The ever present hotel question

[phins_jazy]

Well, we've decided to do it. We're going to DL March 2-10, 2002. My husband, DD and myself as well as my mother and father in law, my sister in law and her roomate. So 6 adults total. I've been looking online for hotels to stay at. Some of them say you can make reservations 1 year in advance. I tried calling Hawthorne Suites and they don't have any rates yet. I'm going to call Desert Inn and Desert Palm in the morning. Anyone know when they release the next years rates? I'd like to book our room or rooms as soon as possible. Also what do you think of the following hotels.....

-Westcoast Anaheim

-Hawthorne Suites

-Desert Inn and Suites

-Desert Palm and Suites

I just think it would be better for all of us to get a suite and split it 3 ways than get 3 seperate rooms. We're spending enough money on airfare the way it is. Gotta save some money for souiveniers

I appreciate any and all comments.

Thanks

Misty

 

[Kaos Creator]

Here is a link to my reports on 3 hotels.....
http://www.disboards.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2008

 

[PixieDusting]

Several weeks ago and would definitely recommend it and will stay there again at another time.

The rooms were good sized, looked to be recently renovated. Clean and bright. Hotel staff was great. Room service was good, and servings were more than ample. We did not eat in the hotel restaraunt.

If you ask for a park view room, you'll have a wonderful view of DCA, particularly when it is lit up in the evevnings. You'll also be able to see the DL fireworks

Shuttle to the park was a red trolley. Ran every 1/2 hour. Trip took maybe 5 minutes to the park. You could easily walk to the parks as well.

HTH

 

[phins_jazy]

Thanks for the replies PixieDusting and Kaos Creator. I just got off the phone with WestCoast Anaheim and they don't have rates for next year yet. They said sometime around Sept or Oct they should have them. Same goes for Desert Inn and Suites. Desert Palm quoted me a rate of $139 for the F2 suite which sleeps 8. That wouldn't be bad. Split 3 ways it ends up being @ $47 a night. So that wouldn't be too bad. So we'll see. Anyone stayed at the Desert Palm? Good or bad experiences?

 

[Cindy & Mickey]

We landed the Hilton Suites for this weekend (yay!!) for a sweet $30 at priceline.

I can't wait!

 

[phins_jazy]

Wow!! Good job Cindy & Mickey!!! You got a great deal. I'm such a complusive overplanner that there is no way I could wait so long to make my ressies. I'm not going for another 10 months and I want to make ressies now!!

I've never used priceline before. I've heard people get really good deals there. I'm just afraid of not getting a good hotel. Since this is the very first time I'll be visiting Disney, heck it's our first REAL vacation, I want to have a little bit of control over the hotel we get. Has anyone heard of getting good rates at any of the hotels across from Disney (using priceline or not)? If so, do you have any tips????

Misty

 

[Cindy & Mickey]

Phins,

Trust me, I am with you on being a compulsive vacation planner. But think about it like this: you will be traveling off-season. There's no way that all the hotels in DL area will be booked. The hotels aren't willing to let go quite yet...but when they do, you're bound to snag a deal, provided you've done your homework (like you're doing).

I've booked with Priceline for hotels maybe 5 or 6 times now, with no complaints. If your dates are a wee bit flexible, it's even better. That way, when your Priceline offer is first rejected, you can resubmit, altered by a day, etc. Be prepared, with Priceline, you'll be rejected once or twice (so go into the process knowing this and you won't stress out). Use Priceline bonus money to land a cheaper deal, too. You can select the Anaheim-DL area and what star rating you're willing to accept (got with 3 stars).

For this weekend's deal, I was flexible. So, I shot for Mother's Day weekend, was rejected via Priceline, and resubmitted my $30 bid again for the earlier weekend. And voila!

Finally, relax. One thing that makes a great vacation better is knowing you got a great deal in the process.

Have fun!

Cindy

 

[Luv2Roam]

We will be staying at the Desert Inn the end of this month. I'll post what it is like when we return.
The price was right for us! $54 a night, standard room (AAA discount).

 

[phins_jazy]

Luv2Roam be sure to let me know how the hotel is!! Hope you have a great time!! I'm especially interested in the indoor pool. Is it a fairly good size, what are the size of the rooms etc., etc., etc. I'd appreciate any info that you can give me about the hotel from your upcoming personal experience. Hope you have a blast!!

 

[Mattsmom]

We just returned from 4 nights (5/2-5/6) at Desert Inns & Suites. The rooms were good sized and clean. The location couldn't be better. The pool was on the small side and filled with kids. My DS10 enjoyed it daily! Breakfast was only from 7:30 a.m. - 9:30 a.m. and consisted of toast, danish and fruit. Orange juice, milk and coffee were also served. It isn't a deluxe hotel, but is definitetly a AAA 3-star and the price is great. We paid $54 a night and the others hotels around there wanted approx. $90 per night. We would stay there again!

 

[phins_jazy]

Hi Mattsmom! Sounds like y'all had fun. Did you have a standard room or one of the suites? And was your $54 rate the standard rate or AAA?

Thanks

 

[minnieandmickey]

We stay at the Desert Inn and Suites every year and wouldn't think about staying anywhere else, unless of course a miracle happens and we can afford the DL hotel, the rooms are great and the hotel is right across the street from DL/DCA. Also there are many restaurants nearby, Denny's and IHOP are right next door. This hotel would also be closer than the Desert Palm , which by the way is the Desert Inns sister property.Have a great time!!!!

 

[Mattsmom]

Hi phins_jazy,

We had a standard room. It was just DH, DS10 and myself. The room had 2 Queen beds, table and 2 chairs, and a wall unit with T.V., microwave and fridge. We had the AAA rate. Hope this helps.

mattsmom

 

[Floydian]

We stayed there for 3 nights last February. All in all, I'd rate it as average.

We had a Spa Suite, with 2 king sized beds and a HUGE whirpool tub. The room was not as big as we'd hoped, considering it had those 2 big beds. It seemed as though they took an average sized sleeping area and put those beds in there, which made for very little space when passing between the foot of the beds and the dresser/TV/fridge.

Also, our room was nothing special in the decor or atmosphere, with a small-ish pool outside across the parking lot. The breakfast was a simple thing with juice, milk, coffee, cereal, danish, and fruit. Though for free, it's better than nothing.

Though we wouldn't stay there again, I wouldn't take our experience as the absolute facts about the hotel. We've only seen one version of one room category, so who knows how nice others might be.

All in all, there was really nothing special about the place, but then, there was really nothing that I hated either. Just an average experience when we were expecting a bit more, making for mild disappointment when all was said and done.

 

[phins_jazy]

Thanks everybody for the great responses. I think we're sold on Desert Inn and Suites. Depending on who all decides to come with us we'll either get two standard rooms or the big parlor suite. I'm excited!!!

 

[minnieandmickey]

Just a quick note to let you know that the standard rooms are in the back of the hotel while the suites are towards the front of the hotel, and if you are driving you can only park one car there, unless there is room in the parking lot , we had 2 cars last year and had to park offsite for 1 day (thanksgiving weekend) and the other 3 days there was room for the other car at the hotel.inkbounc inkbounc

 

[phins_jazy]

Fortunately we won't have to worry about parking. We're flying in and we aren't renting a car.