Hotel Menage Boutique Anaheim ?

[Sleepless Knight]

The long discussed and rumored family trip this December to the merriest place on earth is now official and we should book the hotel in the next couple of days.

Courtesy of the DIS, I, an AP holder for the past two years, knew of many places to book a trip through. In comparing package prices vs. separate hotel and park tickets, we learned that a package is a much better deal for our group. The DIS once again proves my theory that one of the greatest keys to a successful Disney vacation is to do some research and know your options.

In considering all our options and family dynamics, we've decided to stay at the Hotel Menage Boutique in Anaheim. We don't know much about it, except from mostly positive reviews we've seen on the web. Apparently, it's a Holiday Inn Hotel, though it's not identified as such.

Now for my questions. It's located at 1221 S Harbor Blvd near W Ball Rd. My brother thinks that the 1/2 mile walk will be easy, but given it's apparent proximity to W Ball Rd, I'm not sure that it's the easy walk he thinks it will be. It appears to me that you'll have to cross the freeway to get to the hotel. Am I right? Please let me know.

Also, has anyone stayed there? If so, what did you think of it?

Thanks again.

 

[DangerMouse]

Yep, you have to cross the freeway. It's at least a 15 minute walk, maybe more like 20. The HoJo is just under a 1/2 mile. I would think the Hotel Manage is at least another quarter mile.

One of the ladies that went on the Ladies Only Trip stayed there (lulubelle). She did not have glowing reports of the place.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

Thanks DM. I was thinking that you have to cross the freeway on account of how close it is to W Ball(my hotel in June and August is on W Ball). I suspect my brother thinks it's right along hotel row on Harbor across the street from the parks and doesn't realize just where on Harbor it is.

It seems to be the top choice because it has higher reviews than the other places we're looking at for this trip. To be completely honest, I just hope it's clean and free of bed bugs since I tend to live inside Disneyland while awake when I'm down there.

 

[amyamya]

Our friends stayed there this Spring and liked it. It is different than any other hotel you will find along Harbor. They have really tried to make it a modern boutique hotel. One complaint from her DH was traffic noise from the close prox. to freeways...she said she was not bothered by it from being so tired in the parks all day. They said the beds were awesome, too. I think they mentioned the restaurant Kya(?) was good but pricey and they chose to eat breakfast elsewhere the rest of the trip. HTH!

 

[daannzzz]

My sis stayed there a while back when it was a Holiday Inn. It was fine in her opinion. My issues with it are that the walk is a bit too far and its location. It is bordered by two very busy roads, Harbor and Ball And Highway 5. It is like a little island in the middle of all this traffic. Put the address in on Yahoo or Google maps and then click on the "Ariel view". You will see where it is and can tell if the walk is too far for you.

 

[bumbershoot]

And the overpass makes the walk "hilly". Seems dangerous to me!


I never heard it's a Holiday Inn property; where did you find that out? Interesting!

 

[daannzzz]

It used to be the "Holiday Inn at the Park" for years. It still comes up that way on some things (Google earth) but also had another name associated with it between Holiday Inn and Menage that was also on Google Earth!

 

[Sleepless Knight]

I googled it and it said it was owned a Holiday Inn property. Maybe it used to be, but somebody else bought it out.

Thanks for the tip on the arial view. I'm not too concerned about the walk since I'll have to be in the car on account of the parking that my AP gives us, but I'm not sure how others will feel about the walking aspect. I don't think they fully remember what it's like to walk 20 minutes after spending all day in Disneyland.

 

[c&m]

Yes, the Hotel Menage used to be a Holiday Inn. DH and I stayed there years ago (15?) before kids. The rooms used to have a strange shade of brown shag carpet.

Back to current times, my friend just got back this week from staying there. She told me the hotel room was very nice and updated...and she was really happy. However, when she stepped into the bathroom, that was when she went from a happy state to a not-so-happy state . It seemed they renovated everything but the bathroom. However, if you're going to be at the parks all day and will be barely spending time in the room, this place may work for you.

I heard there is also a parking charge, but they waived the parking fee for my friend because she was there as a part of a big dance group performing at DL.

 

[avalon451]

Hey, SK, tell us some of your details, so we can think of possible viable alternatives for you. Who's going, how many rooms will you need? How did you figure a package is better than booking separately? What are your dates?

Ent rate is available for many days in December at HoJo. Book deluxe rooms at HoJo for $79 a night, get tickets from GAT for two MMs, and book airfare separately?

 

[Sleepless Knight]

We're arriving on December 3 and leaving on December 7. We only live 6 hours away, so we're driving since that's much cheaper than flying and not necessarily much shorter. We'll be in the parks on the 4th through the 6th. We're probably heading down in two groups since the infant travels best during daytime, but my brother in law will need to leave after work that day. I'm the only one who could spend any time in the park on the 3rd since I have an AP and the others don't.

We need two rooms. One must sleep 5 adults and the other will sleep 2 adults, one 3 yo and 1 infant. Now, for the tricky part. Of the 7 adults in our party, I have an AP, so I don't need tickets.

From what we've run to this point, packages run around the same price(if not cheaper in some cases) as separate tickets and Hojos ent rate. Except as of right now, the Costco package has early entry to Fantasyland and ToonTown perks that everyone thinks will be great for my 3 yo nephew.

I calculated separate ticket costs based on the Disneyland/AAA price of $169 for a 3 day adult park hopper and $139 for a child 3 day park hopper.

 

[hcrmah]

I stayed at Hotel Menage and will continue to go back. Great spot, the only real unique hotel out in Anaheim. Yes the restrooms need some work, but overall great experience plasma tv's and free wi-fi. The reviews are good to great, the freeway is close, but i emailed them directly from their web site after I booked my room and got a nice room with a pool view (good fireworks from the room) you might want to try emailing them as well. The hotel used to be a Holiday Inn but not anymore... As far as the food pricing at kya (hotel restuarant), I thought it was great! Kid's eat free for breakfast so it saved my family a lot of money. Two nights in a row I had dinner there as well... I don't think you will be disappointed. The walk to Disneyland is about 15minutes and just be careful when you get to the on-ramp of the 5 freeway, however they do have the anaheim shuttle bus as well...

 

[avalon451]

You know, nice as it may be, I'd look for something closer, especially with a 3 y.o. and an infant. They will want to take them back to the hotel for midday breaks and a nap, and that's just too much distance for going back and forth. I'm assuming they will be in strollers, but that's still a long haul pushing strollers-- especially at the end of the day when you're tired! I'd rethink driving your car to the parking garage, as well, even with free parking.

I'm thinking about Hydroguy's tips compilation here, specifically Hydroguy's Hotel Rule: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1199862

And "Hidden Time Losses when Using a Car at DLR": http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1381580

Also, regarding early entry to FL: that's Magic Morning, and you get one of those with every 3-day or more parkhopper ticket, regardless of where you buy it from. If you buy your tickets from GAT, you'll get 2 MMs (use discount code "podcast" to waive the $10 processing fee). This would be good since you'll be there over Sat and Sun, both MMs.

The MTTMM is cute, but it's... well... for very little ones. In my opinion it's really not worth buying a package just so you can get it. Especially when you could be using that early morning time to see lots of other fun stuff for little ones without the long lines that will come later in the day.

Just my opinion, but hope that helps. Good luck!

 

[disneegrl4eva]

Im with the other posters on the hojo side....I know exactly where the hotel Menage is and it is right next to the fwy and I wouldnt walk it for nothing....and as Avalon indicated, the ent rates should be pretty decent during that time...

 

[DisSarahK]

I was curious (I've never stayed there) so I looked at this aerial view--wow, looks like it is on a triangle of land and surrounded by busy roads on all three sides. Looks like a bit of a hike, especially if there are children in your group.

http://www.wikimapia.org/#lat=33.8173599&lon=-117.9161525&z=16&l=0&m=a&v=2

 

[Sleepless Knight]

Thanks for the input. According to the latest information I have, we may be staying someplace entirely different. I do know that that my 3 yo nephew is very excited. He announced tonight that "I go to Disneyland and see Mickey at his house" followed by a declaration that baby sister "go to Disneyland and see Mickey, Goofy, and Donald Quack."

I explained about the crossing over the freeway and 20 minute walk thing, so we'll see where that goes. I have a feeling that some people do not realize where the hotel is in relation to Disneyland(sounds like they think it's by Tropicana, Desert Inn & Suites, et all).

I'll point out the tips here, but since I have no final decision making power here, I may well be overridden by experts without experience.

 

[texaslover]

DS and I got a great deal to stay at the Hotel Menage and will be there Aug. 4-10. DS is 10 so walking isn't a problem so we're hoping that it will not be too much of a problem getting over the highway (there is a bridge, right?).

I'll update with information when we get back!

 

[Sleepless Knight]

I'd very much appreciate any updates you provide when you get back. I've now learned that we've placed a hold on a package through Costco that's good for 7 days at the Menage. I guess there's a few more things we want to research just to make sure, but I think we'll stay at the Menage. They've decided no ART due to cost and/or very bad reviews for ART at the Menage. Sounds like if it's deemed too far a walk, they'll just drive to the parks and pay for parking if need be.

I'm not too concerned about time there given the proximity to the Mickey and Friends lot provided everybody leaves early enough. I stayed on W Ball in June and found the parking lot to be much, much faster than walking, and much, much cheaper than staying right on hotel row literally across the street from Disneyland.

 

[Sleepless Knight]

A new update here. It now sounds like the trip will be cancelled. There have been complaints about the dates that everybody agreed to and there are multiple people who do not want to go down over Thanksgiving weekend, so I think it's going to be cancelled.

 

[avalon451]

Awwwww, DANG! after all that fuss? You must be frustrated. Why don't you do a solo, or just take one or two family members who do agree on your dates, just for fun? Or would those who can't make it be offended?