from BWPPI can't be beat, it was literally across the street from the Disneyland entrance. FFI you are back in the parking lot a ways behind a restuarant and a few buildings down from the crosswalk. Not a bad walk, just further away.

 

[NewbieMouse]

Thank you for the replies. I have no patience for the walk after leaving the parks, but the rate is good. I guess I'll mull it over a little. The PVI was on my list as well.

 

[JennyN]

As for the laundry facilities, each floor has 2 washing machines and 2 dryers. They are in a little nook off the external walkway. We have stayed at the Fairfield probably 6 or 7 times and I always do the laundry (its my thing). I much prefer this set up to going to a laundry room. I have never lost anything, I just put the washing on and leave, go back in 35 mins and put it in the dryer and then return 40 or so mins later and get the dry load. The advantage of the machines being on the same floor as your room is that I can send the kids or hubby to get the finished load, its not far to go so they dont whine about it.

 

[kj4ever18]

Hi I was wondering if anyone knows if the standard rooms still have the Disney view or if its only the Disney themed rooms?

 

[OrcaPotter]

Thanks so much for all the feedback, everyone! (For some reason, my email notices aren't reliable.) Looks like, if we don't luck out getting a deal on-site, our stay at FFI will be comfortable

 

[OrcaPotter]

Any thoughts on my transportation question? There will be a total of 3 adults, possibly 4 if our friend arriving earlier decides to wait up for us. Am I right in discovering that a taxi could run us over $100 one way from LAX? How much time would be tacked on to our commute if we used the DL Express bus? Trying to decide the cheapest option.

 

[OrcaPotter]

Bumping - anyone who has used either the bus, shuttle, or a cab to a hotel on Harbor would be able to give a rough estimate?

 

[OnTheRoadAgain]

OrcaPotter, I would ask your question in a new thread... it's buried down here.