Castle Inn & Suites — Hotel in Anaheim

This is a convenient location with a walkable distance from Disneyland. Although it is convenient, I will consider staying at a different hotel for my next Disney trip due to several negative experiences here.

It started with our friend who was the first to check into our hotel. She flew in from a different state and misplaced her wallet during the trip. We called and told the staff about our friend's situation and asked if they accepted apple pay. The hotel worker said they did not. They told us they needed a physical credit card. We offered to pay the reservation over the phone and were told that was not possible. We even asked if we could pay for a room over the phone for our friend to stay in while she waited for us to arrive at the hotel but the hotel also denied that and said that they still needed a physical credit card.

When our friend arrived at around 5:30pm to the hotel to see if there was anything else they could do to let her check-in without a credit card, they told her the only other thing that they would accept was for her to pay the first night's stay in cash. She again asked if they accepted apple pay, and the worker said they do not. Because she did not have her wallet, our friend needed to go find an ATM that accepted apple pay, which was nearly impossible to find in Anaheim.

So from around 5:30pm to 11:00pm, our young female friend was car-less and with no wallet trying to find an atm that took apple pay. In a response to Abigail R's review, Kelly G said that the hotel accepts apple pay, but they did not offer that option to us that day when two different people called and asked if this was an option. This is very upsetting to hear because me, my partner, and our friend tried to so many different ways to solve this check-in problem, but if it is true that Castle Inn accepted apple pay the entire time, this hassle our friend went through was for nothing.

Kelly G also mentioned in Abigail's review "at no time did we refuse to allow her access to the lobby" while she waited for us to fly in and arrive at the hotel (which we did not arrive until 1am that night) - but Castle Inn receptionists never made her feel like that was an option, or offered to help her find a solution. The receptionists did not make her feel welcome or seemed to care about her situation. At that moment, the workers made our friend feel like the only option was to go somewhere and get cash or she was SOL.

My second complaint for this stay was the blonde female worker who worked the morning shifts' shortness with us (Kelly G, is this you?). As we were leaving for the day, we asked if someone could take out the trash, give us new towels, and sweep the floor while we were gone. She said that they are not allowing house keeping to enter the rooms while we are there. I told her we would be gone all day. She gave us a lot of attitude and told us if we wanted our towels and trash changed, we needed to take it out and leave it outside the door. Another male colleague stepped in and said it would be taken care of. I understand there are policies that must be followed during this time, but my problem was how rude the blonde female worker was to us when making this request.

In short, we unfortunately had several negative experiences at the Castle Inn. Their staff should improve on their hospitality and ability to help their guests feel welcome...

As a kid growing up in Southern California in the 1990’s, this hotel was somewhat of a fantasy to stay in. The medieval theme, the colorful décor, and the spiral staircase in the lobby. However, in the mid-2020 it is beginning to show its age. I am giving it a 4 out of 5 rating only because taken all together the average price point per night is about 30% higher than the facility commands. I wanted to get the unpleasantness out of the way up front and clarified that the less than perfect rating is simply because the price point, particularly during high seasons, is higher than what is provided. |Vibe / Atmosphere:| The atmosphere reminds one of the medieval themed Pizza places popular in the 80’s and 90’s. Roundtable pizza in particular comes to mind. There is a knight of fantasy variety in the lobby, and the chandelier hangs above you as you enter. The staircase which is a central feature of the lobby is blocked because it goes up offices, not rooms. I will admit that detracts from the Castle Theme for me personally. Overall however, the lobby is a fun, if not dated, blast from the past. |Service / Staff:| The staff I interacted with was perfectly pleasant. We were checked in efficiently and had access to our rooms in less than 30 minutes of our arrival. I was very satisfied with check in. |Cleanliness / Comfort:| The room we stayed in is really ultimately the source of my 4 out of 5 rating instead of 5 out of 5. They were excellently clean, smelled pleasant, and were relatively quiet. However, I will say that the rooms themselves are showing signs of age, heavy curtains, wood panel accent walls, and a beige painted bathroom. Ultimately underwhelming, but nonetheless pleasant and comfortable. |What You Did (activities / duration / standout moments):| We stayed one night at this hotel. We did not use the pool, or any other facilities except the room itself. |Pros & Cons|Pros: The hands down indisputable advantage to this hotel is the proximity to the Disneyland property (Down town Disney, Disneyland resort, and California Adventure). And it sits near affordable restaurants, bus stops, and convenience stores. |Cons: The price point. I say this knowing full well the location, and still believe the price is a bit high for the value. |Most memorable feeling or moment: My most memorable moment was sitting in the lobby, taking in the decor, sitting on the furniture. I sat in the lobby for an hour soaking in...

We stayed at this hotel for 6 nights during VidCon 2019. It's a mixed bag. Overall the hotel is dated and a little run down but was very affordable for the area and included free parking where as a lot of hotels in the area charge you extra for parking with your stay. The check in process was quick and easy. The front desk clerk's we dealt with at check in and check out were very friendly and helpful. Once checked in we headed to our room. Again the rooms are dated. the floors were warped in our room near the bathroom to where when you opened the bathroom door it would get caught on the floor about 30% of the way open and you had to give it a little extra push over that warped section of floor to get it opened. The shower was extremely frustrating. The water constantly went in and out of burning to cold while you were in the shower. This happened every single time I took a shower. just a sudden burst of scalding hot water and then it would go cold before returning back to the ideal temperature. This would happen two or three times during a 10 minute shower. First night we pulled the sheets back to the bed and there was a red blood looking stain right in the middle of the sheets all the way through to the padding under the sheets. They were quick to come up and replace the sheets and padding but really frustrated that housekeeping made the bed with a very clear blood looking stain on the sheets. After that Housekeeping was pretty good and quick at making up the room. Beds were very stiff, however after 8 - 12 hours of walking around it was plenty comfortable and I had little issue with sleeping due to comfort of the bed. However the walls are extremely thin, I was woken up numerous times by people walking by outside talking and what not and the people above us apparently had a small child who would run back and forth across the room that was highly annoying. Very little buffer between rooms. Overall I'd probably stay here again when you bundle up the overall cost with the negatives for the hotel. It's clearly listed as a 1 star hotel and in my opinion would be on the higher end of 1 star hotels. It's not luxury at all but I knew that going in and as long as your expectations are as such this isn't a bad place to stay. Quick 5 - 10 minute walk to the main Disneyland gates. plenty of overly priced places to eat within 5 - 10 minute...