What's the Deal with HoJo??

[Hojoanaheim]

We stayed there 5 years ago (maybe things have changed since then) and we were not impressed.

When we walked into the HoJo, I was immediately disappointed. The room smelt like an old nursing home, the orange curtains, yellow bedding, and pink & blue tiled bathrooms were horrible. There was a leak in the ceiling, their two "queen" beds are actually only full size. I know because I measured. I got put in a two story building which was a joke because there was no elevator and I had to lug 10 bags of luggage up a tiny staircase (a wife & 3 daughters on a long trip=lots of luggage). The laundry room is ghetto (at least the one I seen was).

Most people love the HoJo and rave about it, which is why we booked there in the first place. But after our first (and only) experience there, we don't plan on staying there again. It may be inexpensive with the rates they offer, but when I am in my room, I want to be able to enjoy my time there and not gag over the smell or wonder if the ceiling is going to collapse on us while we sleep.

Hey caimakale!

We're really sorry that you didn't enjoy your stay with us! It sounds like things may have gotten off to the wrong start before you even arrived if you were told that the rooms you booked in the two-story buildings were queen sized beds. They are oversized double beds- but they are definitely not queens, and we're always very careful to make sure that we let guests know about every aspect of their rooms prior to their booking- so I'm really sorry as it seems that this did not happen in your case.

With regard to the overall condition of your room- that definitely is something that our management team would want to be informed of to have the opportunity to investigate and address!

If you have a moment and can email me at lorealle.bishop@hojoanaheim.com with your last name and arrival date- I'd love to take a closer look at your reservation on your behalf so that we can try to figure out what went so wrong, and make sure that it doesn't happen again!

We look forward to hearing from you, and appreciate your help!
Lorealle

 

[Mortimer Mouse]

Not to rain on the parade but room location is very important here, as it backs up to the I5 freeway and the noise effects a block of rooms. This kinda ruined it for us.....

 

[tinksdreamwishes]

My family and I stayed at Hojos sat July 10. It was a way better experience then we thought it would be! We arrived at 6 am... DH went inside to grab a parking pass and to let them know we are ready for our room whenever they are ready, and to our surprise- DH walked out to the car with room keys! Yep- at 6 am our room was ready- and after 6 hours of driving it was a wonderful start to a great weekend! we did get building 1 on the 7th floor facing the freeway- they told us it would be noisey but we could have the room now if we wanted to take a noisey room. We live next to HwY 99 so noise doesnt bother us! The room was extremly clean- no dirty socks, no odd smells! Which are pluses to me! the beds were great! The rooms were also huge!!! Plenty of room for a family of 5! We asked for a roll away for our teen and they sent it up at 8pm... it was free of charge- normaly it would have been $10- but they didnt add it to the bill. We had a balcony- facing the freeway hehe... but was nice! The pool was great- and when the kid pool closed down for lunch break- we just walked on over to the other pool. The store was great too! They had ART- but the walk was easy. The only bad thing- the fan wasnt too cold... i set it at 70 and i seemed hot. but oh well. I was also there on a ent rate day- but we had no card! I booked the hotel 3 days before we left- so I had no time to order a card from ebay- which is a lesson learned! This nov- I am ordering a card- just in case I get lucky and get a last min trip again ...
now the weekend before our stay at the hojo- DH and I stayed at the Grand! We actually planned a few months ahead for that trip- but to compare the Grand and the Hojo- well they both have advantages- but I can say this- Hojo keeps there hotel very well kept... and clean! Also I love how Lorealle does her best to keep up with these forum responses and it shows just how much Hojos really cares about there guests satisfaction- which is awesome!

 

[aprincess@mail.com]

We stayed at Hojo on July 17-19th. We had a premium Disney View room Building 1 floor 7 room #717, it was at the AP rate of $79.
My 5year old DD LOVED the Pirate water park!
We arrived Saturday evening at 6pm and checked in, we were all down at the pool area by 7 and she was loving it!
My 2year old son is not a fan of the water, but he did get a kick out of watching the bucket of water splash on the kids.
We stayed at the pool area until about 8:30 and then went upstairs to our room. We ordered our take out dinner from Mimi's next door.
We stopped at the gift shop and found some really cute souvies for cheap
i forgot to use my annual pass discount though. the food from Mimi's was delicious! We brought it back to our room to watch the fireworks show from our room, but im assuming it was too windy because there were no fireworks that night. The room was clean and spacious and we loved that it had the Disney channel for my kids-very important!
We didnt use the Keurig machine, even though I brought our own teas and hot chocolate K- cups because it was just too hot.
The walk to the park was super short and easy to do. Parking was spacious and plenty of parking was available despite being fully booked.
The only complaint I have is that our room was near the freeway and it was very loud at night. Im 7 months pregnant and I have to wake up at night to use the restroom and everytime I did, it was hard to fall back asleep again because it was sooo loud to me. Oh and for some reason the Disneyland train was blowing its whistle at 2:00 in the morning.
We used the water park, the garden pool during break, the gift shop, the disney channel, the internet, the micro and fridge. We loved the deal we got and we will probably book that hotel again, but this time I will ask for a room away from the freeway noise.
If your looking for a clean room with space and lots of amenities, this is a good deal if you can book the ET rates or if you have an AP.
My daughter said she wanted to stay there again.

 

[mwrogers]

Hey caimakale!

We're really sorry that you didn't enjoy your stay with us! It sounds like things may have gotten off to the wrong start before you even arrived if you were told that the rooms you booked in the two-story buildings were queen sized beds. They are oversized double beds- but they are definitely not queens, and we're always very careful to make sure that we let guests know about every aspect of their rooms prior to their booking- so I'm really sorry as it seems that this did not happen in your case.

With regard to the overall condition of your room- that definitely is something that our management team would want to be informed of to have the opportunity to investigate and address!

If you have a moment and can email me at lorealle.bishop@hojoanaheim.com with your last name and arrival date- I'd love to take a closer look at your reservation on your behalf so that we can try to figure out what went so wrong, and make sure that it doesn't happen again!

We look forward to hearing from you, and appreciate your help!
Lorealle

This response is why most people love HoJo's. Things may go wrong there, just like they do at every other hotel (even GCH). But when something isn't right at HoJo's, they genuinely make an effort to understand and fix it.

 

[pixiewings71]

We stayed there 5 years ago (maybe things have changed since then) and we were not impressed.

When we walked into the HoJo, I was immediately disappointed. The room smelt like an old nursing home, the orange curtains, yellow bedding, and pink & blue tiled bathrooms were horrible. There was a leak in the ceiling, their two "queen" beds are actually only full size. I know because I measured. I got put in a two story building which was a joke because there was no elevator and I had to lug 10 bags of luggage up a tiny staircase (a wife & 3 daughters on a long trip=lots of luggage). The laundry room is ghetto (at least the one I seen was).

Most people love the HoJo and rave about it, which is why we booked there in the first place. But after our first (and only) experience there, we don't plan on staying there again. It may be inexpensive with the rates they offer, but when I am in my room, I want to be able to enjoy my time there and not gag over the smell or wonder if the ceiling is going to collapse on us while we sleep.

Oh wow, we love those rooms, we request those every time. We never had that smell or experience ever.....we know the rooms are over-sized doubles and we are OK with that. We haven't used the laundry room so no comment there, I love the curtains....they keep the room darker so I can sleep better. I would have gone to the front desk to get a room change right away had that been the case..and I have NO doubt that I would received one. We've always received stellar service from the HoJo, it's always our first choice (besides our time share but those points don't last forever lol) in hotels.
And FTR, we are a family with 3 females, we all take 1 suitcase (carry on size altho we drive) and 1 tote bag and that's it...and we are all responsible for getting our own bags to and from our room, no way would I make DBF lug all our bag for us.

I hope you see Lorealle's email and you're able to get in touch with her so she can address your concerns, even with a 5 year gap.

 

[kirstie101]

We stayed at Hojo on July 17-19th. We had a premium Disney View room Building 1 floor 7 room #717, it was at the AP rate of $79.
My 5year old DD LOVED the Pirate water park!
We arrived Saturday evening at 6pm and checked in, we were all down at the pool area by 7 and she was loving it!
My 2year old son is not a fan of the water, but he did get a kick out of watching the bucket of water splash on the kids.
We stayed at the pool area until about 8:30 and then went upstairs to our room. We ordered our take out dinner from Mimi's next door.
We stopped at the gift shop and found some really cute souvies for cheap
i forgot to use my annual pass discount though. the food from Mimi's was delicious! We brought it back to our room to watch the fireworks show from our room, but im assuming it was too windy because there were no fireworks that night. The room was clean and spacious and we loved that it had the Disney channel for my kids-very important!
We didnt use the Keurig machine, even though I brought our own teas and hot chocolate K- cups because it was just too hot.
The walk to the park was super short and easy to do. Parking was spacious and plenty of parking was available despite being fully booked.
The only complaint I have is that our room was near the freeway and it was very loud at night. Im 7 months pregnant and I have to wake up at night to use the restroom and everytime I did, it was hard to fall back asleep again because it was sooo loud to me. Oh and for some reason the Disneyland train was blowing its whistle at 2:00 in the morning.
We used the water park, the garden pool during break, the gift shop, the disney channel, the internet, the micro and fridge. We loved the deal we got and we will probably book that hotel again, but this time I will ask for a room away from the freeway noise.
If your looking for a clean room with space and lots of amenities, this is a good deal if you can book the ET rates or if you have an AP.
My daughter said she wanted to stay there again.

Glad to hear that even pregnant the walk to/from the park wasn't that bad! This helps me a lot! Thank you!

 

[Kayla's Mom]

Glad to hear that even pregnant the walk to/from the park wasn't that bad! This helps me a lot! Thank you!

Just wanted to say that I have also done the walk at 6-7 months pregnant and was fine.

 

[50sjayne]

Some of the hotels across the street may be a little closer but it's a shorter/faster walk when you cross on Manchester and walk on the Disney side of the street. You can't do that further down because it's fenced all the way down. We have relatives who didn't understand you could walk down the Disney side and it's faster. They would walk over from the Fairfield, eat breakfast at Mimi's every day, and then walk down the hotel side of the street. Very frustrating to me.

 

[stormys]

Can anybody say to me if HOJO has Frontdesk safe box?, I do not feel myself safe in leaving values in in-room safe.

 

[bumbershoot]

I am 99% certain that they do have a place to lock up valuables at the front desk. Good for you, doing that! Very safe.

 

[BecomingObsessed]

Can someone please tell the lame newbie what an AP rate is? We are getting season passes and I want to find a "home" in Anaheim! Our upcoming trip will have us staying at DI&S but more and more I want to stay at the HOJO - for the best deal possible

Also, where can I get my hands on an entertainment book? I know some schools sell them as fundraisers, but no one has hit me up for years! Are they online some place?

Thank you to the kind soul who takes pity on me and answers all these silly questions! I really appreciate your time and knowledge

 

[pixiewings71]

You don't need the book, you just need the card. I got mine on eBay for about $5.

 

[dalepool]

AP is abbrevation used for the Disneyland annual pass. Disney has lately had some very GOOD deals on the on-site hotels. IMO it is worth getting an annual pass for these rates. ( Not sure when you have your trip planned --as AP rates might not be available during your trip.)

You can buy the entertainment books on -line. I think the cards are good good Oct-Oct. If late in year I have heard of people using e-bay for just the entertainment card.

To the Original poster. We have found the Hojo to have those great prices and then with the fact there is a great group of employees that actually seem to enjoy their job are two reasons guests keep returning to Hojo's. Here are a few more comfy beds, over sized room, the grounds are well kept, and housekeeping has always been excellent. I usually take the Art bus to and from DL as I walk enough in parks, but knowing I could walk gives me comfort.

Hope this helps--

Patty -- Husband and I are taking Daughter, son-in-law, and two grandchildren to Disneyland end of March -First few days in April. This is First trip for Kids, my daughters 6 or 7th and son-in-laws 1/2 trip. Some how I have issues counting 1/2 day at Dl as even seeing DL.

Have a great trip--with lots of that Special Pixie Dust.

 

[aprincess@mail.com]

The in room safes are very spacious and you create the code, but im sure they have front desk safes too.

 

[Funball]

i liked that about the safes in the room.. that was cool it took me a while to figure it out..but i did figure it out.....the rooms are spacious i love the 2nd sink as i like to hog the bathroom alot!

 

[lwilkison]

Wow, after reading all the glowing reports about the Hojo, I was so excited to make our first reservation today. I called and was completely turned off to the idea of staying there. The man on the other end was so rude and had such a nasty attitude and demeanor.

I did not make the reservation. I have to think this one through further.

Please call back and speak with "In-House reservations". Everytime we call and speak with them they are wonderful, extremely helpful and seem to be just as excited about our vacation as we are.

Good luck!

 

[Shakthi]

Also my son drives up from San Diego to meet us and he can park there too without a problem they have a huge parking lot.

And parking is also free as opposed to some other places.

 

[THE3jsmom]

do you guys think it would be best for me to call HoJo directly to find out pricing for next April or wait.

 

[pixiewings71]

do you guys think it would be best for me to call HoJo directly to find out pricing for next April or wait.

Absolutely call them directly, ask for In House Reservations to be transferred. Also keep in mind that if you make your reservations now you can always call back and change them if/when the Ent Rate comes available.