Thoughts on new Hampton Inn’s location?

[UnderTheRialto]

A new Hampton Inn just opened at 100 W Katella. We have a Homewood Suites reservation but this looks to be a similar distance (although a different path) and quite a bit cheaper. Thoughts?

 

[pharmama]

The nice thing about the Homewood is that its super easy to walk into the Toy Story lot next door and catch the free shuttle bus to the parks (or back after). Pure walking distance I'd agree the Hampton is pretty similar with a slight edge to the Homewood. But from the Hampton I'm not sure it would be worth it to go all the way around to walk into the Toy Story lot off Harbor anymore so you'd just be going on foot the whole way or paying for ART (or Uber/Lyft). I don't believe you can walk in to Toy Story off Katella (you'd have to go through the CM lot) but I could be wrong?

I stayed at the Homewood for a week in December and it was great. Hotel is nice and rooms are spacious. Breakfast and Happy Hour food were decent as well. I stay at Hamptons frequently for work and they're usually OK too but the rooms are typically smaller than a Homewood.

 

[beachdreamr1229]

I like Homewood. We stayed there once. The literal only downside was that the beds were harder than we typically prefer. But, overall it was a great experience.

I've stayed at other Hampton Inn's. If you have a smaller family, they're probably fine, but the rooms tend to be on the smaller side. I haven't stayed at this one, but the last Hampton's we stayed at was a tight fit for our family of 5.

 

[UnderTheRialto]

Thanks- I am familiar with the difference between the two hotel brands but don’t understand the geography of DLR yet. I think we would walk or Uber vs using the tram just knowing our typical WDW preferences.

 

[pharmama]

Thanks- I am familiar with the difference between the two hotel brands but don’t understand the geography of DLR yet. I think we would walk or Uber vs using the tram just knowing our typical WDW preferences.

It's pretty nice to have the free Toy Story bus available as an option, especially at the end of a long day in the parks. They run constantly. The only waiting you will do is to board depending on how busy they are as they cycle the buses through. Also be aware that the walk back to either hotel from the park isn't exactly a scenic stroll. It's just busy city streets with lots of hotels, small shopping centers etc. Maybe try following the route to each hotel down Harbor/Katella on Google Street View to give you an idea?

 

[trife.]

We have reservations at this Hampton next month and I also have been wondering about access to the Toy Story lot buses. It looks like there is an entrance into the CM lot where S. Clementine meets W. Katella? Are pedestrians able to use that entrance to cut through to the TS lot? Walking all the way around the block to the Harbor Blvd entrance just isn't going to happen lol. May as well walk to the parks at that point, no?

I'm guessing that they won't allow you to cut through for safety issues, so using ART or Lyft/Uber will probably be our best bet.

 

[UnderTheRialto]

It's pretty nice to have the free Toy Story bus available as an option, especially at the end of a long day in the parks. They run constantly. The only waiting you will do is to board depending on how busy they are as they cycle the buses through. Also be aware that the walk back to either hotel from the park isn't exactly a scenic stroll. It's just busy city streets with lots of hotels, small shopping centers etc. Maybe try following the route to each hotel down Harbor/Katella on Google Street View to give you an idea?

Thanks for this suggestion! The shortest route is actually through the Anaheim Garden Walk.... but I don’t know if that’s any nicer. I have to talk to my family about our options- right now I have both hotels booked!

 

[Doctor Who]

ART is very quick from that location. It's better then the parking lot shuttles.

 

[UnderTheRialto]

ART is very quick from that location. It's better then the parking lot shuttles.

Good to know. Is there any advantage to ART over Uber? Since we have four people I was thinking we’d use Uber when we don’t walk. We are used to walking Contemporary to MK and Yacht Club to DHS and seems like a similar length walk...

 

[trife.]

Yeah after mapping out the ART route from the Hampton Inn (they have their own stop right in front of the CM lot on Katella), it seems ART is the way to go. Buses run every 20 minutes and there are only 2 stops prior to hitting the parks. The bus stop is literally a 4 minute walk from the corner of Katella/Haster. And a 5-day pass is only $51 for the three of us, which would be cheaper than Lyft/Uber.

I actually considered spending $700 more for lodging just to be closer to the parks, but having reliable transportation for $51 squashed that idea. Not to mention getting to stay in a brand new hotel. And those glorious Hampton beds/pillows....so heavenly after a long day.

 

[Cal-Pie]

I was really excited to see another Hilton property in the resort area... until I saw the location. I guess DL will continue to be the only place we travel that we don't stay at a Hilton.

 

[Malcon10t]

Just so you have an idea, the distance from the Contempory to the MK is .45 miles. The distance from the Hampton Inn on Katella to Disneyland is 1.08 miles. The distance from Homewood is slightly shorter at .9 miles..