Alamo Inn & Suites Review

Alamo Inn & Suites is a cheap hotel near Disneyland in Anaheim, aimed at budget travelers. It’s a 12 minute walk from Disney California Adventure through Downtown Disney. This review has photos of the hotel, thoughts about our experience of staying here, and our take on why you shouldn’t stay here. If you’re looking for a place to stay near Disneyland, you can get an idea of how it stacks up to the competition, plus our overall comparison of the benefits of staying off-site versus on-site in our Where to Stay at Disneyland post.

Sometimes, I approach a topic here that’s worthy of a blog post but really not all that much needs to be said. I’m not one who values an economy of words, but certain things can benefit from a direct approach. That is undoubtedly true of Alamo Inn: I strongly recommend not staying at Alamo Inn & Suites under any circumstances.

I don’t think Alamo Inn strives to be much more than a cheap crash pad motel, but even at that, it fails. Actually, they might be taking the “crash” part of that a bit too literally, as the ceiling of one of the rooms here literally crashed down onto a guest in bed. The motel is dirty, dated, poorly-maintained, and honestly, a little creepy…

You can’t put a ton of stock into TripAdvisor reviews, but they are worthwhile as a barometer for the consensus among the general public. Currently, Alamo Inn & Suites ranks #104 of 115 hotels in Anaheim, meaning there are only 11 hotels worse than it.

If you’ve never explored Anaheim, you might not realize the significance of this. Anaheim has a seedy side, with stretches of motels that are probably better described as flophouses. The residents of these motels are otherwise homeless and sometimes have various baggage that can make the environment intimidating and/or unsafe to a tourist.

I’m not making light of this situation as it’s frankly sad and Anaheim’s treatment of the homeless is not at all a joking matter. I’m bluntly presenting it as pertinent background to demonstrate the significance of Alamo Inn ranking so poorly. There are more than 11 hotels like this in Anaheim, so I think you can draw your own inferences here.

Here’s the pool. Remember “the tractor story” from Seinfeld? Swim in here and risk getting your own “pool story.” I’m not sure there’s enough chlorine in the world to kill whatever nefarious little stuff might be living in that pool.

Starting with a wide view of the room, it actually doesn’t look too bad. Basic and dated, to be sure, but not necessarily awful at first glance.

The beds themselves aren’t awful. They aren’t comfortable and the sheets are about the cheapest, most basic bedding that you could possibly find, but it was all clean and there were no signs of bed bugs.

The wheels start to fall off once you get past the beds and this chair. The walls are paper thin, meaning that if you have loud neighbors or people wandering outside of your room in the middle of the night (which invariably will happen), you’ll hear it. The air conditioner is old and loud. The WiFi is painfully slow, to the point that even watching a video on YouTube is impossible.

I’m not much of a serious ‘interiors’ photographer, so normally I end up color-correcting for the various light sources in post processing, but I thought I’d leave this one alone. The reason being, while I could write a long essay on why you shouldn’t stay here, pictures speak louder than words.

The dim, amber florescent lighting at the sink is eerily reminiscent of what you’d find in a gas station bathroom on the wrong side of town. You know, the kind that makes you get the key from an attendant and has a dispenser selling all sorts of goodies.

The bathroom was servicable. The shower head is really low and our tub was dirty, but otherwise it was okay. The towels were discolored and scratchy. At least there were towels, I guess.

Most hotels in Anaheim have updated to LCD televisions, but Alamo Inn is still rockin’ the CRT. Likewise, this fridge was actually around on Disneyland’s opening day.

The main reason that will convince people to roll the dice and stay at Alamo Inn is the price. It ranges from around $70/night to $120/night, with prices generally on the lower end of that spectrum, well below $100/night. This makes it–to my knowledge–the cheapest hotel within close walking distance to the parks. It’s a tempting incubus. Personally, I do not think it’s worth it. If you simply cannot afford somewhere nicer, stay farther away and get a nicer hotel for a comparable price. Oh, and before you start looking at nearby alternatives and land on the adjacent Anaheim Discovery Inn & Suites, you might want to do a quick Google search for the hotel name, plus “bed bugs.” Sorry, I won’t be reviewing that one.

Overall, aside from location and price, I see absolutely nothing of redeeming quality at Alamo Inn. I realize money talks and my cautionary tale will be disregarded by some as a result who see enough ‘okay’ reviews elsewhere. Maybe you will get lucky with Alamo Inn. Maybe your room will be clean and “okay”, maybe you will have quiet neighbors, and maybe you will feel safe. All of those things happening is not an unreasonable possibility. Far more likely is that one or many of those things doesn’t happen, and you have a really negative experience. Given the potential for things not going so well, you really have to ask yourself if it’s worth it to tempt fate. There are significantly better options nearby that cost just a bit more, or more distant options that cost about the same amount. It’s not worth it to roll the dice on this place.

As for figuring out the rest of your Disneyland trip–like where you actually should stay, including how to save money on Disneyland tickets, our Disney packing tips, the best restaurants for dining at Disneyland, and a number of other things, check out our comprehensive Disneyland Trip Planning Guide!

Your Thoughts…

Have you stayed at Alamo Inn & Suites in Anaheim? Did you enjoy your stay? What did you think of the guest rooms? Considering this motel? Do you prefer staying off-site or on-site at Disneyland? Please share your thoughts or questions in the comments section below!