Park Vue Inn Review – April 2008
For our April 2008 trip to Disneyland we decided to try an off-site hotel. By doing this we would save money and be able to spend four nights instead of just three.
Because of the Cold Stone Creamery construction, the Park Vue lobby is closed and you check in with them in a temporary trailer. From what we could see of the lobby, it looked to be good sized and the trailer was quite cramped. By early May they should be back in the lobby and the trailer will be gone.
Our first Vue of the Park View Inn was a bit misleading. The hotel next door is so close, and the same color, so we were unable to see where one hotel ends, and thought it was all the same hotel. That is not the case. The Park View is a very small hotel, and is only two floors.
Because the small trailer is small, there was only one person there to check everyone in when we arrived. The wait was pretty long and there was only one person in front of me, but once I got to the counter I found out why. The employees of the Park Vue Inn are very helpful, very nice, and great to talk to. That was wonderful to see – especially in a situation where they were complete uprooted from their lobby.
Check in was quick and we were given our room assignment. Room 244 at the back of the hotel, and there are no elevators. Once we got to the stairs for our room, Andy made a few trips to take the luggage up the stairway.
Upon entering the room, the first thing I noticed was the size. We are used to the Paradise Pier Hotel, and this was much different. We had two queen beds with a night stand between them. There was a long dresser that also housed the television. It was a pretty small area, so there was no room for a table, a couch or anything like that. We did have two dining area type chairs to sit on, but no table to sit at.
The shower and toilet were in one room while the sink was in the main living area. A small half-wall divided the sink from the rest of the room. The closet was across from the sink with mirrored doors. Next to the closet was an inset area that held the coffee pot, microwave and a good sized refrigerator. At the sink there was a hair dryer.
The closet does have a safe, but it is not free of charge. You can get the key from the front desk and if you don’t provide a credit card, there is a 50 dollar deposit. The charge for the key itself is just a few dollars.
Internet at the Park Vue Inn is wireless, so you need no special cables or hookups.
There were a few issues with the television and we ended up blaming them on the phone lines too. Local channels were very hard to get in, but after the phone lines were fixed that improved a bit. Andy was upset that we didn’t have ESPN on the television.
We found the room clean and comfortable. We also found it very well lit. There was can lighting in the ceiling in addition to lamps above the night stand – one for each bed. Those, combined with the canned lights provided the perfect amount of light for reading. Since we don’t spend a ton of time in the hotel we don’t need much room.
The beds were comfortable and firm. The pillows were not the greatest, pretty flat and firm.
In the shower they used an old-style shower head. I remember shower heads like that from my childhood. It didn’t put out much water, and made rinsing my hair difficult. Andy had no issues with the shower head though so it was just me.
We called for a wakeup call the first night, and everything went like clockwork. It was the second night, and the third night that things went downhill. We found out after the second missed wakeup call that our alarm clock didn’t work either. The phones were the problem with the wakeup call, and it was not just our room involved. A phone repair was ordered and they were there for two days fixing the phones. Once I informed the front desk that our clock didn’t work, they quickly replaced it with a new clock. After the phones were repaired wake-up calls began working again, just in time for our last day.
Park Vue Inn has a great little store, called the Mickey and Me Outlet. Here we could buy pop, water, Gatorade and juices for $1.87! At the parks you pay $2.75 so that was nice. There is a huge selection of character t-shirts here, including some from Meet The Robinsons. Other Disney items are for sale as well, and cheaper than you can get at the Resort. This store did not sell two things important to us though. We had to go elsewhere for chocolate milk and for beer, and found it two doors down at the Tropicana Hotel. Chocolate milk we bought at Disneyland.
The pool at the Park Vue Inn is outdoor and rather small. Only once during our trip did we even see someone in the pool.
There is a complimentary continental breakfast here each morning from 7 – 9. While I saw many people enjoying this, we never checked it out.
There are laundry facilities here on the bottom floor. It is also important to note that the ice machines are outside, as are the room entries. Because of this, there is a charge for ice. (only 25 cents, but it is a charge).
We also loved the bag check set-up. You can call to let them know you are checking out, and leave your luggage in the room. They will come get it and store it in a locked room for you. When you are ready for the luggage, just go to the front desk and they will have the room unlocked so you can get your luggage. This was a wonderful setup!
Located next to the Park Vue Inn is I-Hop. This restaurant is open 24 hours a day. While we never ate here, it was nice knowing it was there because sometimes we did get hungry after leaving the park, so it was nice to have a food option.
While the Park Vue Inn is definitely not a deluxe hotel, it suited our purposes and was right next to the cross-walk for Disneyland. The staff here is incredible.
In fact, the only problem with the hotel was the Shell Time Shares Group. These people will accost you as you enter the property with offers of 100 Disney Dollars for 90 minutes of your time. They used one of the hotel rooms for their office.
For people who just need a place to sleep, this is a great little hotel. Park Vue Inn is comfortable and quaint, with a great staff and a perfect location.
Would we stay here again? When we are trying to save money and want to be close to Disneyland then yes, I do believe we would stay here again. On our next trip though we are going to try another hotel also located at the cross-walk so that we can provide more information to all of the readers of our website.