Hyatt Regency Orange County

[cjsmom5]

We are looking for a spot to stay one night before moving over to Disneyland Hotel. We can get a good rate at Hyatt Regency Orange County with a full breakfast. Has anyone ever stayed there? It says it isn't serviced by ART. We would want to go over to Downtown Disney the first night for an hour or so ... and the hotel says it has a shuttle. Any opinions on this property would be welcome.

 

[CalGal]

I stayed at the Hyatt a few times before ART when the Hyatt had it's own shuttle and found it quite nice. Their shuttles were always quite reliable, so getting to and from the parks was quite easy (although not as easy as walking across the street). Then I stayed there the very early days of the ART and didn't like the sharing of the shuttle thing. I was pleased to see they went back to using their own shuttle.

I would assume you would take a taxi to the DLH? I would think this should be a nice choice for your purpose. It's a much nicer property than most of the motels on Harbor (assuming its been maintained well; its not as new as many of the others hotels in Garden Grove area). The primary downfall is that if you plan to hit DL first thing in the morning the next day, you probably won't beat some of the crowds walking from the Harbor motels. I'd guess the first shuttle from the Hyatt will probably leave around 1/2 hour before opening (but I reallly don't know for sure since its been a number of years since I've stayed there).

 

[cjsmom5]

We will be driving over to the Disneyland Hotel and staying there for the remainder of our stay. We aren't scheduled to meet our VIP Tour Guide until noon so we plan to eat breakfast at the Hyatt (included in our rate) go over to the hotel, check-in, and then go to DL ... hopefully we will be at the park around 10:30 or 11am. We won't probably be using the shuttle unless we go over to Downtown Disney that evening.

Thanks for the insight. Any others?

 

[dbs2030]

We just stayed at the Hyatt before transferring to the Disneyland Hotel. We liked the Hyatt and they provided shuttle service that ran twice an hour to Disneyland. The shuttle drops you off right outside of the Disneyland property. The restaurant at the Hyatt was very good, if a little pricey, you should enjoy the included breakfast. We took a cab from the Hyatt to DLH and it was about $12. Overall, the Hyatt was nice and cleaner than DLH.

 

[Vanvmom]

The one and only time we stayed at that Hyatt was in 2004, and I was wholly unimpressed. Several years ago my room-mate worked as a catering manager for Hyatt, so I've stayed at several Hyatt hotels, and as a result may have higher expectations than most people. We arrived on a Friday at 9pm, and there was no place to get food in the hotel other than the bar (room service had stopped), and the bar was so busy we could not get the attention of a server. Just a note, at that point parking was $15/night, and their shuttle to DL had a per person fee. Breakfast is a nice perk, as when we stayed they didn't offer it. There was a Starbucks in the lobby, but they do not accept starbucks cards (the coffee was still good though ). Sounds like they've improved things some since we stayed. Based on my experiences, I'd only stay there again if I was doing it solely to earn Hyatt points, but don't expect your typical Hyatt level of service and room quality. If you are paying under $100/night, it is probably worth it. I wouldn't pay more than that. I've stayed at several Good Neighbor hotels that were much nicer.

 

[cjsmom5]

Thanks everyone! Appreciate the feedback. Anyone others .... please let me know.

 

[c&m]

We just got back yesterday from our 3-week trip to SoCal. We stayed at the Hyatt Orange County for 4 nights during our trip. I'll write a report of it for you later tonight, as my DH is now rushing me out the door to run some errands. Talk to you later...

 

[c&m]

Hi, I'm back. We were satisfied with our stay at the Hyatt Orange. It was our second time there. I agree with the previous poster who said that it is worth it if you are paying under $100 per night. It's definitely nicer than a lot of the motels along Harbor. The nice lobby, the valet, the bellboys, the concierge, etc. are indicative of that. But I must emphasize that it is not a luxury hotel. I stayed there using the Hyatt Classic Gift Card for $99 (taxes inclusive). You can buy those on the hyatt.com website.

Last time we were there was 4 years ago, and we stayed in a kids suite, which was huge. This time, we stayed in a standard room on the 6th floor with a view of the lobby. It was clean but smallish. The bathroom was small and it was a bit difficult getting everyone ready at the same time, but we managed. The room and its furnishings looked like it had been reno-ed about 4 years ago; the room looks like it has been well-used. There was no safe in the room, so we had to use the hotel one -- though I was told that they are putting safes in all the rooms, just that they hadn't gotten to the floor we were on.

There's a Starbucks in the lobby for that quick coffee and snack. We didn't eat at the restaurant on this trip. We had a car and drove to Mimi's Cafe or ate at the parks.

Parking is expensive at about $15 (???) per day. There is a free shuttle that came on time twice an hour; however this is a shared shuttle that made some stops. We used our car and parked at the DLR lot more often than using the shuttle, as we liked coming and going as we wished. I found out that we could park in the Downtown Disney lot for the first 3 hours FREE. So we did that on days when we left the parks in the late afternoon (it got sooo crowded...our fault for planning a Disney vacation smack in the middle of summer) and came back in the evenings.

The best part about staying at the Hyatt is its location. Adjacent to the Hyatt is Target where we bought our water bottles and other snacks. Next door to the Target is a Dollar Store where we bought our Disney souvenirs. There are Disney character pencil sets pens, notebooks, journals, sand buckets, etc. Everything for $1.00. I thought I hit the jackpot!!! Across the street from the Hyatt are many restaurants -- Red Robin, Joe's Crabshack, Outback. Vons supermarket is a short drive away on Chapman St.

Also, don't forget to sign up for Hyatt Gold Passport to get points for your stay. Hope this helps. If you have any specific questions, just let me know.

 

[cjsmom5]

Thanks for the info. Unfortunately I couldn't find anything for $100 or under for the one night. The Hyatt came in at $129 which includes two adult breakfast buffets -- which looked pretty good. The parking rate is pretty standard for most hotels we stay at .... and of course, isn't included in the room price. We aren't getting in until around 7pm or so. We thought we might head to the DL since it is open until midnight. We heard cab was about $12 which wouldn't be too bad if the shuttle didn't fit into our schedule. The next morning we are up bright and early and moving over to Disneyland Hotel for the rest of the trip ... so we aren't at the Hyatt long ... Candy Cane Inn was priced at over $149 with others following a similar pattern ... and they only included a deluxe continental breakfast instead of the hot, cooked to order buffet at the Hyatt. There are only three of us (2 adults and a nine year old) so I am thinking the room will be big enough, I hope. Thanks for the info ... appreciate it.

 

[c&m]

If you got it for $129, which includes 2 adult breakfasts, then I think you got a deal. Their breakfast entrees range from $13 to $19 per person. I don't know if they have the breakfast buffet, but Hyatt breakfast buffets usually are at least $19 per person. Have a fun time!