Favorite Harbor Hotel excluding pools and why?

[cruisehopeful]

Wondering what the favorite Harbor Hotels are and why. I would never use the pools. I am looking more at room comfort and convenience of anything onsite or next door (food to bring back to room or restaurants/bar, convenience store). Also, I love to sleep. So, anything that makes that easier such as comfortable beds, quiet room, etc.

EDITED TO BE MORE SPECIFIC: The Harbor Hotels that are between Katella and the freeway ramp before Ball Road.

 

[Nugent]

Has anyone stayed (or is staying now) at the Homes2Suites on Manchester Avenue that just opened Tuesday?

 

[Halloweenqueen]

We love Desert Inn. Fantastic pricing, a nice variety of room types, and awesome location. Do not expect a posh place.

 

[StarlitNight05]

If we stay off-site and want really close we do BWPPI. I also do not do public pools, and that's probably one of the big downsides to this property (theirs looks pretty sad). But otherwise it's very clean and the beds are comfy. I'm a light sleeper, so I always request the top floor to avoid any footstep noise from upstairs neighbors.

ETA: If you want something nicer over proximity, I'd recommend Residence Inn or Hyatt House (I haven't stayed at Springhill, but there is one near Hyatt House that seems nice too).

 

[smartlabelprint]

I used to stay at BWPPI all of the time in my 20’s. Not possible in my 30’s. We are looking at the residence inn on Katella or home 2 suites on Manchester (I have points to use) per the above comment. ETA we also considered the Hyatt House. But I really want to cut down street crossings.

None of the motels are quiet. Desert inn (only stayed there once ) BWPPI I stayed 2 years ago without my kids. Nope, nope, nope, no motels ever again.

We love Homewood Suites and often walked back or took the free toy story shuttle closer. Super friendly staff. We were planning to stay there, as usual, (for our cancelled trip last year) with our 4&5 yo and bring super portable car seat/boosters to Uber/Lyft to the park. Then we got a call and are currently fostering to adopt their sibling. Now we need something more walkable for our double stroller.

 

[Becca1007]

Park Vue Inn ... every time. I have small child who loves the bunk bed and it is just SO CLOSE to the entrance. Plus breakfast was included (prepandemic).

 

[vacay77]

Courtyard Theme Park Entrance, hands down. The rooms are large, the beds are extremely comfortable, and it's an easy walk across the street to the theme parks.

 

[Matrixleos]

We chose the Tropicana for 3 reasons only.

1) It's only a 5 minute walk to the Harbor side entrance (pending the traffic light)

2) We're a family of 5 and their 2 queen rooms, includes a couch that folds open to a bed

3) Price was very low compared to the surrounding other hotels. We only plan to sleep in these rooms and not spend too much time in them. Rather take the several hundred dollar differences in hotel prices and book a couple of sit down dining reservations.

 

[wassily]

Hojo, Courtyard and Residence Inn....

Why?
1) Bunk Beds
2) If not bunk beds, separate room vs studio layout.

Kids need to sleep early while adults can sleep later

 

[mgmgbook]

Hojo is our go to place. Bldg 2. It’s quiet and I sleep well there. We tried Desert Inn. Nope. Tons of light and noise got into the room. And my mom was using a scooter. They put her in a room on the second floor next to a stairwell. I was nervous every time she drove it.

 

[MonocularVision]

Would also love to hear from anyone that ends up trying the new Home 2 Suites. We are Hilton folks and I like the price compared to the Courtyard Marriot combined with the included breakfast.

 

[Jackiii]

I was happy at Fairfield Inn by Marriott. the location to the parks was great!

 

[jacandjan]

Our go to is Desert Inn And Suites. Always request a top floor room, Great price, Location and Staff. Beds are okay but honestly could be a bit better (hoping they got upgraded during the closure). Only need a clean quite place to sleep and this fits the bill for us.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

Hojo has been our favorite for many years. We always stay in either building 1 or 2. Building 2 is generally quieter, so that has been our preference when we don't bring our sons. The bunk bed rooms in building 1 were great when they traveled with us though. We find the beds very comfortable, and we have always been pleased by the cleanliness of the rooms and the excellent upkeep of the property in general. They recently renovated the rooms in building 2, and we are looking forward to staying in one of those soon.

 

[kappyfamily]

Hyatt House Anaheim fans here. Stayed a few times as well as the other 2 Hyatt's near DL. Hyatt House is a quick walk, great room options.

 

[Matrixleos]

Would also love to hear from anyone that ends up trying the new Home 2 Suites. We are Hilton folks and I like the price compared to the Courtyard Marriot combined with the included breakfast.

I'm a Hilton person too and I absolutely love Homewood Suites. From their free breakfast and free wine\beer with their dinner offerings on Mondays to Thursday, not to mention they have a full kitchen with a full size fridge. Especially like having the option to have a gas grill in the hotel's courtyard. I'm someone who loves and enjoys grilling and that would also be a nice break from eating out the whole trip.

Although my wife would absolutely kill me if I added an extra 1 mile walk to Homewood Suites after a full 14+ hours in the parks. That's another reason why we're at the Tropicana that is across the street from the Harbor entrance and just a 5 minute walk. Happy Wife, Happy Life! LOL

 

[jodeja]

We found the beds at Park Vue Inn to be very comfy! Our room was at the back of the property and it was quiet enough for us to sleep. They have a good convenience store on property. Good coffee in the lobby. It's very close to the Tropicana Hotel which has The Cove convenience store; I went there for espresso drinks since they had Stumptown Coffee.

 

[pharmama]

In that zone we really like the Tropicana for location and price and the Cove market is great but the Tropicana is not the quietest. There's something about exterior corridors that just make things louder... We've stayed at the Hojo a few times too and generally like that that as well, though did find the freeway facing rooms in Building 1 to be a bit noisy. We often book the kids suites there which are only in that Building and I think may only been on the freeway side.

I had planned to stay at the new Home2Suites (have stayed at these elsewhere and like them-I'm also generally a "Hilton person") next week but DD16 convinced me to try the new Westin instead. That said, the location is very close to the freeway for the Home2... we have stayed at the HI Express next door to it and the freeway can be noisy depending on your room location. I'll admit I also didn't love the walk to the HI Express... it really wasn't that bad but somehow walking down past the Courtyard made it seem far.

The Courtyard is nice and rooms are spacious with a GREAT family layout (two shower areas!) but I just can't get behind the price as it often approaches on property hotels and we almost never use the pool area which is part of what you're paying for.

I guess you can tell we gravitate toward the northern half of Harbor from the crosswalk...Panera and Mimi's are certainly handy there. We used to enjoy Pizza Press at the Carousel (RIP) but haven't been since they moved farther south-I'm sure they're still good.

I've stayed at PVI and Grand Legacy on the south half as well. Both were serviceable but not amazing and were quite noisy-PVI largely because my room was next to a stairwell and housekeeping storage area. There's also Candy Cane. I wanted to like CC as I know others here rave about it but the room seemed very dark and cramped to me, though otherwise everything was fine. The grounds are very nice as was the breakfast. The whole facility is very well cared for. Maybe we just had bad luck- I also did not book one of their deluxe rooms so maybe lesson learned there. The walk is not far but I was with my youngest when she was little that trip and we did take advantage of the shuttle a few times which was nice. I know they are remodeling and still haven't reopened so things may be even better when they do.

Wow... this made me realize just how many different hotels I've stayed at on Harbor just between the freeway and Katella! I guess I can't really claim to have a "go-to".

 

[BrookieCookie77]

In that zone we really like the Tropicana for location and price and the Cove market is great but the Tropicana is not the quietest. There's something about exterior corridors that just make things louder... We've stayed at the Hojo a few times too and generally like that that as well, though did find the freeway facing rooms in Building 1 to be a bit noisy. We often book the kids suites there which are only in that Building and I think may only been on the freeway side.

I had planned to stay at the new Home2Suites (have stayed at these elsewhere and like them-I'm also generally a "Hilton person") next week but DD16 convinced me to try the new Westin instead. That said, the location is very close to the freeway for the Home2... we have stayed at the HI Express next door to it and the freeway can be noisy depending on your room location. I'll admit I also didn't love the walk to the HI Express... it really wasn't that bad but somehow walking down past the Courtyard made it seem far.

The Courtyard is nice and rooms are spacious with a GREAT family layout (two shower areas!) but I just can't get behind the price as it often approaches on property hotels and we almost never use the pool area which is part of what you're paying for.

I guess you can tell we gravitate toward the northern half of Harbor from the crosswalk...Panera and Mimi's are certainly handy there. We used to enjoy Pizza Press at the Carousel (RIP) but haven't been since they moved farther south-I'm sure they're still good.

I've stayed at PVI and Grand Legacy on the south half as well. Both were serviceable but not amazing and were quite noisy-PVI largely because my room was next to a stairwell and housekeeping storage area. There's also Candy Cane. I wanted to like CC as I know others here rave about it but the room seemed very dark and cramped to me, though otherwise everything was fine. The grounds are very nice as was the breakfast. The whole facility is very well cared for. Maybe we just had bad luck- I also did not book one of their deluxe rooms so maybe lesson learned there. The walk is not far but I was with my youngest when she was little that trip and we did take advantage of the shuttle a few times which was nice. I know they are remodeling and still haven't reopened so things may be even better when they do.

Wow... this made me realize just how many different hotels I've stayed at on Harbor just between the freeway and Katella! I guess I can't really claim to have a "go-to".

Oh how I miss the Carousel!!!!

 

[Piglet99645]

We love Desert Inn. Fantastic pricing, a nice variety of room types, and awesome location. Do not expect a posh place.

Agreed. Cheap. Across the street. Free breakfast. Convenient lockers so you don't have to check your luggage if you get in early or leave late - just lock it up on your own. Has always been clean. Negatives are customer service (and indoor pool, yuck). They have never let us check in even 30 minutes early, claiming no rooms are ready. Not friendly. And their cancellation policy is misleading, so make sure to cancel 3 or 4 days in advance to be safe.

If we stay off-site and want really close we do BWPPI. I also do not do public pools, and that's probably one of the big downsides to this property (theirs looks pretty sad). But otherwise it's very clean and the beds are comfy. I'm a light sleeper, so I always request the top floor to avoid any footstep noise from upstairs neighbors.

Stayed here once and liked it fine, but it's never available when I look.

The folks at Del Sol are super-nice but I found the rooms unacceptable in terms of appearance and cleanliness.

Grand Legacy and The Anaheim Hotel are both fine if you want to be close and can't find anything else. Grand Legacy was super clean but not great customer service and they put us in the building all the way in the back (which was quiet, but seemed so far at the end of the day). Anaheim Hotel was dated but worth the price at the time, which was cheap. Also farther than I wanted to walk at the end of the day.

Want to try Park Vue and Tropicana. And Candy Cane Inn.