Camelot Inn vs Desert Inn?

[Prof Drake]

We're headed to Disneyland in July (yay!) with two adults and two kids (2 and 8 years old). We're looking for a two room suite, because the kids won't go to bed the same time as the adults. We'd like to be right across the street, because we tried staying at a place with ART before and we'd like to more easily be able to go back and nap the little one. Also, one of the adults has mobility issues, so we are looking for a room into which we can bring an ECV (and charge it).

I made a reservation for a “Parlor Suite” at the Anaheim Desert Inn & Suites. The total is $1,029.70 for five nights. I called and they said that it would be no problem getting an ECV in to charge it, but I could also leave it up front if I didn't want to bring it in.

I also made a reservation for a "King Family Suite" at the Camelot Inn. The total is $1222, plus $88 for parking. I called and they also said that all of the rooms (including the one we have reserved) can get a wheelchair or ECV through the door, and they say it would work fine to charge an ECV in the room. (They also tried to talk me down to the cheaper "Mini Suite," because of the size of our party, but apparently it doesn't have a wall between the two areas.)

So now I think it comes down to other factors. Specifically:

• The Camelot room looks nicer, comparing pictures on the website, but I'd love to know if people who have seen the rooms like them at either/both places.
• The Camelot pool looks nicer, but again I'd love to hear from those with personal experience.
• They might both be near construction, depending on what happens with Disney’s new parking structure and pedestrian bridge. I believe the Camelot Inn particularly runs that risk, because it is next to a hotel that Disney will need to demolish. I'd love to hear from anyone who has been following this.

Obviously, if they're about the same we should choose the cheaper one (it's almost $300 difference) but I have no idea if they're about the same. All thoughts welcome!

 

[EmmersIsTheMommy]

We always go to Desert Inn. The rooms are clean and comfortable but it's definitely not fancy. The maids were amazing and always did cute things with my kids stuffies they accidentally left in bed.

 

[Prof Drake]

We always go to Desert Inn.

Thanks. I think I'm leaning toward the Desert Inn. We could certainly spend the price difference on some stuff (like a new stroller) that would make the trip better overall.

 

[lalasmama]

I'd go for Camelot, for many reasons, but I haven't ever stayed there

-1- Desert Inn beds are HARD. Like "I considered sleeping on floor for a softer spot" hard. I've heard that the beds closer to the front are softer. We were in the middle.
-2- I've had many issues with customer service at Desert Inn--from calling incessantly when our plane was late (and we let them know, yet they kept calling to see when we would be there), to having an issue with us needing to change our credit card information (card expired between reservation and stay, and so they charged us a higher price), up to being rude about us cancelling a stay 36 hours before check-in and charging us anyway when my father-in-law died (because, you know, we should have found him, then stopped and called the motel to cancel before we dealt with anything else; still steamed about this, as they are a mom-n-pop outfit, they could have totally waived the fee under the circumstances), to not cancelling further reservations when asked (requiring multiple calls later).
-3- Got a few skin issues from Desert Inn's hot tub--namely, an allergic reaction to the chemicals, causing it to be painful to wear clothes for the next several days, followed by folliculitis (an infection of the hair follicles from a bacteria in the hot tub).
-4- The pool is inside, and has a huge wall of windows. Every family that walks by is looking in there. I'm not really a swimsuit model, so I disliked this for the whole 10 minutes I was there before I realized the burning wasn't from a hot hot tub but from an allergic reaction.
-5- The elevators are SLOW, and tiny. Small enough that me and my friend couldn't fit on the elevator with laundry cart and employee. So, if you have an ECV, you may be left waiting several elevator cycles for the elevator to be empty enough to get the ECV in.

 

[darph nader]

We've stayed at both.(pre-parking charges) Camelot has a better pool,IMHO,(can you say fireworks?)
The pool at DI&S is indoors but their patio is on the roof,,provided it's open. Kind of a major toss-up.

 

[Prof Drake]

I'd go for Camelot, for many reasons, but I haven't ever stayed there

We've stayed at both.... Kind of a major toss-up.

Thanks lalasmama and darph nader!

I have to admit, I'm back to being totally stumped.

It's always tempting to save money (and I am genuinely worried about potentially being next to a construction zone) but lalasmama's experiences make me quite nervous about choosing the Desert Inn.

Maybe I should wait and see what happens, if anything, about the Eastern Gateway at the Planning Commission this evening? Or maybe even wait for next month's meeting?

 

[Butterfly123]

We've stayed at Camelot before and have had a very nice stay. But we stopped staying there when I had some issues with management being rude, and wanting to overcharge us. I don't know if they still have that same manager, it was years ago. We have a reservation for Desert Inn and Suites this summer. It will be our first stay there. The rate for our suite was $219 a night. We booked early! Now it's up to $279 a night. I don't know what your rate was, but I'm sure you don't want to cancel a good rate!
If you're like me, you sweat your decision about what hotel to pick. The reality is that most of the hotels on Harbor within a certain price point are very similar. They have their good points and drawbacks. I've read that Desert Inn and Suites has hard beds, but I decided to stop being nervous about that because people on these boards do use that hotel over and over. So it can't be too bad! And if we don't care for it, we won't stay there the next time. We don't spend that much time in the room anyway. Good luck with your decision!

 

[Malcon10t]

Beds are Desert Inn are uncomfortable. Pillows were flat. Yes, we aren't in the rooms much, but the Camelot beds were much nicer. So, the time IN the room was much different between the 2. We stopped staying at the Desert Inn due to backaches.

 

[tzeitel]

Funny, I like the beds at DI&S This was the first time we have noticed the beds are firm (our 3rd stay there) and only because DH mentioned it and did not care for them, but not a deal breaker for us. We have never tried their pool (do not like that it is indoors), but we saw people there all the time. The agents and housekeeping have all been super nice. The cc I had put on the reservation had expired and the front desk agent called me when they went to charge for the first night (they charge the card 24 hours before arrival). I gave her the correct card and all was well - no big deal.

 

[EmmersIsTheMommy]

We commented on how much we liked the beds at Desert Inn LOL

The pillows I'll agree with, just ask for a couple more and I bet they'd bring you some.

The pool is what it is. It's an indoor pool (which I dislike anyway..we only swam once and it was fine). Hot tub was fine. In the past they had some problems with it but this time it was great.

I mean..I'm not the pickiest, but I do have standards, and they are met at Desert Inn. IMHO I'd rather blow the extra 300 in the park

 

[Prof Drake]

My wife hates hard beds -- and from what I can tell the Eastern Gateway didn't come up at either of the recent Planning Commission meetings. So we're going with the Camelot (and will almost certainly share what we find in a trip report).

 

[Luv Bunnies]

I've stayed in both places in those exact room types! I think you'll be happy with the Camelot. If your goal is to put the kids to sleep before the adults there are drawbacks to the Desert Inn. If you put the kids in the beds, the adults will just have that very small parlor area. If I recall correctly, it's just one couch and a TV. That area does not have it's own air conditioning. If you close the door to the bedroom, you have to rely on a small vent that pulls cool air from the bedroom and blows it into the parlor. We always kept the bedroom door open because my son said it was too hot to sleep in the parlor with just the little vent running. As others have said, the pool is indoors and the whole pool room has a very strong chlorine smell. I'd rather have an outdoor pool when the weather is nice (which is more often than not in Anaheim).

We loved the room at the Camelot. Our teen boys had their own queen beds and a TV in their room. DH and I had a king bed, TV, and a sofa on our side. I really liked having the kitchen area in the room, as well as the wet bar which provided an extra sink for hand washing, etc. The only drawback was that the room only has one bathroom and it's in the double queen bedroom. We had walk through the boys' room to get to and from the bathroom. This wasn't a problem since our boys were older and actually stayed up later than we did. If you have small kids sleeping in that bedroom, the adults will need to be quiet going to and from the bathroom. We did OK with one bathroom, but these days I prefer two for our family. This room would be perfect with one more bathroom.

 

[minnieralyks]

Both hotels are fine. We enjoyed Camelot, but I think Desert Inn is pretty similar (haven't stayed there in a few years because they've gone up in price). There are going to be issues and nitpicks at every hotel. I'm sure the elevator at DI&S is standard size, so it's going to be the same elevator at Camelot or DI&S. If you're oping to save money, choose DI&S. It's also closer!

Also, ECV's should be able to fit through any doorway, so I think you should be A-Ok at either hotel!

 

[wenrob]

We've stayed at Desert Inn Suites (just got back) twice. I agree the beds are hard and made of memory foam which means you sweat all night. Honestly, I can't see fitting an EVC in the elevator (they do not have suites on the lower floors) or the rooms without a struggle. The elevator is not as slow as I remembered from the last trip. It's a decent price for the size of the room you are getting and I found the service/cleanliness fine but I doubt I'll stay there again specifically because it was impossible to get a good nights sleep in those beds.