Photos & Video: New Rooms at Grand Californian Hotel
Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa has completed its resort-wide reimagining and refurbishment, bringing new rooms, a refreshed lobby, pool area, club level lounge, and dining offerings to Disneyland Resort’s flagship hotel. This is the most extensive refresh since the hotel opened with Disney California Adventure, and brings a contemporary approach to the Arts & Crafts style.
In this post, we’ll primarily focus on the new guest rooms, as those are the most significant change. We’ll share photos and video of these, and also offer commentary as to whether they stack up with the old room design, or if these are another case of Disney going overly generic and bland with a room redesign.
Of course, “new” here is a relative term. The new rooms and most aspects of the project started debuting over a year ago, with the pool and bar work wrapping up this summer. If you’re a high roller who books the Grand Californian once per month, this is old news to you. However, this was our first time revisiting the guest rooms at Grand Californian, so it’s all new to us…
In looking back at our original Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa Review, I shake my head a bit. (Don’t bother looking for the cringe-worthy elements, I’ve gone back and edited it.) It was written while we still lived in the Midwest, when the bulk of my exposure to California was Disneyland and the state’s National Parks. Consequently, my mistaken assumption was that the Grand Californian was in large part, rather than in minor part, based upon the Ahwahnee Hotel at Yosemite National Park.
Subsequent to that, we lived in Southern California and learned about the area’s architecture. Most importantly, we visited Pasadena for the first time (and several times thereafter). Those visits included tours of Gamble House, an exemplar of the Arts & Crafts movement, along with seeing several other Craftsman style homes in the city.
All of that reshaped my opinion of Disney’s Grand California Hotel & Spa fairly considerably–and entirely for the better. I’m still far from an expert on architecture, style, or interior design, but I find the topics endlessly fascinating. More to the point, I recognize the Grand Californian’s actual influences, and have a lot of respect for what the hotel accomplishes.
With that out of the way, let’s take a look at the old rooms at Grand Californian before we offer further commentary:
The old style has a lot going for it, including some strong elements that typify the Arts & Crafts movement, most notably in the detailed headboards, lamps, and wood-work around the room.
There are also a few things that evoke the early aughts (or 90s), most notably that wallpaper border. Perhaps the biggest criticism we heard about these rooms is that they were a bit drab.
Here’s a video of the new rooms at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa:
Now, let’s take a look at the new rooms:
These guest rooms were redesigned from top to bottom, with everything from new flooring to fixtures, walls, furnishings, and bathrooms. At the room’s entrance, there’s faux hardwood flooring that transitions into soft, bright-toned carpeting.
Linens and pillows are restyled in a bright, white palette. Throughout the room, everything appears a bit lighter and airier. There’s also indirect ceiling lighting to give the room a moody feeling at night.
The headboards are made of quarter-sawn oak, a hallmark of Craftsman design. This frames the centerpiece of the new Grand Californian rooms: a blossoming orange tree mural overhead with Chip n’ Dale playing in the branches.
Here are a few closer looks at this orange tree:
All rooms are powered with the latest features and premium amenities, including 55-inch smart TVs, Keurig coffee makers, and built-in USB chargers.
These are little technological improvements, but appreciated ones nonetheless.
When opening the sofa sleeper bed, you’ll find artwork of Bambi and other woodland critters.
This is another nice touch, and I think Disney’s decision to incorporate artwork from the library of classic animated films in these designs has been a savvy one. Although one could argue that Country Bear Jamboree concept art would’ve been an even bigger hit among the 4-12 year old demographic. (At least, among all the cool kids in that age range.)
Countertops of the room’s desk, dresser, and coffee station incorporate pieces of green glass from wine bottles, adding a bit of faux texture to the surface.
Above the coffee bar, textured copper detailing adds depth to the aesthetic of the room while enforcing the Craftsman story.
The bathroom contains two sinks, an illuminated mirror, shelving, hair dryer, Disney H20 products, and make-up mirror. The toilet and shower are separated from the sink area by sliding door.
The shower is probably the most “controversial” element of this, as it completely replaces the bathtub. This is perfectly fine by me, though. The bathroom was dated before, and this strikes me as a nice modernization.
All in all, I’m fairly happy with these changes to the room. In fact, I’d say that this stands in stark contrast to most of the hotel room redesigns at Walt Disney World. (Judging by the end result, I’m guessing this was a different design team than WDW’s room overhauls.)
My biggest fear when this was announced is that it’d strip the rooms of their theme, doing to them what happened to Beach Club at Walt Disney World (one of the biggest offenders). Once concept art was released, I feared the new style would be a way of substituting characters for richly-themed spaces.
Arguably, some of the latter has happened. The orange motif is pretty strong, and that tree with Chip n’ Dale is definitely the pièce de résistance of the new look. It’s a pretty fun and whimsical feature, and I personally like it. However, “whimsical” is not one of the words I’d use to describe the Craftsman style.
This isn’t to say an Arts & Crafts design can’t be fun. Certainly, you want an element of sophistication in a hotel room that’s routinely priced at over $500 per night, but balancing that with a bit of Disney whimsy–especially when families are the hotel’s primary demographic–seems like a fair approach.
If anything, my bigger criticism of the room would be the choice of lamps and lack of bed runners (because of course that’s one of my complaints!). Using Mission style lamps to establish an Arts & Crafts theme seem like such a no-brainer that it really boggles my mind that they weren’t used here. It’s about as confounding as if the design were to have no wood.
When it comes to Disney room redesigns, I think it’s easy to cherrypick elements that are thematic downgrades or arguably “worse” than their predecessor. For instance, the new headboard is less ornate and to my personal tastes than the old one, and the new lamps are a serious downgrade. However, on balance, I think the right creative choices were made to appease a variety of guests, all wanting different things out of a hotel room.
Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel’s guest rooms still evokes a sense of the Arts & Crafts style and are still richly themed, just as before. Now, they are also luxurious and tastefully themed, while having some Disney whimsy and fun. The new look is also lighter and airier, which addresses one of the main complaints about the old rooms. It’s also not as visually busy or dated, making this a modern style that isn’t devoid of theme. All things considered, this is a fine example of a great Disney room redesign. I’m a fan.
Disney has also totally redone and renamed the club level lounge, which is now known as the Veranda. It’s highly doubtful we’ll ever stay club level at the Grand Californian, so above is a stock photo of the new style.
Per Disney, it draws inspiration from the architectural and furniture designs of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, a visionary of the Arts & Crafts movement in Glasgow, United Kingdom. New hardwood flooring, custom-designed rugs, finely-crafted artisanal furniture and specially-commissioned art adds to the sophisticated tone of the lounge.
Here, I can’t say I’m a fan. I’m not sure why Grand Californian Hotel needs to deviate from a quintessentially California style with this more modern and European interpretation. It just seems like it’s trying too hard to be chic and contemporary, when the essence of the Craftsman style is something more timeless and classic. I’m guessing it’s due to feedback from club level guests who felt the old style wasn’t luxurious enough, but it’s still unfortunate.
Finally, the new GCH Craftsman Bar, which is located at the hotel’s pool. Per Disney, this new bar is inspired by the Gamble House’s original garage and current book store with its exposed rafters, shingled walls and wood accents. This opened shortly after we left, so I’m going by this Disney Parks Blog post on GCH Craftsman Bar, but my first impression from that is very favorable.
One visual motif of the GCH Craftsman Bar is wisteria vines and blooms, which is prominent on the light fixtures, the trellis, a tile mural, and many of the artisan-crafted elements around the bar. The Craftsman Bar marquee is a mix of stained glass, metal and wood, with the wisteria vine seamlessly woven across these multiple materials.
With the opening of GCH Craftsman Bar, nearby White Water Snacks has been renamed GCH Craftsman Grill. You might recall our recent “White Water Snacks: Disney’s Best Food You’re Not Eating” post from last month, which spent extensive time talking about how this venue needed a new name, and guest perception based upon the old name was probably its biggest issue. Well, hopefully we were right, and this new name fixes the problem, making GCH Craftsman Grill a not-so-hidden gem!
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, tips for booking a hotel (off-site or on-site), where to dine, and a number of other things, check out our comprehensive Disneyland Vacation Planning Guide!
Your Thoughts
What do you think of the new(ish) rooms at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa? Do you agree or disagree with our review? Do you think they balance theme, luxury, and Disney whimsy as well as we do? Any questions? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
Enjoy your blog a lot.
The revamp looks nice, although I think I prefer the originals. Love the A&C style detailing. I am looking forward to checking out the Disney Explorers Lodge at Disneyland Hong Kong at the end of October as this is a new hotel since my last visit there some years back. Previously I’ve stayed at their Hollywood Hotel, which I loved and toured and dined at their Disneyland hotel. Looking forward to exploring the Explorers Lodge!
WDW take note- THIS is how you renovate a disney resort room to clean it up while still keeping some charm!!
We LOVE the new hotel and DVC rooms. What a huge improvement but unfortunately a big price tag comes with it! We have enjoyed the new pool bar although they are still working out the service kinks. It took over an hour for our delicious special mushroom pizza to arrive but we can’t complain too much as they comped it!
Design styles I love:
Mid-Century modern
Craftsman
This new design makes me so happy. I am hoping the new resort being built at WDW will have this style (not Riviera, the other one who’s name escapes me).
I think the headboard change is fine. While the other was definitely more ornate, putting the old headboard with the mural between would be too much and distract from the mural. My opinion. I’m with you on the lamps though. Not sure that I love the carpet.
How can you not love the Grand Californian? I mean you can discount it completely based off of its sky-high peak-season nightly rates (further compounded by Anaheim’s absurd room tax), but it’s absolutely ideal right now otherwise – recently refreshed (the showers are great and absolutely the right move) and looking fantastic, all while next door to a currently super-quiet Disneyland, and basically within California Adventure itself. I have to laugh at the hoops people (and not locals at that) are jumping through to get a passholder preview of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge in Orlando. Seriously – hop on a plane, stay here, walk over to Disneyland, and enjoy an amazing humidity-free day with low crowds, all while roaming Galaxy’s Edge to your heart’s content. One tip for the Grand Californian for anyone who stays here: when you check in, ensure that your room is not a connecting one if you have not requested so. The doors in between connecting rooms there do an extremely poor job of minimizing noise transfer.
I notice you never mentioned the removal of the bunk beds! Those where the greatest for families and the kids loved them. A bunk bed with a trundle easily fit our three kids without taking up much space! This in my opinion was a huge mistake! I am glad they finally got Keurigs though! And I am not sure how I feel about the no tubs! I luckily do not need them anymore since all the kids can take showers but for those with kids under four it might not fly! We love the proximity but we might look else where for lodging the next time around!
+1
I’m 100% with you on this one Tamara…
First, Greene and Greenee were the undisputed masters of Arts&Crafts, and the Gamble House is the ultimate example. Yes, Stickley, McIntosh and Morrison made some great contributions, but the Greene style and the incredible furniture built by the Hall brothers for their houses is the epitome of awesome.
With the exception of the orange prints, this is a pretty decent effort and surprisingly loyal to the theme’s nuances. I’m reminded of Frank Lloyd Wright’s bedroom in his house in Oak Park, IL, and the incorporation of nature and murals in the design. Even the rug color is spot on to the ones found in his houses.
I own DVC points at GC because I love this resort. This seems like the best refurbishment of Disney resort rooms in comparison to their WDW counterparts. I love the additions of Chip & Dale and Bambi to the decor. I hope Disney continues to incorporate classic animated film artwork to their room refurbishments. If Country Bear Jamboree concept art is ever added to a room, I will stay at the resort regardless of location or price haha.
This Disney trend of removing tubs in their rooms is a massive mistake. So many families travel with children who need tubs. Don’t get me wrong – I much prefer the showers, but there’s a lot of people who need that tub.
At least it doesn’t look like a Hampton Inn like all the renovations of the DVC villas at WDW. Gray everything.