Today, I'm at the Ayres Hotel Orange which is definitely not walking distance to Disneyland.
So what makes this hotel a top contender in our books?
Stick around to find out in this honest hotel review
Hey everyone this is Julia with honest hotel reviews and today I’m at the Ayres Hotel
Orange giving you and honest hotel review.
This hotel, which is DEFINITELY NOT walking distance to the park is about a 10 minute
drive to the Disneyland Resort…Being so far from the park, you might ask, but Julia,
why are you reviewing it? to prove a point my friends.
Most hotels right across the street from the park are more expensive than this hotel.
Sure you can walk back to your hotel…but at what cost?
Most of these places are from Walt’s era and are in need of some serious TLC or have
had the infamous ‘lipstick on a pig’ makeover as my husband Ben would say.
Super simple disney tip wash your hands all the time everyone is disgusting.
Everyone.
Here’s how our reviews work, each hotel is graded on the same 4 categories which are
Overall Experience, Hotel Amenities, Room and Value, this way you can see how they stack
up against each other.
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Give us a like, leave a comment or subscribe and let our conscience be your guide.
First up is overall experience: When we first pulled up to the Ayres Hotel, we were a little
concerned.
The hotel is right off the freeway, surrounded by major roads and it kind of felt like we
were in the middle of nowhere…But as soon as we walked into the hotel all our worries
melted away.
On the inside, this Boutique hotel is practically perfect in every way.
I need to give a HUGE shoutout to the Staff at this hotel.
Everyone was so friendly and took the time to get to know us.
This hotel is one of the cleanest we have come across in Anaheim and felt so comfortable
and at home.
We booked our hotel through expedia and it’s currently an Expedia VIP hotel, so we were
given two complimentary bottles of water at check in, PLUS an extra 2 hours in the room
on the day we checked out, which meant we didn’t have to leave our room until 2 PM.
What a treat.
Just keep in mind Expedia’s VIP Hotels including what that hotel might offer can change at
any time, so you don’t bank on any of it…it’s just nice to get extra perks if they’re
available.
Disneyland is 3 miles away so walking is not an option, but the Anaheim Resort Transit
busses do stop nearby.
Because of the location We were using ride shares everywhere we went.
But keep in mind, this hotel was priced so well, it ended up being cheaper for us to
stay here even with the cost of all the ubers.
One great perk of the location is being close to the Outlets at Orange which not only has
some great shops, it also has great restaurants, a movie theatre and a bowling alley.
It’s about a 10-15 minute walk away.
If you need your daily Starbucks fix, there is one within a block of the hotel.
All in all, the Ayres Hotel felt like a breath of fresh air from other hotels in the area
at the same price, so we gave it a 4.5/5
Because this is a smaller, boutique hotel, we expect the amenities to be on the smaller
side but a decent quality which was exactly what this hotel provided.
The pool was quaint and surprisingly quiet given the location of the hotel but most importantly,
it was clean.
The hot tub was also small, but typical for this size of hotel.
Th pool area also had a few lounge chairs, a table with chairs and an umbrella, lots
of towels, a water fountain, a restroom, and a place to rinse off.
The fitness centre was small but more than adequate and had a good range of equipment.
The business centre was really nice and tucked away into it’s own room.
There was also a small pantry shop beside the front desk.
Although, I will say it was a little sparse, especially given the location…
Our favourite amenity the Ayres hotel provides to it’s guests has got to be the complimentary
American style breakfast it serves up every morning.
All the hot food gets cooked up fresh in front of your eyes and the staff are constantly
freshening it all up.
Even though it didn’t have the largest offering trust me when I say ‘complimentary breakfast
buffets’ don’t get any fresher than this.
For our breakfast there, they served fresh eggs, pancakes, sausage and potatoes.
There was yogurt, fruit, plenty of cereals, pastries plus coffees, teas and juices.
If you’ve seen some of our other videos, you might know how excited Ben & I get about
pog juice, and we were stoked that the Ayres hotel had it here.
Later in the day, this space turns into a restaurant, called spoons.
They have a fantastic happy hour on the weekdays.
We were really happy with the amenities here.
So we’ve given them a 4/5
Okay, here is where things get really good…
We stayed in a Studio King Suite and were blown away it.
The first thing you notice is the high quality of everything in the room And the high ceilings.
The furnishings look like new and the bed is super comfy.
there were plugs at the bedside and if that isn’t enough, The lovely desk area has tons
of outlets.
There’s a nice sitting area with a leather couch that converts into a double bed, but
since it was just Ben & I having this area to sit & hangout.
The flat screen TV sits on top of a dresser with a few drawers, but storage in this room
is not an issue.
In the closet there were a few hangers, plus the iron, ironing board and extra bedding
for the pull out couch, plus additional hangers across from the vanity, and tons of deep shelves
and cubbies to store all your stuff.
The sink and vanity sits outside the bathroom which has everything you need.
They offer a full sized hair dryer, plenty of towels, toiletries but my favourite was
the oversized tub and shower combination.
The room also has a mini fridge, microwave and coffee maker.
The AC unit was quiet and worked beautifully, we never heard anyone above us or from the
surrounding rooms, it was comfortable and pristinely clean.
Because we had a ground floor room that faced the courtyard, we also had a sliding glass
door.
the patio that has a tuscan feel to it.
This was a really nice feature.
It was especially nice since it’s super close to the complimentary breakfast buffet
room and pool area.
There were two things that dropped this room down a few points.
Number one, the room was a little on the dark side.
Sometimes dark feels dingy but that wasn’t the case here thankfully.
The Second reason is there is no in-room safe.
With all the empty cupboards this would be a really easy fix…but considering we’re
a room that’s connected to the patio area, it makes me a little uneasy that we can’t
lock up our belongings in our room.
In the end, we gave them a 4.125 for the room, which lands it in the top 10% of all the rooms
we’ve stayed in in the past couple years.
For value, we gave them a 3.75.
The only reason we can’t rate them higher here is because they are so far from Disneyland.
The Ayres is one to consider if you’re okay using the Anaheim Resort Transportation System
or Rideshare, which can make it expensive if you’re a larger group.
This gives the Ayres hotel an overall score of 4.09 out of 5.
Here’s the point I wan’t to make: What you’re compromise on location, you make
up for in comfort and hospitality.
We highly recommend the Ayres hotel.
Especially to couples and business professionals who don’t mind using rideshare.
If you're considering other hotels in the Disneyland area we post new reviews every
week.
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I'm julia and this has been another honest hotel review.