Carousel Inn or Red Roof?

[DisneyMom&Fan]

My sister and her family want to stay at the Red Roof, but we want to stay at the Carousel Inn. Neither of us have stayed in either of these properties. Which one would you choose and why? We are purchasing vacation packages and the Red Roof is an "economy" choice and the Carousel is a "moderate" choice. Thanks in advance for all replies!!

 

[familyoffiveAZ]

We've never stayed at Red Roof. I don't even know where that hotel is, but it can't be walking distance. I'm not Carousel's biggest fan or anything, but its offerings suit us well. I'm very much a budget traveler and find the fridge/microwave save us lots of $$$ off eating out every meal. We've also three kids under 5, use a double stroller that I can't imagine lifting on a bus, so the walking distance hotels are a must for us.

My list of pros/cons for Carousel:

PROS:

- great low rates
- easy walking distance
- comfy beds and comfiest pillows ever!
- microwave and LARGE fridge (really comes in handy for us budget travelers)
- most all rooms remodeled over the last two years
- clean (enough by my standards anyway)
- sliding partition to block off bathroom (sink) area allows one to get ready without waking up kiddos
- sink area outside bathroom

CONS:

- poor customer service (typical of most of the Harbor walking distance motels; word to the wise: double check your room rate! almost always the Harbor hotels have tried to hike the rate at check-in on us)
- musty smell in room at times (get what ya pay for)
- poor continental breakfast (no biggie; we just bring our own and eat in room)
- poor pool (so they say; we never use it anyway)
- no view, no pretty landscaping (but eh, if you're at Disney all day, who cares?)
- limited parking (some say; we've never had a problem fitting our minivan in)
- small room size (our party of 2 adults, 5yo, 3yo, 2yo fit okay...but I won't stay in one room once the kiddos get any older; just too tight)
- housekeeping not prompt (rooms not cleaned until late afternoon/early eve)

A few other cons depending on room type:

I believe (don't quote me) that most/all of the 2BR suites (2Qs in one room, 1Q in other) are in the other building (2 story, with the first floor being parking, second floor being rooms). No elevator in this building, only stairs, which means a lot of lugging coolers, bags, strollers by hand.

With view suites, you are chancing it. Out of the three, one has short windows meaning you're not getting so much of any view, one is okay, and the other is directly below the breakfast room (noisy!). Read tripadvisor for more reviews.

All in all, we like it fine enough. If I can get a good rate, we'll stay. If rates are same or cheaper at our standby (BWPPI), we'll take BWPPI over Carousel any day.

Hope this helps!!!

 

[DarylF9]

I would recommend the Holiday Inn on walnut

 

[GreenGirl8]

I have heard TERRIBLE things about the Red Roof Inn...I have heard it is dirty with a very unfriendly staff. Here is a report that someone posted on another Disney message board.

"I get back to the hotel somewhere around 2am and climb up to my room on the 3rd floor in the back of the property and find that my keycard doesnt work. I make the trek back to the front desk to have the key re-incoded, walk back and find its still not working so we repeat the whole process one more time. When its not working the 2nd time the front desk clerk tells me that she is unable to get me into my room because the battery that opens the door when the keycard is inserted must be dead. She tells me that there will be no maintenance people around till noon so she'll have to give me a new room. Unfortunately i have to sleep in my street clothes since all my other clothes are in the room in lockdown. I am pissed but i tell her if its fixed by the time i get up tomorrow and can have a late checkout so i can change/shower its all good. She says she'll tell the housemaids not to bother me and let me sleep in and extend my checkout to 2pm. Unfortunetely she does neither, the maids start banging on my door at 8am AND when i finally get so angry i just want to leave i get up go to the front desk and the doors still busted. I leave the hotel for home and a hot shower/change of clothes then return that evening for my backpack. "

I would NOT stay there.

 

[ter-moo]

My daughter and I stayed at the Carousel Inn a few years ago (maybe 3?) and it's just fine. I'd say it's a step up from the other Harbor Blvd. motels as far as the rooms go. They had just renovated and the rooms were pretty, but basic.
I had no trouble with the front desk; in fact, they were extremely helpful and polite.

We didn't have a car, so parking wasn't a problem. It was too cold to swim, so we didn't. However, we DID wish they had a hot tub!

Breakfast is nothing special, but it's something, and it's FREE!

The Red Roof has gotten pretty dismal reviews, and it's not as close as the Carousel, which is practically right across the street from the entrance. There's a McDonald's right next door, too, which was handy for a quick meal.

I'd say go with the Carousel.

 

[Disneymooners93]

We've always found the Carousel to be very good. It was always our first choice of the Harbour Blvd hotels.

 

[azgal81]

We have stayed at the red roof inn the last two times we have gone to DL basically because of the pet policy. I don't have any complaints about it and I found the rooms rather clean and the front desk helpful. It is within walking distance it's just down harbor I think is the street it is probably a 10 minute walk to the parks instead of right across from the entrance. The only thing is they don't have a continental breakfast which for us isn't a big deal since we just eat granola bars and dr. pepper but for you it might be. I don't mind people not wanting to stay there the easier it will be for me to get a room the next time I go and it will keep the price down!

 

[ZeusNike]

We booked into the Carousel with two adjoining rooms plus a third nearby. When we arrived they told us (not in a not very polite fashion) that they do not have any adjoining rooms in the hotel (I had called twice about it to confirm) and that the pool was down for our entire stay (not mentioned when I made the reservation). The families who were to stay in adjoining rooms went next door to the Park Inn and were given the same rate on much larger rooms that actually did join. The third family stayed in the Carousel. They thought it was fine but the room smelled a bit odd and was quite small. We now will choose the Candy Cane Inn if given a choice but no matter what We will only stay on Harbour Boulevard in one of the "easy walking distance" hotels (none of us like to wait for shuttles and we all like to walk) so I would definitely choose the Carousel over Red Roof.

 

[DisneyMom&Fan]

Now I think I should should check into the Park Inn -- it looks nicer on their website, and if the rooms are bigger and not smelly, I guess that's a no-brainer!