Thoughts on our first stay at Howard Johnsons (Hojos)

[BrerMama]

We just got back from a 9 night stay at the beginning of June. It is all in perception. My daughter became good friends with some kids 2 doors down from us. We were all top floor, premium view, building 1. I was talking with the parents, and grad night kept them up from 3 am until morning one night. I did not notice a thing. Then again, we live about a mile from a major highway, a mile from busy train tracks, and off a fairly well travelled street. Now the fireworks did wake my husband and I up that first night (we were so tired from travelling we had gone to bed early) but my 3 kids slept through them, including my son who was on a rollaway right next to the balcony.

The walk... it was long. No doubt about it. My feet were aching and we routinely walk 1.5-3 miles a day. We did walk on the "less travelled" side of Manchester, and found that helped a lot. We saw 1 homeless person on our 2nd to last night when we were walking home after the 2nd Fantasmic. My 9 year old loved the pools. She would have played for hours if I hadn't made her come in. The weather was only in the 60s, so that says a lot for how fun it was.

We spend over 30 nights in hotels each year (we love to travel) and have stayed in some really nice hotels and some really nasty hotels. I found HoJo to be one of the better hotels. We stay onsite at WDW, but just couldn't justify the cost at DL (at WDW, you get lots of perks for staying onsite... bus, dining plan, extra magic hours every day). We'll be back to HoJo, but I can definitely see that not everyone enjoys it as much as we did.

 

[teatime]

YES.




Perception is interesting!

For those who haven't seen detailed reviews elsewhere....

I wonder if they have two lobbies, as the lobby I've been in at HoJo is big, cool (temperature), and really awesomely retro. I LOVE that lobby.

Sounds like you walked up the hotel-side of Harbor? Don't do that! Walk on the OTHER side...you can hear the disneyland music when you walk on that side. And it's just a bit shorter, no need to cut through the Mimi's parking lot. And you keep away from the rest of the hordes going to or from their Harbor hotels, you don't even cross the street at the same light! Therefore, no timeshare people at Tropicana (I've never seen them once, even when walking on the hotel side, weird, eh?).

I've never even noticed an exhaust smell. It's so odd to me that it was so strong during your trip.


I've only stayed in the garden/pool view rooms, and I love them. Sure you hear the pool people during the day, but then the pool closes and it's nice and quiet. I would never bother with a view room...


There was one last thing on my mind...what was it? Drat I can't remember. I'll come back later if I remember.

Oh, that was it...we just stayed at the DLH, and that walk was just so long. I am in the minority on this, but just in case there are others like me I always mention it, I personally far prefer the straight shot (with NO commerce!) along Harbor than the meandering path through DTD. It's worth thinking about what your personality is, and if you have any people with you who will want to shop while you want to power through to/from the parks.

Nope I feel the same way.I have done the hotels of disneyland and find I like being out of the park best. I give enough money to the parks, the gifts, the toys, I also love to eat out side the park and the walk from the disney hotels are way to far to walk out of .... leaving me to eat in side the parks . ( I fly there and refuse to rent a car) If I want to go to down town disney ( which we do a few times to eat ) fine, but I find the walk long)))))) and tedious other wise . And I found them to be no cleaner or nicer then the hotels I choose to get on harbor

 

[LisainCalifornia]

I appreciate reading everyone's opinions. After I posted this I had hoped I wouldn't offend anyone with it--and re-read it and saw all of my typos! My only defense is that I had been traveling since early that morning and must have been more tired than I thought. So give me a crown and call me the typo queen!

I forgot to tell you all about the parks on those days (6/16-18)--very, very crowded. Especially Tuesday--but we just hung in there and did the best we could. At least Disneyland is doing well in this economy!

 

[amyup]

We love the HoJo and stay there most trips.

I do have to tell you, I MUCH prefer the pool view rooms in Bldg 2 vs. Premium Rooms with "Disney View".

The A/C seems better, I think they are newer units? PLUS, we had lots of noise our last Premium room, and never any noise in the Deluxe Rooms. I dunno why, but that is our experience.

As for the walk, I'm a big big person, and my poor feet can only take so much walking. There have been many nights when I was so tempted to get a taxi since they are right there on your way out! I wish HoJo was the first ART stop on the way back, we'd use them all the time.

I do too! The "premium" rooms can be very noisy.

 

[S. S. Columbia]

Thank you for the review!

We stayed at the HoJo in Oct. '07 -- Bldg. 1, 6th floor.

Here are my comments to your comments:

1. Rate was great...
8 Nights at the DLH = $2,400.00
8 Nights at the HoJo (bldg 2) = $680.00 (with Ent. Rate and DIScounts)
For that kind of cost savings, I'm willing to overlook some things.

3. We stayed on the 7th floor, and had a premium disney view.
... the VERY loud freeway noise that was ever-present.
Yes, in Bldg. 1 the northwest corner is louder than the southwest corner.
We stayed in room 1603 (southwest corner) and I heard some "white noise" from the freeway.
I heard it, but DW, DS, and DD didn't.
Next week we're going to try Bldg. 2 for the first time.
They say Bldg. 2 is quieter.

4. The view? Meh. Really it is a view of the Matterhorn ...The trees really block the view, anyhow.
I also found the view to be underwhelming.
The view is o.k., but nothing special.

This photo was taken from Bldg. 1, 6th floor, room 1603 -- can you see the tip of the Matterhorn?

These two photos were taken in Oct. '07

6. ... the homeless man on the corner ...
Yes, I once saw a man sleeping on a bench on Harbor Blvd. It was a Monday morning in early Aug. '07 -- about 5:45am. (Somewhere between the Camelot Inn and the crosswalk). (He wasn't there at 7:15am.)

...with the smell of bus exhaust hitting you in the face.
Others have also said this, but I respectfully disagree.
In general, I think the walk on Harbor Blvd. from "the crosswalk" to HoJo is nicely landscaped, etc.

... felt a little unsafe cutting through the parking lot of Mimi's close to midnight with my 12 year old daughter. I just didn't like that.
JMHO, I think it's safe at night WHEN it's right after the fireworks and there are many people walking up and down Harbor Blvd. I agree, walking close to midnight -- like any public place -- can be (and feel) unsafe.

Thanks again for the review!

 

[JenDisneylandlver]

We had the same experience when staying there last year. I agree with everything you said, we also found it quite loud. We usually stay at the Tropicana because it's right across the street. Not much of a walk that way. But even then we've seen some things on Harbor (and even right at the crosswalk) that made me uneasy and nervous (a man preaching religion and in a not so nice way for example). Even on the Disney side late at night, most of the time we felt very alone. Besides one or two people we would pass. While I didn't feel in danger, I was alert to my surroundings. The walk in DTD is much nicer, lots of people, music, lights. And no I don't mind the shops either! Nothing beats staying on site that's for sure.

Hojo's does have some nice things about it, but it wasn't for us.

 

[Grumpy'sWife4Ever]

Maybe it is that we stayed in building 2, but our stay in March was clean, modern, quiet, and felt so much closer to the "action" than when we stayed in another off-site hotel that shall remain nameless (because now I know what a dive it is and won't admit I was clueless enough to stay there ) We haven't had the pleasure of being able to stay on-site, it would be amazing but our pocketbook dictates that we spend our money on mouse ears and churros and not on our hotel. Oh, well. Some day, our lottery winnings will come.....
OP, your review is honest, informational, and very helpful without being whiny or seeming like you expected too much! Thanks for that! And don't you worry about typos, if it weren't for spell check I am sure I would be typing in a foreign language to most.....