Hotwire & Disneyland Area

[seanyred]

So for our upcoming trip we have two days at the beginning and two days at the end of our vacation that we need to find a hotel. Has anyone used Hotwire to book near Disneyland. I am looking at a Three Star Hotel and up. Hotwire splits the area up as DL North and DL South.

Just wondering what your experiences have been with Hotwire or similar sites that don't reveal the hotel name until you pay.

[tinkwest]

I've never used that type of site for a hotel stay anywhere. My only piece of advice might be that Disneyland North may take you to the other side of the 5. I would think that Disneyland South may have more nearby options. All supposition.

[seanyred]

I've never used that type of site for a hotel stay anywhere. My only piece of advice might be that Disneyland North may take you to the other side of the 5. I would think that Disneyland South may have more nearby options. All supposition.

Thanks. I have generally been happy with Hotwire using it around WDW and Chicago. So I'm hoping it will work for DLand. It's just I am not as familiar with the area.

The other side of 5 is a rough area or just inconvenient?

[tinkwest]

I was thinking less convenient. But, again, those are vague descriptions of areas.

[Disney4us2]

There is not much north of DL. You will pass the police station and it is mainly residential. There are a few dinky motels. That was a few years ago though.

I would stick to the south of DL. There are a lot of hotels/motels on Harbor Blvd.

[Pongo]

I used it last week. Got a 3.5 star for $64. They put me at the Crowne Plaza on Harbor. There is a $14 resort fee on top of the price. The hotel is a few miles south of the park but there is a shuttle. The room was large, very clean, and had great amenities. There was a coffee maker and a fridge in the room. The beds were very hard (what I like) there was a comfy chair and a desk. The bathroom was large. The pool is nice. There is self parking behind the hotel which is a bit of a hike to the reception area. There is a Red Robin and Joe's Crab Shack that you can walk to. Target is across the street.

[seanyred]

So to finally update this thread. I decided to not use Hotwire to book this trip. Our trip is a little goofy so to speak. We have 2 nights off property then 4 nights at Grand Cali then 2 nights again off property.

For the off property portion we will be staying at Comfort Inn & Suites and Quality Inn & Suites.

So when we get back I can at least give feedback about these hotels as well.

Thanks for all the info everyone.

[LVT]

Hi, I will be watching for your report. Thanks.

[frozman]

I know this advice is a little late, but for others who could benefit from another actual answer, I am an extremely frequent Hotwire user (5 trips or so a year), and I have used Hotwire to book a hotel near DL once. I believe it was a 2 Star/Disneyland South and I ended up at the Comfort Inn Maingate, which I understand has since changed names. It was funny, I was debating between booking that hotel or the mystery hotwire hotel and saving $20-$30/night, I chose the mystery and ended up there anyway.

For the record, I could not have been happier with the outcome, though the hotel was pretty far south of DL on Harbor (almost at Chapman), but both OCTA and ART provided service to DL from right by the hotel. I think I must have been just north of Pongo's Crowne Plaza as I know there was a Target just south of me. That's the one thing you do risk with booking a Hotwire hotel, you could be at something a little off the beaten path, which is fine for me as a single guy.

Another thing to note: I've stayed at the Doubletree Orange (next to the Outlets) a few times and I happen to know they accept a lot of Priceline bids (so I'm assuming Hotwire too). I'm not exactly sure what "zone" that is in (I'm pretty sure it's not a DL zone though) They are not really near DL, and would require a transfer on OCTA, but the hotel provided a free shuttle. That said, there are Ayres and Hilton Hotels nearby that may not provide this service, so ending up there could get you in trouble if you don't plan to rent a car.

Furthermore, if you google around, you may be able to be a sleuth and figure out what hotel they are advertising by utilizing the list of amenities provided. For example, if booking on the Las Vegas Strip, there is only one 5 star hotel that does not have a casino as an amenity, so you'll know what you are getting.

[Quadstriker]

Search for Priceline forum - they're the experts.

My personal strategy:

Priceline
Disneyland/Anaheim Convention Center
3.5 star and up

Never got something I was unhappy with.