By Tinker Belle Diva
DCA as seen from the 3rd Floor
Since we like to return to a hotel during our trips to Disneyland for a break, we usually stay within a 10 minute walk from the gate. But I broke my own rule (twice now) to stay at the Best Western Plus Stovall’s Inn on the corner of Katella Avenue and Disneyland Drive. This is a very nice hotel and and suggest you include it on your list of ones to check out when looking to book a place to stay.
Location – Stovall’s Inn is located on the southwest corner of Katella Avenue and Disneyland Dive (also known as West Street) just south of the Disneyland Resort property. If you do decide to walk to the gates of Disneyland, I clocked it twice – once was 15 minutes and the second was 20 minutes. While you are SO close to Disney California Adventure Park (DCA) as the bird flies, you must take a round-about way to get there. First you cross Katella Avenue at Disneyland Drive and continue north past Disney’s Paradise Pier Hotel. At the next lighted intersection, turn left (west) towards the Disneyland Hotel. At the roundabout, turn right onto Downtown Drive, walk parallel to the Disneyland Hotel until you reach the west security entrance to Downtown Disney District (DTD). Here you will have your bags checked, and then walk completely through DTD to the east Esplanade where the ticket booths are located. Here you can turn left to go into Disneyland Park or right into DCA. If you don’t want to walk, you can also take a ride sharing service, such as Uber or Lyft, or purchase a ride on ART (Anaheim Resort Transportation) to the east security entrance along Harbor Blvd for ~$5 per day per adult.
Two Queen Non-Smoking Room
The grounds between two buildings
Hotel Layout – This hotel has two long buildings that are narrow in the front and extend far back into the property. Parking is in-between the two buildings and on the east side of the property. Each building is three stories tall, all rooms are accessed from the exterior, and smoking is allowed in the hotel. The hotel has several staircases and elevators to assist you in getting into your room, and we didn’t have to wait very long for an elevator. The property is relatively large and allows for landscaping areas around the hotel rooms and a very large pool area. There is a Coco’s Bakery restaurant at the northeast corner of the property.
Rooms – This hotel has a selection of rooms from one King up to two Queens. We have stayed in the room with two Queen beds, once on the first floor and once on the 3rd. These rooms are spacious and I like that the bathroom sink is separate from the toilet/shower, which helps get us all ready for our day in the parks. Each room also has wardrobe closet, a microwave and refrigerator, which are two more musts for me on our vacations, along with a coffee maker. There was a table with two chairs, but that was a little scrunched up next to one of the beds making it hard to move around to the second chair. The rooms are clean, decor is updated, and the bedding is comfortable. There are adjoining rooms and while I didn’t notice a problem on my first stay, on our more recent stay, our neighbors in the adjoining room had a toddler that was very upset around 11 pm at night. I could clearly hear the child yelling and mumbling noises from the parents trying to calm the situation. I wasn’t pleased with how easy it was to hear the commotion, but I am also a light sleeper and the adjoining door was right next to where I slept in the bed. The hotel has free WiFi, and we were able on both trips to easily connect and have relatively good speeds.
One of the pools
Amenities – At the eastern rear side of the property is the pool complex. We think this is one of the better pool areas for the nightly price of a stay. This area has two very large swimming pools, two heated spas, PLUS a children’s wading pool. There are also bathrooms at the pool complex, and an outdoor shower. We used the pools and spas on both of our stays and enjoyed them. On the second stay, we went around 7:30 pm and found that no more complimentary towels remained at the pool so we did end up walking back to our hotel room rather wet. There is a large fitness center just as you enter the pool. The pool area is open from 9 am to 11 pm.
One of the spas and a second pool
There is a complimentary continental breakfast served daily from 6 am to 10 am in a large room towards at the front of the hotel. There was a wide variety of choices at the breakfast including coffee, tea, milk, juice, eggs, bacon, potatoes, toast, cereal, fruit, oatmeal, donuts, bagels and muffins. Each member of our family found something they enjoyed. However, while the breakfast room is large, we were unable either time we stayed at the hotel to find a table, either inside or at the small amount of tables outside, so we brought the food/drinks back to our rooms.
The second pool and the second spa
Fees – This hotel does not have a resort fee, which I appreciate, but it does charge a $10 per night fee to park, and you are limited to one vehicle per room.
Staff – I found the front desk staff to be very friendly and accommodating during both of our stays. On our first trip, we arrived several hours before check-in and our room was not yet ready. The front desk staff said that he would call when our room was ready, but it may not be too much before normal check-in time. Sure enough, he did call about 15 minutes before normal check-in time to let us know our room was ready. I have stayed at other hotels that promise a call and never delivery. Also on our first stay, we came back from the beach looking to take showers and could not get hot water. I called the Front Desk and they immediately had someone up in my room to check. In the end, one of the boilers for the hotel went out, but they called me several times to keep me updated on the status and again when hot water was back. I appreciate that kind of customer service very much.
Fitness Center
Summary – We stay at the Stovall’s Inn when the rate, including the parking fee, is below some of our other favorites and when we do not plan to return to the room to rest during the day. I can certainly recommend staying here due to the rooms, the staff and the pool. Also, this is a Disneyland “Good Neighbor” hotel, which means they have partnered with Disney to allow you to book a Disney travel package that will include this hotel.
Looking for other hotel reviews? In December, I gave a review of the Howard Johnson Anaheim Hotel and Water Playground, or HoJo Anaheim, which is one of my favorites, and reviewed the Anaheim Desert Inn and Suites in April. My fellow Diva’s have also reviewed Camelot Inn & Suites, Tropicana Inn & Suites, and Candy Cane Inn. If you are looking to stay in one of the Disney-owned hotels, you can read my review of Disney’s Paradise Pier Hotel.
If you want help booking at one of these hotels or planning your Disneyland Resort vacation, be sure to contact Patricia at All For Dreams Travel for a free vacation quote.
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