Howard Johnson by Wyndham Anaheim Hotel & Water Playground — Hotel in Anaheim

Check In They give you a pre check in via text so that way check in is faster. The do REQUIRE ID, make sure you have your ID. ALSO MAKE SURE your card is not a swipe only. They REQUIRE you have a chip card, for some their banks haven't upgraded to the chip, the cards to have chips. The mini mart is chip only cards, no swipes. There is extra city fees etc. Thankfully my husband has a card with a chip so check in only a little speed bump.

Parking - It gets full fast. When you arrive to the location you have to use this call box to get buzzed into the property. Do not block the ramps or the stairs. They have spots for check in. But beyond that, you'll have to find a spot. We got lucky someone was leaving and we got their spot. They will give you a parking pass that needs to be displayed. They do inform people to empty their cars of their possessions so if anyone peeks in they wont see anything. They did have a odd request about the 3rd row seats to be removed on their parking pass, we didn't drive a 3rd row vehicle so it didn't apply to us, so we didn't ask. Parking is a extra charge (another review mentioned it and so we weren't shocked.) That's $25 a night.:

Pool - They will give you wristbands, if they got ruined or needed replacing the staff said they would replace. That way they know who are guests at a glance. If busy, their rules are 3 hour max, not busy that will be at the discretion of the staff for length of time. We experienced the pool on our 2nd day, there was life guards. The staff was very friendly. The wristbands were required to wear while in pool areas, it was to make sure no non-guests to use the facilities. You can put the wristband on the swimsuit straps of the littles. They allowed our little one in the hot tub as long as there was adult supervision. We were told we could use the facilities till noon the last day of our stay. The staff member wrote down our room # and how many were in our group and assigned a table/or chairs. You can take the pool towels back to the room. Kids area has a 1ft pool for the little ones!

Room - We got the family room. Very spacious for all the kiddos and us. We had a top floor room, so the skylights were pretty neat. We're used to having early morning sunlight in our room at home, so this was no issue for us. For some it might. The skylight windows are huge. Each room had its own AC and dimmer lights. Also you can see the fireworks from Disneyland from the hotel. Our room was facing away from them, but we could hear them. We went outside to the sitting area outside our room to watch the fireworks. They start around 9:30pm.

Question for hotel - The artwork of the duckies in the family room bathrooms, who do I contact to get a copy of it? Was it sold in the mini market? I'd love to find a small/medium print of it!

The little market they have in Building 1 is super cute, once again SWIPE Only cards. A variety of toys, snacks, and gifts. They sell rubber duckies they're $3 and a huge hit with my kiddos.

So to reference a lot of the negative reviews about the noise. Building 1, while has good soundproofing, you can still hear the freeway that is about 10-20ft away Building 1. There's no avoiding the noise. Building 5 is the closest. The staff mentioned that they are planning on renovating the older buildings soon. I grew up next to a freeway so I know how to tune it out. In building 1 at least we had a mini fan (took my laptop) so we had white noise which covered the faint freeway sound. Building 1 & 2 have been renovated. When booking, try for those buildings, if noise is a deal breaker, then this place might not be for you or any hotels near Disneyland, because it is surrounded by busy streets. There is so much the staff can do about the noise.

The hotel is literally next door to Disneyland. We walked to Disneyland. You can see the Matterhorn ride from the parking lot. It was a 10 minute walk to the entrance of Disneyland, parking is $60+ at Disneyland and they shuttle you there. Save the money, park at hotel.

Will we be rebooking in the...

This was our first stay here, influenced by IG accounts who stay and rep this hotel.

We booked a room for 1 night, SAT-SUN. The price was a little steep and the parking even more so… I didn’t use the shuttle service but the pamphlet in the room stated they offered a shuttle. Personally, since it is a less than 10 min walk to the park, I’d rather not pay parking and walk and have no shuttle service.

We were able to park early and hit the parks and the front desk assured me I would get a text when the room was ready but it was guaranteed ready by 4pm. I was handed 2 wrist bands for entry into the “water park” and was told if I lose them they can not guarantee re-entry… ok, odd and strict, but ok. The front office was festive and very clean, the staff were nice and helpful.

Around 3pm we still hadn’t gotten a text about the rom being ready so I attempted calling the front desk few times and no one ever answered so we decided to walk back hoping that by the time we got back it would be close enough to 4. Sure enough, the room was ready and was told they usually send out texts every 15mins so the room had likely just got done, mhmm, convenient I suppose.

We were booked in building 6, I was already aware this was an older building. The hall smelled weird and familiar… not bad like other reviews suggested, but definitely off. The biggest con about this building is that there was no elevator. Fortunately because we were only staying one night I didn’t have to lug too much to the room, but did have a large, heavy suitcase and since it was just my son and I I struggled a little getting it up the staircase.

Our room was very spacious and clean, but outdated as expected with mismatched furniture and the carpets/curtains/bedding did not jive at all, but it was kind of cute and inviting in a way. They had some cute framed art on the walls, one resembling Small World. PLENTY of storage which is always nice, aside from the bathroom, the vanity was very narrow so if you a lot of toiletries you may have to store these elsewhere, at least in the older buildings. There were plenty of lights in the bedroom, the beds were comfy (felt like just a topper, but much better than some other hotels we frequent on the area). The bathroom had light pink tiles, very interesting, a little unsettling for some reason, but it was clean which is most important to me. The ceilings were tall and dome like which gave in more natural lighting and a more spacious feel, I liked this very much and it was very unique. We had a cute balcony over looking the Garden pool, one of my favorite parts. The best part was the Alexa in the room, my son loved asking it tell him jokes, he went on for awhile with that, lol.

After getting settled we decided to check out the water area which includes a hot tub, a couple water slides, some splash accents and a small kiddie pool. Some reviews mentioned a 10min mandatory bathroom break for kids 14 and under and no kids under 14 allowed in the hot tub. This is false in part. The age used to be 14 but has now moved to 8. And they did allow my son to use the hot tub with adult supervision, which I’m so relieved because the hot tub was 75% of the reason we booked here. Overall we enjoyed the water area, it would be a lot more fun when it is warmer out.

After our park day back at the room I ordered a pizza for delivery. Deliveries are not allowed so I ended up having to walk out of my building and to the street to get our pizza which was inconvenient because we were in the middle of getting ready for bed. I also could not locate an ice machine, I looked all over in our building and made my way to building 1, asked the store clerk and still couldn’t find one.

The grounds really impressed me. They were impeccable. Very nicely landscaped, and some with Christmas decor. They have birds of paradise everywhere giving it a tropical feel, my ultimate favorite part of this hotel.

All in all it was a good stay, I felt very safe staying here which is important to me considering it was just my young son and...

Okay this is a honest review based on a mom with two kids. Let me start by saying don’t be fooled by the pictures online like I was. That is NOT AT ALL WHAT YOU GET! Those are actual nice rooms. That I believe are in building 1 only.

I’m usually a Hilton/Marriott girl due to they never miss on how clean they are. I stayed here due to proximity to Disney literally a 7 min walk, the water park for kids to play and the online pics were a selling point to me. Which no where online does it say that different building means you may get a old room or a remodeled one. Apparently building 1 is what you see online. (Building 3&4 seem to be the older ones) Staff: Let me start off by saying the staff is excellent! I truly mean in from check in to the staff assisting at the pool and at check out even when we got food delivered the staff at the front was never rude or short. Upon check in they provided recommendation on food, a map of nearby stores and food as well as delivery options. All this is excellent especially when traveling to a place where you don’t know. Here is where it’s bad. Room: IT IS EXTREMELY DISGUSTING. We got building 4. It smells like an old folks home with an overpowering perfume to cover the old humid smell. Our room came with a roll away bed and a crib. Which we didn’t need. But in the back there was a closet with that bed. When you open it the overpowering smell of humid and dirty covered with a very strong flower citrusy smell. You can just tell the carpet needs to be ripped out. Because in usually barefoot in my hotel and the floor felt humid. And just plain out gross.Also why is my wet towel from the am that I left hanging in the restroom still wet at night when we get to the hotel. The room is MUSTY AND HUMID. The restroom had pink tile on wall and floor if you know, you know. The top of the rr had black on the grout like is that mold or dirt because idk how that even gets dirty up there. The bathroom when turning on the water if you like hot showers. It gets completely humid and hot, you simply cannot take a hot shower without you choking in the RR there simply is no ventilation. The shower does have nice pressure but it is contradicted with it causing the water to not drain properly so again if you like to relax in the shower you can’t because the tub is filling up and you are showering in your filth. Because the water won’t go down fast enough.

Room service: is only done the 2nd day and 4th day which let me be honest. I don’t care if I’m only sleeping at a hotel cleanliness is a MUST! They for sure do not clean. They take out trash restock towels/ paper and do the beds. The desk and night stand was not dusted because the tiny hair tie was still there. The crumbs from cookies we ate still on the floor. The restroom still had hair on the floor. Never have I ever stayed in a hotel where it was so apparent they did not clean. I mean fake it at least pick up the obvious trash.

Water park: is a very nice size. You get wristbands upon check in to use. The lifeguards for the most part are nice and very attentive to the kids there. They have a turtle splash pad very small but perfecto for the littles. They also have a 1 fr pool are just for kids. My kids loved it. A small jacuzzi and the pirate ship slides and park which the kids also loved.

With all this being said. This is the worst hotel room experience as far as how clean the room was. So much so that I took my time to explain due to I don’t want anyone else to be fooled to thinking you are getting a decent room and you are not! For the price if you are going to Disney and universal they both have water parks/ splashy pads you basically already paid for on the ticket so the hotel having it is not a big seller. The Universal one is at minion land. And the Disney one is in Disney land.

Even tho staff was excellent. I’m staying in a room which is old and gross and not cleaned, And musty. Save your money. I do not recommend. Check reviews....