Hotel help ... 2nd visit - family time/convention

[BlueFairy]

Hi.

Our only visit to DLR was early June 2013. We stayed at and enjoyed the Sheraton Park. Liked the club amenities, view, and pool. Dislikes would be age and size of room and distance to parks when walking.

Kids are now 10 & 13. DH has a convention the last week of May that we just found out about. We are Platinum Marriott/Starwood. Of course, he wants to take advantage of his status and be close to his meetings. Group rates available at these in our rewards program (in order of ranking on Trip Advisor):

Residence Inn Convention Ctr
SpringHill Suites Convention Ctr
Marriott
Sheraton Park

We may have to pay cash or points for the Sat night stay. Otherwise DH will expense Sun-Thurs nights. Flying into LAX. How do these stack up? What would you do?

 

[aristocat65]

If I were you, it would be between the Residence Inn and the Marriott. The Residence Inn is right across Katella, so very close, and you’ll have more space for the kids. Springhill is right there too, but Residence Inn is a little nicer. You will only get 50% points at Residence Inn though remember, and I have also read that this one no longer has any type of evening reception.
We stayed at Marriott in December and will be there again this May. The rooms are all done, they were very accommodating to us as gold status. The lounge is a pretty good one for breakfast and evening snacks too. Personally I would choose the Marriott, but we don’t travel with kids anymore, so space isn’t a consideration.
Good luck!

 

[gottalovepluto]

I remember Springhill Suites had no hot tub with their rooftop pool & the AC blew at a 90 degree angle directly across the second queen bed resulting in a sore throat the next day. Idk about your other hotels.

 

[smartlabelprint]

Residence inn would be nice for the space.

 

[BlueFairy]

Thanks guys.

If I were you, it would be between the Residence Inn and the Marriott. The Residence Inn is right across Katella, so very close, and you’ll have more space for the kids. Springhill is right there too, but Residence Inn is a little nicer. You will only get 50% points at Residence Inn though remember, and I have also read that this one no longer has any type of evening reception.
We stayed at Marriott in December and will be there again this May. The rooms are all done, they were very accommodating to us as gold status. The lounge is a pretty good one for breakfast and evening snacks too. Personally I would choose the Marriott, but we don’t travel with kids anymore, so space isn’t a consideration.
Good luck!

I think RI is running in the top spot right now. Why do you only get 50% points there? I'm not familiar with that. I was aware that a number of family-oriented RI's do not do the evening reception. I'm most interested in the bed space and the hot breakfast and closeness to the parks. Can DH enter the convention center from Katella and shorten his walk? (i.e. not have to walk down Harbor to Convention Way?)

Residence Inn gives us convention rate with a 1 BR suite (2queens + pullout sofa and full kitchen).
Springhill convention rate is only good for a king bed with pullout sofa. No kitchen of course.
How do those 2 handle status upgrades? Can we hope for larger if we book a group rate and mention our rewards status?

DH likes the idea of the Marriott but it's $55 more per night and we only get 2 double beds. When were the rooms redone? I'm concerned about a tight space and the club lounge being overrun with conventioneers. I also think his Platinum status might not go as far if everyone there that week is a business traveller and in the same boat as us. Evening snacks would be good though.

Sheraton really isn't offering anything that pushes it up the list except familiarity. But the RI and Springhill were not there when we last visited.

 

[limace]

I loved the Soringhill Suites when we stayed-and had no problems with the pool. Nice set up for a family and a great location.

 

[MikeRx]

Just throwing this out there. Do you get a great meeting rate at the Disney resorts? It will likely be more than your listed options, but a nice opportunity to stay on property at 40-60% off of rack rates. Most of the meetings I have at the Anaheim Convention Center contract with Disney. You can check in the meeting materials and see if it's offered. It's a bit more of a walk for your husband to go back and forth to the CC from the hotel, but worth it for the family experience.
Mike

 

[BlueFairy]

Just throwing this out there. Do you get a great meeting rate at the Disney resorts? It will likely be more than your listed options, but a nice opportunity to stay on property at 40-60% off of rack rates. Most of the meetings I have at the Anaheim Convention Center contract with Disney. You can check in the meeting materials and see if it's offered. It's a bit more of a walk for your husband to go back and forth to the CC from the hotel, but worth it for the family experience.
Mike

There is a long list of hotels, but the Disney hotels are not listed. We do get convention ticket discounts if we pre-purchase tickets. We can't swing the current DL promotions, so those hotel are out, unfortunately.

 

[twoolle]

What's the walk like to Disneyland from Residence Inn? Compared to Courtyard? Both are on our short list but I believe Courtyard is a little closer.

 

[lcp9]

We're Marriott associates so we hop around the different Marriotts there depending on which ones have the associate rate. The RI convention center is by FAR our favorite. We have 3 kids (6, 4, 2) and get a 1 bed suite. Free full breakfast (so kids aren't hungry for a meal until later afternoon), full kitchen (we get Vons delivery to bring snacks into the park), and generally just tons of space. It's also the newest. We're early 30s, very active, but pushing a double stroller with 90# of kids...takes us about 12 minutes to Harbor entrance.

 

[BlueFairy]

We're Marriott associates so we hop around the different Marriotts there depending on which ones have the associate rate. The RI convention center is by FAR our favorite. We have 3 kids (6, 4, 2) and get a 1 bed suite. Free full breakfast (so kids aren't hungry for a meal until later afternoon), full kitchen (we get Vons delivery to bring snacks into the park), and generally just tons of space. It's also the newest. We're early 30s, very active, but pushing a double stroller with 90# of kids...takes us about 12 minutes to Harbor entrance.

Sounds great! I booked it today. Do you happen to know how they handle Platinum upgrades? We had to pay the Marriott Rewards member rate for the 1BR queen suite for the weekend nights. Then we booked the same room at the convention rate for the weekdays. It was a few dollars cheaper but not available on the weekend.

 

[BlueFairy]

What's the walk like to Disneyland from Residence Inn? Compared to Courtyard? Both are on our short list but I believe Courtyard is a little closer.

It is, but the price is WAY higher. No group rate there.