Howard Johnson Anaheim Room, pool and jacuzzi Review

[DisneySuiteFreak]

We stayed at the Howard Johnson Anaheim, aka HojoAnaheim, in a King Room in building 1, next to the elevators. From what I was told, all King rooms in Building 1 face the freeway.
I like hojos. I really do. We've stayed there many, many times over the years. In fact at one point it was the only place we would stay at. We like Building 1 with or without a Disney view. Some people complain about the freeway noise, but we haven't had a problem with that on either side. On this trip we stayed on the Freeway side in a King room. It was just DH and myself. The room was a pretty good size. The A/C is loud; but that white noise helps to filter out the freeway noise. I like white noise and it actually helps me to sleep better. The bed was very comfortable. We disliked that they had the single serving coffeemaker with this special coffee that they provide that we had to use. The coffeemaker has a razor thing that punctures these tin pots with coffee in it. That was a bummer, because we like to use our own coffee. However, DH said he thought the coffee was pretty decent for hotel provided coffee. There were a few things wrong/unacceptable with the room, and you will see them in the photos posted below.

This set up is okay in this room with one bed, but it doesn't work as well with 2 beds. In my previous review of the 2Q premium DL view room on page 2 of the hotel room review thread, the set up was different and IMO, better for 2 beds. I didn't review the NQQ1 (2 Q's building 1) room the last time we stayed there, but this set up in the above photo with the long counter thing, the chair in the middle and the TV off to one side is pretty much how the rooms are now decorated. (Not fun if trying to watch tv from a bed on the other side of the room.)
There is no internet access at the desk/chair thing, you have to access it on the bed which makes no sense to me.
We don't use the table/chairs as we rarely, if ever, eat in the room. I still would prefer the desks w/ internet access they used to have in the 2Q room instead of this table/chair set up. This was our first time staying in a King room so I'm not sure if this is how it always was or if it's new for these rooms as well...
Don't mind the mess, we were in a hurry and just threw our stuff down, took the pics and left for the park.

The bed was very comfortable!

Internet access point on the nightstand next to the left side of the bed.

The 1 cup coffeemaker with provided tin covered plastic pots of coffee:

I asked before if these were in all the rooms now and got no response, so I'm guessing they are in all the rooms now?

The nice shower massage head:

Mildew and cracked tile/grout:

Room decor and A/C control which worked fine:

Small closet with hangars that come off the rod, iron and ironing board:

Door that leads outside:

And a 2nd door that I assume was put in to help keep the freeway noise outside:

This door had a push button lock on it.

The view from our room, which we didn't mind as we knew that's what we were paying for:

We slept with the curtains open because otherwise was afraid I would oversleep! I was awakened by this glorious sunrise and had to quickly run to grab my camera!

On my 2nd day there, I looked up and noticed this in the bathroom ceiling. It looked like it hadn't been cleaned since they built the hotel! Yuck! I quickly ran to grab my P&S camera so I could document what I saw. I couldn't believe it.

This photo doesn't even begin to describe what I saw with my naked eye. I had to use the flash to show you how disgusting it really was:

The dust looks like it goes up into the ceiling and has been caked on for years! Blech!

We still like Hojos for the price and location. It's worth it if you can get the Entertainment rate. For these conditions that we experienced on this trip, I would say that we got what we paid for. If I had paid full price or even AP discount and gotten a room in this condition, I wouldn't have been too happy. This is what I mean when I say that people need to understand what they are getting for the price they are paying, and compare apples to apples and oranges to oranges. It's not the Trump Plaza , or even close to a 3 star hotel. What Hojos has going for it is its customer service and loyal internet following. (They do sponsor almost all of the internet Disneyland discussion boards, fyi...in case you didn't know that, now you do.)
Howard Johnsons and any of the motels on Harbor will occasionally have issues. Some have more issues than others, and some have poor customer service so there's no way to resolve the issues regardless. We didn't complain to management about the room conditions because again, I felt that we got what we paid for, and we were only there for 2.5 days, so didn't want to waste precious park time. The dust in the bathroom air vent, though, is unacceptably disgusting and does look like it's been there for ages. Other than that, the room was fine, and we would stay there again for Entertainment rates. For anything much more than Entertainment rates, I'd stay at Fairfield Inn by Marriottwhich had a much cleaner room and is about 3-4 minutes closer walk to the Entry Plaza.
FWIW, my DH still really likes Hojos, and I doubt he even looked up or even noticed the condition of the air vent. But he doesn't have asthma either...Since we were only there for 2.5 days, I didn't even mention it to him. Also, this is the first time I noticed mildew, cracked tiles/grout and filthy air vents in the rooms at Hojo. Sorry this is a negative review, but I felt I had to be honest. We've only ever stayed in the DL facing Premium rooms, so maybe that's why I never noticed these types of things before. Maybe you do get what you pay for? Then again, on this trip, the DL Premium rooms would have only been $20 more a night than the King room, so I don't know...

ETA: I've read some internet reviews in which people complained about the elevator noise, and I just wanted to add that we didn't hear anything...All the white noise from the A/C unit drowned out anything else!

 

[DisneySuiteFreak]

Hojo Pool review:
We used the jacuzzi at night a couple of times. There were many people who stayed there until well past midnight and no one said a word. The late hour of people using the jacuzzi didn't bother us. The scum in it floating around did.
Here are some photos...
I was a little freaked out by all the foam in the jacuzzi. I never went inside of it because of that. I only sat on the edge of the jacuzzi. I don't think it's supposed to be this foamy. There was a lot of body oil scum floating on the foam. I tried to take a photo of the scum, but my P&S just couldn't capture it. It's the darker colored areas of the faom you see floating in these pics.

ETA: Here's a link to a whole bunch of info I got when researching foamy jacuzzis. Suffice it to say I will never go into a public jacuzzi ever again.

Grounds:

Adult pool...Kind of small for the amount of people that were trying to get in it in the hot afternoon...

The kids wading pool & play area:

In this photo you can see the small jacuzzi on the far right, basically over run with kids.

 

[Queenbillabong]

I'm sorry your room wasn't what you have experienced in the past. Did you leave feedback with them so that they can fix the issues that are fixable? The Internet thing bugs me too, but they told me that you can actually get a cord at the front desk so that you can use the desk rather than the bed - which I what I'm going to do next time I stay there

FWIW - I would stay away from a foamy jaccuzi too. It's not the water that creates the foam, KWIM?? and they do make chemicals to defoam the water.

 

[bumbershoot]

What did they do when you told them to clean the vent, and that the jacuzzi was gross?

 

[aprincess@mail.com]

Thanks for the honest review. Sorry your room wasnt as good as you would hope. Glad it didnt bother your trip tho.

 

[LuLusApple]

Thank you for the detailed and honest review. We stay at Hojos a lot, but have not had or seen any of these issues.
I know they exist, and as you've said you get what you pay for. Just geesh that air vent looks like it could kill someone. I hope Hojo sees this
I will be looking up from here on out. Thanks again

 

[laura&fam]

So now I'm curious. My parents own a jacuzzi and they were told that the chlorine or detergent (I can't remember which) on swimsuits makes that foam. They have separate swimsuits they only use for their jacuzzi and now no foam.

Does anyone know what causes the foam? Do I want to know?

 

[Jazziered]

I worked as an apartment manager for quite a while, and my maintenance man told me it is from residue soap on suits. It doesn't take much to foam up a hot tub, and yes they do make defoamer.

 

[JustAKid]

Let me start off by saying that I have never stayed at the HoJo (nor do I plan to), or any other hotel in the Anaheim area for that matter. I have listened to people rant and rave about HoJo and am not sold on the place myself. Also, I'm not trying to attack anyone, just giving MY view of the situation. All this being said, I think this review of HoJo is a bit harsh!!

First of all, the vent of an older building...really? To me, this is the equivalant of going to someone's house, looking behind their stove, and then complaining about the mess. I don't think it's something A LOT of people would think to look for as far as cleaning goes. I mean, sure, it's gross to look at but it doesn't look like something that could be fixed by daily matinence and from what I've heard of HoJo, if it was brought to the attention of the staff, the situation would've been remedied (i.e. they could've moved you to a room with a cleaner vent for your asthma).

I do have to say that I find the mildew in the bathroom unacceptable because it's quite visible, and I can understand how one might feel dirty taking a shower in there. Sorry, HoJo, can't back you up on this one!

I would also just like to point out that the scum that was in the water of the jacuzzi is pretty gross, but not the hotel's fault. It's from people not taking showers prior to getting in! Also, I've been in MANY jacuzzi's when the jets were on and have ALWAYS experienced bubbles at first that turned into foam. Kinda like beach foam. I don't know if this is normal, but I'd say common.

Listen, I know that this review is the opinion of the OP, and I know that it's real. They didn't paint mildew into the shower and then take pictures, or sprinkle yucky stuff into the jacuzzi. I just wanted to point out that one, like the OP themself says, the customer service at HoJo's is AWESOME and had these issues been brought to their attention I believe they would've been fixed. I don't think it's right to give a negative review without letting them try and fix the problem first, is all. And two, that while HoJo might be the sponser for these sites (is this true?), they don't pay the PEOPLE to give them good reviews. They earn that on their own through hard work and excellent service.

 

[DangerMouse]

And two, that while HoJo might be the sponser for these sites (is this true?), they don't pay the PEOPLE to give them good reviews.

HoJo is not a sponsor of the DisBoards. One of their managers, Lorealle Bishop, does post on this forum from time to time, just to provide the best customer service possible.

 

[DisneySuiteFreak]

I'm sorry your room wasn't what you have experienced in the past. Did you leave feedback with them so that they can fix the issues that are fixable? The Internet thing bugs me too, but they told me that you can actually get a cord at the front desk so that you can use the desk rather than the bed - which I what I'm going to do next time I stay there
FWIW - I would stay away from a foamy jaccuzi too. It's not the water that creates the foam, KWIM?? and they do make chemicals to defoam the water.

I didn't get a chance to speak with anyone at Hojos. We were there for only 2.5 days and on the last day when I would have checked us out, my DH took care of that so I could go to the park. I was also really surprised at the condition of the bathroom. everything else was fine in the room, and honestly, how long are we in the room other than to sleep?

What did they do when you told them to clean the vent, and that the jacuzzi was gross?

I didn't get a chance to speak with them because DH checked us out and we were only there for 2.5 days and I wasn't about to change rooms because of the bathroom condition. I was just surprised that it was in that kind of condition, especially the air vent.

Thank you for the detailed and honest review. We stay at Hojos a lot, but have not had or seen any of these issues.
I know they exist, and as you've said you get what you pay for. Just geesh that air vent looks like it could kill someone. I hope Hojo sees this
I will be looking up from here on out. Thanks again

Thank you for understanding that I didn't post this as an attack on Hojos. We would still stay there again for the right price and as I said, DH still loves Hojos.

So now I'm curious. My parents own a jacuzzi and they were told that the chlorine or detergent (I can't remember which) on swimsuits makes that foam. They have separate swimsuits they only use for their jacuzzi and now no foam. Does anyone know what causes the foam? Do I want to know?

I don't know, but I've always heard that it's not in great condition when it's all foamy and that you shouldn't go in it when it's like that. It wasn't so much the foam that grossed me out. It was the dead skin cells and body oils you could see floating on top of the foam that grossed me out.

I worked as an apartment manager for quite a while, and my maintenance man told me it is from residue soap on suits. It doesn't take much to foam up a hot tub, and yes they do make defoamer.

The dead skin cells and body oils floating on top of the foam is what grossed me out. How does one get rid of that?

 

[Royalpine]

The foam is either from soap or from people's deoderant, there were probably some people in there earlier that didn't shower before entering (I'm sure there is a sign nearby that tells people to shower before and after using the hot tub).
I'm staying at the HoJo in 6 weeks and I'm really excited. I don't have too high of expectations as we got a good price. I've stayed at other hotels along Harbor and never had any issues and they were rated lower on travel boards than HoJo. Our 4 year old is looking forward to the water park area.

 

[DisneySuiteFreak]

Let me start off by saying that I have never stayed at the HoJo (nor do I plan to), or any other hotel in the Anaheim area for that matter. I have listened to people rant and rave about HoJo and am not sold on the place myself. Also, I'm not trying to attack anyone, just giving MY view of the situation. All this being said, I think this review of HoJo is a bit harsh!!

Really? You thought it was harsh? I thought it was honest. I've stayed there too many times to count over the years and we have really enjoyed staying there over the years. I even enjoyed this trip. I just didn't enjoy the condition of the bathroom.

First of all, the vent of an older building...really? To me, this is the equivalant of going to someone's house, looking behind their stove, and then complaining about the mess. I don't think it's something A LOT of people would think to look for as far as cleaning goes. I mean, sure, it's gross to look at but it doesn't look like something that could be fixed by daily matinence and from what I've heard of HoJo, if it was brought to the attention of the staff, the situation would've been remedied (i.e. they could've moved you to a room with a cleaner vent for your asthma).

Like I said, I just happened to look up and there it was. It is the only vent in the bathroom. I don't think it's like looking behind someone's stove when it's there in plainview for anyone to see. It's not that difficult to clean. All they need to do is vacuum the parts that are visible to the naked eye. Why should I have had to waste any of my precious time bringing it to the attention of their staff? They should be paying attention to the details like this for all their rooms, not just the DL facing Premium rooms.

I would also just like to point out that the scum that was in the water of the jacuzzi is pretty gross, but not the hotel's fault. It's from people not taking showers prior to getting in! Also, I've been in MANY jacuzzi's when the jets were on and have ALWAYS experienced bubbles at first that turned into foam. Kinda like beach foam. I don't know if this is normal, but I'd say common.

Yeah but this foam never went away the entire time we were there at the jacuzzi over the coarse of 2 days/nights.

Listen, I know that this review is the opinion of the OP, and I know that it's real. They didn't paint mildew into the shower and then take pictures, or sprinkle yucky stuff into the jacuzzi. I just wanted to point out that one, like the OP themself says, the customer service at HoJo's is AWESOME and had these issues been brought to their attention I believe they would've been fixed. I don't think it's right to give a negative review without letting them try and fix the problem first, is all. And two, that while HoJo might be the sponser for these sites (is this true?), they don't pay the PEOPLE to give them good reviews. They earn that on their own through hard work and excellent service.

How would you know about their level of customer service if you've never stayed there and don't intend to stay there as you said at the top of your post?
As I said, we would stay there again for the right price. I just won't go in the jacuzzi if it looks like that. I was one of them giving Hojos nothing but praise over the last 10 years or so, so I thought that my review was a very fair and balanced review. If you look at the hotel review thread you will see my very positive review for the DL facing Premium rooms. I just happen to think that all rooms should be in that great of a condition because everyone who is a paying customer is a VIP, whether they are in a Premium DL facing room or a freeway facing King room, or a 2 double bed room. All rooms should be in the same condition or they should be yanked out of service and repaired. In my opinion, the tile/grout thing is something that happens with wear and tear over the years and I can understand why they would postpone correcting something like this because it's a major refurbishment. There is no excuse for the beyond filthy air vent. All they have to do is take a vacuum to it, and maybe unscrew the vent cover so they could vacuum it out.

 

[DisneySuiteFreak]

HoJo is not a sponsor of the DisBoards. One of their managers, Lorealle Bishop, does post on this forum from time to time, just to provide the best customer service possible.

I'm pretty certain that at one time they were a sponsor of the Disneyland section as I recall seeing their banner here. I could be wrong as I have been to many DL related discussion boards. At any rate, they are sponsors on MiceChat, Mouseplanet and Laughingplace which are the other major players in the DL discussion groups. I haven't been on those boards in awhile, other than Micechat, so that could have changed recently. However, I do know I've seen the sponsored by Howard Johnson's Anaheim thing on all those boards.

 

[DisneySuiteFreak]

The foam is either from soap or from people's deoderant, there were probably some people in there earlier that didn't shower before entering (I'm sure there is a sign nearby that tells people to shower before and after using the hot tub).
I'm staying at the HoJo in 6 weeks and I'm really excited. I don't have too high of expectations as we got a good price. I've stayed at other hotels along Harbor and never had any issues and they were rated lower on travel boards than HoJo. Our 4 year old is looking forward to the water park area.

I don't know if they have signs, but they do have showers. The hot tub is located in the kids play area, and there were a lot of kids in it during the daytime. Who knows whether they shower or not and what all else they were doing in it? Again it wasn't so much the foam that grossed me out as much. It was the brown dead skin skin cells and what I assumed to be body oils floating on top of the foam that grossed me out. Showering without soap won't remove deoderant and body oils anyway...

 

[JustAKid]

How would you know about their level of customer service if you've never stayed there and don't intend to stay there as you said at the top of your post?

Fair enough question! First, just because I haven't stayed there, or intend to, does not mean that I have not dealt with the staff. I have. Second, that is neither here nor there because I can see that they have a very faithful following, which was not created by magic. Obviously they're doing something right, and I've heard OVER and OVER that their customer service is amazing. I have never been to space and seen for myself that the earth is round, but I trust the word of those that have.

Really? You thought it was harsh? I thought it was honest.

I'd just like to point out that I DID say that your pictures were real, implying that it was an honest review. You weren't trying to doop us, that that really was the condition of the hotel. I just thought your review was a bit nit-picky is all. Especially when you, yourself, said that you've had MANY other wonderful experiences at HoJo. Plus, the fact that you are negatively reviewing the room without giving them a chance to correct what I see as an over sight seems unfair...TO ME! JMHO.

Thank you for understanding that I didn't post this as an attack on Hojos. We would still stay there again for the right price and as I said, DH still loves Hojos.

Finally, I'd like to say that it feels like you feel attacked. I didn't intend for you to feel that way. I was just trying to point out to others who read this review that there are PLENTY of possitive reviews and that this is an isolated incident. I apologize if I irked you!

 

[DisneySuiteFreak]

Fair enough question! First, just because I haven't stayed there, or intend to, does not mean that I have not dealt with the staff. I have. Second, that is neither here nor there because I can see that they have a very faithful following, which was not created by magic. Obviously they're doing something right, and I've heard OVER and OVER that their customer service is amazing. I have never been to space and seen for myself that the earth is round, but I trust the word of those that have.

Yes they do have a faithful following. And I've been one of their followers for quite a long time.

I'd just like to point out that I DID say that your pictures were real, implying that it was an honest review. You weren't trying to doop us, that that really was the condition of the hotel. I just thought your review was a bit nit-picky is all. Especially when you, yourself, said that you've had MANY other wonderful experiences at HoJo. Plus, the fact that you are negatively reviewing the room without giving them a chance to correct what I see as an over sight seems unfair...TO ME! JMHO.

Sorry, we'll have to agree to disagree. I don't think it's nitpicky to expect that all rooms should be in a similar good condition to others I've rented before. And I don't think it's nitpicky to expect them to take a vacuum to all their air vents once in a while. It's obvious this particular room hasn't had their air vent vacuumed/cleaned in many, many years. That was not just a one or two year build up of dust.

Finally, I'd like to say that it feels like you feel attacked. I didn't intend for you to feel that way. I was just trying to point out to others who read this review that there are PLENTY of possitive reviews and that this is an isolated incident. I apologize if I irked you!

Thank you for the online hug.
For the record, I just want it made clear that my review was not meant to be an attack on Hojos. I thought my review was fair and honest.
I am sure that if I had brought it to their attention, they would have resolved it one way or another, but I did not want to waste my valuable time dealing with this while over there. I would have pointed it out to them had I been the one checking out, but as I said, DH took care of that so I could go to the park, and he didn't know about the bathroom issue and was oblivious to the foam. (It apparently didn't bother him or the other men who were sitting in it and I wasn't going to make a Federal case out of it while there were other people sitting in it.)
My point was that it's unacceptable to have the bathroom in this condition and no one should have to waste their valuable park time addressing issues like this that should never have occurred in the first place. It's not like their maids don't have vacuums. I also think the jacuzzi situation may need to be addressed. I don't know what the deal is with that, but I've often heard that one shouldn't go in a foam filled jacuzzi because it means that the bacteria count is high. Maybe that has somehow miraculously changed over the years, but that's what I've heard.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

HoJo is not a sponsor of the DisBoards. One of their managers, Lorealle Bishop, does post on this forum from time to time, just to provide the best customer service possible.

Thank you for pointing that out Callie. You are correct in that HoJo is not a sponsor on the DIS. Lorealle is a fellow poster here on the forums.

I'm pretty certain that at one time they were a sponsor of the Disneyland section as I recall seeing their banner here. I could be wrong ...

Just pointing out that HoJo is not a sponsor, and never has been.

 

[Queenbillabong]

FWIW - I don't think the original review was harsh, just their experience. I personally would have probably brought it to someone's attention while I was there, because I think that's fair and it gives the hotel a chance to correct the issue.


The foam that doesn't go away from a jaccuzi is from "proteins" (aka skin ) on the water's surface. Yes, I do have a jaccuzi at home so I know how to take care of it. Bubbles and foam are two entirely differently things. If the water is foamy, it's past time to take care of the issue.

 

[DisneySuiteFreak]

Just pointing out that HoJo is not a sponsor, and never has been.

Thanks Mary Jo. I wasn't sure if Hojo sponsored this site or not, but I do know that they do sponsor all the other websites I cited in one of my previous responses. Anyway, I'm not trying to imply that because they do sponsor DL discussion boards that that is the reason why they are so popular. As I've said, we still like Hojos and we will stay there in the future. Their customer service was always really good and as I've stated many times in the past, they went above and beyond for us on several previous stays which we appreciated.
I'm sure if I had brought this to their attention they would've corrected it. I just didn't want to waste what little time we had in the parks.