Cortona Inn & Suites Anaheim Hotel Review
Cortona Inn & Suites is hotel near Disneyland and the Anaheim Convention Center that’s about a 15-minute walk to the parks. This review features photos of the rooms & common areas, thoughts on amenities, and our experience staying at motel. We also cover how Cortona Inn’s location actually makes it fairly attractive for Disneyland and Disney California Adventure. (It’s just a bit longer of a walk than Candy Cane Inn or Alpine Inn, but for less money.)
You might have noticed that for a while we were going strong with these Disneyland off-site hotel reviews, posting roughly a new review per week. It’s been a while since we’ve posted one, and to be honest, we sort of got burned out on it. The whole process of driving to Disneyland for the night to stay in a hotel and then trying to come up with enough to say about a fairly ordinary hotel became a bit tiring. However, there’s little reliable information about many of these hotels, so these posts can be a helpful Disneyland vacation planning resource even if they are admittedly boring. We’re going to get back to doing more reviews, but please forgive me if the corny jokes are excessive. I’ve gotta entertain myself somehow!
Actually, this particular hotel is far from ordinary. It’s one of the crown jewels of Anaheim, a landmark on the National Register of Historic Places for California thanks to the beautiful frescoed ceilings painted by its founder, Pietro da Cortona. These blow guests away the moment they step foot in the lobby. His provocative fresco of Tupac and ALF as cosmological deities will have you questioning everything you thought you knew about hotels (and the planets) as you enjoy the hotel’s lovely free continental breakfast. Or not. In actuality, the breakfast isn’t all that lovely. It’s just fine. (Oh, and there aren’t actually any ceiling murals–but someone really should open a hotel with a Tupac and ALF mural.)
In actuality, Cortona Inn & Suites is another fairly unremarkable hotel near Disneyland. This is neither a good nor bad thing…
The hotel is average in price and average in quality as compared to the competition in the area. The pool is average, the breakfast is fairly average–it’s just average all around. There really isn’t a ton that can be said about it. If you’re looking at hotels in this tier that are a similar distance to Disneyland, Cortona Inn & Suites is in the middle of the pack.
The walk to Disneyland and Disney California Adventure is also average, but you can actually use this to your advantage. Prices for hotels farther from the parks are generally lower than those closer to Disneyland. Makes sense, because people generally like shorter walks. In this case, Cortona Inn is directly across the street from the Toy Story Parking lot, which offers a free shuttle to the parks. So, you’re looking at a <5 minute walk to the shuttle, then a free drive to the parks (or a 15 minute walk). A nice “short-cut” for a hotel that definitely provides some added appeal while keeping its cost lower.
Otherwise, this is an average budget motel that gets the job done as a place that’s safe, and offers somewhere to shower and sleep (I would call those the “Three S’s” of a basic hotel near Disneyland, but Urban Dictionary tells me there’s a different definition for that.)
It’s a hotel that isn’t going to wow you, but it isn’t sketchy, either. Quite simply, it works well for those who aren’t planning on spending much time in their room.
We felt the room was average: reasonably spacious, decent beds, fairly clean, and didn’t look too dated.
Of course, this is a motel in Anaheim, so “average” is a 3-star motel with modest attempts at current design. If you’re expecting the Ritz for the $100-150/night that this will cost, well…welcome to the Anaheim Resort District (and tourist areas in Southern California, generally).
The rooms feature mini-fridges and microwaves, so you can prepare your own food if you’re on a tight budget (a large CVS is less than 5 minutes away). In terms of other basic details, WiFi is free, there’s an in-room coffee maker, and parking is included in the dreaded resort fee of $10/night. (By now, you probably know that we hate resort fees.) The free continental breakfast has hot items like sausage (see above), and actually isn’t that bad as far as free hotel breakfasts go.
The bathroom is similarly average. Nothing special, nothing awful.
I feel like I could use the same toilet/shower photo for 75% of the Anaheim hotel reviews and no one would know the difference. They’re mostly indistinguishable.
If the designs in the myriad gift shops at Disneyland and Disney California Adventure are just too darned flashy for you, never fear, as you can grab an classic yet stylish “MINNIE” or “ELSA” mug shot design in Cortona Inn’s gift shop.
Ultimately, we recommend Cortona Inn & Suites if you don’t mind budget accommodations and are willing to use the Toy Story lot shuttle (or walk 15 minutes). Beyond that, whether you should stay here really comes down to whether you can find a good deal on the hotel. Some nights, it’s below $100, others it’s above $150 (most of the time, you can find somewhere comparable for less than $150/night). It’s also not the kind of destination resort to which your kids will be begging to return 6 months down the road, but it’s not a bad option by any means. So long as there isn’t a big convention in town during your visit, you’re probably looking at pretty competitive rates at Cortona Inn (just keep the resort fee in mind). Given all we’ve said, it should come as no surprise that Cortona Inn & Suites falls right around the middle of the pack in our Disneyland Hotels Reviews & Rankings post.
If you’re preparing for a Disneyland trip, check out our other planning posts, including how to save money on Disneyland tickets, our Disney packing tips, whether you should stay off-site or on-site in a Disney hotel, where to dine, and a number of other things, check out our comprehensive Disneyland Vacation Planning Guide!
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YOUR THOUGHTS…
Have you stayed at Cortona Inn & Suites? Did you like it? Do you think they should add a Tupac and ALF mural? What did you think of the rooms? Is this a hotel you’d consider? Please share your thoughts or questions in the comments section below!
I’m so happy you reviewed the Cortona Inn & Suites….it could not have come at a better time! A couple months back, I booked the Cortona for my (first) DL trip. I thought I did enough research and was happy with my choice, but then started reading some vey mixed reviews. After reading your review though, you’ve really put my mind at ease and I’m again looked forward to staying there!
Thank you so much for posting these Disneyland hotel reviews! I did find your site through Google but keep returning for the excellent content. You have really helped me narrow down my prospective CA trip hotels for my hopeful 2017 trip. I have noticed that there is a newer Courtyard next to the Fairmont that is not listed on the official map or in the good neighbor listings that seems to have excellent Trip Advisor ( I know, I know) reviews. Does it take awhile for surrounding hotels to get picked up on the list or is this exclusion intentional due to the Courtyard further away being included on the list? Just curious it has the best set-up for my kiddos with an ideal distance for my toddler.
we are breaking the budget to stay on site this August . We have kids 10 and 6 and feel early entry and ability to take mid day swim/ rest break so close has value. We stayed at park viue on your recommendation last summer and loved it, we are expecting pool at grand Californian to be a major upgrade over theirs. Disneyland resort is three days out of 10 day California trip. Our plan was to drive up from San Diego and stay offsite nearby, check in at gc before parks open next morning for early entry, stay two nights, close park on third day and stay offsite nearby. Currently have reservations for park vue those two off site nights but at 200 a night will probably change. We were wondering if you or anyone had better recommendation for us for offsite nights, we would be willing to drive 20 minutes or so. Looking for safe, clean , cheap in that order. Thank you for all your hard work. I have been checking in at least once a week for the past three years
If you’re driving anyway and this is part of a Southern California vacation, have you looked at any of the Beach Cities? Newport Beach and Huntington Beach are both a ~20/minute drive. Depending upon when you’re going in August, you might be able to get a place on Pacific Coast Highway for around the same cost as a hotel near Disneyland in Anaheim.
I’m glad you do these. I suspect these posts aren’t used as an index, but more by people who are searching for a review on a hotel they’ve found by other means (price comparison, mostly) and want something a bit beyond the TripAdvisor selection. And they add to the Resort Rankings page, which probably is more used as an index.
I’ve benefited from your reviews, at least, on my last visit!
Yeah, after the first day they’re posted when “regulars” read them, I think they are mostly found via Google when people search [hotel name] + Disneyland + review. Those people probably aren’t reading every single hotel review I do, so it doesn’t become redundant for them.
…they also probably wonder what kind of idiot would be writing about a Tupac & ALF mural in a hotel review.
I found this page just by putting the hotel name into Google. I was SO excited about the murals until I realized you were joking hahaha..