Fairfield Inn vs HOJO

[2littledivas]

Hi, I'm new in posting, but have been reading the disboards for a good month now. I am so happy to have found this really awesome resource!

My family and I will be at Disneyland in October. We wanted to stay at HOJO, but when I tried to make reservations a couple of months ago they were booked, so I made reservations at the Fairfield Inn. But, I've been faithfully checking HOJO availability everyday and now have 3 of the 4 rooms that I need reserved! 1 more to go...hoping for a cancellation! Does anyone have a strong opinion regarding these two properties? We have 2 daughters, 7 & 4 and wanted to stay at HOJO b/c of the pirate waterpark. But we are traveling with extended family that do not have kids and am wondering if the accomodations are comparable between the two properties? Our extended family doesn't care about the waterpark and would probably appreciate the Fairfield more if it seems better quality. Any comments would be greatly appreciated!

 

[MyMonkies]

No experience with the Fairfield but we stayed at HOJO in May & were very happy. We do have kids & really liked the waterpark. The cool thing is that the spa is in the same area so the adults can hang out in there while the kids can play & you can still watch them Plus, the fireworks are visible from there too.

Do you have any time figured in the trip that you will actually be able to use the waterpark area? When we stayed, we had a couple of down days & got use of it. But truthfully, the days we went to the park-we didn't go at all.

 

[2littledivas]

No experience with the Fairfield but we stayed at HOJO in May & were very happy. We do have kids & really liked the waterpark. The cool thing is that the spa is in the same area so the adults can hang out in there while the kids can play & you can still watch them Plus, the fireworks are visible from there too.

Do you have any time figured in the trip that you will actually be able to use the waterpark area? When we stayed, we had a couple of down days & got use of it. But truthfully, the days we went to the park-we didn't go at all.

Thanks for your thoughts. We will have 4day park hopper passes, so I anticipate coming back to the hotel for a mid-day break at least on some of the days. I know my girls will flip out over the waterpark, but of course that's certainly not the purpose of our trip!

 

[teatime]

Hojo if you can get the entertainment rate, fairfield if you can not!! Fairfield is a bit closer and has a nice pool ,and the rooms are so nice looking!!

 

[mommy2allyandaveri]

HOJO 100%. The waterpark alone is worth it IMO. We have stayed at both and were much happier with HOJO.

 

[avalon451]

They're right across Manchester from each other, so the difference in distance is negligible. What I loved about HoJo was the comfortable beds and large, clean rooms. Also, HoJo has inside corridors rather than outside ones like Fairfield-- some people don't care, but I prefer the inside ones. They also have free parking and free internet.

 

[MyMonkies]

My kids are 10, 8 & 2-for them the water park was a big deal.

Also, if you're going with adults without kids-the water may be the perfect way to let them just run.....

 

[LuLusApple]

We have stayed at HoJos, Fairfield and a few other off-site hotels. I prefer HoJos by far. We have stayed there more than a couple times this year already and have never been dissapointed.
The rooms are clean quiet and have new beds and coffee makers
recently we stayed in building 2 and simply loved it.
When we came back after the day at DL the maid had cleaned the room but she also had taken DGDs toys and propped them on the bed with her balloon in the middle our beds were turned down too! Never had this at HoJo before, and I certainly don't expect it, but it was something a little extra special

 

[2littledivas]

Thank you for all the comments! I'm totaly sold on HOJO now - if I can just get that 4th room reserved, life will be good!

 

[Husker Mickey]

If you look at my siggie, you can tell we have stayed at FFI several times and have enjoyed it every time. If HOJO's doesn't work out, know that you will have a nice stay at FFI. With that said, we are trying HOJO's this October and am looking forward to the experience.

 

[jham]

We have stayed at the Fairfield many times and have always been happy. I got a better rate at the Hojo for our October trip and am looking forward to trying it. I'm sure my kids will love the pool but they are happy with ANY pool. The Fairfield rooms are decent sized and it is closer than the Hojo. Maybe not a lot but at the end of a long day with 4 tired kids that extra walk seems a lot longer. One thing about the Fairfield, request to not have your room right by the elevators. The elevator noise is my only complaint there.

 

[50sjayne]

I will also add you cannot take the shortcut from Fairfield because there is a sizable fence that blocks jaywalking. There is an intersection right at the corner of HOJO's that takes you to the Disneyland side of Harbor which is a faster route with no crowds.

 

[KCmike]

We've stayed at both and like Fairfield Inn better. Yes it is closer, like that they have the pizza hut express inside, and the proximity of McDonalds for a quick breakfast you can run back to the room for the kids in the morning. There are alot of people the LOVE Hojo on these boards but I believe that its a wash. If you can't get the cheap deal at HOJO go to the Fairfield. Oh yeah one more thing don't get stuck in the building facing the highway as some complain of the noise there.

 

[labattblue]

...and the proximity of McDonalds for a quick breakfast you can run back to the room for the kids in the morning.

...and if you don't mind being a little agile in the morning, there are a couple of breaks in the hedges between FFI and McD's that allows for a quicker walk between the two.


PS As I mentioned in my trip report, if you are heading to McD's, grab a coupon for 10% off in the FFI lobby where they have the rack of attraction brochures.

 

[labattblue]

They also have free parking and free internet.

Not sure how this is a "pro" for Hojo as FFI offers the same.

 

[2littledivas]

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions, everyone! I think what I've gleaned from all of this is that we will probably be happy at either hotel...

I did notice the rooms that have become available at HOJO that I have reserved are on the highway side. Are those terribly noisy?

 

[rmom]

Our extended family doesn't care about the waterpark and would probably appreciate the Fairfield more if it seems better quality. Any comments would be greatly appreciated!

I don't know about the distance between the two hotels or who your "extended family" are but have you thought about your family staying at HOJOs and the rest without kids staying at the Fairfield.

We ended up with "extended family" on one of our trips to DL - we made reservations, they found out and invited themselves (did this twice to us without telling us). They could not find out what hotel we were at and had to book at a different one. While we love them dearly, it was a nice break to have some distance between us and gave up a little more time for our own schedual. We planned for a few meals outside the park and set times to meet. It was nice not have to go in a group of 12 to every meal or wait for everyone to get done so we could eat breakfast, etc.

Just a thought.

Have a great trip!

 

[labattblue]

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions, everyone! I think what I've gleaned from all of this is that we will probably be happy at either hotel...

I did notice the rooms that have become available at HOJO that I have reserved are on the highway side. Are those terribly noisy?

We just stayed at the FFI on the side facing Hojo's and could hear the highway traffic at night(not loudly, but you could hear it). I can't imagine how much louder it would be at Hojo, where the rooms are much, much closer to I-5.

 

[DisneySuiteFreak]

We loved hojos and have stayed there many times. We just stayed at FFI and we all really loved this hotel! It's about 500ft closer to DLR than Hojos and that saves a lot of walking at the end of the day. They have room service menus, they have an on site Pizza Hut, they have Millies in their parking lot, McD's next door and Mimi's a couple doors down. Their beds are sooooo comfortable, we loved that they had a real desk and free wireless internet access! It sure beats sitting on the bed at Hojos trying to connect to the wire.
Speaking of which, I really dislike the new design of their rooms at hojos. They got rid of the desk, and armoire (which held the TV high up and was right in the middle of the room), and added in a long set of drawers and a table w/ 2 chairs. There is a chair in the middle of the drawers that looks like a desk, but no internet access there. (Still can't figure out why they did that? What's the point? The lighting is not good for applying make-up so what's it for??? Bad design.) And now their TVs are so low to the ground it's hard to see and it's on the other side of the room. So one bed has a decent view of it and the other bed sucks wind.
Thumbs up for FFI all the way. Hojos is only worth it if you can get the Ent rate. Otherwise, FFI hands down. And yes, FFI has free parking and lots of it. They also have lots of helpful security people and front desk personnel.

 

[2littledivas]

Wow - thanks for all the input everyone! I have realized that the 3rooms I have reserved @ HOJO are on the highway side so might be noisy from all the info I've read....and we were not able to get the ENT rates for our dates. I'm thinking we will cut our losses and stay with the FFI for this trip. There's always next time to try HOJO's!