The Garland

Pros: * Excellent housekeeping. Room clean and refreshed daily with attention to detail. * Front desk staff humoured me in any inquiries I had about the property, room or area. * Pool area is serene and relaxing with ample towels available. The kids especially enjoyed the family hot tub while my husband and I were able to relax in the adults only hot tub. There is a bar on-site where you can order drinks and enjoy by the pool/hot tub as well. * Shuttle to and from Universal with flexibility if needed. * Private balconies * We thoroughly enjoyed the instructions for the patio door as they are of specific configurations. * Excellent, professional bell service upon check-out. * Daily activities offered if staying on site, even an excursion to the Brady Bunch house. Emerging skills: * The door connecting to the room next to us was left unlocked. I would have liked to have additional security measures as well such as a metal lock at the top as observed at other hotels in Anaheim. * The noise from the highway is quite loud in the early hours in the morning even with the patio door closed adequately. We needed two noise machines to try to drown out the sound but we were still able to hear some of it. I am sure we would have been accommodated had we mentioned anything but we managed. * No breakfast included, but available for purchase on-site. * Door dash orders do not seem to be well respected in these areas, often having staff sneer at my husband when picking it up from the desk (no access to room due to key card system). I am sure the property would prefer we eat on site, but being a family of four travelling out of country we needed to be frugal where we could. * We noted that bell service was offered to guests arriving but was not offered to us upon our own arrival. Having had the same amount of baggage or more of the family we observed, we are curious about this as we would have appreciated the service as well. * One evening upon leaving Universal, the shuttle driver was drinking a cooler. Unsure what number he was on, but it made us uneasy travelling with kids. Overall, great property with amazing amenities. Don’t think twice about staying here! Read less

For years, the Garland has been our “happy place” for family get-always and the Front Yard for special occasions. Checking in again yesterday was like coming home. This hotel has so much personality, with its fun decor, upbeat atmosphere and the friendliest staff. Walking past the sparkling lights by the pool brought back so many good memories. And major points to the front desk staff, Colton and Aidan, who went above and beyond with care and patience to accommodate our needs this visit! It reinforced why we love this place so much. Read less

Stayed in The Garland for 6 nights following a cruise and to take advantage of the location to Universal and LA (Hollywood) itself. Check in was quick and easy and the guy was very polite and friendly. We arrived early as we had disembarked our Cruise quite early that morning and the guy even offered to push our room through so we could check in earlier than normal but we informed him it wasn't necessary as we planned to go straight to Universal so asked if we could just leave our bags somewhere which was no problem. The hotel runs a shuttle bus to universal everyday on the hour and then 15 past the hour on return from Universal except from 1pm and 1:15pm. When we returned from Universal that night, we then checked in fully and were allocated our room. We had a Premium King Room on the 5th floor. The room itself was spotless, loved the decor, great size, good Bathroom with walk in shower. The only negative about the room was the view. A massive tree in front of the window which kept lots of the light out and facing the car park. The Hotel also has a shop, restaurant and pool bar. We didn't use the restaurant as we mostly ate out but did eat at the pool bar one of the evenings and enjoyed the food. The pool is great, with comfy cushioned sunbeds, towels also provided. There are also two hot tubs one is for Adults only which is a great touch to have this separate. In the evening there are heaters turned on in the pool bar and the fire lighting at the pool area too. They also show movies around the pool on certain evenings. Now the shortfalls. . I already mentioned the lack of view. . Cleaning, Although the cleaners did a good job, 3 days out of the six we had to leave notes for the cleaner to leave extra loo paper and to refill the shower body wash as it ran out. . Life broken in our block for several days of our stay. . There was a member of staff behind the pool bar (sorry didnt get his name) who although was pleasant and polite, would throw empty bottles and cans towards the trash when he poured them into the glasses. When missing the bin every time he would just leave them on the floor. Not very professional in front of paying guests. . Rude member of staff at reception. On one of the evenings after we returned from Universal we ordered a drink at the bar. The hotel lobby also has an area with a fire lighting with a table and chairs next to it. There was a sign on the table stating no food in that particular area, so rather than just sit there with our drinks, I did the polite thing and asked at reception if it was ok to sit there as the sign stated no food but didn't mention drinks. Out of nowhere and quite bluntly this guy even though I wasn't even dealing with him and was asking the other guy on the desk, shouts, no you cant sit there, it says on the sign. I then bring the sign to this guy and point out to him exactly what it says and reiterate this is why I was asking because it clearly doesn't mention about drinks so tell him not to interfere again and to mind his own business next time. The polite guy who I was telling with says it is no problem and that we could sit there however, given the attitude of the other individual we decided not to bother and just took our drinks back to our room. . Check out - The day we checked out we had a bill to settle for food and drinks. My husband attempted to pay and was using cash. He was informed that he could only pay using the exact amount and that the hotel could not accept the extra 7 cents overpayment. He was asked to go to the hotel shop to see if they could break 25 cents so the exact payment could then be paid. He goes to the shop only for the girl in the shop to laugh in disbelief that my husband was asked to do this and she just gave him the 7 cent herself and said he could have it. Overall we had a good stay, the location is great for Universal but unfortunately we would chose somewhere else to stay if we returned to that area again. Read less

We are just coming to the end of our holiday in California, staying at the wonderful Garland hotel. From check-in to check-out our experience has been fantastic - all staff are so friendly, helpful & always ready for a chat! Our room was both comfortable & spacious, so clean with the bonus of a lovely view overlooking the hotel pool & gardens, seating area/dining area. Everywhere around the hotel is immaculate! Clean, tidy, very pretty. We must mention the free transport into Universal Studios/Universal citywalk........fantastic service & what made it so special, Jorge the driver who was always smiling, courteous, helpful.....perfect! 5 stars!!! Food was amazing too from the pool bar to The Front Yard restaurant. So thank you very much each & everyone for making our stay so special......we will be back! :-) Read less