How's this Hotel?

[ZanderMan]

How's the Hilton Homewood Suites in Anaheim? My family is planning on staying here for 8 days in October. Thoughts? Hints?

Thanks for your help!

 

[KatiezMom]

We are staying there Sept 25-30th for the first time so I will be watching to see peoples thoughts as well. I have read great things on Tripadvisor so thats why I took a chance. Breakfast and a light dinner with a drink included, how bad can it be

 

[ZanderMan]

I agree! I also read the reviews and it seems perfect. I've stayed at many hotels in the area over the years, it will be nice to be away from Harbor Blvd can be quite noisy at times. Also the shuttle from and to the park how perfect! And yes the Drink!

 

[specialks]

We love the HS! Newly updated rooms are very nice. They will grocery shop for you which is great! A tip would be to use the back elevator if feasible. There is only 1 lobby elevator for all 5 floors and it is slow! The back elevator is not as well known & used so it responds quicker w less stops, although you have to walk father back to the lobby. We had a DLR facing room and got to watch the fireworks some nights (although they were a little far off). We really enjoyed the light dinners. Not great food, but definitely edible...the beer & wine made it go down all the better. . Enjoy!

 

[skiingfast]

While there are a lot of good reviews on it, like Specialks above.

The only general drawbacks are it's far from the park and you might have to rely on the shuttle. And the dinner might be a nice perk but will you be back from the park to enjoy it?

I do like HHSs so I hope you enjoy your stays there as well.

 

[I❤MICKEY]

We loved the Homewood.

We were there for 4 nights in early June. It isn't within walking distance but they do have a private shuttle (not ART). There is an extra fee but it is included in your reservation if you book directly with Disneyland (including Costco or AAA) and getawaytoday.com. We took the shuttle everyday and it never stopped at any other hotel. It was convenient and fast.

I copied this from another post that I made about Homewood:

We had our first DL trip in June w/ my DS3 and DS6m. We stayed at the Homewood Suites. Even though there are some options that are cheaper I am willing to pay more for the wonderful experience we had.

I would recommend this hotel to everyone and anyone. Here's why:

1) Loved having a bedroom (2 queens), bathroom, living room (w/pullout sofa) and full kitchen. We were able to put our kids to bed and go to the other room to have some down time for me and my husband without disturbing the kids. The rooms were very clean and the beds were comfortable.

2) While we didn't use the stove the full fridge and microwave rocked. We drove from Salt Lake City so we had a cooler and just put everything in the fridge when we arrived. We used the microwave for warming up leftovers, popcorn and baby food. We bought large water bottles and put them in the freezer each night for the next day.

3) The staff was unlike any other hotel I've ever stayed at. We were welcomed every time we walked in with a smile. Although it was very full they even remembered my children's names. Everyday during breakfast we were asked if we were going to be back mid-day. The days we were the person took our room number to ensure that our rooms were cleaned and ready for us.

4) Free breakfast (7 days) and dinner (Sun - Thurs). The eggs at breakfast weren't great but everything else was. The dinner was perfect for our family. They had a taco night, spaghetti night and bbq (hot dogs & hamburgs). Free beer, wine and soda was included for dinner. My DH loved this. We filled our water bottles with soda when heading back to the park.​

I could go on and on. It was one of the best hotel experiences I have ever had. We actually decided to go again this December. We could stay someplace else for less money but I think it's worth it to have a nice and clean room, awesome staff, etc. So we are staying there again.

Here are some tips:

• Depending on where/when you book you should look for offers as we were able to get the 4th night free.
• There is a Target across the street. We picked up bottled water and put it in the freezer. Each morning we grabbed a bottles and took them to the park. The thawed slowly and were very refreshing.
• Agree with the previous post about the back elevator. Especially during breakfast rush.
• They have breakfast trays so 1 person can go down and get breakfast for the entire family. My husband would go down and get breakfast for us while I finished getting the kids ready.

Good luck and have a great vacation!

 

[ZanderMan]

Wow, thank you all so much! I'm very excited and thank you "I Love Micky" for the amazing review! You made my night reading your review. I've been anxious on this Hotel, seems nice but you never know.*

 

[Cagirl767]

I Heart Mickey and my family stayed there at the same time this past June (although we don't know each other, just a DIS coincidence). This is one of our hotels of choice when in the DL area. We don't usually have the same staff experience as the pp's, they never remember our kids' names, lol! But still, we love this hotel. The GM Joe is the best!

I definitely have to disagree with the complementary dinners though, I wouldn't exactly call them a "perk" anymore. Now Skiingfast might think I'm a bit of a Foodie, and maybe I am, so I just can't rely on the dinners anymore, they're pretty bad. On taco night, we didn't manage to find cheese or onions, I'm wondering if IHeartMickey did??? The "chicken parmesan" is absolutely horrible, really just about inedible. We'd much rather get take out from Oggi's which is right there on the same property and even Red Robin and Skiingfast might vouch again that if I'd rather get a RR burger, some of the entrees at Homewood must be pretty bad. The breakfasts are great though with hot items, but minimal fruit selections, so we bring our own. We freeze water bottles too, love the full sized fridg - that's definitely a perk. DH and DS do the same, they go downstairs and load up the tray with breakfast so the girls have more time to get ready in the morning.

Depending on the time of year you're going, their private shuttle should work out well so you don't have to rely on the ART.

I'd also recommend the Marriott Residence Inns, there are 2 in the area and Embassy Suites. Same complementary light dinner and hot breakfast buffet at the RI's. No shuttle though, but some think the walk from the RI on Clementine is walkable to DLR. Embassy has a great breakfast.

You'll be fine at this hotel, and I'd admit that I'm a bit of a hotel snob too.

 

[I❤MICKEY]

We don't usually have the same staff experience as the pp's, they never remember our kids' names, lol!

I was being serious. There were two employees at the front desk who always greeted my boys by name. Maybe it's because their names are somewhat unique or that we celebrated my older son's birthday during the vacation. But it really stuck with me as a great attention to detail. My older son thought it was the coolest thing ever.

On taco night, we didn't manage to find cheese or onions, I'm wondering if IHeartMickey did??? The "chicken parmesan" is absolutely horrible, really just about inedible.

We participated with taco night. To be honest I can't remember if there were onions but I know there was cheese because that's my favorite part of a taco. I made myself a taco salad which I thought was a nice option rather than using the shell.

I didn't see Chicken Parm while we were there. There was a night with Spaghetti and Meatballs which my kids loved.

The BBQ night was your standard hot dogs and hamburgs.

For us it was a perk because it was a perfect light meal for us after the kids nap and before going back to the park. It meant that we spent less on food in the park. My husband enjoyed the free beer.

 

[DebbieB]

I've stayed there 3 times, the last being December of last year. Just 2 night stays over weekends using Hilton points (add-on to business trips in the area).

It's nice to have more room and the full kitchen if you want to use it.

The shuttle was prompt both at the hotel & the park. But as someone who has stayed at the Disney owned hotels, I really missed the convenience of a quick walk back.

The only complaint I had last year was the carpets were dirty both in the room & the public areas (the main elevator was really bad).

 

[Cagirl767]

I'm sorry IHeartMickey, I'm just laughing at myself since nobody ever remembers us; they probably heard us complaining about the food.

Good thing you missed the "chicken parm" it's a breaded frozen patty i.e. Banquet frozen dinners. My kids will eat it, but I can't stand the thought of it. Yecccch.

 

[DisneyIsMagical]

We stayed there in June.
What I loved:
Although we did not really use the kitchen, it was nice to have. I also loved that there was a Starbuck's in the lobby of the Marriott across the parking lot. The beds were decent, everything was clean. I am not a huge breakfast person but I would go get a banana in the mornings, so it was nice that they were available.

What was so-so:
The dedicated shuttle was hit or miss, one day it was there on time to the minute, the next it wasn't there at all. We tried ART after the first time this happened, it was really crowded. Over 3 days we had gone back and forth (my aunts were both annoyed by the unpredictability of both). We waited with another family for three shuttles to go by as they were all full. They finally decided to get a taxi and invited us to join them. Also, I would have to say the offerings for dinner were questionable, it looked awful, therefore I waited to eat when we got to the park.

Would I stay there again? If staying onsite was not an option...yes. The convenience of staying onsite was worth it to us. It seemed like we spent alot of time waiting for shuttles whether at the hotels or at the park (we even attempted to time it correctly, to no avail).