Lodging help - FFI vs Sheraton Park

[stitchnj]

Good morning,
I am currently holding two reservations for Dec 17-22, one for a standard room at the Fairfield Inn, and the other at the Sheraton Park. 2 adults and a 13 year old.

The Sheraton appeals to us because of the interior corridors and promises for good beds. I also have a themepark view room reserved there. Another plus seems to be the proximity to the Toy Story lot for a ride home on the bus after a day at the park (we'd walk in the morning).

I reserved the Fairfield Inn based on reviews here. Price is about the same, but I have a standard room. The exterior corridors and motel feel are less attractive to us, but it's closer.

I was leaning towards the Sheraton because it's more of a hotel. However, I just read some terrible recent online reviews of the Sheraton (noise, cleanliness, etc). I'm holding onto the Fairfield reservation but want to cancel one soon.

What would the 'Dis do??? Help!

 

[Reepicheep]

standard room at the Fairfield Inn... I also have a themepark view room reserved (at the Sheraton). Price is about the same...

I just wanted to confirm that you made use of the "2nd night 40% off" promotion at the Sheraton Park. It usually lowers the cost per night by a significant amount.

I just checked prices for both hotels for your time period, and got the following quotes (tax not included):

$208 - Fairfield, premium view, 2Q beds

$149 - Sheraton, theme park view, 2Q
$195 - Sheraton, theme park view, 2Q club room (i.e., breakfast, snacks during day, evening reception)

Based upon the above rates, I'd definitely stay at the Sheraton.

(ASIDE: the rate for the Sheraton club room can be lowered by approximately $20 per night if you book a non-club room and then use Starwood points to upgrade to club level; if you don't currently have enough Starwood points for the upgrade, there is a sale on right now which would allow you to purchase Starwood points at a significant discount)

 

[stitchnj]

Thanks. I reserved a while ago, and actually just changed my regular view room to themepark at the Sheraton for those nights, for $135/night (AAA rate), which was the same price as the regular room a few months ago. I just checked for the promotion (thanks for the heads up!) and it says it's not available. Am back to looking at TripAdvisor reviews which are more complimentary towards the Sheraton. The Sheraton website was the one that had the recent bad reviews.

 

[Reepicheep]

It has been my experience that it can be a pain in the butt to get the Starwood website to display the "2nd night 40% off" promotional rate. It is available for your nights, but since the rate is higher than your AAA rate, there is no reason for you to change your booking.

I have had a love/hate relationship with the Sheraton Park for the past three years (more specifically, a love/hate relationship with Club Level at the Sheraton Park). If you are interested, page four of the following thread contains the most recent developments:

http://www.disboards.com/threads/sheraton-park-anyone-stayed-there.3408421/page-4

My upcoming one day stay at the Sheraton Park on January 1, 2017 will probably be my last attempt at reconciliation...

 

[Leopardstars]

Personally, I would stay at the Fairfield Inn simply because it's closer than the Sheraton Park. I've heard/read that there can be long waits for the Shuttles around closing time at the parks and I'd rather not fight those crowds or wait any longer.

Maybe you could look at the resorts see what you like about both and see what the reviews say about those features.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

The Sheraton Park is our go-to hotel at DLR. We don't mind the walk at all (about 15 minutes, on average) -- good warm up in the morning and cool down at night. The walk goes right by the ABC Mart, 7-11, and the CVS (24/7), so we can pick up snacks and drinks for the room and for the next day. (As stated above, the club level can be hit or miss. We only use it if we receive a free upgrade.) We've never had a problem with hotel cleanliness. As far as noise goes, we call the front desk to report any issues. Noise at hotels at DLR is a given. Other guests, especially excited children, are loud no matter where you stay. If mobility is a problem in any way, then the FFI might be a better option.

 

[Reepicheep]

The Sheraton Park is our go-to hotel at DLR...

We really enjoyed our stays at the Sheraton Park in the summers of 2014 and 2015, but the prices during the summer of 2016 were too high, so we ended up staying at the Sheraton Garden Grove and the Hyatt Place south of the Sheraton Park. These last two hotels were pretty good, but during our stays I felt like something was missing. I now realize that what I missed was the atmosphere of the Sheraton Park.

More specifically, there are basically no pleasant hotel grounds to walk through when arriving at or leaving the Sheraton GG and the Hyatt buildings. Their pools are basically square rectangles surrounded by parking lot. Returning to the Sheraton Park at the end of a day and walking through the grounds was a very pleasant experience, totally unlike the other two hotels. And of course spending a couple of hours by the Sheraton Park pool was much more enjoyable than spending time at the other hotels' pools. Plus I now realize that, unless we plan on watching Disneyland fireworks from our room in the Sheraton Park, I think I prefer the view from the cheaper Sheraton Park rooms overlooking the pool to the more expensive Disneyland facing rooms. Also, I am always cheered up when I pass the 1960s era Disneyland photos which line the hallways of the Sheraton Park, even though I have seen all the photos dozens of times before.

For our next summer trip in July 2017, I just finished booking some stays at the Staybridge on Manchester and the Sheraton Garden Grove. The prices at both hotels were excellent, with a club room at the Sheraton GG saving me almost $90/day compared to the current prices to a club room at the Sheraton Park. Since we always have a long 3 week stay in Anaheim each summer, spending an extra $90 per day for the excellent ambience of the Sheraton Park is an expense I cannot justify to myself. Excellent deals seem to be available at the Sheraton Park in the off-season, but since we no longer travel to Anaheim during the off-season, I never seem to find competitive rates at the Sheraton Park.

Incidentally, the 2016 Unofficial Disneyland Guide ranks the Sheraton Park as being the #1 best hotel deal in Anaheim, but in the recently released 2017 Guide the Sheraton Park does not even appear on the list of 30 best deals.

*********

EDIT: I also just realized how much enjoyment I get from taking the glass elevator at the Sheraton Park. I think, during the elevator ride, I am able to trick myself into thinking that I am actually staying at the Paradise Pier and using their glass elevator...

 

[Canuck16]

We have stayed at the Sheraton Park Club Level twice before and absolutely loved it there! The rooms were always clean and we did not find the noise an issue. The only thing that we did not like was that the free wifi was only available in the Club Lounge, not in our room.

The grounds of Sheraton Park are wonderful with their pool area surrounded by green space and lush palm trees which gets you away from the hustle and bustle of the outside world.

We walk to and from the parks and do not find the walk bad at all even after a long day in the parks.

We would definitely recommend Sheraton Park.

Have a great trip!

 

[Reepicheep]

The only thing that we did not like was that the free wifi was only available in the Club Lounge, not in our room.

We have stayed at the Sheraton Park on three different Disneyland trips. On the first two trips, free wifi was not included.

During our third and most recent stay in July 2015, at the end of the check-in procedure I asked about wifi, since the employee hadn't said anything at all about it. He said that wifi was free for all guests staying in a Club room (as I recall, there is both regular and fast wifi available, and only "regular" wifi was free). We were told to login each day and ignore the warning message that we would be charged a daily rate of something like $9.99/day. When I checked out of the hotel, there was no charge on our final bill for wifi, so it was definitely free.

This stay was 16 months ago, so I'm not sure what current hotel policy is regarding wifi. During my upcoming one day stay on January 1, 2017, I'll try to keep detailed notes and start up a new thread in this forum on the Sheraton Park, and give a detailed review of the hotel, lounge offerings, and wifi.

 

[stitchnj]

Thanks everyone. You have made me feel better about my choice to stay there. We will have a regular 2Q room with a Disneyland view - my daughter has food allergies which makes Club level not worth the premium. I am looking forward to it. One more month!