Hotel Review: Anaheim Desert Inn and Suites

[gillep]

We stayed here earlier this year and had no real complaints, we got exactly as I expected. The room was clean and the location was great, which was our main objective. We stored our luggage in the lockers, but if we had larger luggage they said they had a luggage room as well, but we didn't need that. I didn't have an issue with the breakfast, it was better than the Super8 down the street and I didn't expect anything too far above edible for the price. When we were there they also had fresh apples and I actually didn't see anyone eating the eggs, I personally wouldn't go near them. The beds were very hard, but we were so tired it didn't matter. We didn't have an issue with light but we heard a lot of noise from the parking lot and people walking down the stairs that were across from our room. I wouldn't go near that pool if you paid me, my eyes were watering just walking by. I have already booked it again for September, so I obviously didn't mind it. Unlike our WDW trips, our DL ones are 100% parks focused so we only needed a clean and safe place to sleep and that's what we got.

 

[Frozen2014]

Craptastic. We are planning on staying there in August since they had a really good deal on the Parlor suite and we all need our own bed. I keep reading mixed reviews on this place but I'm guessing since it's only a room to sleep in I'm guessing it will be ok. We aren't breakfast eaters we just need something simple to get us going and coffee.
I keep looking at BWPPI but it's so much more for a smaller room.

We stayed in a Parlour Suite last summer and it worked well for us. Sure, it's not Four Seasons, but it was clean, spacious, provided basic breakfast AND was super close to the park. We found the extra room worked well and our younger one stayed in the front room. Our kids loved each having their own tv (but was quite funny as most of the time they watched the same program). We would have no issue staying again. The 'hard' beds didn't bother us and found them comfy. Personal preference. I guess noise is just luck. We didn't notice but probably had quiet neighbors. We also didn't bother using the (indoor) pool.

I have pictures in my report below if interested.

 

[Bluewild79]

We are booked in this hotel for our 6-night stay in August in the C2 Parlor Suite because we have a group of 8 - 4 adults, 4 kids including a toddler who goes to bed early. We don't need fancy since we will be at the parks all day, every day minus a toddler nap. My question is about the in-room fridge. How big is it? I want to stock up on snacks and breakfast food the kids will actually eat since it sounds like the free breakfast leaves a lot to be desired. Also, do the rooms have coffee makers? Should I plan on bringing my own coffee? Again, with my 4 kids, I will need my (good) caffeine to keep up with them! Thanks!

 

[cobright]

We are booked in this hotel for our 6-night stay in August in the C2 Parlor Suite because we have a group of 8 - 4 adults, 4 kids including a toddler who goes to bed early. We don't need fancy since we will be at the parks all day, every day minus a toddler nap. My question is about the in-room fridge. How big is it? I want to stock up on snacks and breakfast food the kids will actually eat since it sounds like the free breakfast leaves a lot to be desired. Also, do the rooms have coffee makers? Should I plan on bringing my own coffee? Again, with my 4 kids, I will need my (good) caffeine to keep up with them! Thanks!

The fridge is your common hotel room size. Maybe 4 cu. ft. The Coffee maker was a single serve, pod, brewer that took a while and wasn't very good. Coffee in the breakfast room wasn't much better. We generally detoured over by LeBrea bakery in DTD for coffee.

 

[Bluewild79]

Perfect! That's exactly what I needed to know. We'll just plan on grabbing a coffee on the way to rope drop. Thank you!!

 

[DnA2010]

The fridge is your common hotel room size. Maybe 4 cu. ft. The Coffee maker was a single serve, pod, brewer that took a while and wasn't very good. Coffee in the breakfast room wasn't much better. We generally detoured over by LeBrea bakery in DTD for coffee.

Did it happen to have a freezer at the top?

 

[DnA2010]

We are booked in this hotel for our 6-night stay in August in the C2 Parlor Suite because we have a group of 8 - 4 adults, 4 kids including a toddler who goes to bed early. We don't need fancy since we will be at the parks all day, every day minus a toddler nap. My question is about the in-room fridge. How big is it? I want to stock up on snacks and breakfast food the kids will actually eat since it sounds like the free breakfast leaves a lot to be desired. Also, do the rooms have coffee makers? Should I plan on bringing my own coffee? Again, with my 4 kids, I will need my (good) caffeine to keep up with them! Thanks!

Same we check in tomorrow and have 2 toddlers, so the 3 rooms are ideal

 

[Bluewild79]

Same we check in tomorrow and have 2 toddlers, so the 3 rooms are ideal

Lucky! Have fun and if you get a chance, please let me know how the room/hotel worked for you.

 

[DizMe]

I've stayed there twice in the last year. I usually stay onsite, but occasionally I have a last-minute trip and don't want to pay too much. DI&S works fine for that. I don't know why so many complaints about the beds; maybe i'm just not very picky, but I sleep just fine on them. I go there knowing I'm not going to eat breakfast or swim there. At the price I'm paying for the hotel, I can still spend a lot more on a breakfast if I want to and come out ahead.

Bottom line for me is that the location is fantastic, the hotel basic but fine, so if the rate is pretty cheap it's a good deal IMO.

 

[DnA2010]

Lucky! Have fun and if you get a chance, please let me know how the room/hotel worked for you.

You bet I can

 

[agamble]

We've stayed here several times. The beds are good for us. The breakfast is better than it was years ago. It's pretty typical stuff for continental breakfast. The location is nice for the price. There are nicer hotels that cost more. Also worse hotels further away for the same price. Just FYI they own the Del Sol too and the 2 hotels are pretty similar in quality.

 

[Christina-B-Na]

Did it happen to have a freezer at the top?

Yes a very small compartment at the top that you can squeeze a few things in to.

 

[Lm3js]

We stayed in a 2 room suite for the weekend a few weeks back (2 families - 2 adults, 4 kids). It was so close to the park that my kids want to stay here every time we come now. They also liked the pool. Overall, I thought it was OK. Nothing special, but we got a great deal and we spend very little time the room as we are at the park from open to close. The beds were hard but I didn't think out of the ordinary for a motel. I would rather have that than very soft. Room was clean though somewhat dated. Noise was typical for any of the Harbor hotels. The biggest problem I have is the people (and this is at every hotel/motel). Why are you talking loudly or yelling as you walk by? Why are you loitering around in big groups yelling at midnight near the stairs of the hotel? Why are you letting your brat run up and down the halls at 6am?

 

[MIChessGuy]

Is this the place that has at least some of the parking underground? Any comment on the ease of finding a parking spot or how long it took to get your car out?

 

[Cal-Pie]

Is this the place that has at least some of the parking underground? Any comment on the ease of finding a parking spot or how long it took to get your car out?

Upon arrival at 3-4 pm the lot was packed, we had to valet, and they double parked our car. We only left once to go to the beach, and the valet brought our car back quickly. We arrived back from the beach before regular check in time, and were able to park our own car in the underground area. All in all, I I felt that there were definitely not enough parking spaces, but the valets were quick and friendly. I'd rather park my own car and retain the keys, however.

 

[agamble]

They usually park for you. It is fast and they have a number you can call or text to let them know you're ready.

 

[starshine514]

We've stayed at DIS many times. It has its high points and low points. The walk from the parks is AMAZING (which is why it's my parents favorite place to stay). The beds are fine for us, no complaints. The breakfast is fair. They generally have apples, Danish, either muffins or bagels, toast, cereal, oatmeal, and hard-boiled eggs (some sort of coffee, juice and milk as well). My youngest is allergic to most of that stuff, so we bring our own cereal, yogurt and non-dairy milk for her, but my parents really seem to like the Danish. The rooms have always been clean. Parking is difficult, not many spots and they are tight. Have had to valet it a few times. We've never attempted the pool; it smells like chlorine when we walk by. They had it closed earlier this year when we stayed there and were resurfacing it.

 

[cobright]

Did it happen to have a freezer at the top?

It did. Sorta. It's just a loop of steel with coolant run through it. It works . All our sodas on top shelf froze up into a slush.

 

[DnA2010]

Adding in thoughts of our recent stay- 6 nights, May 19-25:

There were 2 reasons for booking this hotel- the fact it was right across the street, and that we could get a suite that had 3 rooms- their largest suites have a large room with 2 queens, a bit smaller room with 2 queens, and a center middle room with tv, table and a pull out couch. This gave us the the ability to put a toddler to bed in each room, and still have somewhere to be. Grandma was happy to stay in once the littles were in bed, and thus the parents could return to the parks till close.

Booking- I changed our booking when a better rate came out for check-ins starting on sundays, thus I made a 1 night booking for the saturday night we arrived, and a 5 night booking after that. It was a good thing I called to ask a question a month or so out, as they had our booking on the wrong day, and hadn't got my email right (I should have realized earlier that I hadn't received anything) They also called the day before to sat that my credit card I had given wasn't working. I had received a new one, as the expiration date was in April. I gave this to the front desk person and she insisted that she tried it twice and that it was getting declined. I phoned visa, and they said that it had been tried twice, with the old expiration date. Annoying.

Check-in- we arrived around 2pm I would say. The front desk person said that she was just waiting for the list of rooms, and it would be about 10 minutes. It was def longer than that, but once our two toddlers started getting fussy, she seemed to get the list...

Room- the room was exactly as I expected. Old furnishings etc. The layout of the rooms worked just as we wanted though. We looked carefully at the cleanliness, and I will say, the bathroom especially was quite clean. We didn't find the beds hard at all. One thing I really didn't like was there was quite a gap at the bottom of the main door that lead to the hallway. We didn't hear any noise from people above/below/either side, just people walking by.

Breakfast- For fruit there was apples, bananas, oranges, and it was always replaced, there were the hard boiled eggs, bread for toast, bagels and cream cheese alternated with mini muffins. For cereal there was oatmeal, rice krispies, fruit loops, and corn flakes. Milk, a juice machine with orange and apple, and a coffee machine. It was what we expected and handy to be able to grab something before the parks. We always managed to get tables and we were a group of 8.

Cleaning- when it was done, it was done well, but 2 days we didn't get cleaning- the first one, my sister was in the room a lot of the day, but the cleaners made no attempt to discuss when they could get in to clean, and the other, the two dads had arrived back, just as the cleaners were working on the room next door. they told the cleaners that they would take the toddlers for a walk while the room got done, but when they came back, the room wasn't done and the cleaners were gone.

We did store our bags in the lockers on the last day, and had to put our 2 playpens in the room next door as they wouldn't fit. We ended up being a bit late coming back from DTD, so were a bit tight for time. We found a staff member to let us into the locker room, but the person would not let us in to the storage room to get the playpens as I didn't have the ticket I had filled out, as I had given it to my sister. I offered to show ID, as it was my name on the items, but the person wouldn't answer me, nor would she give an alternative when I asked what the policy was for lost tickets, as they must have something right..I asked to speak to the manager as we were getting really tight for time now, and she wouldn't answer me..thankfully my sister showed up (DH and I had ran ahead to get things going) We made the bus with like 2 minutes to spare...

Ultimately, the place served it's purpose, I would only stay there again if I needed the same set up of rooms (ie 3 connecting). Mainly, I didn't meet one person at the hotel in any area or department who seemed to care at all.

 

[Bluewild79]

Adding in thoughts of our recent stay- 6 nights, May 19-25:

We did store our bags in the lockers on the last day, and had to put our 2 playpens in the room next door as they wouldn't fit. We ended up being a bit late coming back from DTD, so were a bit tight for time. We found a staff member to let us into the locker room, but the person would not let us in to the storage room to get the playpens as I didn't have the ticket I had filled out, as I had given it to my sister. I offered to show ID, as it was my name on the items, but the person wouldn't answer me, nor would she give an alternative when I asked what the policy was for lost tickets, as they must have something right..I asked to speak to the manager as we were getting really tight for time now, and she wouldn't answer me..thankfully my sister showed up (DH and I had ran ahead to get things going) We made the bus with like 2 minutes to spare...

Ultimately, the place served it's purpose, I would only stay there again if I needed the same set up of rooms (ie 3 connecting). Mainly, I didn't meet one person at the hotel in any area or department who seemed to care at all.

Thank you for the review, especially about the breakfast. That will help me plan what I need to bring to supplement what they already offer. I'm sorry you didn't have the best experience with the staff. Having worked front desk for several years, I am not surprised they wouldn't give the luggage without the claim ticket. It can be inconvenient but it is for the safety and security of your personal belongings. I'm glad you didn't miss the bus! Follow up questions - how many windows were in your unit and how dark did it get? What floor was your room on and how noisy would you say it was? Thank you!