I got my copy of the 2020 Unofficial Guide to Disneyland in the mail today! Even though I’ve done a lot of research I decided to purchase a copy. (Because you can never have too much information!)
I just got to pg 57 where it lists six hotels that you should NEVER stay. Of course, the hotel I’ve selected - The Anaheim Hotel, is one of those six.My trip is still 373 days away, so I can change things. Has anyone here ever stayed there? Why such a harsh review? They don’t even bother to give any details or descriptions.
I cannot speak to the Anaheim Hotel, personally, as I have only stayed on property, Country Inn and Homewood Suites. Maybe this thread might help with some other options…
It’s tough for me to justify spending $400 - $700 / night for a hotel. It’s not because of my budget. I, truly, will not spend any time in my room unless I’m asleep or in the shower. It’s basically a very nice place for my luggage to stay!
However, after reading more in the UOG and getting on the DLR site I may be changing to the Best Western Plus Park Place. The UOG ranks it 3 1/2 stars and it really is the closest to the park. It would be only be $88 more per night and of the hotels “across the street” it seems to be the best reviewed.
I am still open to thoughts about The Anaheim Hotel though, if anyone has them.
If I was going solo, as originally planned, I probably wouldn’t care. However, since my DW, who is “just OK” with theme parks wants to tag along I want to make sure she’s happy.
I have never stayed there but that is so fascinating to me that UOG says not to stay there while MiceChat (which is a very good blog / news site primarily focused on DLR) has a sponsorship with the Anaheim Hotel and is always promoting them. I believe @lolabear_la has stayed there if I’m not mistaken so I’m sure she has thoughts.
In any case I recommend staying closer to the main gate if it’s in the budget.
I haven’t stayed there yet, but have multiple friends who do and like it just fine. It has been recently renovated and Pizza Press is there. Pretty sure @lolabear_la has stayed there, she will chime in with her review.
I reached out the The Unofficial Guide on twitter and got this response -
“The location & lobby are great, but we’ve had poor experiences with very worn-out rooms despite promised refurbishments. We will reinspect next year, but for now there are better choices in that price range… look at Castle Inn, just a little further away but in the same price range.”
I am interested to here from @lolabear_la has to say before I make any changes.
I stayed there last year in October. I would stay there again. The lobby is beautiful and the hotel restaurant was great. The room I had was just fine. It worked perfectly well for sleeping, which is what I used it for. The bed was comfortable, the room was clean, and the layout worked fine. It had a fridge and a microwave, as well. It was about a 10 minute walk to the security area, and I felt completely safe no matter what time I was walking to or from it as a solo woman traveler.
The only issue I had is that recently the hotel changed names, and I was using Disney Transportation to and from the airport (which I would never do again, btw), and when I was trying to get someone to pick me up for my return to the airport, the guy I spoke with told me there was no such hotel as The Anaheim Hotel.
I’ll be at the BW Park Place in two weeks, so I can provide a very current review soon. I picked it because of the location (obviously) and the free breakfast spread.
Thanks! I do take the opinions of the UOF seriously, but when they had no information on the place, except - “never stay here” I was a bit confused.
Then when the Twitter response was - “we’ll reinspect next year…” It makes me think maybe they haven’t been there recently.
Plus, my favorite theme park podcasts - Podcast the Ride - just did a live show there. I spoke with one of the hosts about the hotel it. They had zero issues w/ staff and liked the place, but didn’t stay in a room.
I haven’t made any changes yet - still waiting to hear back from my TA. So, if anyone has any more info I’m listening!
The Anaheim is one of my favorite go-to’s for location & price and I really love The Pizza Press there & wish we had one closer to home, so that really tips the scales for me.
Their rooms are all no-frills BUT the carpet, furniture & bedding are all newer, well-kept & clean. The bathroom areas do appear to be older with a fresh coat of tile paint and have always been clean as well.
The rooms themselves are also quite spacious and many of their rooms above the lowest category include a small balcony or on the ground floor a fenced in patio area outside that gives you personal outdoor space.
Walking in between buildings you can see the age on the exterior and there is a definite motel vibe that kept us away for a really long time. As prices rose on our favorites a little closer to the pedestrian entrance (and The Pizza Press moved down here from where it used to be closer to those hotels), we started to expand our horizons on hotels & finally decided to try The Anaheim based on the recommendations of both a seasoned Liner as well as a family friend who has been staying there years (when it was the Anaheim Plaza & now as The Anaheim Hotel).
I’m glad we did as I’ve never had any issue in any room so if you’re after a clean, comfortable, safe place to sleep & shower, this one is at the top of my list for sure. And a small note that doesn’t really matter in booking, but I still appreciate: I really like that they make an effort to have a feel of “grounds” with flower beds/plants all the way from your walk from the lobby (which is really well done in mid-century decor harkening back to the era when DL opened) back to your building.
I’ve never stayed at the Best Western so I can’t compare. The main reason we’ve never stayed at BW is we don’t typically plan far enough ahead to get their better rates and so by the time we’re booking - within 30 days - their rates are quite high by then and so to me, not justified, even for the location & free breakfast.
Whenever I get stuck on trying a new option, I find it helpful to scour Trip Adviser reviews and read all the praises, criticisms and middle of the road reviews & try to find the most comment recent themes to give me a good gauge/sense.
There were a few replies to my tweet from people saying that they have recently stayed there with no issues & the rooms had been redone.
The UOG replied to those by saying, “On our last stay we were promised the refurb was done, then got a room that was obvious not refurbed & was told nothing else was available. Exact same thing happened to a friend. Will give them another chance next year, but have been burned more than once. Pizza Press is awesome!”
This makes think they may not have been there in the last couple of years.
I’m surprised the hotel didn’t give the UOG crew the best room available. I mean, there’s probably some ethical issue there, and the UOG probably didn’t advertise who they were, but if I owned a hotel I would make sure I knew all the industry people who review hotel rooms.
Yeah… I’ve been trying. Not one “across the street / Good Neighbor” hotel is consistent. They all seem to have the same amount of 5 star / 1 star reviews with basically the same issues.
I don’t know what to do.
My TA at Storybook Destinations reached out to The Anaheim Hotel and got this response -
"I checked with the Anaheim Hotel and they said they are still in the process of refurbishment. They will have all of the rooms done by the end of 2019, except for the standard doubles, which they will complete in 2020. So your deluxe room would be completed. "
The Unofficial Guide told me The Castle Inn is basically the same in every way, except the hotel is consistently clean and serviced. Furthermore, UOG says there’s little difference between The Castle & Best Western. You are paying for location and a “free” breakfast - not room quality.
This is my first time staying outside the Disney bubble. My budget isn’t what is dicating my trip. I can afford whatever I want. However, I can’t justify $400 - $700 / night for a hotel room. I don’t stay at WDW deluxe resorts for the same reason. I usually go moderate or AoA / PoP for value.
I’ve got a lot to think about. Luckily I’ve got time.
Update: We stayed at BW Park Place four nights last week. I was happy with it. Nothing fancy, but it was clean, quiet, and seemed recently updated. Beds were soft. Nice sized mini-fridge. Bathroom was small but serviceable.
The free breakfast next door was pretty good. Plenty of choices. Plan on it being busy from 6:45 to 8. I just wish it opened at 6. Waiting on the 6:30 opening wasn’t ideal for our Magic Morning day.
BW Park Place is fairly expensive for a motel, but it’s all about the location. For us, that made it totally worth it. Our toddler needs an afternoon nap, and getting back to our onsite WDW hotel last year was a hassle. This was a breeze.
One very small issue with naps is that we missed housekeeping a couple times. You can request that be done in the morning, we simply failed to do it most days.
The only other issue I can think of was unrelated to the hotel or even DL. But the Anaheim police controlling pedestrians/traffic on Harbor after the first F! Friday night were incredibly inept. I‘ve never seen anything like it.
Great! I just booked two rooms for our spring break trip. Thanks for the review! The location is definitely the biggest plus for us. It should be easy to get the kids down for bed with grandma and grandpa and sneak back into the parks for late night date night.
I just got back late last night from 4 nights at the Anaheim Hotel. I usually stay at the Grand Legacy which is one hotel closer to the parks than the Anaheim. The Anaheim was quite a bit cheaper than all the other hotels close to there on Harbor, so I decided to give it a shot. I was pleased with the hotel, the lobby is great and Pizza Press was delicious. The room (2 queens) was large and the bed was comfortable. It was very quiet, I slept really well. The staff in the lobby was very nice. I did not have housekeeping, so can’t comment on that. The bathroom was dated and small, but was fine except for the shower/water pressure. The pressure was not good for me, and the water temperature was constantly changing from too hot to too cold. This is really my only complaint, and could just be the room I was in. I still prefer the Grand Legacy and its location one stoplight closer to the parks (the stoplights are long in Cali, and I really noticed that when I just wanted to be back in my room). Overall, a good stay for the price.
