Colony Inn for KBF

I know I should have booked 2 weeks ago, but here's my dilemma:

I'm heading to Solace, however I won't be staying at the Radisson. Moosh recommended the Crescent Motel, however I've tried and it's completely booked. I've found another place by the name of 'Colony Inn' that's right across the street as well.

Does anyone have any comments or experiences with the Colony Inn? The rates aren't bad ($60/night) and doesn't have a ton of extra add-ons, but then again, I won't be in the hotel room much other than to sleep anyway, so that's not a big deal. I just want to make sure I don't end up staying somewhere shady, bug-infested, or typical-six-flags-like customer service.

Thanks.

I can't remember exactly which one the colony inn is, but I don't think its a particularly nice place. I haven't actually stayed there, so its hard for me to judge for sure, but if its the motel I am thinking of, its probably not too great.

I do however, recommend the Raddison. Very nice place and quite convinient if you are going to Knott's.

Is that the little motel right across the street from the Radisson, right on Crescent? If so, I wouldn't stay there if that was the last hotel in L.A.

^Thats the one I had in mind when I made the above comments. It looks awfully sleazy from the outside.

So I tried to find it via AAA and it didn't show up, so I googled it and found this.

Why not try the Courtyard Anaheim Buena Park? (yes, I'm a Marriott whore :) )

I'm seeing $79 a night checking in the 11th and checking out the 13th (not sure of your exact dates) - that's a room with a King Bed and free High Speed Internet.

Just $19 more a night for a 3 diamond, 3 star hotel vs what is seemingly a dirty box with beds in it - and it's just 1 1/2 miles up the road from Knott's.

Seems like a no-brainer to me, but everyone is different and I'm an admitted hotel snob.

Do not stay at the Colony Inn.

I don't usually say much around here, but I have to help you out by saying "DO NOT" stay at the Colony Inn.

This should be enough to convince you and if you want to know more details just e-mail me.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g32122-d76224-r2520648-Colony_Inn_Buena_Park-Buena_Park_California.html

Presently, a wing of the building has a number of rooms that are burned out (fire) for reasons you don't want to know about. Strangely or maybe not so, just about three years ago another wing of this building had several rooms burn down due to a fire.

My best advice. I think it's easy to forget that a number of hotesl around Knott's, especially those on Beach Blvd, south of Cresent are well known drug and hooker joints. A few years back I remember seeing one proudly proclaim on the front sign that it was "now drug and prostitute free". That is not a joke.

Sorry, had to edit to correct the grammar. It's late. *** Edited 2/5/2005 9:16:40 AM UTC by egieszl***

There is a Red Roof in just down the road and under the overpass (less than a mile). It has clean rooms, a pool, a spa, and a decent donut shop in the parking lot. There is no getting around the fact that Knotts is in a semi-shady area. This is as good as it gets in the budget arena. I'm normally a cheapo with my motel picks... This one is more than serviceable.

Of course, I've decided to spend the big bucks for Solace this year...I'm going Raddison!

I think I'll be staying at the Days Inn Buena Park from the 12th through the 17th. I don't think I'm going to go to solace, but I will go to Knott's sometime during the week. I also hope to get up to SFMM somehow, but I'm not too sure yet. I won't be able to have a car there (being a college student). Is the Knott's area (and the Day's Inn there) an area where I wouldn't want to be walking around? Perhaps I should go for a hotel near where I'm landing (Long Beach). I've never been to CA before so any other tips would be appreciated. Thanks!

I'm going over in about a fortnight for a conference, but I'm staying a few nights in the LA area first.

The Radisson is really cheap, relative to what I would expect to pay for a hotel in this side of the world anyway, and it's made even better given the state of the dollar against the Euro right now.

What is a fortnight? :-)

Two weeks.

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FlyInBack said: I also hope to get up to SFMM somehow, but I'm not too sure yet. I won't be able to have a car there (being a college student). Is the Knott's area (and the Day's Inn there) an area where I wouldn't want to be walking around? Perhaps I should go for a hotel near where I'm landing (Long Beach). I've never been to CA before so any other tips would be appreciated. Thanks!

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I think it will be very hard if not impossible to get from Knott's (or anywhere in Orange County) to SFMM. Short of taking a taxi (will probably cost a fortune!), I can't think of any public transportation that makes it up there from the Knott's area.

The Knott's area isn't a bad area at all really. Its pretty touristy, to be honest. There is a I might be careful late at night on Beach Blvd., but I'd say its not a bad area in general.

The movieland wax museum is a few minutes walk from Knott's. I'm not sure if that sounds interesting at all, but its kind of a cool non-coaster thing to see.

I'll second that. The Knott's area isn't bad at all. I wouldn't even call it "semi-shady". It's fine. Especially the part where a tourist would be anyway (The north). There is a remodeled shopping mall with Walmart, Chili's, some new movie theatres and other nice places to eat.

Those of you from out of the area make sure you go to the mall and eat at a place called Pat & Oscar's. They have the BEST breadsticks. Yum! The Chili's is a nice one too complete with a blackboard artist chalk drawing of some of Knott's rides. It's pretty cool.

Thank you everyone for your input. I appreciate the advice in steering me away from what would have been a bad move.. Now I just need to weigh in the other options...

FYI, for anyone else still reading...there is a Days Inn and Super 8 within walking distance of the park. You can find it by going to Knott's website and getting the park's zipcode; then use it for a Yahoo Yellow Pages search of hotels.

In reply to CoasterFanMatt,

It is kind of possible (if not a little time consuming) to get from SFMM to Knott's (and vice versa) by public transport - in fact this is a journey I will be making in May this year when I visit LA briefly for a bit of coaster action.

The Antelope Valley Line on the Metrolink trains ( http://www.metrolinktrains.com ) runs from Santa Clarita (the nearest rail station to SFMM - admitedly a taxi would be required to get to this station but it's only a couple of miles away, so not too expensive <$10??) down to LA Union Station.

From Union Station, it's possible to either take another Metrolink train on the Orange County line or an Amtrak train ( http://www.amtrak.com ) down to either Anaheim or Fullerton stations. Knott's recommended that I go to Anaheim station and take a taxi (approximately a $15 fare apparently) to them [not sure why they didn't suggest getting the taxi from Fullerton - any ideas?]. However, I have also spotted that you could in theory get off at Fullerton and take the Orange County Bus #26 ( http://www.mta.net ) to Buena Park which should take about 20 mins and cost $1.25.

Does anyone have any ideas as to which of the Anaheim or Fullerton routes are easiest / (more importantly following on from the above discussions) safest?

Hope this is of some use, if not a little off-topic ;-)

Robin

Ya know... for what you are paying for trains and taxis, ect... you could rent a car...

Unfortunately I can't drive - Otherwise, I agree that things would be a lot easier! ;-)

BTW, the above trip probably costs $10 + $5 + $9 + $15 or $1.25 = between about $25 and $40 give or take. *** Edited 2/8/2005 2:10:40 PM UTC by Robin***