HoJo tips anyone?

[chickyann]

Hi,
We are now seriously considering booking HoJo for our upcoming stay.

Does anyone have any tips they'd like to share, good or bad experiences? any photos of the property?

Thankyou for your help so far guys my DH can't believe the information I have picked up from you all.

 

[ColoradoMom!!]

This board is a great source of info:

http://www.hojoanaheim.com/phpbb/index.php?sid=ba066e7d51673e7443b7545994848620

We are booked for October based on the rate Entertainment rate, and the good reviews. Check out the reviews on TripAdvisor dot com too.

 

[mermaidwannabe]

The aforementioned HOJO board really is a good place to go. I was in the position of "seriously considering" HOJOs and ended up booking there because of all the info from this board, especially the fact that the staff there (especially the "famous" Lorealle) is #1 on customer service (according to several people who've dealt with her including me!)

 

[Jake's Mom]

Just back from 9 days @ HOJO's and have nothing but great things to say about it.
Any specific questions, let me know.

 

[JenDisneylandlver]

We also just got back from a 5 night stay there. We really liked the room, the balcony, and the Disney View. But found it quite noisey. Probably depends on where you're room is located. We were on the 4th floor of building 1, and could hear the freeway. But that didn't bother us. Grad night across at Disneyland was VERY loud, and kept us all up until around 5 am. Plus noise from people talking below by the lobby, buses going by all night long, and a car blaring music in the Mimi's parking lot at 1 am one night. Just seemed like the walls were thin, because it was just so loud!

Besides the noise we enjoyed our stay there. But will probably go back to staying at the Tropicana or onsite from now on. Wouldn't want to take the chance of getting another noisey room again. We like our sleep after long days in the park.

 

[Michaelasmum]

We just spent 9 night at HOJO and I don't think I could say enough good things it. We were very close to the freeway as well, but with the fan on at night the noise didn't bother us at all...and I'm not even used to traffic noises (small town girl). I didn't notice any other noises, we were on the 6th floor.

The beds in the premium room are so comfortable, the cleaning staff was so great and it was so handy having the laundry area in the building. The gift shop was great as well and the ladies there was so sweet and helpful...and the famous Lorealle, really what more can I say about her!!!

I would tell anyone going to Disneyland to stay at HOJO, we were able to walk every day with no problems...it was much closer than I expected!

 

[JenDisneylandlver]

We found it too cool most of the week to have the A/C on during the night. I'm sure that would have helped to drown out a lot of the noise. Not so sure about Grad night though. Whew that was loud! I'm surprised Anaheim goes for that kind of noise in the middle of the night like that. Not a fan of Grad night now! LOL

We didn't have much interaction with the staff. The bell hop was very nice. Housekeeping was okay. Although once they came to the room in the middle of the day, when we were taking a nap. She knocked and then came in before we had a chance to get up and get the door. She said she wanted to see if we needed coffee in the room. Even though the room had been cleaned hours ago. She apologized but then told us next time to put the do not disturb sign up. Which I found weird, wouldn't think I'd need it after the room was cleaned! LOL

Even with those things we had a fabulous trip, and didn't let it hinder us in any way. But I think next time we'll stick to the places where we had a more quiet stay. I'm glad to hear others didn't have the same noise issues. We were on the very end of the building. So maybe that had something to do with it too.

 

[Jake's Mom]

We also just got back from a 5 night stay there. We really liked the room, the balcony, and the Disney View. But found it quite noisey. Probably depends on where you're room is located. We were on the 4th floor of building 1, and could hear the freeway. But that didn't bother us. Grad night across at Disneyland was VERY loud, and kept us all up until around 5 am. Plus noise from people talking below by the lobby, buses going by all night long, and a car blaring music in the Mimi's parking lot at 1 am one night. Just seemed like the walls were thin, because it was just so loud!

Wow! We must be sounder sleepers than I thought. We were on the 3rd floor of building 1 and other than minor traffic noise, we didn't hear anything else. We were there over two grad nights and I was actually surprised that we couldn't hear anything. I was prepared for music and other noise, but nothing.
I did however forget about the fireworks on Saturday night and they scared me half to death when they started going off. We had seen them the night before in the park but was really cool to watch them from our balcony the next two nights. Alot less crowded on our balcony

 

[JenDisneylandlver]

Wow! We must be sounder sleepers than I thought. We were on the 3rd floor of building 1 and other than minor traffic noise, we didn't hear anything else. We were there over two grad nights and I was actually surprised that we couldn't hear anything. I was prepared for music and other noise, but nothing.
I did however forget about the fireworks on Saturday night and they scared me half to death when they started going off. We had seen them the night before in the park but was really cool to watch them from our balcony the next two nights. Alot less crowded on our balcony

Wish we could sleep so soundly! I actually didn't even think about the noise from Grad night. But because Tomorrowland is right across from there, I think it was coming from that Jedi stage area over there. Because the next day a group was playing there and it sounded just the same. I actually had taken an benadryl for my allergies that night (which zonks me out), so I slept better then poor DH. It would just keep waking me up perodically. But poor DH was soooo tired that next day, and grumpy too!

 

[the donut]

I agree about the grad night noise. There was loud music all night and around 3:30 we all woke up from the announcements coming over the loudspeaker. Other than that, the stay was great, location was perfect (we didn't mind the walk at all), bed was really comfortable, and the hotel was very clean. If you're planning on using the microwave, there's no utensils or dinnerware. Next time I'd probably bring some of my own.

We stayed on the top floor in the king suite. The skylights on all the top floor rooms of building 1 make it very difficult to nap if you're sensitive to light.

 

[Michaelasmum]

Okay I must be a really sound sleeper...I didn't hear any of the grad night noise at all. Our room was at the end of the building..nearest to the freeway the fan helped (but I like a cold room at night as well).

The information you will get here will help your trip so much...I didn't even know what a fast pass was before I came here!

 

[bumbershoot]

Besides the noise we enjoyed our stay there. But will probably go back to staying at the Tropicana or onsite from now on. Wouldn't want to take the chance of getting another noisey room again. We like our sleep after long days in the park.

Garden pool view. That's the answer.

We've now stayed twice in building 2 with a garden pool view, and it's been sooooo quiet.

Our first stay was a bit noisier b/c we were on the ground floor in the very first room on the left, so we got the noise of people waiting for the elevator and going out the doors. But we were on the 3rd floor this time and it was silent at night.

 

[LoveMyBoys]

We have never stayed there, but will stay there in August. I know that everyone raves about Lorealle, but I have to say that so far I am underwhelmed by my experience. I have booked an entertainment rate over the phone and asked them to email me the confirmations. I never received anything, and I couldn't pull up my reservation on their system. So I called back and was given a different reservation number to see it on HOJOs site. I still can't see it. I emailed the hotel directly to see if they would email me the reservation, and no reply from them. So then I found Lorealle's email address here and on the HOJOs discussion boards, so I emailed her directly and now more than a week later I still haven't heard anything. I don't know maybe its just me, but all this talk about how great the customer service is, I thought I would at least get a reply.

 

[JenDisneylandlver]

Lorealle was quite nice and helpful when we were trying to make our reservations. We emailed back and forth several times. So LoveMyBoys, maybe try emailing it to her again? Maybe it got lost somewhere? I dunno!

We didn't really notice any stellar service beyond that though, like from the front desk. They didn't even ask how our stay was at check out.

It certainly wasn't the worst stay we've had offsite by any means though! It was clean, and the beds were comfy. But just not what I was expecting, after all the rave reviews here, especially the noise. Think we're just Tropicana fans (and onsite of course! ). Which is fine, everyone has their preferences!

 

[KCmike]

If I had one piece of advice is to NOT buy the ART pass. The bus wouldn't show up on some days and it would take (seemed like forever) on other days. Just go ahead and walk it.

So many people have said great things about this hotel and I would say that the people were very nice. Art (at the front desk) was awesome in helping us get a closer room when my daughter hurt her foot at the parks. Thanks Art! The hotel is clean but it was to bad that the new Pirate Pool was not ready yet (we knew this ahead of time)....but I really didn't think it was all that much better than the Fairfield Inn. If your staying outside the park then stay as close as you can. Again I say this after having a great stay at Hojo.

Good luck and have fun....remember it really is all about the parks.

 

[Bugsmom73]

We just got back and loved the Hojo, garden pool view room. It was wonderful.

 

[DalGal]

Garden pool view. That's the answer.

We've now stayed twice in building 2 with a garden pool view, and it's been sooooo quiet.

Our first stay was a bit noisier b/c we were on the ground floor in the very first room on the left, so we got the noise of people waiting for the elevator and going out the doors. But we were on the 3rd floor this time and it was silent at night.

We also just returned from 7 nights. As I was reading the posts about the noise I was thinking "Man, I must have been really wiped out 'cause I didn't hear anything on Grad Night!"

Of course, I guess it's what Bumbershoot says...garden pool view. We were in Bldg 2, 4th floor and I don't recall hearing any noise except when we opened the balcony door to let some cool air in (I think the only day we ran the AC was Friday afternoon). No traffic noise that I heard either, even during afternoon naps.

Room was plenty spacious for the three of us. Our housekeeper was very pleasant, spoke everytime we saw her. The walk did not bother us at all. We walked farther than that from parking lot to the park at KBF.

 

[abby]

We stayed at HOJO in October of 2006 and had a great time. I expected to be disappointed because on our previous trips we had stayed at DLH, but I enjoyed hojo very much. Kid loved the pool, the room was large and staff was nice. Not to mention the gift shop that has everything you need. If I can't get a great AP rate in Dec. we are going back to hojo.

 

[chickyann]

thanks for all your responses guys, you're all awesome

 

[DisneySuiteFreak]

We have always had excellent stays and customer service at Hojos. We also didn't have a lot of interaction with the staff once on site because we were at the parks all day/night. However, when we really needed their assistance in years past, they came through w/ flying colors going over and above the call of duty -- once for a real estate transaction/paperwork/notary and a few other times when various members of my family got seriously ill during the trip. They may not always be in your face, but when you need their help, they'll be right there offering you options. Here are some photos I took at Hojos in January. Were we in Bld. 1. Click on the thumbnail pic and it should take you to the album...