109 Reviews
Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa
Anaheim City Center Anaheim|0.45km from Emporium
Latest booking 11 hrs ago
We are DVC and bagged a room at the VGC in early August. First thing- the building and lobby and overall vibe are beautiful. The bell person who greeted us was outstanding, Sorry didn’t get his name but he’s 50s, slim guy, and extremely talkative and helpful, the true ‘Disney Difference’ type employee. Check in was a very slow and lengthy experience although the lady was very nice. Queues at 3pm. This could be speeded up. Room wasn’t obtained until just after 4. We had a disappointing outlook room, ground floor, corner, facing directly at back entrance to Californian Adventure. Security guards stood around and no real barrier for privacy so never sat on patio. However, we realised the room had some advantages in that you could be in the park in about 40 steps. Room was nice enough. Would I pay over $1000 a night for it cash? Not worth it but booked on points. They are getting so they need a refurb although still in decent shape. It was all very dark though, perhaps not helped by room position in bottom corner of hotel. Craftsman’s bar was a bit disappointing for food. It was OK quality but very, very slow at coming out. Mine was comped. The bar itself with live music is lovely though and cocktails good. Pool is beautiful but at the same time disappointing. It’s disappointing because there are not enough sun loungers. This is partly due to Disney greed, who have turned over about a third of the already too small pool area to paying cabanas. This is partly due to lack of management. They are meant to have wristbands on people, but half did not have them and half the time there were no staff on the gate to put them on. I personally witnessed at 8am a family coming in the front of the hotel who didn’t seem to be staying there (very easy to get in despite needing a key card as the gate is constantly opened onto the sidewalk) who I saw walk into the pool area, they had no card and waited for gate to open and went in. Disney can see from the reviews on Tripadvisor this pool seating issue is a major problem. They need to do something about it. If that includes removing the cabana area and taking a hit on upcharges, they need to do it. They need to get really strict on pool management and wrist bands. When you are paying this much for a hotel, not being able to get sun beds is totally unacceptable. Shame as pool itself is lovely and live music even in the day. The characters also seemed to plead daily at around 4 pm for a pool party. Gym great. The DVC team here here we’re very nice people. Obviously location is fantastic.
Very Good
110 Reviews