Help me pick a good neighbor hotel Please

[jhryb]

My family plans to visit the parks next summer for 2 days. We will need to spend 3 nights in one of the hotels because we will be arriving late in the evening. I really do not want the high price tag of the resort properties because we will not have time to use the facilities. We want to spend as much time as possible at the parks. I really want to pick the best property in terms of cleanliness and proximity to the parks. We will not have a car and I would prefer to walk if possible because we do not want to spend time waiting for shuttles if we do not have too. At first I was looking at the Sheraton, but now I think that it looks a little far. Could you please recommend a hotel? Thanks!

 

[abby]

Off site we love HOJO's. Great pool, easy walk, good affordable food around.

 

[Amy&Dan]

I really like the Tropicana. Its extremely close (second one in from the crosswalk), has a nice pool area and a free breakfast. The room was super clean and the staff very friendly and helpful. It took us less than five minutes from our room to the turnstiles. It has some nice touches and again, the fabulous location, recent refurb to all their rooms and the free breakfast made it a real winner for our family. I have seen pretty much great reviews of the Tropicana here on Disboards lately. Of the four offsite motels I have had stayed at, this one was our personal favorite due to the location, staff, pricing and free breakfast (basic but free). I doubt I'll stay anywhere else again, this one just fit our bill the best.

I also do like the Howard Johnson's, its a bit further but still very walkable (closer than the Sheraton). It has some lovely grounds, less of a motel feel and two very nice pool areas. I do prefer the location of the Tropicana but love this property as well. Its also next door to Mimi's which is a wonderful restaurant. The Hojo doens't have a free breakfast but has a small store that sells things like milk and cereal for a very reasonable cost. The rooms are nice sized and some have greata views of Disneyland. If you pick this one, make sure you specify that you want a non freeway side room, some of them are on the side that faces the I-5 and can be very noisy.

Good luck, staying offsite will not diminish the fun and magic of your trip at all, and as you say, if you won't use the amenities of the onsite properties, why pay for it! Good luck with your planning!

 

[Itinkso]

We have stayed at Camelot Inn, Tropicana, Dessert Inn, Fairfield and Anaheim Plaza. Our top 2 choices are Camelot Inn and Tropicana but all of these properties are clean and right on Harbor near the crosswalk to DLR!

 

[JenDisneylandlver]

I second the Tropicana. We stayed there in June and was quite happy with everything. Very close to the parks, clean rooms, nice pool and hot tub. Also the free breakfast in the morning was a great plus for us! We plan on staying there on our next trip again.

 

[crasher11]

Third vote for Tropicana Inn... for all the reasons listed above. We had a great time there each time we have stayed there. Will stay there on our next trip for sure. We loved it.

 

[pixleyyy]

Another HoJo vote here. We walked each day and it was fairly close. We really liked the property and rooms too. We did pay a bit extra for the DLR view room and could watch the fireworks at night from our balcony.

 

[Dukland]

WE like the Tropicana, too. We've stayed there twice, and I'm really hoping they can accomodate our family next time we go, as we are now a family of 5

 

[bumbershoot]

Just in case you haven't seen this helpful map: http://www.geocities.com/ashpsyche/DisneylandLinkMap.html

We stayed at HoJos and liked it (more than we liked Paradise Pier, when taking everything into account), but we especially liked it because we have the Entertainment coupon book, and were able to book it at the very low Anaheim-HoJo-Entertainment-book rate.

 

[Grim_Grinning_Girl]

Hi, we try to save as much money as possible but at the same time try to stay as close as possible. For the past few Disneyland trips we have been staying at the Alpine Inn. It's simple, small, plain, but clean and it's literally next door to Disneyland. In fact I think the Alpine Inn's 'backyard' would be considered Disneyland. We leave our car and walk. My dad swears he counted 200 steps from the Inn to the south side Disney entrance (where the Anaheim Convention center is - think that's what it's called). This entrance has a tram that will take you to the gates.

This Inn usually has coupons. By the way, if I'm not mistaken there is a Sheraton that's across the street from Disneyland, over on the same south side entrance. I think there's 2 in the area but we did notice that one of them was a lot closer.

If you haven't already, I would look up any hotels of interest with Google Earth. You'll have an aerial view of Disneyland and the hotels in the area.

 

[jhryb]

Wow - thank you for all of your help. I will look at the hotels that you mentioned. Our flights are already booked and our family of 4 will be arriving at LAX around 9 pm. Does anyone have a recommendations on the best way to get to these hotel? Do most of them have shuttle Vans from the Airport? OR are we best to take a taxi? We will have lots of luggage because even though we are only spending 3 nights at Disney Land, or trip is almost 3 weeks in total. We need a vehicle that will hold all of our stuff.

 

[kiwitravel]

My vote goes to Carousel Inn, Tropicanna or BWPPI. For transport we have always used the Disneyland Express from LAX. It is a bit of a hike for a taxi, and none of the hotels operate their own shuttle. The DL express is all painted up with pictures of DL and leaves every 30 mins in peak times from the green zone, it is a full sized bus so can take your luggage no problem.

 

[Emmo]

We recently stayed at the Radisosn maingate on Harbor and really liked it. It was a short walk to the park, the rooms were clean and staff were friendly. They also have an ATR stop near incase you get tired!

We stayed at the Sheraton Anaheim last year but it was a bit expensive for us this year and I don't think it is really walkable, but a really beautiful hotel!!