valiamo

Trying to make a decision and hoping that some of my travelled members can lead me in the right direction. Taking a Disney trip with just the wife and I with no kids (Whoohoo).

My conundrum.. I have both the Fairfield and the Anaheim Marriott booked (I am a gold rewards member) and want to know your opinions on which reservation to keep.

Fairfield
We like the Fairfield owing to it’s ease of getting to the park, but our last stay we found the hotel a tad family oriented, and quite packed. We also found that our room location had a lot of excited youngsters outside of our room last trip.. no noise like a your child squealing about Mickey Mouse at 6 in the morning outside your door.

Marriott
We have not stayed here, and looking at the convention Centre schedule, there are no big convention events on the week we are there (first week of Dec), so we do not expect the area to be super busy. I also have no problem taking the ART back and forth.

How is the hotel, is it quieter than then Fairfield, rooms any better?

We currenltly have a standard room booked, and I am wondering if paying the extra $40 a night is worth it for staying on the Concierge floors. Are those rooms are any better or less noisy, than rooms on lower floors?

Anyone have any past experience on how this particular hotel handles upgrades? Do they upgrade to concierge or just better rooms on the same floor type.

Thanks for your comments.

jalves

We've stayed at the FS Marriott 3 times. As a Gold you'll get access to the concierge lounge so I wouldn't pay for an upgrade. The rooms, even on the concierge floor, are pretty much the same.

Getting to/from the parks from there is not as convenient as the Fairfield, as you note. The ART is reasonable and you could walk if you wanted to. Either way, just realize you're probably looking at 20-30 minutes from the hotel to the park entrance.

The hotel is certainly quiet and the rooms are very nice.

valiamo

Thanks that is the kind of detail that I was looking for. Just saw a AAA discount that adds quite a nice discount on the standard room.

jlb3

I've stayed at the FFI a few times. Your criticisms are right on -- it's not a quiet hotel and I believe has exterior doors. However, the rooms are a good size, it's clean, I love the Disney theming, and the location can't be beat. It's less than a 10 min walk to the front of Disneyland. How much time are you going to spend in the parks? If you're an open to close person like I am, you're just using the room to sleep in. So I'd go with the FFI. If you want to relax, swim, use the club lounge, etc., then maybe the FS is a better option. I always stay at the FFI when I visit Disneyland.

SacTownGuy

The Fairfield is close but looks sketchy to me. The f/u is sort of far. It's nice but not great. We stayed at the new Spring Hill Suites recently and really liked it. Easy walk to the park, good coffee shop and drug store down store, pool up top, free breakfast, etc.... Also nice customer service.

valiamo

Nothing sketchy about the Fairfield, it is a nice hotel, and we have stayed there many times (always with the kids in tow). Rooms are comfortable, and you cannot beat the access to the park.

Looked at Spring hill suites, and cannot justify the $339 a night, over a $200 higher per night than the Marriott.

SacTownGuy

Make sure you check the new Spring Hill and NOT the "main gate" Spring Hill. Rates were like $150 last time and about $200 next time we are booked there. The upcoming trip is a popular weekend so I thought $200 was pretty reasonable. Certainly better than $600 at Grand California.

untfan

Two other choices - the new Courtyard next to the Fairfield may be open in December, it popped up when I was looking for a room in January. Probably the same complaints as the Fairfield but the pictures I saw looks to include a Water Park which would be more kid-friendly. If your considering the Marriott Convention Center you may also want to look at the Marriott Suites about .25 miles further down Harbour - Actually heading there tomorrow got an LNF rate at sub-$100/night, it has a collection of restaurants within walking distance too.

windhund

I've also stayed at the Spring Hill Suites (Convention Center) and liked it. The room was fairly large, and there's a CVS downstairs, which is convenient if you snacks or toiletries. I didn't walk to Disneyland from there, but it seems like it would be walkable from there. You can also walk to some of the restaurants/shopping along Katella, if you want a break from the parks.

DJ_Iceman

I would much rather pay $600 for the Grand than $200 for a SpringHill Suites!

SkiAdcock

It's been a while since I was in Mouseland and I'm not a fan, but if i can stay somewhere else for 3nights vs one night at another property in a reg room, even if the property is closer/nicer, I'm going to go with the reasonable property.

Cheers.

jlb3

I've stayed at the FFI several times and never once, ever, found it sketchy. If your sole purpose is Disneyland and Downtown Disney, it's a great choice. Although the new CY next door does look very nice as well - but I think it's even more $.

SacTownGuy

I have stayed at the Grand and DH many times. I know the experience. The Grand is nice and, obviously, the location is second to none. However, it's not that nice to me. Not $600+ nice. When we go for 4 or 5 nights it's simply not worth the extra money to ME. I would rather feel like I am saving money there so I don't feel bad blowing cash all day in the parks. On the other hand, last time we did a quick 2 nights staying at the Grand was awesome and the kids got our money's worth for us!

sdsearch

The other great thing about the Marriott Suites is the free giant restaurant breakfast buffet (including custom omelet/etc station) for Gold/Plat (since there is no lounge, but it's classified as Marriott brand for elite benefits purposes). The breakfast is definitely nicer than at the average SHS or FFI, and more variety than at the average Marriott lounge, though I haven't been to other non-suite Marriott or FFI or SHS mentioned above so I can't compare specifically to those.

SkiAdcock

New Courtyard opening up by theme park entrance:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marri...alifornia.html

Cheers.