Park Vue vs Best Western vs Desert Inn and Suites vs Del Sol vs Anaheim Islander Inn

[Frozen2014]

Doing research for a trip in August (probably 4 nights at DL). We're coming with our two kids who will be 12 and 8 when we travel. We'll be travelling around but at this point I am assuming we will only rent a car for part of our trip . i.e. when not at Disneyland.

Thus our requirements of a hotel are

• clean room and comfy beds
• working washroom (toilets flush with no issue, decent shower)
• close walking distance to park (esp as August will be hot)
• breakfast included (this just makes it much easier in the mornings)
• wifi (since we don't have data plans)

Nice to have but not a must:

• a pool (not sure we are the type to return to the hotel for a swim in the day)
• 2 washrooms (not a must as we don't typically have this but it was amazing when we had it at WDW)
• separate beds/sofa bed for our kids (not a must as they often share when we are away)

At the moment, I have narrowed it down to:

• Desert Inn and Suites
• Park Vue Inn
• Best Western Plus Anaheim Inn
• Best Western Plus Mini Suites (is this different from above???)
• Del Sol Inn
• Anaheim Islander Inn & Suites

Since we are travelling from Canada (i.e. expensive airline) and we want to tour LA for a few days, we are trying to keep our budget low to moderate when we can.

Desert Inn and Suites is about half the price of Park Vue and the Best Westerns, which is why I am leaning towards it. I have also noted Anaheim Islander Inn & Suites. It is a further walk (about 16 min), but it caught my eye for the extra bed/sofa bed for reasonable price. Dell Sol is also quite reasonable.

Thoughts on the above hotels? Are Park Vue and Best Westerns worth the extra cost? We typically don't spend much time in our hotel...and to be honest, from pictures none of them have that nice pools that it is worth losing time at DL. (Unless we want to cool off from the summer heat).

 

[Kindermouse]

Del Sol-Very basic motel but it was clean. The rooms are small so might seem to cramped with a family of 4.

Desert inn-basic,but not as basic as del sol. The showers are small and the shower heads are very short. I am 5'1 so its fine for me but my son who is slightly taller than me mentioned that he didnt care for the miniature showers. They do have multiple rooms types for extra beds, extra rooms, and extra bathrooms. The rooms at the front are nicer and more spacious than the rooms in the back-but it was very quiet at the rooms in back and when we have a room up front we always here people/kids running around in the early morning that wake us up. Some people think the beds are hard-We didn't think so. I stay here or the tropicana most often because of the price and proximity to the parks.

PArk Vue has free parking for you rental car. parking will be around 10 a night at the other places. They also have a nicer free breakfast.

I havent ever stayed at Anaheim Islander and I know nothing about it.

 

[Canadian Harmony]

I have recently (last week... sigh... only a week ago...) at the Del Sol. Here are my opinions based on your criteria:

clean room and comfy beds: the room was clean and the beds were great! One thick, one thinner pillow. The bed was heavenly after a long day in the parks. It was cleaned every day with new towels put in and things tidied up. Do NOT ask for an adjoining room if you don't need one. The wall was paper thin and I had to tell the Wednesday night guy to shut up (at 12;45am!) and the Friday morning guys to shut up (at 6:45am!). If you don't need an adjoining room, I'd make sure to ask for a non-adjoining suite.

working washroom (toilets flush with no issue, decent shower): washroom was fine. The shower pressure was a little less than what I was used to, but it was just fine.

close walking distance to park (esp as August will be hot): maximum 5 minutes from door to gate. It was awesome.

breakfast included (this just makes it much easier in the mornings): their breakfast consisted of pastries, cold, peeled boiled eggs, a bit of fruit, toast, cereal and milk, coffee, tea. It'll do until you can get into the park.

wifi (since we don't have data plans): there is a wifi there good for the week (M-M). It's sloooooow though.

Nice to have but not a must:

• a pool (not sure we are the type to return to the hotel for a swim in the day): the pool is open til 10pm.
• 2 washrooms (not a must as we don't typically have this but it was amazing when we had it at WDW): I don't know about this, you'd need to call to ask.
• separate beds/sofa bed for our kids (not a must as they often share when we are away): again, you'd have to ask. My room had two queen beds in it, a little round table, a desk and chair, tv, chest of drawers, night table, lamps, etc. A bar fridge, microwave, coffee maker and stuff for it, closet, ironing board, iron. Pretty standard.

They give out free cookies (and I got a set each day) which were super yummy. And if you stay again, you get 35% off your next stay, plus leave a good review on Trip Advisor to get a coupon for another $10 off (one day parking). Parking there is $9/day, btw. There's a valet who will park for you if you'd like.

 

[Darkbeer1]

There are MANY different Best Western Motels in the area, so be careful.

The best known one is the one next door to Park Vue Inn and is one of the closest to the park entrance, the proper name is "Best Western Plus Park Place Inn & Suites" (BWPPPI&S).

I prefer the Park Vue Inn over the BWPPPI&S for the larger rooms and how parking is handled at the location.

 

[aidansmother]

We like Park Vue. We stayed there earlier in the month. The walk is so close and the breakfast is decent, nothing fancy, but it works as something to have before the park.

 

[mamapenguin]

We like BWPPI and Park Vue, BWPPI has better breakfast and seems to have more tables to accommodate guests. I don't use a car at DLR so I cannot comment on parking. Both were clean and comfy. The pull out bed we had at BWPPI was hard and probably uncomfortable, I pulled it out just out of curiosity. Thankfully we didn't actually have a need for it. We have not stayed at the other hotels mentioned, but are considering BW Stovall's for an upcoming trip(the rate is quite a bit lower than BWPPI).

 

[Frozen2014]

There are MANY different Best Western Motels in the area, so be careful.

The best known one is the one next door to Park Vue Inn and is one of the closest to the park entrance, the proper name is "Best Western Plus Park Place Inn & Suites" (BWPPPI&S).

I prefer the Park Vue Inn over the BWPPPI&S for the larger rooms and how parking is handled at the location.

For Best Western, I see

• Best Western Plus Anaheim Inn at 1630 S Harbor Blvd (next to Dennys)
• Best Western Plus Mini Suites at 1544 Harbor Blvd (next to IHOP)

I assume these are similar?

 

[Darkbeer1]

OK, you have the following Six Best Western's in the area

Anaheim Inn
Courtesy Inn
Pavilions
Park Place Inn & MiniSuites
Raffles Inn & Suites
Stovall's Inn

Each Motel (The term Inn is used in the Anaheim area to say "Motel") was built in a different style, and not all are operated by the same ownership. (Best Western is a large international franchise company) They are similar in the fact they are older Motel properties, similar to other places like the Park Vue Inn. (Basically a 1 to 3 story building with outer corridors and parking next to the rooms). In the area close to the parks on Harbor are limited-service Hotels, Extended Stay Hotels (Apartment like rooms with kitchens), and even some full service Hotels (Valet, BellHops, Room Service, etc.) with the Marriott, Hilton and Shearton Park next to the Convention Center. Of course, you get what you pay for.

The Stovall Company runs 4 of them, Anaheim Inn, Pavilions, PPI&MS and Stovall's.

But they have different offering at each Hotel, so you should read the reviews of each specific location.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g29092-Anaheim_California-Hotels.html

 

[Bossy22]

My family is also from Canada (Alberta) and have done numerous DL trips now and our go to hotel is now Desert inn and suites! We sleep great, shower great, enjoy the breakfast (its not huge but we found it enough for us and quite enjoyed it) and llllloooooovvvvvveeeeeeedddddd the location and price! It is by far the best deal in our opinion and with small kids (yours aren't as young as ours) it is soooo nice to be soooooooo close. If you have any questions, feel free to ask but we have never had any issues at all. We are not high maitenance people but it was very sufficient for our needs.

 

[Aladora]

We're also from Canada and have done a bunch of DL trips. We've stayed at Park Vue Inn 3 times and Desert Inn & Suites 3 times.

Here are my pros and cons for each:

PVI:
Pro:
MUCH better breakfast.
Outdoor pool
small store (cheap bottled water!) right on site
free parking
softer beds
slightly closer

Con:
More expensive
not as many suite configurations
Wifi is not as great
Laundry is past the pool across the parking lot (at least from our rooms)

DI&S:
Pro:
MUCH better wifi
Less expensive
better suite configurations
laundry is more centralized

Con:
breakfast is definitely inferior
If you have a car then there is a parking charge (but we never have one so are never charged this)
Beds are quite firm

For us, if we are staying offsite and there are just the 3 of us, we will go with the Desert Inn & Suites. If my sister in law joins us to make 4, then it is worth it to us to stay at the Park Vue Inn because the breakfast is much better and we can save a fair amount by not buying breakfast elsewhere.

 

[Frozen2014]

Thank you all for the helpful responses. Great comparisons.

Bossy22, that's kind of how we feel with places to stay. Pretty easy going as long as it's clean and noise is ok. What kind of breakfast does Desert Inn give? As long as it's something to get us going and hold us over until lunch not a big deal.

P.S. Good to know there are different Best Westerns. Two are almost side by side a D websites are similar so thought they were the same.

P.P.S If you were to ask our kids they would pick Del Sol for the cookies...lol

 

[Aladora]

DI&S breakfast last month was:

Hard boiled eggs
Apples
Oranges
Small pastries
White and whole wheat bread for toast
Bagels
Dry oatmeal
Two dry cereals
Milk, orange and apple juice
Coffee and tea

I think that was it.

 

[Frozen2014]

DI&S breakfast last month was:

Hard boiled eggs
Apples
Oranges
Small pastries
White and whole wheat bread for toast
Bagels
Dry oatmeal
Two dry cereals
Milk, orange and apple juice
Coffee and tea

I think that was it.

Awesome.. Thanks