This was destination #6 in our 2007 summer holiday which took in San Francisco (Holiday Inn, Fisherman's Wharf), Yosemite (Yosemite View Lodge), Carmel (Carmel Mission Inn), Santa Maria (Holiday Inn), Beverly Hills (Beverly Hilton), Anaheim (Sheraton Anaheim) and San Diego (Paradise Point).

This review is for the Sheraton Anaheim Hotel.

First of all let's face the facts. Walt Disney's purchase of a few empty fields in Orange County all those years ago did not stay a secret for long. Hence everyone pitched up and started building around his plot. What you have today is a bizarre case of a magical land-locked Disneyland Resort with no end of hotels/motels on the doorstep. You've therefore only got a choice of 3 Disney hotels "on-property" (not like the many in WDW Florida), all of which I personally think are not work the money, certainly as 2 of them don't look that special. I might stay at the Grand Californian Resort and Spa if I was loaded but after the likes of a Castle Club room in the delightful Disneyland Hotel in Disneyland Resort Paris, I'm not sure it would be any better.

So where do you stay? Answer: the Sheraton Anaheim Hotel. It's great.

Within 5 minutes drive (the majority of that being for traffic lights) to the parks by courtesy coach that runs every frequently throughout the day, the Sheraton Anaheim Hotel is based just north of the park area. It has a large car park which was free for us to use as a Virgin Holidays guest. This is also a perfect vantage point to see the fireworks every night.

Check-in was a dream; pleasant and efficient , especially as we were checked in by fellow brit Gary from Crewe. It was our wedding anniversary during the stay and although nothing could be done that night, we got upgraded to a turret room for the remaining 4 nights.

Rooms are big, clean and overall good. The room we got for the first night was in an ancillary block and a bit of a trek away. It was however, slightly larger and more modern than the turret room (simply more accessible I think - no more special in any way so I would not recommend paying for one).

The restaurant is also to be recommended. It is both child-friendly and very reasonable. The salads are great and a nice change from theme park fare but having said that Disney food can be good. Service is also special (though the occasional member of staff could do with a lesson in charm) and a nice change from the "order-eat-pay-leave" places that make you feel like you've overstayed your welcome after 30 minutes. We got a free $25 voucher to use because of our 5 night stay and 2 salads, 2 kids meals and 2 drinks later - all we paid was about $3 plus tip. Breakfast (if you're not rushing to see Mickey) is also a relaxed affair with children often free with paying adults. You are offered the choice of a la carte or the buffet, the latter being much the better option.

The hotel has a medium sized lounge so actually somewhere to sit and relax rather than just the bedroom. There is also a snack shop (they refer to it as some kind of deli) but when we visited it was poorly stocked, drinks machines part-empty and overall rather poor. OK I suppose if you need something when you get in late. The other option is room service which is speedy and not much more than the restaurant prices. I think you can have the same menu too.

Finally, there is a nice large pool to let the kids have some fun during any Mickey-free days you may have.

The Sheraton Anaheim Hotel is great value for money and of a high quality. Staff are very friendly and the courtesy bus is a god-send.

TIP: Get to the queue in plenty time (in whichever direction Hotel to Park or Park to Hotel) as it fills up quickly. When full however, they use a smaller second bus and keep on going round until everybody is on.

TIP: Eating in Disneyland? Try breakfast at the Cafe Orleans. Highly recommended and great value.

TIP: Know your rides and plan ahead. The Nemo Submarine ride is hugely popular and the queue can be long if you don't get there early.

TIP: Disneyland is special place and once you've been you'll understand why when talking to Cast Members, they can often give you the feeling that they regard WDW Florida as inferior. Take the time to learn about the history and the inspiration that was Walt Disney (visit the cinema in Main Street USA for sure). As they say "it all started with a mouse"

So, it's a thumbs up from me (and I have high standards). We're back again this year this time for 8 nights and with 5 days of Disney magic. Can't wait!

We stayed for 3 nights at this hotel starting on May 22, 2008. We were taking our kids to Disneyland and decided to stay here. I paid around $125 per night for a two queen bed room. Unlike many other hotels near Disneyland, this hotel has access to the rooms from the inside.

We were at the hotel at 12:00 PM while the check-in time was 3:00 PM. But the lady at the check-in did let us check-in right away. She wasn't too friendly though and I had requested for a room with a view but she was too busy issuing a room to me that she didn't care to provide me wth any choices. But we did get a room on the second floor with a view of the pool area.

The room was the most spacious double room that I've ever stayed in. The furniture looked a little dated but nothing too bad. The bathroom did show signs of aging though. The shower was actually out of the wall and the shower head did not move in any other direction. The windows and walls are not very sound proof. There were loud kids at the pool till around 11:30 PM which kept me awake even with all the windows shut tight. And early next morning, we got up early to head to Disneyland, my kids created enough commotion to invoke a noise complaint. The lady at the door politely told us to keep it quiet and we did as much as we could. But sound proofing is definitely lacking here. Don't forget to try the in-room coffee that is provided. It tasted very good.

The lobby area has three big and colorful salt water aquariums. Every time we entered the lobby area, both my 5 year old and my 2 year old ran to these aquariums since they had clown-fish(Nemo) swimming in them. There are multiple waiting areas and a cafeteria place. Overall, the lobby area looked very inviting and friendly. Additionally, there is also a games room where you can indulge in a game of pool and play some of the video games.

Once thing that we found out on the very last day was that there was a gift shop/cafe right next to the games room. The cafeteria served various cold sandwiches, donuts, mufins, cookies and sold candy and other such stuff. Since the price did not include breakfast buffet and the buffet in the local restaurant was way too expensive, we kept going out to Denny's and IHOP to have breakfast. If we had known of the cafe, we would have just picked up some donuts and coffee and saved on time and money.

There is also a beautiful garden area right in the middle of this hotel with a small pond (yes, with fish swimming in it).

The hotel has free shuttle services going to and coming back from Disneyland. And we never had to wait for more than 5 to 10 minutes for the shuttle to arrive.

Overall, this is a fairly decent hotel to stay it. Since we have kids, having breakfast included in the fee would have been perfect. But I guess you can't have everything. Next time, I will try staying at a hotel inside the Disneyland park since we were too tired after coming back from the day trip that we could not go back for the fireworks and the laser shows which happen during the night there. But if you wanted to, you could always watch the fireworks from the front parking lot of the hotel itself.

I would definitely stay in this hotel if needed and would definitely recommend it to anyone without any hesitation.

We awoke to a 2 inch cock roach over our bed on the ceiling. Because of a problem with check in I received a free breakfast, but when I went to eat breakfast, the food buffet was covered wtih flies. When I told the restaurant manager of the flies (and showed her), she said she could do nothing because the restaurant manager was not in. Five phone calls to the hotel general manager, Ken Buksa where not returned but he did write the following in a letter he would not do anything about the bugs because I complained during check in and received a free breakfast (the same one covered with flies that made me sick).

Am I am have been a Gold to Platnum member with Starwood for 20 years. This was the most disgusting of all Starwood hotels.

I recommend Motel 6 over this cockroach hotel.

My neice and I stayed for two days while visiting Disneyland. The rooms are very large and the beds are so comfortable,had the best nights sleep ever. We had no problems with noise as other reviews had written, our room was very quiet. The only complaint I have ( and not the hotel's fault) is there are no resturants near by, you have to either eat at the hotel (very expensive) or wait until the shuttle drops you off and walk accross the street to eat. Overall we had a great stay, rooms are very clean and the hotel lobby is beautiful. Shuttle service is great also.