We chose Portofino mainly for its close location to the Convention Center, and the balconey for my travel companion who smokes. I was nervous, based on some of the negative reviews, but the price was right, and I took a chance.
We were pleasantly surprised. It's not the Marriott-but that was over $100 more a night! We did not have any problems with odors or noise. The front desk staff was friendly, and very accomodating when we asked to store our baggage the last day so that we could go to Disney before we flew out. We were able to check in before 3PM. We walked to a variety of restaurants. The location was great. And yes, the 7-11 across the street was perfect for the small things we wanted.
I only had one concern- we stayed in the deluxe rooms. The family suites were across the parking area. We could see kids and parents open their windows. There were no screens or safety bars. These kids could have easily fallen out! If you have some wild kids, just be sure the window's locked!

I was very spectacle at booking this hotel because of some of the negative reviews. But, our stay turned out to be O.K. First, unlike on the website, which says it is one block from Disneyland, it actually turned out to be a 15 minute walk. So we ended up taking the shuttle, which was real effecient. Second, the room itself wasn't the most luxurious for what we had to pay. It is very expensive for what you get. We got the kid's suite which was one king bed, with a cheap french door that didn't close all the way, with a see-through curtain over it and in the other side was a bunk bed with a sleeper sofa, an old microwave and a worn fridge. The bathroom was also quite small. Moreover, the room was very loud. You can hear the neighbors talking, then you can hear the water heater when someone is taking a shower, the air-conditioner, which vibrates the bunk bed leaving the kids up all night, and the automatic closing doors of other neighbors slamming all night long. The one thing about the rooms that was nice was the beds were comfortable, even though the pillows are not. The lobby is also quite nice, even though you don't get a continental breakfast and your paying 200 dollars a night. All in all, it wasn't too bad. Some minor and major faults in the hotel, but hey! You're going to Disneyland, the happiest place on earth, who cares. Just need a place to put your head down for the night. And really, we only spent a little time in our room. Definatly keep this hotel (motel) on your list.

We stayed at this hotel because we got a last-minute deal on a kids suite, which ended up being cheaper than a standard room elsewhere because of our late booking. The room was spacious and our daughter enjoyed the bunk beds and the kid-sized table and chairs in her bedroom. We enjoyed having a king-sized bed to ourselves. The room did smell a bit musty and we had to crank the A/C down as low as it would go to get the room cooled off. You could defnitely hear other families, and it sounded like there was a herd of elephants stomping around the room above us first thing in the morning. However, having a kid ourselves and being used to noise and early mornings, we didn't think it was a big deal. The toilet was a little temperamental and we had to call maintenance at one point. Other than those few things, we really had no major issues during our stay. The staff we dealt with were friendly and helpful. Although I felt that there was some wear and tear in our room, this was not shocking considering that this hotel primarily caters to families. If my husband and I were going on a romantic getaway by ourselves, we would definitely pick another hotel. But our main goal was having a room our daughter could play in and enjoy when we weren't at the park, and this worked for us just fine. Our room was cleaned well everyday and housekeeping left the A/C running for us during the day, so our room was cool when we returned from the park.

I was a little worried about this hotel after reading some of the reviews on this site. It was fine. We booked the kids suite and yes it is not soundproof but for goodness sakes, you are a parent with kids! It worked out just fine. It was about a 15 min walk to Disney with the shuttle right outside.

Hotel was clean and close. The pool was nice. What more to do you need when you are at Disney for most of the time?