Things you might want to know about the Westin Anaheim Hotel across from Disneyland if you book with Amex Fine Hotels and Resorts

It seems like bookings with Amex Fine Hotels and Resorts are popular at the Westin Anaheim Resort because that is the tone we felt when we checked in. And we were apparently way too early when we checked in but we just wanted to drop our bags and head to Disneyland. And sometimes we get checked in if we get to our hotel early and where else are we supposed to go if we have all of our stuff and don’t want to risk leaving it in our car? Do you ever head to your hotel if it’s before the check-in time to drop off your stuff too?

So why book with Amex Fine Hotels and Resorts?

Amex Fine Hotel bookings are pretty awesome and we use them when we know we need a late check out because there is guaranteed check out for 4pm. I don’t mind paying a little extra for a hotel room if I know we get this kind of late check out. If there is availability we also get room upgrades which is a really nice thing and early check-in if available as well. The bookings also come with breakfast for two daily and some kind of amenity like a credit for resort dining.

So we got in from our flight earlier than expected, dropped our bags with the concierge and were told we couldn’t check in even though we never asked to check in and then we were told all about our benefits as well as this at the front desk:

“So you are going to be happy with the room upgrade you are getting. I can’t tell you what it is until you get checked in because with Amex hotel bookings we don’t check in before noon” We got a text soon after around 11:30am saying our room was ready but we had already made it to Disneyland.

The Westin Anaheim hotel is only a 15-20 minute walk from Disneyland so it’s a pretty convenient place to stay

And we had an epic day at Disneyland. We rode so many rides and were tired from our flight so we ended around 6 or 7 pm because we were pretty exhausted. But one of my guys really wanted to see the fireworks. So when we finally got back to the hotel and really checked in I asked if we had been upgraded to a park view room- and we had not. Apparently with Amex Fine Hotels you only get a one step upgrade which I never knew because we’ve always been happy with our rooms and I’ve never asked and I don’t even know what room I booked in the first place.

So I asked if I could pay for an upgrade if there were any rooms left where we could see the fireworks. And that’s when we were told about one room that was accessible with a shower that would be a 60 dollar extra charge. And then we were told about another one, also accessible but this one had a tub and was a higher floor for a 100 dollar charge. I thought this was a decent idea and decided we would go with the room with the extra 100 dollar charge forgoing whatever room upgrade we would have gotten with our amex benefits.

Then the person at the front desk made our keys and told us they would go over the Amex benefits with us again even though we said don’t worry we’d already heard them. But that’s when they told us it was $100 each night for two nights extra and I expressed my surprise because I thought they had said it was $100 extra not $200 but at this time I was too tired to do any more moving and we headed to our room.

Can you see the fireworks from a park view room at the Westin Anaheim Hotel?

We got to our room on the 7th floor and found out it had no tub but the view from the room is pretty spectacular if you want to see California Adventureland. We could see the whole Disney Park and we were excited to get some takeout and watch the fireworks and show. We could also hear a pretty steady and loud beat from the bar on the roof of the hotel but we thought it would probably stop after the firework show.

But the beat did not and we found out later it would continue way into the night. And there was no firework show. We watched and watched and could not see any fireworks. I wondered if the fireworks were too low for us to see them.

The next day we explained the situation of the roof bar noise and not having a bathtub and asked to be moved back to whatever room we booked or whatever room was as low as possible and we did not need a view room because we did not see the fireworks anyways. Thankfully they removed the $100 charge and put us in a comfortable room far away from any noise. And it was a cozy, clean and good quiet room.

When we met up with our friends again at Universal Studios the next day I told her about our room adventure. “And to top it all off we couldn’t even see the fireworks!” I told her. And then she told me there weren’t any. She and her family had waited until 9:30pm for the fireworks show and was really disappointed when there weren’t any either. Apparently that night they were cancelled for weather. (We had no idea it was weathery that day-it was clear and not windy but maybe they had some kind of other problems)

So make sure if you do book a park view for the purpose of seeing the fireworks at the Westin Anaheim, that you know that they can be cancelled at anytime too. But if you have a park view room at the Westin Anaheim there is a good chance you might be able to see the fireworks if there is actually IS a fireworks show.

And how much is the buffet at the Westin Anaheim?

This might change by the time you read this, but if you are curious about the buffet at the Westin Anaheim, I also couldn’t find prices posted online or anywhere. When we went around October 1st 2022 the buffet was $30 per person. And this included one beverage per person. So we had to choose coffee OR juice but not both which you might order and have to pay extra for if you don’t ask because at many buffets all beverages are included. This was a pretty substantial buffet though-I was going to just order a la carte but it seemed easier and faster to get everything just from the buffet than wait for individual dishes to arrive from the kitchen and the price difference would not be that much.

So how was the Westin Anaheim really?

Ultimately we were really happy with our stay-I think we were just taken aback by the way the pricing didn’t feel completely transparent or up to the usual level of treatment we’ve received booking with Amex Fine Hotels. And honestly this could have just been the Disneyland effect too where everything is magical but also seems to go up in price every time you ask. (Disneyland raised their prices by 8 or 9% just days after we left…..) The hotel had comfortable rooms and it was just 20 minutes to walk to the Disneyland Park and it was such a great benefit to be able to get late check out with Amex Fine hotels too.

Terumi

Terumi Pong is a Seattle-based family travel writer and mom of twin teenage boys.  She loves coffee and pastries, shopping local and looking for greener ways to live.  She is also known as Scout’s mom (Scout is a 5ish pound little black yorkie-poo)