How is The Anaheim Hotel

tigger130

Earning My Ears
Joined
Dec 29, 2013
I am trying to see what is going to work for my family's first trip to Disneyland. We will be having 4 adults and 2 kids in our party. i was looking at The Anaheim Hotel in one of the family suits. We would be stay from a Friday through Monday. Is the walk far to get to the parks? How is the Anaheim Hotel?

Thanks for your Help
 
We're there on from Jan 28 -Feb 1, I'll post a reply if you didn't need to book asap.
 
We stayed there in November. It was... okay. The price was right and we only slept there and used the hot tub and we didn’t have the kids with us.

But we probably won’t stay there again.

They claim all their rooms are updated. They aren’t. I had looked at pictures of their updated rooms they had shared. With dark sleep furniture, etc. we entered our room with old light wooden furniture, the carpet was really thin, and chipping paint. When I asked about it I was told “yes all the rooms are updated... it was NOT what was on the picture.

There were a few ants in our room. It’s just ants. I have an occasions ant in my house .. but still on vacation... eh.

There was a bit of a smell on the campus, especially when you walked by the pool room.. it was pleasant.

The pros:
The pool and hot tub are big and we did enjoy that.

The staff was nice and even left cookies and a note in the room on my birthday.

And of course it’s a really short walk to the parks.
 
They didn't have Family suites before the remodel so you should be good. It is maybe a 7-10 min walk.
 


We usually stay there. Rates a good and the walk is short. Beds are comfortable. Rooms are adaquate, nothing fancy. The pizza place on site is good and the bar has a killer happy hour.

The pool is really nice. You do have to pay for parking and no breakfast included which isn’t a big deal for us since we bring the regular continental fair in our rooms from home. Parking is easy, lots of spaces and I prefer a more spread out campus like this hotel has compared to the more tower type places.
 
I've stayed twice. There are nice things about the hotel, but I would not include the rooms as one of the perks. I won't be staying again, although I want to say that nothing was terrible. It just wasn't that nice. Cracked tiles, a sort of overall "moldy" feel in spite of the update, and a definite sense that this wasn't a well-run operation. They were busily tearing out the insides of the rooms that were in the process of being refurbished and the pieces were all over the place outside the rooms during our entire stay, blocking the walkways. Multiple things didn't work or work well, including the ice machines, A/C and shower (we had to go to 3 different rooms to get one where everything worked, and we're not super picky). Even then, the room was just ok. I got the feeling, as did the other 3 I was with, that this was a low-budget remodel on an old property.

There are good things, though. The lobby is nice and I love the Pizza Press restaurant. The staff members were all very nice. The walk is not bad at all. However, I'd pay a bit more to stay elsewhere.
 
For us and for our friends who have stayed there, the best thing about that property is that Pizza Press is located there. We all like Pizza Press, but the hotel not so much. The rooms weren't clean enough, the hot water wasn't consistent or reliable when we needed it (and I don't need to return from a long day in the parks to a shower that doesn't stay hot), the management was so so, etc. Friends have reported similar experiences. The hotel is not worth the money to us. We would rather pay more for the peace of mind to know that we will have a more enjoyable hotel stay. There are more reliable, more comfortable, more enjoyable hotels closer to the parks or not much farther away. For a first DLR visit, read this thread for very helpful info: www.disboards.com/threads/choosing-the-right-hotel-for-you.3656512/.
 


I stayed there with my daughter in December 2017, and it was passable. On our departure day I was able to purchase an extra day of parking so I didn't need to move my car to the parking garage, which was nice.

I prefer the suites at the BWPPI, personally. But for the short 2 day trip it worked out alright.
 
It actually exceeded our expectation in December, granted that wasn't hard to do as we had stayed here previously before the refurb and said never again. But the price was right, so we decided to give them another try.

The check in process was smooth, the room was in a great location right behind the lobby and was perfectly clean. Our biggest gripe the last time was the shower. The temperature fluctuated terribly and the water pressure was extremely low. We didn't encounter any issues this time. It's back on our list when looking for an inexpensive, walking distance hotel.
 
WOW this information is so helpful. Thank you so much for all this great info for my family's first trip to DLR!
 
I just stayed there last weekend and had no problems at all, the staff was very friendly. When I checked in my room wasn't ready so I checked my back and then when I came back at 10:00 PM to find my room they had the keys ready and the bellman asked if I wanted him to take the stuff to my room for me. I found no signs of any problems with the room at all.
 
The Dis Unplugged did a review of this hotel a few weeks ago (maybe 3 weeks ago?). Their report was less than glowing. You can find it on YouTube. A week or so after, a lady on one of my Facebook groups made a report on her stay; it wasn't a glowing review. Loud AC (to the point of moving rooms), a "bait-n-switch" on the terms of a special offer ("free parking!" that they said they would take the price off upon check-out then "too bad, so sad" at check out).
 
My advice to any one thinking of staying here look at all of the reviews you can find both the good and bad ones. As more people will leave a bad review of a property then will leave a good one, which is really not a good thing as it can often give off bad impressions to people who are interested in a hotel. Yes people have issues with their rooms and I am not trying to downplay their experience, but for every bad review there are those that are completely satisfied with the place.

One of the things I liked about it was on the bedside table there were two regular plugs along with four USB ports so you could plug in something to change without having to use an adapter, like a smartwatch charger or if you are from outside of North America and use a different type of plug then we do here.

If you want to you can watch my own room tour video.
 
Before anyone books there I urge them to watch this review of the hotel that lalasmoma referenced.
 
I'm pretty surprised.

I was there before the refurb. So I realize things can change - possibly staff change meanwhile. I had a lot of issues at Desert Inn and Suites after some staff changes there.

Anyway, at that point the price level of the Anaheim Hotel was way lower too, approximately $ 80 a night for me. Yes, the rooms were old and a bit outdated. And it took a lot of effort to close the door to the bathroom. But the place was clean. And I had enough plugs where I could charge everything.As a seasoned traveller I bring in those shiny multi plugs where you can charge several electronics at the same time anyway. ;)

Staff was insanely friendly too and certainly semmed competent. I had booked through a German booking site and for some reason they had broken up my stay into several parts, partly one night only. Was all fixed at check in no problem, could stay in the same room all trip.

First morning a friend came to pick me up because we were going to Soda Fountain for a pin release. Those happen quite early. So I was waiting for him before the crack of dawn. One of the staff members actually came out, asked if I was alright, chatted with me for a bit and hung around til my friend had showed. I'm doing all releases while I am there, so this situation has happened a couple of times. Never before hotel staff actually checked on me.

And one night one of my friends was staying over because of some issues. They immediately waved any charges and comped her parking.

That is pretty much the complete opposite of what these guys went through. :o
 
I'm pretty surprised.

I was there before the refurb. So I realize things can change - possibly staff change meanwhile. I had a lot of issues at Desert Inn and Suites after some staff changes there.

Anyway, at that point the price level of the Anaheim Hotel was way lower too, approximately $ 80 a night for me. Yes, the rooms were old and a bit outdated. And it took a lot of effort to close the door to the bathroom. But the place was clean. And I had enough plugs where I could charge everything.As a seasoned traveller I bring in those shiny multi plugs where you can charge several electronics at the same time anyway. ;)

Staff was insanely friendly too and certainly semmed competent. I had booked through a German booking site and for some reason they had broken up my stay into several parts, partly one night only. Was all fixed at check in no problem, could stay in the same room all trip.

First morning a friend came to pick me up because we were going to Soda Fountain for a pin release. Those happen quite early. So I was waiting for him before the crack of dawn. One of the staff members actually came out, asked if I was alright, chatted with me for a bit and hung around til my friend had showed. I'm doing all releases while I am there, so this situation has happened a couple of times. Never before hotel staff actually checked on me.

And one night one of my friends was staying over because of some issues. They immediately waved any charges and comped her parking.

That is pretty much the complete opposite of what these guys went through. :o
I had a great experience there when it was $89/night, pre-refurb. I thought it was cute and kitschy, and loved the retro feel. But it's now just shabby and weird everywhere but the lobby/restaurant area, with room problems almost a given. With the higher rates, it's not a place I'll return to unless things change quite a lot. I don't want to have to try 3 times before I find a room I can live with, which is the best it ever got for us.

Edited to add: we also were victims of 'bait and switch' promos. They changed our room category (downgraded), then didn't have anything in the original category so promised us comps which never came through, etc etc. It was a mess and wasted a lot of our time.
 
Yes-definitely watch Craig/Ryno's report. After I watched that it entered the "never in a million years" category.
I'm not going to say that they didn't have a bad stay but I definitely wouldn't judge a place just from one review made by a team of podcasters, also saying you won't stay somewhere just because of one review isn't really a fare thing to do. But if you want to judge a place just because your favorite podcasters say it's terrible then go right ahead. When I stayed there I had no problems at all the room was clean with no extra guests in, also the staff was very friendly and helpful. The bellman/ Dorman greater everyone as they were coming in and would talk to people well they were waiting for shuttles or various car services to pick them up.
 
Well I’ll chime in with my experience at this hotel.

This was November 2018

We booked because the price was right and the Disneyland with kids admin/blog had done a review and the rooms were remodeled.

The stated all the rooms are remodeled.
So we booked.

The staff was very friendly but the pros end there. Our room was most deff not remodeled. It did not matches the pictures. It was completely outdated, it wasn’t dirty but more like that worn down can’t ever get completely clean, and our room had some ants that we didn’t find until the last day.

Also every time you walked past the pool it smelled bad. We used the hot tub but the pool was cold.

It was just hubby and I so we really only used it to sleep ... but we won’t take our kids there.
 
I'm not going to say that they didn't have a bad stay but I definitely wouldn't judge a place just from one review made by a team of podcasters, also saying you won't stay somewhere just because of one review isn't really a fare thing to do. But if you want to judge a place just because your favorite podcasters say it's terrible then go right ahead. When I stayed there I had no problems at all the room was clean with no extra guests in, also the staff was very friendly and helpful. The bellman/ Dorman greater everyone as they were coming in and would talk to people well they were waiting for shuttles or various car services to pick them up.

Their negative review is one of many I've heard about that property over the years. Clearly not everyone hates the place but a good number of people come away from it with bad things to say about it. Its a great location but not a great place to stay imho.
 
Last edited:

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Top