Indecisive...piggybacking on clean hotel thread

[rxsuperwoman]

I'm a extremely indecisive individual. Period. It takes me forever to decide on lunch, so imagine trying to choose a hotel. I've searched the previous threads and i think I've got it narrowed down to two (yeah). I was wondering if anyone has recently stayed at the Alpine Inn or Castle Inn. Alpine Inn seems to have good reviews but Castle Inn may have better theming

 

[taffy]

We were at the Castle inn a few months ago and found it great.

the rooms have recently been reno'd so are pretty nice and fresh.

 

[aliceindisneyland]

We have stayed at Castle Inn 3x since the renovation and it is very clean and nice as far as motels go. However, they were offering significantly lower rates then - around $60/night! - and now it's more like $100-$115.
I can't vouch for it yet but I was able to book Ramada Maingate At the Park which is closer to the entrance for $96/night in August [that's the AP rate but the free gas rate is very close after the gas rebate]; so far it's $101 for our Sept trip and $126 for our Oct trip but I expect at least the Sept price to go down so I'll rebook. They have a bare bones continental breakfast. Castle Inn does not offer any breakfast. Both have free parking.
Remember to add taxes and parking/resort fees when comparing the motels and consider your family's habits for breakfast. All can make a significant difference in price.
Example: BWPPI vs. Ramada MATP for our August trip:
BWPPI:
$134/night
$23 taxes
$10 parking
total $167/night
Ramada MATP:
$96/night
$17/night taxes
free parking
total $113/night
$54/night difference - we will save over $160 over 3 nights by choosing Ramada MATP over BWPPI. If I compare room rate only it seems like I'm only saving $114.

On the theming, my kids liked the Castle Inn decor - the lobby is cute and the gargoyles' eyes (all around the eves) light up. Really though it's just something you notice once when you arrive.

 

[BijouBabe]

I stayed at Castle Inn in February and the newly renovated rooms are nice and our last day there they installed new locks where you just tap the cards which was pretty awesome. We had a family suite and my only complaint was the lack of sound proofing. I was awoken every morning by the people upstairs just turning on the water for their shower but that is Motel style life. I'm use to staying in hotels so it was hard to get use to but the distance to the park and Gardenwalk were well worth it!

 

[mikedoyleblogger]

None of the Good Neighbor hotels has any substantial theming beyond higher-rate themed rooms. You're really talking about very marginal differences here. These are not WDW's value resorts surrounding DLR, by any means. The real differences are what the pool area is like, whether there are any hotel grounds to speak of, and walkability/availabilityof the ART bus. Beyond that, if you're choosing on theming you may be disappointed. Beyond the Disney hotels, the lodging theming you're talking about off-site is tacky motel veneer made to look better from a distance than it is up close, and that's about it.

 

[peterpanandwendy]

None of the Good Neighbor hotels has any substantial theming beyond higher-rate themed rooms. You're really talking about very marginal differences here. These are not WDW's value resorts surrounding DLR, by any means. The real differences are what the pool area is like, whether there are any hotel grounds to speak of, and walkability/availabilityof the ART bus. Beyond that, if you're choosing on theming you may be disappointed. Beyond the Disney hotels, the lodging theming you're talking about off-site is tacky motel veneer made to look better from a distance than it is up close, and that's about it.

Lol! So funny! And true, the good neighbour hotels are not part of the Disney 'bubble' so they are not themed like in Disney world. They are just generic, run of the mill hotels and motels. We like the Howard Johnson the best. We haven't stayed there since the refurb, but it looks like the pool is excellent, it is super close to ART, and 8 min walk to the park gates, and the reviews are excellent as far as cleanliness…

 

[Nosepass]

I've stayed at Castle Inn a few times, totally worth it. The rooms aren't really themed but the exterior is, which is nice, and the walk from Disneyland back isn't too bad (in terms of both distance and the areas you're going through). If you're lucky enough to get a room with a window towards the park there's a great view of Tower of Terror as well. I'd recommend it without reservation, provided you're aware that the theme-ing doesn't extend to the rooms themselves.

I've never tried Alpine Inn, so no comment there.

 

[zanzibar138]

I haven't heard any first-hand reports of Alpine Inn. However, I've heard a lot of good reports from people who have stayed at Castle since the refurb.

The PP is right, at that level, theming isn't what's important. Having said that, it looks like Castle has more theming than Alpine, and could be a nice novelty if you've never experienced Disney theming before.

I would definitely take room reviews, amenities and price into consideration before theming though, for those hotels.

 

[rxsuperwoman]

We have stayed at Castle Inn 3x since the renovation and it is very clean and nice as far as motels go. However, they were offering significantly lower rates then - around $60/night! - and now it's more like $100-$115.
I can't vouch for it yet but I was able to book Ramada Maingate At the Park which is closer to the entrance for $96/night in August [that's the AP rate but the free gas rate is very close after the gas rebate]; so far it's $101 for our Sept trip and $126 for our Oct trip but I expect at least the Sept price to go down so I'll rebook. They have a bare bones continental breakfast. Castle Inn does not offer any breakfast. Both have free parking.
Remember to add taxes and parking/resort fees when comparing the motels and consider your family's habits for breakfast. All can make a significant difference in price.
Example: BWPPI vs. Ramada MATP for our August trip:
BWPPI:
$134/night
$23 taxes
$10 parking
total $167/night
Ramada MATP:
$96/night
$17/night taxes
free parking
total $113/night
$54/night difference - we will save over $160 over 3 nights by choosing Ramada MATP over BWPPI. If I compare room rate only it seems like I'm only saving $114.

On the theming, my kids liked the Castle Inn decor - the lobby is cute and the gargoyles' eyes (all around the eves) light up. Really though it's just something you notice once when you arrive.

I really used this advice and finally ended up at Alpine Inn. Couldn't beat the price and it had great trip advisor reviews, even though I think its going to be a little farther walk