Hotel Confusion between Across the Street Options

[Frozen2014]

We're doing an LA/Disneyland trip the end of August with our two kids (12 and 8). Since we are not just visiting Disney, we are on a budget as things add up quickly (including airfare). We currently have Desert Inn & Suites booked for our Anaheim time (Mon-Sat), but I'm always second guessing our hotel. Our requirements in our Anaheim hotel are

• clean and comfortable (beds, shower, air conditioning)
• breakfast included
• free wifi
• close walking distance to Disneyland ("across the street")
• budget friendly
• pool

Desert Inn & Suites is great in that it includes wifi and breakfast and is reasonably priced. Another bonus is that we booked a parlour suite, where the main room has 2 beds and there is a second room with a pull out sofa. This gives works well for night time as our kids can have their own room (they are ok to share a bed).

My main concern is that we're coming when it'll be hot and I've heard that the second room at Desert Inn doesn't have it's own AC unit. Thus, it could get hot which would make the room non-usuable. (But at least the main room has 2 queen beds so this is still a backup).

Our second choice hotel is Park Vue. It has much better breakfast, and has a standard room configuration with 2 queen beds. Only thing is the cost is $230 CAD more. This kind of savings could pay for a character meal, which I'm considering. The killer is actually the Friday night where that night alone costs $229 USD (other nights are $139/149 USD)

One option to keep a similar budget to what we currently have booked is to stay at Park Vue Mon-Thurs, and then check into Desert Inn & Suites for Friday night....but that may be a major pain to pack up one night early and have to deal with storing our bags? On the good side, the motels are side by side to transferring the luggage isn't a huge deal.

I want to stay on Harbor Blvd, north of Katella. Any other suggestions? Best Western Plus is similar pricing to Park Vue. Hojo is great but costs even more than Park Vue and Best Western. Or should we just keep our Desert Inn reservation?

PS - On the flip side...we have two hotels booked in LA. If we take the cheaper one, then we can save $200 which I guess we cut put towards Disney hotel (but cheaper one doesn't have a pool....not sure if that's a big deal when in LA or not).

 

[egritz]

I've stayed at both.
The Parlor Suite at the Desert Inn & Suites with the separate room w/ sleeper sofa has a fan to cycle air from the main bedroom to the small front room. It is loud, but mostly effective. Then we opened the door when we went to bed to increase air flow.

The breakfast at Park Vue is FAR superior. The one at Desert Inn & Suites was so minimal we barely used it. Unless you like oatmeal or hard boiled eggs there is no protein.

Both had fridges and microwaves.

Personally for me that extra/separate room was the most important thing so we tend to stay at the Desert over Park Vue.

Others to check out that have suites/kid suite options are Del Sol and Tropicana....but really I just pull up the Google map and look at every single hotel/motel option starting at the Grand Legacy down to the Howard Johnson.

 

[Frozen2014]

Thanks. Looks like Del Sol is sold out for our dates. Tropicana with a standard 2 queen bed room is available for similar pricing to Desert Inn (as there is a small discount if staying 5+ nights), but it doesn't include breakfast.

Very good to hear that your experience with the second room at Desert Inn was fine. We don't mind leaving the door open if it helps. Can I ask what time of year you stayed? As for the breakfast...we typically just have cereal, toast, yogurt, at home so it's our standard breakfast anyways (although the one at Park Vue does look superior). I agree..the extra room...with the low cost...was a selling point for us with Desert Inn.

 

[jennilouwho]

We stayed at Desert Inn in August. The fan did a pretty good job of circulating. We all slept in the bedroom though. Not because of heat, but I liked having an "asleep room" and an "awake room." I have one kid that's an early riser and then he could go in the awake room and watch tv and not disturb the others in the early morning...

 

[Jrsy Boy]

Thanks. Looks like Del Sol is sold out for our dates.

Is this based on the website or calling the hotel? The last couple of times we booked the Del Sol, rooms didn't show up on the website until about 4 months before our trip. Granted this was September for a January trip and you're looking at a busier time and same calendar year but I'd say it is worth a call. Having stayed at both, I'd say the breakfast and distance to the crosswalk are comparable. Never had a wifi issue at either and slept comfortably at both. Water pressure in the shower was much better at Del Sol, though.

 

[kathy040690]

another option would be the best western park place inn and mini suites and i believe they would cover all you want !!

When we stayed at the park vue i said i would never return.. The carpet was so dirty in the rooms we left our shoes on when there... and honestly after a long day at disney its nice to take shoes off >.<

 

[Frozen2014]

Thank you for the replies. Feeling better about Desert Inn & Suites...Nice idea to have the spare room as a non-bedroom room as well (just a tv room).

Is this based on the website or calling the hotel? The last couple of times we booked the Del Sol, rooms didn't show up on the website until about 4 months before our trip. Granted this was September for a January trip and you're looking at a busier time and same calendar year but I'd say it is worth a call. Having stayed at both, I'd say the breakfast and distance to the crosswalk are comparable. Never had a wifi issue at either and slept comfortably at both. Water pressure in the shower was much better at Del Sol, though.

I tried Expedia.ca and direct and both said not available. I'm pretty sure I saw it available when I checked a month or two ago since I was considering this one too. PS - I just checked again and saw it on Tripadvisor. But when I look at it, it seems comparable to Desert Inn so not sure what we'd gain by switching (but only one room, similar level of breakfast)

another option would be the best western park place inn and mini suites and i believe they would cover all you want !!

When we stayed at the park vue i said i would never return.. The carpet was so dirty in the rooms we left our shoes on when there... and honestly after a long day at disney its nice to take shoes off >.<

Same pricing as Park Vue...so it's would cost us $230ish more. Too bad about the carpets. Don't remember hearing that one before.

 

[pharmama]

Park Vue has rooms with a queen bed and a twin bunk bed. Might make your kids a little happier than having to share. Not sure if the cost is any different/better though. I stayed at PVI for the first time last month and was pleased. Haven't stayed at DI&S though.

 

[Frozen2014]

Park Vue has rooms with a queen bed and a twin bunk bed. Might make your kids a little happier than having to share. Not sure if the cost is any different/better though. I stayed at PVI for the first time last month and was pleased. Haven't stayed at DI&S though.

Silly question but could your kids see the tv from the bunk beds? I looked at the bunk bed option but ours like to watch tv in bed at night and from the layout, it looks like they cant do this from the bed?

 

[pharmama]

Silly question but could your kids see the tv from the bunk beds? I looked at the bunk bed option but ours like to watch tv in bed at night and from the layout, it looks like they cant do this from the bed?

Hmm, yeah, I actually didn't have my kids with me on that trip but booked the bunk room anyway to 'scope it out'. In the room I had the bunk bed was along the same wall as the queen bed so the kids would have to be on the wrong end of the bunk bed (opposite end from the pillow) to see the TV and still might not have been the best view but would be semi-workable. I've seen photos of other PVI rooms where the bunk bed was on the same wall as the TV and that wouldn't allow viewing of the TV at all. So PVI bunk room might not be the best option for you then, sorry.

 

[Aladora]

Silly question but could your kids see the tv from the bunk beds? I looked at the bunk bed option but ours like to watch tv in bed at night and from the layout, it looks like they cant do this from the bed?

We've stayed in a bunk bed room twice and if you got the same layout as we did and if the kids were lying down with their heads at the foot of the beds and if you turned the tv 90 degrees then yes, they could see the tv.

Here is a picture with the room layouts but the bunk bed room we had both times had the queen bed and tv flipped.

I also found a photo online that is not my picture but it is the same layout. The picture is taken from the foot of the queen bed.

 

[Tinkerbell19672]

Park Vue has free parking, which is a plus. We stayed there in December for the first time. Liked it enough to book it again for May. Our room was clean, staff friendly, big variety for breakfast and location was the best. We don't spend a lot of time in our room, mostly to sleep and go back in afternoon to rest for a while. Can't get any closer and for us that was a huge advantage.

 

[pharmama]

The photo above is pre-remodel. The room I stayed in had been remodeled and the TV was a flat screen on the wall. I did not try to move the TV but I don't think it was on an arm/adjustable- I could be wrong. But I also had the layout shown in the floorplan image so I think the TV would still be visible from the bunk beds, though they are off to the side.

 

[Frozen2014]

Aladora and pharmama thanks so much! Room layout really helps. From the photo, it does look awkward to see the tv, so I think the standard 2 queen bed configuration will work better for us.

Will see. I'll keep a watch on prices (although Park Vue booking part has been down most whenever I check). We still have 6 months the prices can fluctuate (or sell out which will determine for us). I assume the re-do of Park Vue won't happen until later.

 

[Lkem]

Silly question but could your kids see the tv from the bunk beds? I looked at the bunk bed option but ours like to watch tv in bed at night and from the layout, it looks like they cant do this from the bed?

Haha, that's exactly why I decided not to go with the bunk beds at Del Sol. I have four kids....and they'll all want to lay in bed and watch tv at the end of the day. So turning the tv doesn't really work for us.

I've had similar thoughts at the OP about hotels...but ultimately I love the price and space that Desert Inn gives me! I'm not sure about the air conditioning...though I don't ever remember it being a problem. The breakfast, as was stated, isn't great. But they do have cereal, oatmeal, toast...which is basically what we eat anyway. And then there's the pastries...I think they're gross but my kids don't mind at all. I'm super frugal so Desert Inn is perfect for me.

 

[RemainSeatedPlease]

I would stick with the Desert Inn reservation. I've stayed there multiple times and have never had issues. If having a big hot breakfast isn't that important to you then there is probably not much reason for you to switch to Park Vue. The extra space and cost savings of Desert Inn are reasons to stick with them.

 

[Frozen2014]

Haha, that's exactly why I decided not to go with the bunk beds at Del Sol. I have four kids....and they'll all want to lay in bed and watch tv at the end of the day. So turning the tv doesn't really work for us.

I've had similar thoughts at the OP about hotels...but ultimately I love the price and space that Desert Inn gives me! I'm not sure about the air conditioning...though I don't ever remember it being a problem. The breakfast, as was stated, isn't great. But they do have cereal, oatmeal, toast...which is basically what we eat anyway. And then there's the pastries...I think they're gross but my kids don't mind at all. I'm super frugal so Desert Inn is perfect for me.

Good to hear our kids aren't the only ones who like lying in bed with tv. We don't have that at home, but it's a vacation thing. Thanks for sharing...glad to hear that you were happy with Desert Inn. We watch money too, plus for us we're spending 4 nights in LA first and then 5 nights in Anaheim, so the extras add up quickly.

I would stick with the Desert Inn reservation. I've stayed there multiple times and have never had issues. If having a big hot breakfast isn't that important to you then there is probably not much reason for you to switch to Park Vue. The extra space and cost savings of Desert Inn are reasons to stick with them.

Thank you! So good to hear that you're even repeat customer. If the price comes similar then the hot breakfast would be nice, but as others, the breakfast that Desert Inn serves is pretty much our regular breakfast so perfectly fine (plus lunch and dinner will be out and probably heavier).

PS - Glad we booked when we did . The parlour suite was $125 (avg) and now it's showing $143 (avg). Prices have gone up. Park Vue is still at $161. So with today's prices, they are pretty close to each other.