When you first arrive at the Ayres Hotel you’re no where near Disneyland. So what makes this hotel a top contender in our books? Stick around to find out in this honest hotel review.
Hey friends! Today, I’m reviewing the Ayres Hotel Orange. Before I get any further, let me emphasize: this hotel, is DEFINITELY NOT walking distance to the park. In fact, it's 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 those 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 hubby Ben would say. Anyways, we thought we should give this place a try so you can compare it to a closer option.
Keep in mind, Ben & I stayed at this hotel before COVID-19. Make sure to check with the hotel to find out what precautions they're taking: https://www.ayreshotels.com/ayres-hotel-orange
"...the Ayres Hotel felt like a breath of fresh air from some of the hotels closer to Disneyland at the same price..."
Overall Experience: 4.5/5
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. We used 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 some of the hotels closer to Disneyland at the same price, so we gave it a 4.5/5
Room: 4.125/5
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’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. One of my pet peeves with shower/tub combinations is brushing up against a dirty shower curtain while I’m showering…here, the shower curtains were pristine, but because of the oversized tub and the curved shower rod, there was no issues there.
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 so 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 if you want to sit outside with a cuppa Joe in the mornings. 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 close to the Disneyland Resort in the past couple years.
Hotel Amenities: 4/5
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 very clean. The hot tub was also small, but typical for this size of hotel. Th pool area 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 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 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 you and the staff are constantly cleaning and refilling everything. 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 and fruit. They had coffees, teas and juices. If you’re familiar with our blog, you might know how excited Ben & I get about pog juice, and we were stoked that the Ayres hotel had it here!!!! Mmmmm POG!
Later in the day, this space turns into a restaurant for guests, called spoons. They have a fantastic happy hour on the weekdays.
(Sorry I didn't get photos of the amenities, but we did get video footage in our vlog if you're interested: https://youtu.be/dK00mfZHs1M )
Value: 3.75/5
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 Hotel Orange 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. Even though Ben & I racked up quite an Uber bill getting to and from the park, we still saved money AND stress.
Overall Rating: 4.09/5
This gives the Ayres hotel an overall score of 4.09 out of 5. Here’s the point I wan’t to make: This level of sophistication is very hard to come by at hotels right in the heart of Disneyland. What you’re compromise on location, you make up for in comfort and hospitality.
The Ayres hotel is typically lower in price than most of the hotels right across the street from Disneyland, but there is NO COMPARISON when it comes to quality. We have stayed at some straight up nasty hotels that had bugs, mildew, blood and other bodily fluids visible just to be across from the park.
We highly recommend the Ayres hotel, especially to couples and business professionals who don’t mind using rideshare.
For more a more detailed look at this hotel, we recommend you check out our full review video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/dK00mfZHs1M
I'm Julia and this has been another Honest Hotel Review. Stay safe friends!