Hilton Properties

[dfarster]

I am trying to pick the "best" Hilton Property near Disneyland. We can stay at Hilton, Doubletree, Hampton Inn, Embassy Suites... I have the Doubletree reserved right now, but normally stay at ES elsewhere. A family of 4 (2 adults, 2 children (6&8). We can stay for 5 or 6 nights for the same number of points. Any suggestions?

 

[PrincessMira]

we stay at the Anaheim Hilton as I travel for business and can usually use points or get us bumped to a Disney view room. We like it a lot because of the Starbucks in the lobby. Only issue is getting to the parks...no shuttle, I believe.

it is a huge hotel because of its location next to the convention center...beware.

 

[Disney Princess]

We are staying at the Hilton in a little over a week. It was the best choice for us this time around, but we really love the ES brand as well. I am completely unaware of the distance to the parks from the various properties. Here are a couple of things I do know.

1) You have to pay to park at the Hilton. If you are driving/renting a car, make sure you factor this in to your budget.

2) ES has the free breakfast/manager's reception. (You probably already knew this one.)

If the distance is relatively the same, I would opt for ES. Having your breakfasts paid for is a nice perk. I also like that each room is a suite. I'm not sure if they have a parking fee or not. I would choose the Hilton/ES over Hampton just because they are a higher quality hotel for an equal # of points. I don't know what to say about Doubletree. Some that I've stayed in are very nice, but I don't know about the Anaheim location. They do serve those delicious cookies at check in.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[dfarster]

I love ES and being able to shut the door if the kids go to be earlier... It looks like this Doubletree doesn't have that in most rooms, but the Homewood Suites does, but it looks to be a little farther away. From what I could tell even the Hilton would be a cab ride... I saw you have to pay for parking at Hilton and DT. Have to check DT and ES on that.

 

[Disney Princess]

I love ES and being able to shut the door if the kids go to be earlier... It looks like this Doubletree doesn't have that in most rooms, but the Homewood Suites does, but it looks to be a little farther away. From what I could tell even the Hilton would be a cab ride... I saw you have to pay for parking at Hilton and DT. Have to check DT and ES on that.

As far as I know, Hilton is walkable. I don't remember the exact times, but others here have said that they walked from Hilton. You can cut through the Timon parking lot (I think that is the one) and take the tram to the front. It is probably a longer walk than other hotels, but definitely doable. I think they also offer ART at this hotel.

Hopefully others will chime in about the distance from the other Hilton branded properties.

 

[fairycat]

I have stayed at the Doubletree before in the past and been there for events as well. Overall it is a very nice property. It costs to park and it is not close to the parks (for walking). I think they had some food for early in the day but nothing really for dinner. I do know the ART stops right in front and there is food nearby.

Overall is you are looking for a nice place to stay I think you are set. If you are looking for somthing close, I would switch to one of the other hotels.

 

[specialks]

We stayed at the Homewood Suites last September and loved it! We are already booked to stay there again. It was just remodeled so it had all new furniture, bedding, and lcd/plasma tvs (appliances were still old). We had a 1 BR suite and it was so great -- my mom stayed on the pullout sofa (that didn't even look like a pullout) and we stayed with our 2 girls in the bedroom (1 in a crib and one in the extra bed). One thing was the bathroom is in the bedroom so my mom would have to come through our room to get to the bathroom.

A few things we loved:
- Full size refridgerator
- Grocery shopping service for free (just pay for the groceries)
- Wonderful FREE deluxe continental breakfast (with PLENTY of room to eat -- we never had trouble finding a table)
- Nice basic pool but very clean and well maintained
- Rooms were nice and we had a "view of the fireworks" -- we could see them but they were definitely a ways away.
- GREAT customer service -- the front desk crew was always friendly, helpful, and courteous.

We drove to DL each day and paid to park. The hilton site tells you they charge for parking but I just called and evidently if you stay 6+ nights they waive the $12 hotel parking charge.

They are on the ART line and I guess they only stop at one or two other hotels so it is an easy way to get to the parks.

There are a couple of restaraunts in the parking lot area (Red Robin is one).

Hope this helps you out.

 

[specialks]

One other note about the Homewood Suites is that there are only 2 elevators (one at each end of the hall) and they seemed to operate slowly sometimes. But it wasn't really a problem, just a minor annoyance.

 

[Padstack]

I have stayed at 3 Hilton properties by DL. Doubletree, Embassy Suites & Hilton Garden Inn.

DT does have suites, but I have yet to be able to reserve one using points. There is a coffee shop attached, but I don't drink coffee so it doesn't make a difference to me. You do get that delicious cookie at check-in, too. $11/day for parking.

If you have the points, I would go for ES, if for anything else you get a great freshly cooked breakfast. There really is no better way to start the day. If you are back in time, you get free drinks. There really is no better way to finish the day. The suite is nice so you can enjoy some peace and quiet while the kids sleep is a bonus too. They just started charging $6/day to park.

Hilton Garden Inn is in the same parking lot area as ES and charges $12 for parking. You do get a continental breakfast which is pretty good. I do not believe that they have suites.

There are a couple of restaurants within this same parking area and just down the street are a few more choices, one of which include Joe's Crab Shack, mmmmmmmmmmm crab.

Of the three, DT is the closest to the parks, but not within walking distance. Either way, you will pay for the parking at the DL parking garage or for ART. Depending on how many people are in your group, it might be cheaper to park at the DL garage ($12/day).

 

[Nina3570]

We have stayed at the ES and will be staying there in our next visit (one week from tomorrow!). We love the hotel because the price is affordable and it has the one bedroom. We will be there for 7 nights and being able to put my 5 year old to sleep and close the door is a must for me. My husband loves the breakfast and the drinks at the end of the day. It is not walkable at all so we take the ART and since the line only serves a couple of hotels I find it fast. Last time we were there our DS was almost 3 years old and when we came back home we asked him what was his favorite ride at DL and he said: "the bus ride" meaning the ART ride to and fro DL every day!

 

[hookem81]

We have stayed at the Embassy Suites - Anaheim South every year for the last 5 years when we have gone to DL. We are booked there again this August. My wife and I have 3 kids and find it to work very well for us. We have often had extended family with us in other rooms as well, and everyone seems to like it. Here are my pros and cons:

Pros
1. The extra room with the closing door is terrific. We can put the kids to bed and watch TV in the other room.
2. The free breakfast is really nice there when you are feeding 5 people. When we are DL, we usually push ourselves VERY hard, so loading up with a big breakfast is very convenient.
3. Nice ambience and energy - the atrium is impressive.
4. The hotel is kept up very well and is clean.
5. Convenient to grocery stores, Target, etc just south of the hotel on Harbor.
6. Affordable relative to DL properties or other suites hotels. I would love to stay on site someday, but I just can't bring myself to pay $400 a night or more when I can get the ES for around $150 a night at the most. ES is not the cheapest hotel, but it can be worth it for the extra space.

Cons
1. You have to use the shuttle service to get to the parks, which can be annoying and stressful. If you study the Anaheim Resort Transit map, there are actually 2 shuttle lines that can work for the ES - one drops you at the hotel right next to ES. That can be a VERY valuable thing to know when you are trying to catch the shuttle home at the end of the day in a crowd. The shuttle service can keep you waiting for a while sometimes, which can be frustrating when everyone is tired.
2. Noise - but this is true of all ES. As long as you are in the back room though, it is pretty quiet.

 

[dfarster]

We are now trying to decide between ES and Homewood Suites... Both sound like they will work for us. If we get our park hoppers from AAA we will get the free parking at DL too I think. I have to call to change from DT tonight...

 

[specialks]

This may be too much work or a bit odd to you but here is an idea. You could call each of those 2 hotels and tell them that you are trying to decide which of the 2 hotels to stay at and you want to know what they think they offer that would make you want to stay there. Then compare the answers and see if anything jumps out to you.

 

[kylieh]

We stayed at Homewood for 11 nights last October, and are planning to again for our next trip. They are across from Target, had some resturants in the car park area, Starbucks next door in the Marriot, perhaps 40 meters from the entrance, great staff, etc.

We ordered groceries from them, including Twinnings Tea Bags, and they went to a separate store to get them, again just charging us for the groceries. Couldn't ask for better.

Breakfast was fine, got busy, but you could take it back to your room. There was a tray in each room for this. We had manager's reception one night, again not a problem.