Hotel Reviews
Travel Tuesday: Hyatt House Anaheim Hotel Review
After my stay in Indianapolis for this year’s GenCon (and spending approximately 15 hours at home), I was off to Anaheim, California for D23. Since I’d be working the event and representing Laughing Place, my room was booked and paid for by my boss — which also meant that I didn’t know where my hotel was until a couple of days before I arrived. As it turned out, I would be staying at the Hyatt House Anaheim, spending six nights in one of their Studio Kitchen Suites.
So, how was this Hyatt House location and who is it right for? Let’s jump into my experience at the property.
Hyatt House Anaheim Studio Kitchen Suite Review
Booking
As I mentioned, I wasn’t the one to book my stay at Hyatt House Anaheim, so I unfortunately can’t provide any specific pricing. However, putting in some random dates for late October, I do see suites starting at $271 per night. Oddly, trying a variety of dummy dates, I have yet to find any standard rooms unless I search for single-night reservations.
In any case, given the hotel’s proximity to the Anaheim Convention Center (which we’ll talk about shortly), I suspect rates could increase sharply around the time of major events. During these times, you may be better off booking with World of Hyatt points. Of course, you can also find the property on third-party sites.
Location
Hyatt House Anaheim is conveniently located at the corner of Harbor Boulevard and Katella Avenue. If you know anything about the Anaheim area, you likely know that this puts the hotel less than a mile south of the Disneyland Resort and less than half a mile from the Anaheim Convention Center. In other words, it’s a prime location that can put it in high demand during big events, holidays, and other popular times like Spring Break.
Parking and check-in
Self-parking is available at Hyatt House Anaheim for a fee of $30 (plus 17% tax). Seeing as I didn’t have a car on this trip, I didn’t have to do this. What I appreciated is that there’s a sort of porte-cochère in the hotel’s parking lot. In my experience, this makes it easy and stress-free to get dropped off or picked up.
After getting dropped off, I headed to the front desk to check-in. This is when I was informed that the hotel doesn’t have daily housekeeping and, since the team had already gone home for the night when I got there, I was told to call the front desk if I needed any extra supplies. With that, I was on my way to the third floor and my room.
Elevators/stairs
Whenever I wanted to head up to my room, I found that there was an elevator ready for me in the lobby. That’s a huge plus for me (and made up for the elevators themselves being a bit slow IMHO).
The problem is that, on several occasions when I wanted to head downstairs — especially in the mornings — I found a lengthy line of people waiting for the elevator. Granted, this might be because it only takes a couple of families to form a line, but still.
That’s why, after immediately giving up on the idea of riding down in the elevator, I went looking for a stairwell. Luckily, I found one… but there was a catch. The stairs I found unfortunately dumped me outside instead of in the lobby as I had hoped. While disappointing, taking a turn to the right led me right back to the front entrance of the hotel. And while I felt a bit awkward walking in and immediately heading toward the breakfast area, I found the stairs to be a great alternative to the elevator.
Of course, the outdoor entrance to the stairs meant they were not accessible for going upstairs. But, as I stated, grabbing an ‘up’ elevator wasn’t really an issue. Meanwhile, perhaps there’s an interior stairwell I missed, but I made do with this hybrid approach.
The room
Before opening the door to my room, I was unaware that it had a kitchenette in it. When I turned my head to the left to see a stovetop, microwave, and refrigerator, to say I was ecstatic would be an understatement. Having already spent the previous week in a hotel and knowing that I’d surely be exhausted at the end of each convention day, it was incredibly heartening to realize I could simply make or reheat some food in my room.
I should note that the reason I had this full kitchenette setup was because I ended up staying in a Studio Kitchen Suite. However, it looks as though the standard rooms at Hyatt House Anaheim do still include a microwave and fridge — which, honestly, was pretty much all I needed. The coffee maker, which was also a nice touch, is available in the regular rooms as well.
While we’re in the kitchen, I’ll note that I appreciated that all of the utensils and dishes I needed were provided. Also, rather than having just a tiny, icy subsection like many mini-fridges, the fridge at Hyatt House had a dedicated freezer (which was perfect for storing the pint of Ben & Jerry’s I impulse bought on my walk back one night). My only complaint was that the microwave was incredibly small. This was a minor issue as the regular-sized dinner plates in the room would not fit. There were some smaller plates I could use instead, but it was pretty annoying to then transfer my items back over to a larger plate to join the rest of my meal.
Aside from the kitchenette, the other aspect of the room that caught my attention was the television display in the center of the room. As I discovered, this is so you can turn the TV to face either the couch nook or the beds on the opposite side. I do think this is clever… but I’m torn on whether it looks cool or tacky. I’ll let you decide instead.
In terms of comfort, the beds were perfectly serviceable even if they weren’t my all-time favorite. During the day, the couch on the opposite side of the room was nice for sitting — and I’m sure would be great for company, if you had any.
Moving to the bathroom, this felt like a pretty basic motel/hotel bathroom and was nothing to write home about. While the water pressure was passable, I was disappointed that the hot water was lacking during certain hours of the day. It was never freezing, but there were times when it wasn’t quite as hot as I would prefer.
To wrap up, I do want to note something strange I experienced. On a couple of the nights of my stay, a foul odor was emitting from the bathroom, getting stronger as I approached the shower and wall. This smell bled into the bedroom, but closing the bathroom door allowed me to cut it off. Oddly, when I awoke in the mornings, the smell was gone and everything was fine. Ultimately, while I considered inquiring about the smell, I never did end up doing so — and, thus, can’t venture a guess as to what was causing it. The fact that it only happened a couple of times is also odd, so I really can’t explain it. I guess it could have been worse.
Dining
As a guest of Hyatt House Anaheim, you can take advantage of their free breakfast in the morning — and, from what I saw, many people do! This place was hopping in the mornings for sure. Personally, I only bothered to grab a cup of coffee and a tea bag. During the day, there’s also a lobby bar that serves a menu of food as well. Alas, I did not try this option during my stay.
Beyond the hotel itself, you can find plenty of dining options nearby. This includes a Blaze Pizza, Starbucks, and Luscious Dumplings in the same building as the Hyatt House. I happened to get something from all three of those locations during my stay and enjoyed them all.
What’s also convenient is that there’s also Walgreens on the other side of the parking lot. Thanks to this, I was able to stock up on a few items and make food in my room when I returned from the convention center each day. If for some reason you don’t even want to walk over the Walgreens, it looked as though the Hyatt lobby had a small market as well.
I won’t take the time to list every restaurant within walking distance of Hyatt House as they are simply too numerous. But, I will note that there’s an IHOP next door, a Subway across the street, and the property is a short distance from Anaheim Garden Walk. So whether you’re looking for counter service, table service, or grocery items to dine in, you won’t have to go far from the Hyatt House Anaheim.
Final Thoughts on the Hyatt House Anaheim
For my D23 week, there was perhaps no better place for me to stay than Hyatt House Anaheim. The hotel’s proximity to the Anaheim Convention Center coupled with the much-needed kitchenette made my busy weekend as convenient as it could be. That sentiment even extends to the parking/pickup situation as I had no issues directing drivers to the hotel entrance.
At the same time, my stay wasn’t 100% perfect. Namely, the odd smell and oft long lines for the elevators hindered my experience slightly — although neither was a dealbreaker as the benefits more than made up for them. On top of that, though, I do think the room could use a bit of a refresh (especially in the bathroom).
Those annoyances aside, I’d definitely stay at Hyatt House Anaheim again. In fact, of all the convention center area hotels I’ve stayed at over the years, this would easily be where I’d want to stay next time (thanks mostly to those practical amenities like the kitchenette). I can also imagine this being a great pick for families who are visiting Disneyland, want to be able to prepare some food in their rooms, and don’t mind walking a bit.
All in all, Hyatt House Anaheim is a solid location for those who prioritize convenience over luxury or theming — even in the shadow of the Magic Kingdom.
Author
Other Articles by Kyle Burbank
Quick Tips
Quick Tips
You Can Now Turn Marriott Bonvoy Points Into Starbucks Stars
Last week, I covered how MGM Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy had launched their mutual point transfer feature (a mere six months after their partnership first rolled out). Well, now another Marriott Bonvoy pact is gaining a point conversion feature — and it's definitely not one I expected. Now, you can...
Quick Tips