Park Vue or Dessert Inn and Suites

[Velvetia]

Has anyone stayed at Park Vue or Desert Inn and Suites or both - and have any recommendations? Since Park Vue has stopped the extras like the evening meal and water bottles, I'm thinking of moving to Desert Inn, I think they're both about the same distance away from the parks. Desert Inn seems a bit nicer from it's website photos? What do you think, what would you advise? Any advice gratefully received as I need to get these reservations made... thanks!

 

[BlueBayou]

It's been a few years since I stayed at the Desert Inn and Suites. But our two visits in a parlor suite were nice.

I will say the one thing that made a HUGE impression on me is we were booked there for a 4 night stay and my youngest daughter (a toddler at the time) came down with croup the day before we were supposed to leave. Bad enough to get get a shot.

We called the hotel and they were SUPER COOL about letting us slide the trip back a day without charging us.

It's been about 6 years since we stayed there - but the staff at the time was very friendly and helpful.

 

[Velvetia]

It's been a few years since I stayed at the Desert Inn and Suites. But our two visits in a parlor suite were nice.

I will say the one thing that made a HUGE impression on me is we were booked there for a 4 night stay and my youngest daughter (a toddler at the time) came down with croup the day before we were supposed to leave. Bad enough to get get a shot.

We called the hotel and they were SUPER COOL about letting us slide the trip back a day without charging us.

It's been about 6 years since we stayed there - but the staff at the time was very friendly and helpful.

Thanks BlueBayou - it sounds like a good place, think we'll go for it!

 

[JacksGirlz]

We have stayed at the Desert Inn and suites many times. It is basic and clean but you can't beat the price for the amount of space you get. The pool is enclosed and on the small side. I like that the pool is enclosed so the kids can swim even when it's cool outside.

 

[Elk Grove Chris]

We have stayed at Park Vue Inn twice, loved it both times (staying again Thanksgiving week). While it will be a bummer to not have the water available, not a deal breaker for us. We will just bring our own water and put it in the fridge. We never took advantage of the evening meals so not a deal breaker for us either.

It is clean, has comfortable beds, and it is super close to DL.

 

[DisneytheKid]

We have stayed at Park Vue Inn twice, loved it both times (staying again Thanksgiving week). While it will be a bummer to not have the water available, not a deal breaker for us. We will just bring our own water and put it in the fridge. We never took advantage of the evening meals so not a deal breaker for us either.

It is clean, has comfortable beds, and it is super close to DL.

I was a little sad to hear about the changed they made as we had looked at staying there in the past but its nice to see past guests willing to stay. I think it speaks to the quality of the place

 

[kirstie101]

We've stayed at DI&S twice now and have reservations for September as well. We really like it. Location is great, room configurations are awsome for large groups, if you reserve early enough you cant beat the rates and the breakfast is enough to get us started in the morning. And we've lucked out both trips so far and had a view of the fireworks from our room. As long as the prices stay competitive we'll keep coming back. Oh and DD likes the indoor pool.
My only complaint is the elevators can be slow during busy times but they're still not that bad.

The only other hotel we'll stay at is Hojo when the ENT rates are available.

 

[blackjackdelta]

My kids are booked into PVI mid August after a ton of research, they are very excited to stay there. What they dropped has to be less than $2.00 at cost if they are lucky. They looked at DI&S and vetoed it.

Jack

 

[Here4mydisneyfix]

We stayed at the Dessert Inn and Suites when we went with our kids a couple months back. We loved the place. It was just great! Clean, affordable, nice and roomy with comfy beds, but the best part? Being so close to the parks! It's not like those hotels that proudly claim "close to Disney, only 2 blocks away!" when we all know Anaheim blocks are like a mile each! LOL Nope, this one is really, really close! Can't beat it! The only downside is that the breakfast is pretty skimpy, and ALL carbs with yucky coffee, but they do have big fridges in the rooms, so you can supplement by dropping by Target or having food/water, etc. delivered by Vons.

 

[BayAreaMom]

I stayed in a Parlor Suite (small room with couch/tv on outside, 2 Q on inside) last June 2011 for 3 nights at Desert Inn & Suites, and PVI in the 2Q/Kitchenette suite for 2 nights in August 2011.

I cannot recommend either, unless you are looking for a no-frills budget motel right near DL- the location of both are fabulous.

DI& S is super simple- think of it like Motel 6. I remember the beds being hard as rock- didn't sleep well. But I've also read posts here that say they are soft- so don't take my word exclusively. The elevator was a bummer- we were on the top floor with a stroller, so that was slow. Pool was awful- crowded and smelled like a ton of chlorine. Everything else was just super basic.

PVI has a F BBB rating (on a scale of A to F)- read them yourself, but note no claims in the past year. Still, I didn't like the room- it wasn't super clean, towels were thin, and lots of noise outside our room (we were on the first floor, with a walkway outside- there is no elevator and we had a stroller- if you can do the 2nd floor it would be quieter). The beds were fabulous.

Since those two stays, we have stayed at the Howard Johnson 5 times (Sept-11, Nov-11, Jan-12, April-12, May-12) and LOVE it. Its not the closest or cheapest, but I love that it feels more like a hotel than a motel.

 

[MinnieMouseMom4]

We have stayed at both places. We've stayed at Desert inn a couple times and Park Vue around 4 times.
We now choose Park Vue inn over Desert.

Desert Inn was a fine Motel. Basic, clean accomodations. I wouldn't hesitate to stay here again if we couldn't get a room at PVI. We never used the pool, but the chlorine smell was very strong since its indoors. They have a nice rooftop to watch the fireworks. The only Negatives are the breakfast is minimal and the parking is Very Tight and limited spaces. Once we were able to find a parking we would not move our car the whole trip, cause we were scared we wouldn't have one to come back to.

Now for PVI. I have to say I really do love this place. We have always had a great stay and are really just very comfortable here. We have stayed in a few different rooms, 2 queen, 1 queen w/bunkbeds (this is a tight spaced room) and a 2q sofabed w/kitchenette. Rooms are clean and comfortable. We have always had excellent customer service from Everyone, from front desk w/my many phone calls prior to leaving and check in, to housekeeping. They serve a larger hot breakfast selection, more than enough to get full. They also have a deck to watch fireworks. The pool is nice and a good size, it is in the middle of parking lot, but when your in there you wouldn't know it, it has alot of greenery. I do like the parking here alot better, no parking fee, there is plenty of spaces and you can leave your car after you check out. They have recently gotten rid of some ammenities, but we are a family of 6 so with the Breakfast alone we save enough cover a price difference when comparing to other hotels.

 

[pixiemomof3]

No evening dinner! I was looking forward to these new changes (for us -we were last at the pvi 2008 and they did not have any of the new things offered.) I thought the evening snacks/meals sounded great, save some $ too and the free water and the room baskets,etc. I made ressies here a few months ago for our trip this month, and just find this out, kind of a bummer. I don't know if we would have used the dinner anyways,but thought it was a cool offereing along with the wine baskets, free water,etc.
I guess they had to cut back for the new renovations they will be doing. (this is what I was told when I called).
The breakfast is still good and filling for us. Gets us through the morning so that is worth it for us. At least they still have that. We have always stayed in the single queen/bunk room which is small for all of us, but the double queen/bunk always seem to be booked. The rooms have always been clean and we have not had any problems with the pvi so far.
We have stayed here our last two trips anyways without all this but oh well, Seems like it is back to the way it was the last time for us, lol.

 

[tlovesdis]

We've stayed at both and I would highly recommend PVI over DI&S!!! We loved our stay at PVI, DI&S not so much!