Cambria Hotel- check your booking

[Minnie84]

We booked the Cambria hotel for our DL trip coming up this Sept. I had read numerous posts about making sure to check the "rate" booked, as some rates did not include access to the pool/waterpark. With that in mind, I double and triple checked my reservation. We booked online directly through the hotel. No where at all on the hotel website, nor my confirmation email did it say ANYTHING about no pool access. In fact, because I signed up to be a Choice hotel member during the booking process, it even said "no restrictions " on my email confirmation. Well, today I decided to download the Choice hotels app to see my reservation there. Low and behold, it said no pool access. Thank goodness I checked this now, before we leave for our trip. And thank goodness I am indecisive and had another hotel booked as well. I think I would have been extremely annoyed to show up and the kids not be allowed to use the pool! I don't want that to happen to anyone else either, so double check your booking if staying here!

 

[GBRforWDW]

We booked the Cambria hotel for our DL trip coming up this Sept. I had read numerous posts about making sure to check the "rate" booked, as some rates did not include access to the pool/waterpark. With that in mind, I double and triple checked my reservation. We booked online directly through the hotel. No where at all on the hotel website, nor my confirmation email did it say ANYTHING about no pool access. In fact, because I signed up to be a Choice hotel member during the booking process, it even said "no restrictions " on my email confirmation. Well, today I decided to download the Choice hotels app to see my reservation there. Low and behold, it said no pool access. Thank goodness I checked this now, before we leave for our trip. And thank goodness I am indecisive and had another hotel booked as well. I think I would have been extremely annoyed to show up and the kids not be allowed to use the pool! I don't want that to happen to anyone else either, so double check your booking if staying here!

Yeah, I had similar frustrations, though I noticed by looking further into the future that some listings did say No Pool Access. Apparently the no pool access rates are in the low 100's per night while pool access rates are closer to 200 per night. I doubt the pool is worth that much more per day, but man, it'd be so much easier if they stated clearly, were not like other hotels, we charge for pool access. Please select yes or no if you want pool access.

Anyway, I tried calling the front desk and had difficulty getting info, no one understood my question, so I finally just emailed and found out for sure that I did have pool access.

I agree though, it'd suck to show up and see that cool pool area, then be told you can't use it. Uggh, stop making Vacation frustrating.

 

[Minnie84]

Yeah, I had similar frustrations, though I noticed by looking further into the future that some listings did say No Pool Access. Apparently the no pool access rates are in the low 100's per night while pool access rates are closer to 200 per night. I doubt the pool is worth that much more per day, but man, it'd be so much easier if they stated clearly, were not like other hotels, we charge for pool access. Please select yes or no if you want pool access.

Anyway, I tried calling the front desk and had difficulty getting info, no one understood my question, so I finally just emailed and found out for sure that I did have pool access.

I agree though, it'd suck to show up and see that cool pool area, then be told you can't use it. Uggh, stop making Vacation frustrating.

Yes! It shouldn't be so difficult! Glad you found out you have access, especially since it seems as exclusive as Club 33 passes!

 

[CO2CA]

I've never heard of a hotel not including pool access in their rate! Is the pool super nice or something? I need to look it up lol

Edited: Wow! That is a cool water park.

 

[DodgerGirl]

Hi Minnie84,
According to the Yelp page for Cambria Hotel the pool and water park is open but appearently Cambria Hotel rents out the water park and pool to local daycare centers for the kids. So when you go to Cambria Hotel you should call the front desk after you get into your room and ask if the pool or water park is gonna be full. One more thing I read on Yelp is that you really do need access to use the pool and water park
Hope this info is helpful to you
Dodger

 

[StormyCA]

Hi Minnie84,
According to the Yelp page for Cambria Hotel the pool and water park is open but appearently Cambria Hotel rents out the water park and pool to local daycare centers for the kids. So when you go to Cambria Hotel you should call the front desk after you get into your room and ask if the pool or water park is gonna be full. One more thing I read on Yelp is that you really do need access to use the pool and water park
Hope this info is helpful to you
Dodger

Wait. So even if you pay the higher rate you can still be locked out? That's ridiculous. I certainly hope they give a credit for days the pool is unavailable.

(I've also never heard of a separate charge to use a pool, even if it is a 'fancy' one).

 

[smartlabelprint]

All the reviews I read were bad. Poor customer service. Plus a lot of locals at the water park.

 

[Minnie84]

Ya, we jumped ship from this hotel after we realized our rate had no pool access. Not to mention the bad reviews. Seems the pickings in Anaheim are getting slimmer and slimmer!

 

[TikiTikiFan]

Oof, this is the second time I've seen bad info about this hotel so now I'm thinking we need to jump ship too...

 

[goooof1]

This place is a big NO ! wow, never heard of charging for pool access..... rip off

 

[Luv Bunnies]

We had a reservation for Cambria for November, but I already cancelled it. As 4 adults traveling in November, I opted for the no pool access rate, which seemed to be very reasonable. I reconsidered when I read some dicey reviews and thought about the distance from the park gates. It's not horribly far, but I also had a reservation for Desert Inn and Suites right across the street. Although it costs more, we opted to stick with that and cancel the Cambria.

 

[Animal]

With all the good hotels around Disneyland, there is no point considering staying at a place like this.

 

[kristensideaoffun]

I stayed at the Cambria pre-pandemic when it first opened (maybe 2-3 weeks before Disneyland shut down). The rooms were nice but I definitely wondered how they would hold up over time. The location was convenient to the nearby food options and we used Lyft to get to and from the parks. My daughter thought the pool area was fun but it was right next to the freeway and it seemed like the staff was constantly having to wipe everything down outside because of that. The food at the actual hotel was terrible. Also, the water slides were closed every time we went and would end up being open for only a few minutes before we would have to leave. It was not crowded when we went but the kids at the pool were especially unruly. We’ve stayed at the Courtyard many times and the lifeguards (or whatever you want to call them) make sure people are minding the rules, unlike this pool where younger looking kids (9-10ish) seemed to be supervising their younger siblings with no parent in sight. We paid a $99/night reopening special rate. I wouldn’t stay there again, even at that rate.

 

[GBRforWDW]

Hi Minnie84,
According to the Yelp page for Cambria Hotel the pool and water park is open but appearently Cambria Hotel rents out the water park and pool to local daycare centers for the kids. So when you go to Cambria Hotel you should call the front desk after you get into your room and ask if the pool or water park is gonna be full. One more thing I read on Yelp is that you really do need access to use the pool and water park
Hope this info is helpful to you
Dodger

All the reviews I read were bad. Poor customer service. Plus a lot of locals at the water park.

I just checked into the hotel and asked about local groups using the pool. The person I spoke with had zero knowledge of this happening and since pool access is based on room rate, and they're using the arm band access, doesn't think this would happen. We'll head to the pool tomorrow so will update more on that after.

Front desk area was very nice and clean, they had valet for all evening parking, but it's the same rate whether you park yourself or use valet.

The room itself is in really good condition. We got the extra room suite with kitchenette so we have more space to spread out on our free days. Right now, I'm looking out my window and can see the Matterhorn lit up as well as the ferris wheel and other parts of the pier. Had we gotten in 30 minutes sooner, we would have seen the fireworks from our room. Caught them on the I-5 instead.

 

[GBRforWDW]

First trip to the pool complete. We were there for nearly 2 hours. Maybe 11:30 to 1:15. There's a decent amount of shade and temp in Anaheim today is 80, so it's very nice out.

The pool was not crowded at all maybe 1-2 dozen in the main pool most of the time, about half a dozen kids in the kiddie pool, half to a full dozen in hot tuba few using the splash pads and slides. The wait wasn't long, I went down 3 times in 15 minutes or so. The staff on duty did close it down for a lunch break. Can't remember if it was 30 minutes or an hour, but they came back pretty quick it seemed like. I didn't get a chance to ask if they had standard hours, but I'll try to find out.

Here's some fun day time views from our room:

Both parks:


Disneyland park. I think you can see the top of the castle in the middle:


California Adventure:


I'll try to grab some pictures of the pool later.

We also went to breakfast in the hotel. Lots of good options including large and small Mickey waffles that you make yourself, sausage, eggs, potatoes, fruit, cereal, juices, coffee and milk.

 

[GBRforWDW]

We returned to the pool around 7 tonight. There were even fewer people at this time. Temps were down to 75 and sun was hiding from view, so was a bit on the chilly side. The slides were still open. I believe they close for the night at 8pm when the movie begins.

Something I hadn't mentioned earlier is they have security guards outside the pool area that check for the wrist bands and open the gate for guests to get in.





My daughter and I are both terrible swimmers and would never go down a regular water slide, but we love these micro pools at the end of the slides. They're a lot of fun.



Also, the blue slide has more twists and turns, so you go a little slower, so it can be a bit more fun for the little kids. The orange one goes a bit faster and is fully enclosed. You hit the little pool sorta fast, but it's really fun.





We decided to order a pizza to eat while watching the movie and found a good view. The movie tonight was Ratatouille. We opted to only watch half the movie, then head back to the room to watch the fireworks at 9pm.

The pizza was just a generic pizza, nothing over the top spectacular, however, the listed price does include 4 soft drinks, so that makes the $25 price tag not seem quite so bad.

The view of the fireworks was impressive and definitely a fun and unique perspective. We'll have one more night to enjoy that view while hopefully getting to see it in the park again Saturday night before heading home.







So far the stay has been really enjoyable. Everyone we've interacted with has been friendly and accommodating. I think our favorites have been the valet staff. They're very energetic and eager to help. This morning before going to the pool, I had one grab my sunglasses from the car that I forgot to grab.

Then tonight when we were getting ready to go somewhere, we called the front desk and had them get the car for us. We had to wait a couple minutes once we were down there, but it's been convenient for a family that's never used valet before.

We even saw the guy that helped with our luggage last night and he gave a quick friendly "hey guys, how's it going!" when he recognized us.

 

[GBRforWDW]

We checked out of the Cambria yesterday morning to fly home so wanted to provide an update of the good, the bad and the ugly.

Good:
The pool area is awesome.
Hotel is clean and everything looks nice and is in good shape and working order.
Valet staff is awesome and does a great job.
The restaurants in the parking area are really good. Most everything is priced similar to a Disneyland quick service meal, meaning everyone can typically eat for $15 or less.
The free hot breakfast is also good and is available until 10am.
Park view rooms have a great view of the parks and fireworks.

Bad:
Price difference and inconsistent labeling for pool access. As much fun as the pool area is, you really have to make sure to schedule time into your plans to use it every day, otherwise it’s not worth it.
Distance to parks. It’s only a mile, which amounts to about a 20 minute walk, but if you don’t have a stroller, kids will be worn out by the time you get to the parks if you choose to walk.
No shuttle service. They direct you to use the ART bus system. If you want to use it between 10:30am and 6pm, you have to deal with their on demand service which can be a nuisance.

The ugly:
We did come across a security issue on Friday night, though we’re not exactly sure what happened. We got back from our adventures at 6:30 pm and nothing was going on. We came back down around 7-7:15 and there were lots of police and hotel security all around the parking lot. Several of the police and security could be seen talking to some people over by Jersey Mike’s sub shop, the closest restaurant to the hotel. We walked to a different restaurant and ate there for about 45 minutes to an hour. As we walked back into the hotel, security was escorting some of the same people I saw at Jersey Mike’s out of the hotel with their bags.

I don’t have any further details from what I saw with my own eyes, so I won’t speculate what happened, just providing details.

Overall, we really liked the stay. It’s a very nice hotel for a decent price; even with the pool access rates, it’s only slightly more than the harbor street hotel prices. Since we did a split stay, we liked the closeness of the harbor hotels for park days, but were glad to not be on harbor on non park days, though we did go to the park one day while at Cambria.

Anyway, just wanted to provide some current details about what’s going on at the hotel. Feel free to ask me any questions if you’re considering a stay.