Howard Johnson

[becky_AK]

Good morning,
I was just informed that I have to travel to SoCal for work in November. I can't go on a work trip without making it a family affair, so I am going to be adding 5 days in Anaheim for a DL trip. I'm looking at the Howard Johnson because it seems pretty kid friendly. Anyone have any experience staying at this property? Good? Bad? Love your feedback. Thanks!

 

[JadeDarkstar]

hojos as it is clled here on the boards is one of the DIS recomanded hotels. Normaly they have good retro rates. but they also do have a 15% discount for sayign you heard bout them on the Dis boards. They have always been a 3star to my family. Not 5star but I never stay at 5star hotels. Hojo is only missing one thing in my fams opinion that is free breakfast. The water park for the kids is a grate place for a middle of the day brake. The beds are pillow top and comfy.

I havent been there in few years but alot here have and always sware to it good luck

 

[becky_AK]

hojos as it is clled here on the boards is one of the DIS recomanded hotels. Normaly they have good retro rates. but they also do have a 15% discount for sayign you heard bout them on the Dis boards. They have always been a 3star to my family. Not 5star but I never stay at 5star hotels. Hojo is only missing one thing in my fams opinion that is free breakfast. The water park for the kids is a grate place for a middle of the day brake. The beds are pillow top and comfy.

I havent been there in few years but alot here have and always sware to it good luck

Thank you! I think the water park looks fun and I'm sure my DS would love it...then again, it'll be November, so not sure what the weather will be like. I think I'm going to go ahead and reserve it

 

[JadeDarkstar]

nov some times it rains but some times it s ok to swim it depends on the week, day by day the weather changes you may be able to use it a few times just make sure you dry off well

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

We have stayed at the Howard Johnson many times and will continue to do so because we are comfortable and happy there. My boys loved the kids' water area when they were younger and have even played there in November when we experienced a couple days of upper 70s and lower 80s temps. The rest of that week we had temperatures in the 50s and 60s and a little bit of rain one of the days, so that tells you a little about how variable the weather can be.

Hojo doesn't serve breakfast, but that isn't usually a factor for our family since we drive and bring food with us. For those for whom that's not practical, there is always the possibility of having groceries delivered or just eating out all the time. There is a Mimi's located just across the street from Hojo and a McDonald's a little further down the street. If we're going to skip breakfast in the room though, we prefer to get a treat in Disneyland. Hojo is the furthest down the street of what many consider the walking distance hotels on Harbor, but we have no problem with the walk which usually takes our family 8-10 minutes. Slower walkers might stretch this out to as much as 15 minutes.

Hojo beds feel comfy to us. The rooms are clean, and they have been freshening up the furnishings and bedding over the last few years. I would recommend that you book a room in either building 1 or building 2 since the rooms in the other 4 buildings have only double size beds. Building 2 is widely regarded to be the quietest of the buildings. Building 1 offers some "Disney view" rooms and the hard-to-get (since there are only 14 total) kid suites. If you decide to book, you would do best to call the hotel directly and ask for in-house reservations. Ask for the 15% Disboards discount. Also, keep an eye on the retro rate page:
http://www.boards.hojoanaheim.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=14
If your dates for November happen to appear (you can always ask for an adjustment even if you've already booked), it would probably be worth your while to buy an entertainment card to benefit from the savings. November dates were available for a long time and have disappeared meaning they're probably booked up, but you could get lucky with cancellations.

 

[pixiewings71]

The HoJo is awesome!!!!!! Do a search on the board for "HoJo" and you'll get a bunch of hits!

 

[DisneytheKid]

Have never stayed but hear great things!

 

[Shananana]

Hojo is one of the most kid-friendly hotels outside of the 3 disney properties. We've only stayed there once, but it was great.
One thing that I found interesting is that because it's so close, you hear EVERYTHING from disneyland. So, when I was putting down my 2-yr-old for bedtime, Fantasmic! kept her up! We just had to wait until the fireworks were over.

 

[MommyLove]

For us, it's the best non-Disney property within walking distance. We've been very pleased with our many stays there.

 

[onelilspark]

I stayed there in March 2010 (and have pictures in my TR, link in my signature.) I was pleasantly surprised as I don't always think positively about HoJos. But the room was large, clean and had an excellent location.

I would stay there again. This time we're staying at the Fairfield, but it's mainly because we can use points for a free stay, nothing to do with my satisfaction level at the HoJo

 

[luckyman_apd]

I'm here right now at the HOJO, and will be leaving Sun. So far it has been a great experience. Great proximity to the park, good enough for us to take a break from the heat (actually in the room on a break now), and about to take my daughter to the pirate's cove while my son is napping. The place is very clean and quiet, and I have no complaints whatsoever. Mousesavers.com has a link for a 15% discount as well as it is their recommended hotel, and one of the reasons we chose it.

 

[Bungle]

We enjoyed our stay at hojo. I found the staff super helpful and the room clean. However, this IS an older hotel. They keep it in great shape but just know it is on the older side and does show it age in some areas. There is no breakfast but there are several restaurants on the way to disneyland. We used a stay 3 save 30% special so I would look for discounts because they are definitely out there.

For us the kids didn't really like the kids pool. Was just there preference, we spent more time in the quieter pool.

So overall its a good place for a good value if you catch it on sale. For us however our next place will have breakfast and a shuttle.

 

[specialks]

As you've already read, they're a favorite here on the disboards. They have a fun youtube channel if you want a closer look at their room layouts and waterpark.

HoJo Anaheim YouTube Channel

Have fun!

 

[lwilkison]

Good morning,
I was just informed that I have to travel to SoCal for work in November. I can't go on a work trip without making it a family affair, so I am going to be adding 5 days in Anaheim for a DL trip. I'm looking at the Howard Johnson because it seems pretty kid friendly. Anyone have any experience staying at this property? Good? Bad? Love your feedback. Thanks!

We have stayed @ Hojo multiple times. We have stayed in Building 2 twice or is it three times? We have stayed in the "pool view" rooms (facing in toward the property not toward the highway) and we have stayed at least twice in building 1. I don't know if we would want to stay in Buildings 3 -6 just because there are no elevators and lugging luggage is no fun

We have been there in summer time, Christmas time and even in October. We have been able to swim around noon each season...sometimes in the evenings it cools off a bit. We are from Vancouver, BC, though so a little bit of rain doesn't matter to us

We are heading back this October and we have already booked for our 11 days

If you ever need anything the staff is extremely helpful, from finding out where to catch a city bus to go to grocery store to storing any groceries yo have delivered for your stay.

If you have any questions about Hojo or your reservation I do recommend you call "In-House Reservations" (714-776-6120) directly because most of the time the "1-800" number people aren't necessarily aware of deals, like the ET rate.

You can always check out their website as well:
http://www.hojoanaheim.com/

We have always really liked our stay there...we have never stayed with one of the "Big 3"...but we don't need to. Hojo has everything we need and more

 

[smiles33]

I only stayed in a Kids' suite (two connecting rooms with 2 bathrooms, a king bed in one and a bunk bed and sofa bed in the other) and we LOVED it. See my signature for a link to my post about our HoJo Kids Suites.

FWIW, we normally stay in 3 star hotels, so I don't expect luxury. GCV is probably nicer than what my family has ever stayed in (DH and I have stayed in nice hotels pre-kids but not since). Walking distance wise, HoJo isn't that much farther than on-site hotels, and even closer than some (there's a great map somewhere here on the DIS Board with actually distances measured).

Some of the critics of HoJo think it's ho-hum and not worthy of the raves. I think I've heard terms like "just a motel next to the freeway." It does border the freeway, but we were in one of those rooms BEFORE the window upgrade and never had any noise complaints with the AC on (DH is a notoriously picky sleeper and likes it quiet).

This is not the GCV, Ritz, Four Seasons, etc. If you need that, don't look at the HoJo. If you like a reasonably priced and clean property within walking distance of the gates, HoJo is great. It's clean, has comfortable beds, great service, and is a well-maintained older property. It's slightly farther up the street than some motels right at the corner of Harbor, but I think it's well worth the walk, especially for the Kids' Suite.

 

[chrissiecutie]

OP- HoJo's is the ONLY place my family stays when visiting Disney.

As others have said, the DISers LOVE the HoJo's and it's definately important to know what type of hotel it is before booking.

IMO- it's better then GCH or DLH because for us...these hotels are to large and we felt like our relaxed personalities just didn't fit in with the stuffy GCH.

We keep coming back to the HoJo's because:

ET/Retro Rates starting at $59/night just can't be beat!
The pirate themed water park is awesome for DS.
The beds are very comfortable.
The coffee machines in every room are Keurigs!
It's more of an actual hotel vs most other motel properties so we feel safer here.
Mimi's next door is yummy and a great price. Check out Mimi's website for coupons!
Building 2- our fav, is quiet and near the big pool.
Nice laundry facilities...BOO for me for doing laundry on vacay!
Cute, if pricey, store/gift shop.
Fun video game arcade for DS.
And it's not too far of a walk, 15 mins to the gates for us!

I would agree with others, go for building 1 or 2. The middle smaller buildings are mainly double sized beds, they show their age more, no elevators and they have skylights. While the skylights are super pretty and make the room appear larger....personally, I don't want the sun beating down on me while I'm trying to sleep. Building 2 is our fav!

I think you'll really like the HoJo's!

 

[Magalex]

Great explanation/ review on Howard Johnson's! We are planning our first DL trip for next summer(July 2013). There is always doubt about staying at an official DL hotel. I think with all the positives about HOJO's I think we will enjoy our trip without worrying about finances. It will be all about the parks anyways.

 

[CourtFool]

We stayed there last year and would stay again. You can not beat the Entertainment rates. As far as the walking distance is concerned, it is across the street from It's a Small World. So you are really no further from the entrance than you are when you are deep in the park. My wife got a headache one day and went back to the room to lay down for a nap. In the mornings, you won't even noticed the distance.

 

[Sally_fan]

We love the HoJo!!! My kids had a blast at the water park when they were younger. Even in December 1 year! but we are from Canada so it felt warm(ish) to us. We feel like we are at home there. The rooms are super comfy, the staff goes above & beyond for us every time we are there & we love the location! And the entertainment rate just sweetens the deal! Can not wait for our stay there in October!!!!

 

[jasy]

We've stayed there and we like it however since staying onsite I won't go back but that's another topic. Beds are comfy, little store is convenient and the pool and water park areas are great for children! Oh and the walk isn't too far!