Disneyland Off-Site Hotel Review: Del Sol Inn

DSC_5670 as Smart Object-1 copy

Del Sol Inn is a hotel located in Anaheim, California directly across the street from Disneyland. Being only approximately a 5 minute walk to the Disneyland Esplanade, it’s actually closer to the theme parks than on-site options like Disneyland Hotel and Paradise Pier Hotel. Del Sol Inn is a 2 to 3-star hotel that offers basic accommodations at near-budget prices. It’s an affordable, safe, and relatively nice place to stay when visiting Disneyland Resort on a budget.

As there are a lot of questions about the best off-site hotels at Disneyland Resort, and because we’ve stayed at a good number of these “walking distance to Disneyland hotels,” we thought we’d put together some quick-hit reviews of each hotel along Harbor Boulevard and Katella Avenue in which we’ve stayed. You can read our overall comparison of the benefits of staying off-site versus on-site in our Where to Stay at Disneyland post.

Without a doubt, its location is the main draw of Del Sol Inn. This isn’t to say there’s anything necessarily wrong with the hotel–it’s perfectly serviceable as a simple “place to sleep and shower,” but that’s about it. The Del Sol Inn is priced at a premium given its proximity to Disneyland and Disney California Adventure, so if you are not planning on visiting the Disneyland Resort theme parks, there’s absolutely no reason to stay here. You can find much nicer accommodations at this price point or similar accommodations at a much lower price point. The hotels along Harbor Boulevard charge about a 50% premium for location.

del-sol-inn-desert-inn

There is something to be said for the location if you are visiting Disneyland, and for us, it’s worth the 50% or so premium for the short walk to Disneyland and Disney California Adventure. Located behind a Denny’s on Harbor Boulevard and directly next door to our favorite off-site hotel, the Anaheim Desert Inn, Del Sol Inn is incredibly close to the Disney parks.

When we have stayed at Del Sol Inn, we’ve left our coats back in the room and dropped by in the early evening to pick them up (even in the summer, it can get chilly in Southern California at night) or have come back to the room for a mid-afternoon nap, when necessary. You can leave the park and be back inside in under 20 minutes, which is a huge plus.

del-sol-inn-room-photo

As for the rooms, they are fairly standard for Disneyland off-site hotels. They’re clean and spacious, with decent beds and pillows, but nothing exceptional. The rooms are all non-smoking, although we’ve found that some have a light lingering smell of “old hotel.” Each room has a fridge, flat screen TV (a recent update), coffee-maker, and iron. The in-wall AC unit is very effective, although (like all in-wall units), it produces a bit of noise. We actually found this useful, as it produces a consistent light noise that masked out inconsistent outside noise.

del-sol-inn-room-sink

Del Sol Inn’s rooms are definitely not luxury accommodations, as you can probably see from the photos, but if that’s what you’re expecting from one of the hotels along Harbor Boulevard, you’re out of your mind. Besides the on-site hotels and major brand hotels like the Hyatt Regency and Hilton, hotels like this are an elusive breed near Disneyland. If your expectations are reasonable, you will be perfectly satisfied with Del Sol Inn’s rooms. For a 2 to 3-star hotel near Disneyland, the rooms are perfectly fine.

DSC_3586

With regard to rooms, we highly recommend requesting an upper floor room near the front of the hotel. Pick the upper floor because that keeps you away from the noise of breakfast in the mornings and so you have no one stomping on your ceiling. The walls are paper thin at Del Sol Inn, and while we haven’t had a problem with noise at this particular hotel, this request is our standard when staying at any multi-story off-site Disneyland hotel as ‘thin walls’ seems to be a problem at just about all of them. As for requesting a room near the front of the hotel, this can save you about 1 minute of walking time, as this is a fairly long hotel (rather than wide), front to back.

DSC_3590

The Del Sol Inn has other amenities, such as a pool and hot tub, but the big thing for most guests will be the free continental breakfast. There is a small breakfast room that offers things like an orange juice machine, hard-boiled eggs, cereal, and waffles. It didn’t look all that appetizing to us, so we’ve always skipped it. I can’t think of any hotel along Harbor that has a continental breakfast that we’d consider good, so your mileage may vary on this.

Nightly rates for Del Sol Inn vary widely based upon season and demand, from approximately $75/night to $200/night. Even during peak season, if rates are over $125/night when you plan to travel, we would recommend looking elsewhere for a better rate. $100/night is about the sweet spot for this hotel, in our view. Remember that every hotel in Anaheim has high taxes and other fees added, so expect to pay about 25% more than the listed price. Parking costs even more, and is very limited at most off-site hotels, especially at the Del Sol Inn.

del-sol-inn-room-photo-2

Overall, the biggest things Anaheim Del Sol Inn has going for it are price and location. While it is not the cheapest off-site Disneyland hotel, it is often the cheapest (along with Desert Inn) in this cluster of hotels that are right across the street from the Disneyland Esplanade. If proximity and price are your main concerns, you can’t go wrong with Del Sol Inn. If nice accommodations or luxury are greater concerns, Del Sol Inn is not the hotel for you. While its rooms are clean and acceptable, they offer basic accommodations, and nothing lavish. It doesn’t have a “resort” atmosphere, and you probably aren’t going to find yourself wanting to hang out at the hotel. However, that’s not the point of this hotel. For what visitors looking to spend the bulk of their days at Disneyland Resort, Del Sol Inn is an excellent option for a nearby place to crash, while providing safe and clean accommodations at moderate rates.

As for figuring out the rest of your Disneyland trip, 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 the Anaheim Del Sol Inn? What did you think of it? Do you prefer staying off-site or on-site at Disneyland? Please share your thoughts or questions in the comments section below!

27 Responses to “Disneyland Off-Site Hotel Review: Del Sol Inn”
  1. Bridget July 26, 2017
  2. Kelsey W. November 6, 2015
  3. Suzy May 31, 2015
  4. Karie February 21, 2015
    • Tom Bricker February 22, 2015
  5. Derek January 14, 2015
    • Tom Bricker January 15, 2015
    • Derek January 16, 2015
    • Sabrina August 3, 2016
  6. Kristal June 12, 2014
  7. Teri May 1, 2014
    • Tom Bricker May 3, 2014
  8. Jennifer May 1, 2014
    • Tom Bricker May 3, 2014
  9. JP April 28, 2014
  10. Mitch April 27, 2014
    • Tom Bricker April 28, 2014
  11. Lyn April 27, 2014
  12. Emily April 27, 2014
  13. Christian April 27, 2014
  14. Heather April 26, 2014
  15. Andrew April 26, 2014
  16. Kevin April 26, 2014
  17. Jenna April 26, 2014
  18. Caitlin April 26, 2014
  19. Lauren April 26, 2014
  20. Coleen April 26, 2014

Leave a Reply to Emily Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *