This week, we’re continuing our series of lodging reviews from the upcoming edition of The Unofficial Guide to Disneyland with a tour of the Best Western Plus Stovall’s Inn, an Anaheim Resort-area property that is both budget-friendly and family-friendly.
Watch this video tour of Anaheim’s Best Western Plus Stovall’s Inn, and then read on to learn why it’s one of our favorite hotels in its price range:
Best Western Plus Stovall’s Inn is a family-owned hotel that has been at 1110 W. Katella Ave., across the street from Disneyland’s southwest corner, since the 1960s. Originally known as The Inn of Tomorrow, the property is showing its age, but it is still rather comfortable thanks to repeated refurbishments that have honored its space-age origins.
The glittering lobby offers a small business center, including filtered water to refill your bottles, along with a shop for sundries and souvenirs.
One of our favorite things about Stovall’s Inn is the better-than-average free breakfast buffet. The offerings are currently somewhat reduced due to COVID-19 precautions, but you’ll still find hot items such as eggs and sausages. Grab some fruit and pastries on your way out, and you can save some serious money on morning snacks inside the parks.
What really makes Stovall’s Inn stand out in its price category is the obvious care that has gone into the design and upkeep of its grounds. The motel’s centerpiece is an expansive pool complex, with multiple hot tubs and a well-equipped fitness room.
Most impressively, the whole facility is surrounded by painstakingly pruned animal topiaries.
There is officially no on-site dining, but Coco’s Bakery, a family restaurant with reasonable prices and excellent pastries, is located right in the parking lot (which costs $15 per day) and will deliver to your hotel room or poolside (available 7 days per week; operating hours may vary).
After the impressive exterior and amenities, the actual accommodations at Stovall’s Inn are rather anticlimactic. They are perfectly usable for stays of less than a week, and all the standard features—including coffee maker, microwave, mini-fridge, and WiFi—are supplied. However, the rooms are barely of average size for the era, and between the in-room air-conditioning units, thin walls, and exterior hallways, they can be noisy.
Although it’s a longer walk to Disneyland Resort’s Esplanade than comparable properties on Harbor Boulevard, the west side’s security checkpoint is usually swifter. Stovall’s Inn is also convenient if you’re stopping by the Disneyland Resort hotels for an après park cocktail.
The rooms are nothing to write home about, and it isn’t the lowest-priced property on the block, but Stovall’s Inn includes a lot of perks that place it above its cheaper neighbors. We rate Best Western Plus Stovall’s Inn 3 stars overall and give its pool 3 1/2 stars.
For all there is to see and do at Disneyland, check out The Unofficial Guide to Disneyland by Seth Kubersky with Bob Sehlinger, Len Testa, and Guy Selga Jr. All Disneyland fans should also check out The Disneyland Story: The Unofficial Guide to the Evolution of Walt Disney’s Dream by Sam Gennawey. If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to our YouTube channel and sign up for our newsletter here. Be sure to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
