Which hotel?!? Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites Anaheim OR Holiday Inn Anaheim-at the park

[simba_one]

Hello all. Currently looking at hotels for next summers trip to So Cal and have found two that we're thinking about.

Stayed at the Hyatt Regency OC last year and it was absolutely amazing but don't see the point in paying double (Hyatt is $130 a night and that's weekdays whereas these two are around the $70 mark) what you can for other hotels when they're all pretty much the same (and you only lay your head there - we're a very energetic family - never have lazy days at the hotel) and if we save on say the hotel then we can spend even more on more expensive excursions like the forty-minute helicopter tour we took over L.A. (and THROUGH the buildings in Downtown L.A.) last year which was the most amazing experience of my life!!! Plus, the Hyatt was quite a long (and tiresome) walk to the DLR so if you wanted to say have a stroll down to DTD and have a quick shop after a day out or something and you didn't want to drive, then it was annoying that you'd get back to the hotel and be even more knackered than you were when you got back from your day out. Both of these hotels look easier to walk to and from the DLR so that's a big factor for us too.

So... anyone ever stayed at or knows anything about either the Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites Anaheim (http://www.holidayinn-anaheim.com) or the Holiday Inn Anaheim-at the park (http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/hi/1/en/hd/laxae?irs=y)?!?

Right now we're edging more towards the Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites Anaheim - looks nicer and seems closer to the Mgaic. Any info anyone can provide would be greatly appreciated!! No detail too small.

 

[Lord Fantasius]

Hi simba_one,

Just returned from a weekend at Holiday Inn At the Park and loved it! Admittedly, its claim to be the closest full-service resort to Disneyland is not entirely untrue since it is just on the other side of the expressway from the backside of the park. From there it's a 10-15 minute walk to the main entrance which requires you to cross the entrance ramp to the expressway (crosswalk with light, but still can be daunting) and then around the side of the park (shielded so you can't see anything...bummer). I think the Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites may be a slightly shorter walking distance to the gate itself.

However, the biggest swaying factor for me was that the pool and hottub at the Holiday Inn At the Park was open 24 hrs which allowed one to soak in the hottub after returning from the park even at 1:00am! Loved that...I think I used it at least four times in the two days I was there. Also, the pool was heated so you can swim in it year-round and was pretty good-sized to boot. The cons are that it does have outside corridors so people can stand/talk/smoke outside your room if you're near the elevator or watching the fireworks; also, you have either a highway or major streets surrounding the entire hotel so you do hear the traffice. But then again, I think you'll hear traffic from about any hotel.

Unfortunately, can't compare with the Hotel & Suites as I didn't stay there, but I was looking at the same two myself when I was making the decision given the cost factor...I think at less than $80/nt, either of these hotels is a great deal especially being walking distance from DL!

Good luck & enjoy your trip!

-R

 

[Eeyorecln]

We stayed at Holiday Inn Hotel and Suites in August. It was rated better than the other Holiday Inns in the area. It does have interior corridors which feels safer to me. The pool is not 24 hours, but we only used it once anyway. The restaurant is OK for breakfast and kids eat free. This saved us money as we have 4 kids. They are closed at lunch and open back up for dinner. The dinner menu is limited, so we only ate dinner there once. Still, the kids liked the fact they got ice cream bars with their dinner and they did eat free, again. The rooms are basic rooms, nothing fancy but we only napped and slept there. We didn't spend a lot of awake time in the room. The walk isn't too bad, but we ended up using ART a lot. It was (I think) $3 per adult for the day, kids free. Our kids were little(6 and under) so it was easier not to make them walk to the park as well as in the park. This was really convenient as they pick up every 15 min. and we were at DL in 5 min. They drop you off close to security check. On the way back to the hotel it takes a few minutes longer as they stop at 2 other hotels. (going to DL they don't stop anywhere else) We liked it because it was reasonably priced(for the area) and there was a restaurant, pool area, and gift shop. We also have stayed at Holiday Inns elsewhere so recognized their standards. I hope that helps.

 

[simba_one]

Wow!! First two replies to my post and and they're both from people who've recently stayed at these hotels!! Oh how I love these boards!!!!

Lord Fantasius: Thanks so much for your great info on the Holiday Inn At the Park. Sounds nice but have to say the outdoor corridors is a big put-off for me. That's one thing (and probably the only thing) that I don't miss about Orlando. That and having to cross the expressway to walk to the DLR is probably going to make me pick the Hotel & Suites. Being English and therefore used to crossing roads which are only two cars wide, crossing your normal roads is a daunting enough task for us so sounds like the expressway would be a real challenge!! Sounds like the hotel is pretty much situated where I thought it was too. And you mentioning there is no view is a major bummer for me too - I had a nice little view of SM and the ToT at the Hyatt . But cost for two rooms for 21 nights accumilates very quickly so cuts just have to be made. And it's not like we can just visit whenever we want so we have to take advantage when we are there and do as much as we can. And the fact that the hotel didn't have a proper official website put me off a little too - probably just me being "extra" but things like that make me think that the hotel cuts corners and could be better in areas. I'm searching for it and can't find anything then I realise their page on the InterContinental Hotels Group website is it!!!
Thanks sooooo much for the info though. I'll be sure to check the hotel out next summer so we can see what we will (or won't) be missing out on. Here's hoping we don't decide to check it out when I'm a little tired or else I think that hottub will just have to be jumped into. Hope you enjoyed your trip though!! I'm sure you did.

Eeyorecln: Seems as though this is going to be the one we're going to go for. The fact that the corridors are inside and that it's closer to the DLR are huge factors for us. Like you, we'll probably only use the pool once (if that) so the pool isn't a big thing for us really.

You say the restaurant was OK?! Is that good OK? We're all adults so none of us will be eating free but I'm sure we'll still eat there on occasion - normally leave extra early for a park and eat there though. Same thing at night a lot of the time too. Sounds like the ART is great for getting to the Resort. Although we tend to drive no matter how close we are. For day trips anyway - evening meals and such we walk.

The rooms - are the images shown on the website a true representation of what they are really like? And everything else for that matter? The images here: http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/hi/1/en/hpt/LAXAW/2/pt?ptLink=hd and here: http://www.holidayinn-anaheim.com portray it as being quite a homey western themed hotel? Nice place to stay in overall? I'm gonna be there for three weeks straight so I'd hate to be somewhere which wasn't comfortable and enjoyable to stay in. And how many stories is it? Looks like four? And what's the parking like? Easy to access and get onto Harbor and the 5 etc.?! And what is the view from the hotel? What direction are you facing in?

Sorry for so many questions. But choosing hotels is a quest for me.

Anything else you can tell me about the hotel in general?! Really appreciate your help.

 

[Eeyorecln]

The restaurant was good Ok just nothing fancy. Breakfast is better than dinner. They do have a delicious french toast made with cinnamon rolls. yum. I'd compare it to a Denny's in quality of food. Basic but good, not gourmet.

We never had problems with parking, seemed to be enough space. We usually parked close to the back door. And the interior corridors is a must for my DH as we usually have cell phones and digital cameras and other valuables. Noone ever messed with our stuff there.

The decor is sort of an old west although it's not nearly as themed as a Disney hotel.

The pictures are pretty accurate. The lobby is nice with some fairly comfy chairs. While waiting for DH to check in, I almost fell asleep in one.

They have laundry machines as well, which we needed. There's also a pizza/pasta place and chinese place that delivers. They have brochure/takeout menu's for these places at the front desk. They also have a giftshop. It has Disney stuff as well as incidentals like toothbrushes, etc.

As far far as access to roads and story levels. I'll ask my DH when he gets home and post later. He notices this stuff way better than me as he usually drives.

Glad to answer any questions, I know I went through the same problem when planning our trip(1st to DL) It was hard finding a hotel that looked like it would meet our standards for the price we could afford. But, with the money we saved we can go back in Dec. to catch the Christmas stuff. Now, Dec. 2007 when we go back to WDW for our 10th Anniversary, then we'll be splurging. My first time onsite(dream come true) at AKL and GF or WL. Our DS's will have a hard time going back to regular hotels.

 

[Pokemom]

We stayed at the Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites for 5 nights in July and I thought it was OK. I thought it seemed a bit worn for a Holiday Inn, but for $69/night, the price was right. The rooms were average size. We basically just slept there and didn't spend too much time in the room. If I remember correctly, the hotel is made up of 5 buildings. Some have 3 stories, some have 4 or 5. Parking is plentiful and access to roads is very easy. The hotel is right next to the Mickey and Friends Parking Garage, which blocks the view of any rooms facing North. On the other side is a Post Office Distribution Center and a gas station/convenience store on the corner. We did have an excellent view of the fireworks, however, from the parking lot and from the window at the end of our hallway. We walked to Disneyland each day - it was 9 minutes from our room to the tram station at the Parking Structure. There are not really any restaurants/shopping within walking distance. We didn't eat in the restaurant or swim in the pool, so I can't comment on those. One word of advice - don't order pizza from the pizza place that has their flyer in the room. It was terrible. The front desk staff were very friendly and the gift shop has a lot of Disney merchandise.

 

[simba_one]

Thanks for answering those Q's for me Eeyorecln. Much appreciated. And I hope you enjoy your WDW trip. The WDW on-site hotels are amazing!!! A friend of mine got back from WDW a few weeks ago and they stayed at the AKL and said it was an amazing experience. Looks amazing I have to say. One thing a lot of people tend to complain about when I've been there though is how they're kind of hard to get out of. Like if you want to make non-Disney excursions. They don't cater very well for them. But as long as you have a car you're good. And another thing about the AKL is that it's real far away from things. Has to be for the animals though and that's just a sacrifice you have to make. Let us know how it all goes though. Wish I was you!!!

And thanks for the info and heads up on the food pokemom!!

I've been reading reviews of the hotel today though and an awful lot of them feature negative comments. Some mention rooms being right near the elevators where you can hear EVERYTHING, rude hotel staff (making any question a drama is how one person describes them), unclean rooms and others about boy racers showing up and being loud. Something about it being in more of a residential area than a tourist one?!? Did either of you encounter any problems like those?

Overall though... did you both enjoy your stay there?! A lot of the reviewers have stated that they would not go back to that hotel again. I thought I was set (especially after reading several reviews on the HI at the Park and it's lumpy matresses) but this has totally swung me.

 

[Eeyorecln]

Our room was clean, although I had read about cleanliness problems at any hotel in our budget in Anaheim. So I'm guessing that could be a problem at any hotel. I don't know what boy racers are, but I didn't see any loud or obnoxous boys(other than mine ). We were right by the elevators and the laundry area was right across from us. I did not notice any noise problems. We had overslept a couple days, so people must not have been loud enough to wake us up on time. The staff isn't overly friendly, but they weren't rude to us either. All in all it was an average hotel. It was a great price for a summertime stay, and afforded us the chance to use our money on other splurges. As I choose to stay home to be with my kids and we're a lg. family, we have to budget our vacations. That said I would go back again. Now if money were no object then my answer would be different.

 

[Pokemom]

I agree with Eeyorecln - we were right across from the elevator and didn't really have a problem with noise, but as I said, we didn't spend a lot of time in the room (left early, came home late). We could hear some people leaving in the morning, but nothing too loud. The hotel is in a residential area. There are no other shops, hotels, stores around there, except for the gas station on the corner. We didn't have any problems with cleanliness or the hotel staff. I think some of the negative reviews may be because of people's expectations - if you are expecting to be in a touristy area with lots of restaurants and other hotels (like across from the main entrance), then you would probably be disappointed. It's not the Grand Californian, but it's not Motel 6 either. I would stay there again, but it depends on what you're looking for.

 

[simba_one]

Thanks guys. You've restored a lot of my faith in this hotel. I was having real reservations when I read some of the reviews. I'd of course rather be situated in a tourist area but from what I remember of the local tourist area on our last holiday there Harbor is nothing like I-Drive or anything so staying in a more residential area is no big deal. And if Disney property is viewable from the hotel then we're close enough to the restaurants for my liking. We tended to eat out a lot in L.A. and Hollywood a lot anyway (when not on Disney property) so we'll be in the car a lot anyway.

So thanks!! Found a new batch of hotels today though so I'm looking into them at the moment but this HI is still very high on my list.

Thanks for all your help.

If anyone else can add any helpful info. please do. Again, no detail is too little.