Hojo rooms

[Goseethemouse]

Could anyone tell me a bit more about the different Hojo room categories? I am especially looking for personal experience (did you like it/why yes or not). Specifically, how are the rooms with a view of Disney? Can you see the fireworks? Are they worth paying more for?

Thanks!

 

[cookwjr32]

Hey Gossee!

We stayed there 2 years ago and we stayed on the backside of the Hotel and we could see the Fireworks but you had to go outside and watch them from the Water Park area or in the Hot Tub, It was awesome, Rooms were nice but the Walk is a horrible, They say 8 blocks but I would recommend something like the Best Western where it's right across the street or even staying on Property, Good Luck!!!!

 

[SeattleTink]

I have stayed at HoJo's twice. Once in a 2 queen bed overlooking the garden pool, and once staying in a 2 queen bed in Building 1 on the Freeway side.

HoJos's is a nicer hotel on Harbor. Their beds and rooms are comfy, clean and for the most part quiet. We did stay on the Freeway side of building 1 and the noise of I-5 was not noticable to us at all.

Their water play area for kids is great. If you have young kids, they will love it.

I would not say the walk is "horrible"....it takes about 10 minutes (slower pace) to walk from HoJo's to the entrance of DLR.

We just stayed at the Best Western Park Place Inn which is right across the street, and it takes 5 minutes to get to the entrance. It is only a 5 minute difference. I will say that at the end of the day, when you have walked all day or stood on your feet that extra 5 minutes feels like an eternity...but really it isn't that much farther. Having stayed at the Disneyland Hotel and Grand Californian, they aren't that much closer. Of course the Grand is super close to DCA, but to walk to the gates is about a 5 minute walk. The good news is that HoJo's and the motels on Harbor are about the 1/3 of the cost of the DLR Hotels.

I personally like HoJo's. I also like the Farfield, Ramada Maingate, Carousel and Best Western Park Place Inn. I would stay at any of these again and mostly make my decision on where to stay based on who has the best price.

Good luck deciding.

 

[eschie]

We just got back from the HoJo (last night). Very nice hotel. We stayed in Building 2. We could hear the freeway a bit, but it did not bother us as we slept with the fan on and were exhausted at the end of our park days! The beds/pillows were very nice and rooms very clean and updated. Great staff and not that long of walk. Our 2nd time staying there and I would stay there again.

 

[cookwjr32]

Hey SeattleTink - That Walk is quite long, I would rather stay at the BW and walk across the street than stay at the PP and be on Property and to be able to catch the bus in front of the HoJo is a joke, They don't know a schedule of when it's going to be there you could be wait for 20 - 30 mins which you should able to know when it will be there and so you have no wait....

 

[CaliTransplant]

I stayed a little more then a year ago. We booked Disneyland view for our honeymoon. We had a view of the the monorail and Tomorrowland. We could clearly watch the fireworks from our balcony. Our room was on the 4th or 5th floor. I don't remember now.

We didn't find any problem with the walk. It took us maybe 8 minutes, if that. It kind of reminded us of walking from Animal Kingdom's bus drop off area to the Tree of Life, but it was flatter.

 

[kirstie101]

We have only stayed one time and it was in a Premium room with Disneyland view and 2 queen beds. Our room had an excellent view of the park and I did enjoy it very much. I wish we had more time to spend in the room to enjoy the view and watch the fireworks, but it was just a short trip for us.
We did hear the highway from our room but it didn't really bother us. It was more like white noise. It was December so DD did not get to use the pool but she was very interested in it! We have reservations for April for a stardard 2 Dbl room. For us only being there a couple nights, with no time to enjoy the view, we dont think its worth it for us to pay more for the premium room. But who knows what we'll think after staying in the standard room. We shall see.

We have stayed at BWPPI and DI&S and personally I didn't think the walk from Hojo was really that bad. It was 8 minutes total for us with 2 kids in strollers. Be walked on the Disneyland side of the road and I know this saved a little time not having to deal with the driveways and such.

 

[Goseethemouse]

Thank you very much to everyone. I think we have pretty much decided on splitting our stay and spending two nights at Hojo and two nights at DLH. I am not too concerned about the walk - we won't go into the parks our first day as we won't arrive until afternoon and so it really is only one night. I think the kids will enjoy the water play area.

I guess what I am most uncertain about is whether it would be worth it to get the premium room with Disney view. It does sound like it would allow us to see the fireworks fairly well. As I said above, we won't go into a park the first night but just walk around Downtown Disney so having a view of the fireworks might be nice. Any thoughts on this?

 

[3Minnies1Mickey]

Hey SeattleTink - That Walk is quite long, I would rather stay at the BW and walk across the street than stay at the PP and be on Property and to be able to catch the bus in front of the HoJo is a joke, They don't know a schedule of when it's going to be there you could be wait for 20 - 30 mins which you should able to know when it will be there and so you have no wait....

There typically isn't a strict schedule for ART. It makes the rounds. It sounds like you missed barely missed the previous bus if your wait was that long.

The walk is about 8 minutes with 4 kids in tow.....not long at all in my opinion, their walk to school is longer.

 

[pixiewings71]

It takes us 8 minutes, we walk on the side opposite of the hotels so we don't have as much foot traffic. We stayed in a Disney view room and it was nice, but it didn't blow our socks off so all subsequent trips we spent in the Pavilion buildings. NO view there but the rooms are nice, they are cheaper and smaller but they worked great for our family of 4. The HoJo is one of our favorite places to stay, especially with the Retro Rate!

 

[Kittyskyfish]

We just came back from the HOJO and stayed in a wheelchair accessible king room on the 1st floor (building 3 - near the splash park). This was our second stay; the first was about 2 years ago and we had a regular king room.

I much prefer the regular king room b/c the accessible bathroom has extremely limited counter space and the shower/tub combo has tiny ledges, making it difficult to find room for travel bottles. Both rooms have comfortable beds, though I find them a bit too soft since I'm a stomach sleeper - there was too much give to the mattress and it flexes my lower back too much. Its fine for side and back sleeping. Pillows were "fair". Great towels and linens! Old-style boxy TVs and the one we just watched hummed a bit (Fairfield has the large flat-panel TVs). Keurig coffee makers instead of drip machines, which really is six/half dozen for anyone who loves good coffee...lol. Wall unit a/c's - which make a good white noise screen.

I found their employees to be great on this trip. On our first night, we had a family check in right above us and they were so loud with banging and thumping on the floor I thought there was a basketball game going on! About 9:00 p.m. we called the front desk to complain and they sent someone out to listen but that person didn't hear anything. So they called us back (which is nice) and we asked the employee to talk to them personally. So they went back and found out the family was letting their small children jump on the bed and land on floor!!! For reals!!! [ Some people need to go back to their caves... ] We were thankful they didn't make anymore noise and happy the hotel staff were very quick about helping us out.

You have Mimi's Cafe and McDonalds nearby if you need food or a big 'ol muffin for breakfast!

cookwjr32 - "horrible" is a valid experience for you but it's not an objective fact for everyone. It's okay for others to have differing opinions on what we think the walk is like because we all experience it differently. DH and I share the same walking experience as SeattleTink and found the extra 5 minutes of walking from the crosswalk to be very doable. It's all up to each person's physical abilities.

 

[daannzzz]

I have stayed numerous times at HoJo Anaheim. I have been in the tower on the freeway side in a small king room by the elevator. Could not hardly hear the freeway and didn't hear the elevator. On the other side of the tower we have had rooms part way up and had nice views of the park though through some trees. One time was higher up and had an awesome view of the fireworks from the Balcony. Once on the top floor in a skylight room (which I love but others hate) with an awesome view of the balcony. We had a sky light room in one of the two story buildings overlooking the main pool, it was quiet enough at night.
I have had a 2 rooms in the four story building overlooking the quiet pool. One backed up to the freeway and though I could not hear the freeway noise I could feel the big trucks when they hit the seems in the pavement. Did not like that location but the room was more modern than in the other buildings and I thought the bathroom better. The following time I was in the same building but on the Harbor Blvd. side and that was much better.
Though I haven't stayed at Hojo in a few years I do like it a lot. The bathrooms could use major updating but they are clean and comfortable. I think with a major remodel (complete teardown of wall materials and gutting of bathrooms) HoJo would be a higher end property and get more per room... not what everyone wants but I would like it.

 

[DisneyMomma81]

We love HoJo *especially the retro rate, rooms as low as $59 per night! The walk is very doable. I agree with 8 minutes, it certainly isn't 8 blocks. We've stayed there at least 3 times, my sister and her family stayed there last year *per my reccomendation and had a fantastic time.

 

[BayAreaMom]

I guess what I am most uncertain about is whether it would be worth it to get the premium room with Disney view. It does sound like it would allow us to see the fireworks fairly well. As I said above, we won't go into a park the first night but just walk around Downtown Disney so having a view of the fireworks might be nice. Any thoughts on this?

I would say NO. Esp if you are splurging on the DLH for part of the trip too. We stayed in a 2Q Parkview in Sept, and a large tree obstructed our view of DL. If you are on the lower floors the views aren't great. Personally, I would just rather save $$.

ALSO soundproofing was just completed on the freeway-facing rooms in Building 1. This is a HUGE HUGE improvement. I stayed in Nov 2010 and Jan 2011 in freeway-facing kids suites, before and after the soundproofing. The change in noise was amazing!!!

 

[Hojoanaheim]

Hi everyone! Thank you to all of you that have said such nice things about our hotel. We try to make every guests stay as pleasant and enjoyable as possible! Gosee, you do get a nice view of the fireworks from our Premium rooms. All of these rooms are in our tallest building on the 3 floor and up facing Disneyland. If you are not planning on staying in the park for the fireworks, this room is a great alternative to still be able to watch them! Disneyland normally has fireworks during the weekends, holidays, summer time, and Christmas time; so if they have fireworks during the time you are looking at, the firework rooms may be worth it. These are the only rooms in which you can see the fireworks from your balcony, but there are many places on our property that you can see the fireworks from, like our pools or the parking lot (which has a really nice view!)

Hope this helps!
-Kriss

 

[wdwfan22]

I don't know if I would pay more to get the Disneyland facing rooms just to watch the fireworks. We were just there, and they were cancelled all 3 weekend nights we were there.

We talked to a CM who cancelled them on Sunday, and he said that they had an accident last year where a CM got hurt, and now the fire marshall is super strict, and since then, they have cancelled about 40% of their scheduled shows.

I'm sure some people will say they saw them everynight they were there, but for me, they were cancelled 100% of the time we were there, for a couple different reasons, so who knows. If seeing the fireworks from the hotel is something you want to do, just wait til they are scheduled to start and go outside and watch them.

If you want to pay more for the room just to overlook the park, then that's up to you. Although not sure when you're going, but the Matterhorn looks pretty bleak with scaffolding all around it.

I love Hojos and would stay there again, just not sure I would pay more for a Disney facing room.

Either way, you will have fun there! Enjoy!!!

 

[StephNJer]

We have stayed at Hojos numerous times, and we love them. For us, the Disney facing rooms are a must and completely worth it. Both of our kids are still small enough that they sometimes get tired early and can't stay up in the parks to watch the fireworks. We stayed there in November 2010 and watched the fireworks from our balcony in our PJs. Such a fun memory!
The walk isn't too bad, and that's with two young kids. I will admit to wishing it was a tad shorter when we're all tired at the end of the day, or want to run back to hotel for something real quick.
We're planning a trip in June and haven't decided yet where we'll stay, but Hojo is definitely on the list. It will actually be warm enough for us to enjoy the water park and we haven't done that yet, so it may beat out BWPPI and Disneyland Hotel.

 

[mabdallah]

We are going this summer and booked a disney view room. I thought it would feel more like Disney. I priced out staying at a Disney resort and it would have been $1000.00 more to stay at the PPH, and more to stay at DLH & GCH. We are going for 8 days 7 nights however only 4 days in the park. So I thought we could get more magic with staying close and seeing the fireworks at night. We stayed at the HOJO in 2008 facing the freeway on the 5th floor and the freeway noice did not bother us to much. However with the premium rooms you get a microwave which I say is a blessing if you eat breakfast in your room. So for me the $15.00 more a night is hopefully going to be worth it. The beds in our last room at the HOJO where wonderful is why the main reason we are coming back. In 2007 we stayed at the Camelot hotel for our honeymoon and I would never stay there again because the beds were horriable.

 

[wdwfan22]

However with the premium rooms you get a microwave which I say is a blessing if you eat breakfast in your room. So for me the $15.00 more a night is hopefully going to be worth it.

Just so everyone knows, when I inquired at Hojos why their Queen Hwy facing rooms are now $69 for the retro rate, instead of $59, she said they received the sound proofing, and also they have microwaves now.

 

[Kittyskyfish]

Just so everyone knows, when I inquired at Hojos why their Queen Hwy facing rooms are now $69 for the retro rate, instead of $59, she said they received the sound proofing, and also they have microwaves now.

Thanks for the great tip! We missed having a micro in the regular $59 room.