Hotel Review: The Hills Hotel in Laguna Hills, California

Disclosure: All or part of this trip was provided free or at a reduced cost for review purposes, but the opinions are solely that of the writer. A TravelingMom cannot be bought.

Looking for an affordable, family-friendly hotel near Disneyland and LEGOLAND? The Hills Hotel in Laguna Hills is ideally located between Los Angeles and San Diego. This boutique hotel provides a great home base for families who want to see it all in southern California.

Boutique Hotel Near Disneyland and LEGOLAND

I stayed at the Hills Hotel for five days with my husband and my 12-year-old daughter. We wanted to see a lot of different attractions, so we searched for a hotel in southern California that would be conveniently located and hopefully away from the infamous LA traffic!

The Hills Hotel sits directly off I-5, just 20 minutes from Anaheim/Disneyland and minutes to Laguna Beach. Heading south, you can get to LEGOLAND in under an hour and the San Diego Zoo in about an hour and 15 minutes. Both are an easy drive on I-5 as long as you avoid rush hour. I recommend leaving the hotel a bit later in the morning (8:30 or 9am is fine), and coming back to the hotel later at night. The only time we hit traffic was when we came back from Beverly Hills around 4 pm. That was a mistake!

The lobby of the Hills Hotel in southern California, located near disneyland and legoland. — The lobby of the Hills Hotel. Photo: Shannon Entin / Roadschooling TravelingMom.

What Works for Families

Clean, spacious rooms with comfortable beds and plenty of space to spread out.
Spacious bathroom with lots of shelving and counter space.
Free guest laundry!
The beautiful pool and hot tub area offers lots of cozy seating, plenty of covered areas to provide shade, and relaxing cabana-type seating areas that I loved!
The price is right. Since it’s not in the middle of the Disneyland and convention center action, the Hills Hotel is priced right at around $160/night for a king bed or two fulls.

Beautiful pool area with shaded cabanas at the Hills, a hotel near disneyland and legoland. — Beautiful pool area with shaded cabanas. Photo: Shannon Entin / Roadschooling TravelingMom.

What Doesn’t Work for Families

This is a great option for families looking for an affordable hotel in southern California. My family had no complaints at all, but if you are traveling with young children, there are a couple things you should be aware of:

Only stall showers in the room – no bathtub for the little ones.
Limited space to hang towels or bathing suits. With no hooks on the sliding bathroom door, drying space was limited to a towel bar inside the shower and on half the shower door. For a family of four needing to dry towels and bathing suits, it could be a challenge.
Sliding bathroom door that wasn’t lockable. Some people don’t like this, though it didn’t bother me at all.

Rooms at The Hills Hotel

All guest rooms feature comfy pillow-top mattresses, 32-inch flat-screen HDTVs, refrigerators, coffee makers, hair dryers, safes, ergonomic desks, irons and ironing boards, and large closets.

Our spacious room at the Hills Hotel, a great hotel near disneyland and legoland — Our spacious room at the Hills Hotel. Photo: Shannon Entin / Roadschooling TravelingMom

We had plenty of space to spread out in the room. In addition to the two double beds, we had an easy chair, large desk and desk chair, huge ottoman (big enough to hold our 50-lb duffle bag!), and a unit that housed the refrigerator, safe, and two drawers. This would probably be my only complaint about the room – I would have liked a couple more drawers.

And still there was a good amount of space near the entry and bathroom for a luggage stand and access to the closet. The bathroom had a spacious stall shower and lots of shelves and counter space where my daughter and I could spread out our toiletries and makeup. And who doesn’t love a pretty vessel sink? I hate water splashing all over the counter, so I’m a big fan!

Our spacious bathroom at the Hills, a hotel located near disneyland and legoland. — Lots of shelves and counter space! Photo: Shannon Entin / Roadschooling TravelingMom.

Features of The Hills Hotel

The Hills Hotel is part of Choice Hotels’ Ascend Collection. Each Ascend hotel uniquely reflects its local community, with staff committed to sharing their insider knowledge of the places, moments and experiences that makes each destination special. And The Hills Hotel hit the mark.

The front desk at the Hills Hotel in southern California, a great hotel near disneyland and legoland. — The front desk at the Hills Hotel. Photo: Shannon Entin / Roadschooling TravelingMom.

I loved the outdoor areas of the hotel that screamed “Southern California” to me, with colorful flowers and palm trees all around. There were plenty of places to gather and hang out. Staff at the desk and restaurant were helpful and courteous and were able to offer tips about visiting the area.

Additional hotel features include:

The Hills Cafe restaurant on-site is open for breakfast, lunch, dinner and room service.
Lounge open nightly with full-service bar, TVs, and sometimes live entertainment.
Free wi-fi in rooms and all hotel areas.
Fitness center with three treadmills and an exercise bike.
Free, plentiful parking.
Free laundry. As someone who often does laundry while traveling, I can tell you it was so nice not to have to feed quarters into the washer and dryer!

Watch my video review of the Hills Hotel below, and be sure to check it out if you’re looking for an affordable hotel near Disneyland and LEGOLAND! This boutique hotel in southern California offers a beautiful pool area, on-site restaurant, and clean, well-appointed rooms – all at a price that won’t break the budget.