This summer we spent six nights at the Element by Marriott Anaheim Resort Convention Center near Disneyland Resort. What follows are personal observations, photos and tips from our stay there. We hope you will find this review helpful in planning your own Disneyland visit.

And for broader tips on booking accommodations near Disneyland, please see our post: Staying Near Disneyland: Book the Best Hotel for You.

Rooms at the Element Near Disneyland & Long-Term Stays

The Anaheim Element Hotel initially drew our attention because of the various room types, which seemed very appropriate for large-ish families and long-term stays. With a variety of bed configurations and in-room kitchen facilities, the Element Marriott is the type of hotel we favor for family vacations longer than a couple nights.

We are always on the look-out for hotels that have more than one or two sleeping surfaces per room. When you think of a standard hotel room, you probably think of one with two double or queen beds at most. We like hotels that have third (or even fourth) sleeping surface, like a trundle bed or pull-out sofa. Fortunately, the neighborhoods around Disneyland actually do have many hotels with these kinds of additional sleeping surfaces. Even some of the simpler motel-style accommodations on Harbor Boulevard have convertible sleeper-chairs. Plus, the Disneyland Resort Hotels have some really nice third-bed options.

Now, I will offer a caveat that these third surfaces are often more suitable for small children than grown adults. But as we, and many folks who are traveling to Disneyland Resort, are looking for beds for little kids, this works nicely. Judging by the increase in these types of rooms around Disneyland, they do seem to be popular. We make these convertible beds work and usually have no complaints. However, we were especially attracted to the Anaheim Element Marriott, because it offers actual beds for these extra sleeping surfaces. Plus, the Element has interesting ways of subdividing a room to allow different family members to sleep at different times. Another benefit for larger families!

Lots of Choices for Three (and More) Sleeping Surfaces

Here is an example of what I mean: our particular hotel room at the Marriott Element was a family suite with bunk beds, a sleeper-sofa and a king bed. The name “suite” is a bit misleading, as it was really one very big room, but we thought that lay-out was great.

You can find some helpful room lay-out diagrams on the Marriott website, but briefly: the bunk beds and sleeper sofa were just within the door to the room. As you proceeded into the room, you passed the bathroom extending out into the room and thus creating a kind of cubby for the sofa and bunk beds. On the other side of the bathroom was the king bed. Extending much of the length of the wall opposite the bathroom was a desk and the kitchen space, which consisted of a half-size fridge, a cooktop, a microwave, a dishwasher, a sink and a really nice variety of cookware and tableware.

The Element also has a similar family suite with two queen beds (plus some extra square footage) in place of the one king bed. The lowest priced option at the Element is a queen/queen and sofa bed studio and the highest priced option is a one bedroom suite with two queens and a sofa bed. At the time of writing, Marriott has the prices for these room types further sub-divided by view categories.

Each of these room types includes some kind of kitchen, and that’s a big deal for us!

In-Room Kitchens at Marriott Element Near Disneyland

We do not eat-out much when we are home. While we dine at restaurants more on vacation, we still like to mix those meals with healthy and cost-effective “home” cooking. For this reason, we like hotels that have food preparation spaces and refrigerators more reliable than your average hotel “mini-fridge” (aka beverage cooler that maybe could sometimes make ice if you are lucky).

Our King Family Suite at the Element Anaheim had one of the better hotel kitchens we encountered. We appreciated that we had both a stovetop and microwave. This particular suite had a mini-fridge, and I would have appreciated a full-size refrigerator (like the one a few blocks away at Home2 Suites), but this was adequate for our needs. There were lots of cabinets and shelves that were surprisingly well-stocked with plenty of baking dishes, pots, pans and cooking utensils. One oddity was that our room officially slept six, but the flatware and tableware were for four people: we only had four forks, four plates, etc… actually, even some of those sets were missing items.

We asked the hotel staff for six of each item to match the room capacity, and we were told that hotel policy was that we could only get up to four of each item. This seemed like a strange policy to us. Is the expectation that not everyone would eat at once or that we would not actually be using the kitchen at all?

Actually, this is a common problem we encounter with many of these extended-stay hotels: they have kitchens, but they do not seem to expect anyone to use them. Our hotel also had a decent dishwasher, but as at similar hotels, we were only offered one dishwasher tab for our entire stay. We had to specifically ask for more.

Our Thoughts on Rooms at Element by Marriott, Anaheim

Aside from these few quibbles, we really liked our room at Element by Marriott Anaheim Resort Convention Center. We appreciated that the room layout allowed everyone to have some personal space. Overall, we thought the kitchen was nicely set-up and the countertop seating for dining was a nice touch.

We haven’t mentioned the bathroom yet, because there isn’t too much to say about it. On the positive side the shower was very large, but on the negative side, there were not adequate hooks (or other places to hang towels) for the six people the room was supposed to sleep. Other storage options were plentiful.

Like many other newer hotels, this bathroom had a giant barn door. Fortunately, this one was less cumbersome than many others we have encountered and our littlest could handle the door without help.

Some other odds and ends… for our 2026 stay, the room surfaces were fresh and clean, and the housekeeping staff did a wonderful job keeping it that way. We had daily housekeeping throughout our stay. The beds were comfortable, the bed linens were fine, and the towels were plentiful both at the pool and in our room

Ultimately this room was large and thoughtfully designed. We really liked it, especially because we got it for a really nice price with a D23 discount.

Location of Element by Marriott Anaheim Resort Convention

So, this Marriott Element is officially called “Element by Marriott Anaheim Resort Convention Center,” but by our calculations it is actually closer to Disneyland Resort. The Element is located at 1600 S Clementine Street, Anaheim, CA 92802. That puts it at a one mile walk from the Anaheim Convention Center and a 0.9 mile walk from the Disneyland Resort Esplanade. Other sources may estimate this location at 0.7 miles or shorter from Disneyland Resort. That is probably because they are using the Harbor Street pedestrian entrance or even the boundary of Disneyland Resort property as the endpoint for Disneyland Resort. I prefer to measure walking distance from the Esplanade, because this gives you a better apples to apples comparison if you are comparing hotels on the west AND east side of Disneyland Resort.

Confused as to why that would be the case? Come with me then for a wandering aside on the Esplanade. If you already know this, go ahead and skip to the next heading, but for more on why I care see 5 Mistakes to Avoid When Booking a Disneyland Hotel)

A Wandering Aside On Measuring Walking Distance Between Hotels and Disneyland Resort

The Esplanade is the central plaza between the entrance to Disneyland Park and the main entrance to Disney California Adventure Park. If you are going to either park and using the main entrance, you will cross through the Esplanade. The only people not using the main entrances to the parks are guests of the Disneyland Resort Hotels who have access to a special entrance for Disney California Adventure Park inside Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel and Spa, and this is just for the one park. (Okay, okay you can get into Disneyland Park by monorail, but let’s not complicate things any more than I already have.)

These are specific cases, and for most everyone, you will need to pass through the Esplanade in order to reach the parks.

And, in order to reach the Esplanade, you will need to pass through a security checkpoint for the Disneyland Resort. For most folks staying on Harbor Boulevard or on other streets east of Disneyland, you will likely enter through the east side pedestrian entrance. In fact, most guests of third-party hotels, including those being dropped-off by ride share, will use this Harbor entrance.

Guests of the Disneyland Resort hotels and a few other hotels on the west side of the resort will enter through one of the west-side checkpoints. Guests arriving by car and parking may go through security at their parking lot or structure, but they will still end-up at the Esplanade outside the parks. You are almost always passing through the Esplanade one way or the other.

So why spend time thinking about this…?

Some hotels will try to tell you they are “steps from Disneyland” but require the reality is different… that’s why we have 5 Mistakes to Avoid When Booking a Disneyland Hotel. Now, back to the specific 0.9 mile walk from the Element by Marriott Anaheim to the Esplanade at Disneyland Resort.

How is the Walk from the Element Hotel to Disneyland?

So, how is the walk to Disneyland Resort from to the Element by Marriott in Anaheim? We think it is really pretty pleasant if a bit long compared to Harbor Boulevard hotels.

As we said, the walk to the Esplanade is 0.9 miles. At a moderate pace, this took us 15 minutes… think a pace that is faster than seeing-the-sights but slower than a walk for exercise. More like… “I have somewhere to be.” Of course, this time is going to depend on the foot traffic on your walk as well as your luck with the traffic lights on the way.

Blue and green Disney symbols stenciled on the sidewalk guide you from the entrance of the Element out to Clementine Street. You follow Clementine Street south to Disney Way, which you will take west to Harbor Boulevard. The pedestrian entrance to Disneyland Resort is on Harbor Boulevard north of the Disney Way intersection.

The good news is that you are crossing just two streets (Clementine Way and Harbor Boulevard) to get from the Marriott Element to Disneyland Resort. This minimizes the chance that you will be caught by a long traffic light. And for me, the greater benefit was that I was able to relax just that much more on our walk. Crossing fewer streets and driveways with our kids made me feel calmer. In my expereince, drivers dropping off and picking-up guests on Harbor Boulevard can get a little reckless.

Traffic & Safety Along the Way From Element Marriott to Disneyland

Even when I was walking on my own, it was really refreshing to be able to avoid all those driveways along Harbor Boulevard. During our six-night stay, I started taking the peacefulness of the walk for granted. Then, I had to visit a location around Manchester and Anaheim. On the walk there, I was reminded just how many driveways there are on the east side of Harbor Boulevard between Katella and Manchester.

But enough about driveways… okay, one more thing. You will be walking by cast member parking, and this does involve crossing the entry to their lot. Fortunately, there is none of the hectic ride share traffic we see on Harbor Boulevard. In general, we experienced less pedestrian and vehicular traffic walking from Element Anaheim Marriott to Disneyland Resort than we do when walking from Harbor Boulevard hotels, making for a quicker walk.

The flip-side of this is that some guests might feel hesitation about walking in the dark on a less-traveled route. We walked this path before opening and after closing and felt comfortable, but of course your comfort level will vary. There are a lot of cast members walking parallel to you, but they have their own fenced walkway to their parking lot. Between that walkway and you are empty lots.

Actually, I should say… during our summer 2026 stay, there were lots of empty lots lining the route along the north side of Disney Way. But, keep in mind that Disney is planning a massive new “entry experience” (aka entrance with infrastructure) for this area. So the landscape off the eastern side of Disneyland Resort will probably change dramatically in the next few years, both with structures Disney builds and with structures third parties build in response to the changes! We will see what happens!

What Else is Near the Element Marriott in Anaheim?

Element Marriott Anaheim’s closest neighbors are the I-5, parking lots and the SunCoast Hilton Hotel. Across Disney Way is the Clementine Hotel. Our stay at the Element was the first time we have stayed in this particular pocket of hotels. Otherwise, we have stayed in several hotels along Harbor Boulevard, on the west side of the resort, and up where Clementine turns into Manchester.

This was a relatively quiet little pocket, and like we said, we found the walk to Disneyland Resort to be easy and pleasant. We also had easy access to Anaheim Garden Walk, which is an outdoor mall. We would not book a hotel based on proximity to Anaheim Garden Walk, but it does open up other dining possibilities during your stay. This might be especially important to you as this Anaheim Element does not have a true restaurant on site.

As we covered early in this post, we prefer to do a lot of food preparation in our room, so we are perhaps not the best judges of Anaheim Garden Walk. We prefer Downtown Disney District, and its dining, to Anaheim Garden Walk, but it is nice to have (close) options. Plus, we had a really pleasant and tasty dinner at Roy’s Restaurant the evening we arrived in Anaheim. You can find the directory to the Garden Walk on their website here.

Dining at Element by Marriott Anaheim Resort Convention Center

As for dining options inside the Element Anaheim, those are limited to breakfast and some bonus hospitality offerings. There is no conventional restaurant at the Element Anaheim.

Breakfast at the Element Anaheim Near Disneyland

Element Anaheim offers a complimentary breakfast buffet for all registered guests. We thought the breakfast was nice. It included offerings we are accustomed to seeing at free hotel breakfasts plus some nice surprises.

In the conventional and popular category are things like breakfast sausages, waffles, eggs and cereal. In the less-expected category were vegetables. Element offered mixed (sautéed I think?) vegetables each morning. I really appreciated getting some vegetables in our bodies before heading into the not-always-healthy land of theme-park food. This made it doubly surprising that fruit options were very limited at breakfast. I’m used to seeing a selection of bananas, apples or fruit salads at free hotel breakfasts. The Element had a smallish bowl of berries that seemed like they were meant to be a topping for yogurt or waffles.

I was so surprised by the lack of fruit that I wondered if it was some kind of anomaly based on a supply issue. If it was, the anomaly persisted for all six days of our stay. Also lacking was the tea selection: choices were few because empty flavors were not refilled. Were we to stay again, I would bring all my own tea.

Overall, everyone in our family found options they liked at the breakfast and left feeling satisfied. We also thought the seating was pleasant and plentiful. Things would bottleneck at the breakfast serving stations, but we never had trouble finding somewhere to sit together.

Marriott lists this breakfast service on their website under their dining options as a restaurant called “Rise.” Just keep in mind that Rise is only open for this free breakfast service. It does not serve food during other times of day or have items for purchase. There is a small “convenience store” tucked next to the check-in desk.

Happy Hour and Tea Time Perks

Otherwise, Element Anaheim does have some nice little hospitality times or “happy hours” during the week. During our stay, these hospitality times took the form of an evening tea time and an afternoon happy hour.

The happy hour included complimentary beverages (beer and juice boxes) plus cheese cubes and bread slices. Other guests did not stick around to partake and socialize during our stay. I think this was because the servings were more tasting sizes and not large enough to cause you to linger. (The photo below shows a serving meant for two people… We were given one bowl to share.) In other words, do not plan your evening around this offering, but it was a nice bonus.

I preferred the evening tea time the hotel also offered for free. Unlike the disappointing tea bags offered at breakfast, tea time consisted of delicious loose leaf tea in pretty glass tea pots. There were small ceramic tea cups for tasting a variety of herbal offerings plus to-go cups for taking your favorite back to your room. The overall effect was inviting and calming, and I appreciated this little touch.

As for determining when these little bonuses will happen… there was nothing on the Element Marriott website in preparation for our stay. I had seen some mention of these in reviews from other guests, but we did not hear about it from the hotel until check-in. I think there was also a cookie time that did not fall within our stay.

The point is: these are neat little perks, but not something to plan on or around.

The Pool and Other Amenities at Element Marriott Hotel Anaheim

My kids would be confused by me saving this section for so deep in our post, but now let’s get to the pool. The Element Anaheim pool is outdoors in a fenced area with lounge seating. There is no hot tub, but we did appreciate the poolside bathroom that did not require us to re-enter the main building (a big plus when swimming with little ones.)

The Element pool is small-ish, but I thought it was nicer than many pools we have encountered near Disneyland. For one thing, the pool was not surrounded by parking. The pool is right next to the I-5, but this didn’t really bother us, because there is a big wall blocking the view from and of the freeway. You can hear the general freeway noise, but this really just amounted to white noise for us. I would rather have this than a pool visible from the parking lot.

There are some little landscaping touches around the pool and we found it to be generally pleasant. The pool’s location beside the tall hotel building meant the sun exposure changed dramatically over the course of the day. Keep that in mind if you are worried about temperature.

A Nice Patio!

More extensive than the pool deck was the patio beside the pool area. This was separated from the pool by a fence and had guest-use grills and a variety of seating. I was surprised that I did not see more people using this area. It was large and nice. It had potted plants, colorful pillows and tons of empty benches, tables and chairs. I liked that it was a relatively uncrowded place to enjoy the nice Anaheim weather during our stay, but it seemed really underused.

As a family with young kids, we thought the pool was better than most in the area, though it still ranks behind obvious stand-outs like the Howard Johnson, the Courtyard and all Disney pools. Among similar hotels, we preferred the pool and splash pad at the Home2 Suites (but we like the rooms at the Element better).

We also really appreciated the ample outdoor space provided by the patio. There were not recreational activities like those offered by the Disneyland Resort Hotels, but it was nice to have an outdoor area at our own hotel for enjoying snacks, card games and the sunshine.

Laundry and Fitness

In terms of other guest amenities, we found the fitness room and laundry room to be perfectly fine and functional. The fitness room was in good shape, and we always appreciate when these spaces have natural light like this one does.

The laundry room was pretty average among our experience with hotel guest laundries. The machines are managed by a third party, and you pay by app. During our 2026 stay, a load cost $5 (that means $5 to wash and then $5 to dry, not $5 total).

Sorry, but I am about to deliver another wandering aside… The laundry machines could have used a little care. There was lots of residue from other guests’ laundry products in the detergent dispensers, but the washers were functional. The dryers worked too, but they were inconsistent. I started two simultaneous loads in neighboring dryers. The loads were roughly the same size and I used the same settings on each dryer. Yet, the time estimate for one was 40 minutes and the other was 99.

The 40 minute dry time for the first dryer ended-up being accurate. For the second, I think I ended up using it for about 60 to 70 minutes. I am assuming it had become inefficient and the extended time was meant to compensate for this. Did you need to know all of this in a review you are are probably just reading to find out about the location and cleanliness of the rooms at the Element? Probably not. But this inconsistency struck me as curious while I was trudging through a chore on vacation, so there you go. (Incidentally, you can read about our tips for doing laundry at Disneyland here.)

Stroller and Scooter Parking

One thing we really appreciated was that the Element Marriott allowed us to park our double stroller in the lobby while we were not using it. This freed-up space in our room and space in the elevators too. We were grateful for this gracious little touch of hospitality and noticed a good number of other strollers plus scooters parked in the lobby as well.

The Lobby at the Element Anaheim

The lobby itself was pleasant. We like that the Element lobby had lots of natural light and a variety of seating choices. When we could, we preferred to sit on the adjacent outside patio, but we did also like the lobby. Frankly, I’m struggling to find any thing specific to say about it. It was nice, and if you are used to staying at the motel-style accommodations on Harbor Boulevard like we are, it feels very spacious. Plus, lots of folks seemed to make use of the ample electrical outlets at check-in and check-out times.

Final Thoughts on Element by Marriott Anaheim Resort Convention Center

Overall, we enjoyed our stay at the Element by Marriott Anaheim Resort Convention Center and would stay again. In this post, I’ve included little quibbles about missing fruit at breakfast and undersized flatware sets, but I think the relative insignificance of these complaints illustrates how much we did like this hotel. Ultimately, we would like to see all extended stay hotels pay attention to extended stay amenities (more variety at breakfast, ample dish detergent, nicely maintained laundry facilities), but those are problems we have experienced at other similar hotels as well.

Again, these are little quibbles. I think the biggest takeaway here is that we really liked our room at Element Anaheim. We found it to be pleasant and very functional for a family on vacation. The general amenities around the hotel were good. Plus we liked the location. Yes, the walk was longer than it would have been had we stayed at any one of the Harbor Boulevard motels, but we thought the trade-off for additional amenities at a very nice price was worth the walk.

Tips for Your Element by Marriott Anaheim Stay

We would like to leave you with a few tips for your Element stay near Disneyland:

• If you plan on using a scooter or stroller at Disneyland, rent it from a third party when staying at Element by Marriott Anaheim. Disney does not allow you to take mobility devices off property, and you are going to want to use them for the walk (scoot, stroll, etc) to the hotel. You can use scooters and strollers from an outside company on these routes or bring your own.
  • Bonus: Element Anaheim staff allowed us to park our stroller in the lobby overnight during our stay. Ask about this when you check-in. (For more strollers at Disneyland tips, see: Strollers at Disneyland Resort: Quick Tips and Strategies
• Element by Marriott Anaheim is a nice hotel where you can get some rest even during the day. Consider adding a rest day into your trip to optimize your park time. The hotel itself is not very entertaining, but you can add some fun with Travel Fun for Kids on the Road and in the Sky or with a visit to Downtown Disney District.
  • We have an article about rest days and why we recommend them here: Maximize Value: Take a Rest Day at Disneyland
• We found photos and full lay-outs for each room type on the Element by Marriott Anaheim website and Marriott Bonvoy app. We suggest that you scroll through the photo gallery for each room to get to those lay-outs. There are a surprising number of room options at this hotel, and you will want to find one that works for your family.
• There are not really any reasonable shortcuts for pedestrians traveling between Disneyland and Element Anaheim hotel: the walk is pretty straightforward. That said, our preferred walking route is along the west side of Harbor Boulevard. If you turn right off Disney Way onto Harbor without crossing first, you are going to end-up crossing all those motel and restaurants driveways we mentioned. If you cross first, you get a pleasant shady route right at the edge of Disney property. Same distance, better experience.
• Planning on doing laundry during your Disneyland visit like we did? Here are our best tips: We Do Laundry At Disneyland, Here’s How We Make it Easy.
• In addition to a laundry bag, we also have other general tips for what to pack for a Disneyland Resort visit. We share those in: Disneyland Travel Essentials: What You Need to Pack.

Thanks for reading this post with our reflections on our Element by Marriott Anaheim Resort Convention Center stay.

We hope you have found this article helpful (if perhaps unnecessarily long). For more hotel tips for stays near Disneyland, please consider exploring 5 Excellent Ways to Choose a Disneyland Resort Hotel and Staying Near Disneyland: Book the Best Hotel for You. The latter is part of our free and complete Step-by-Step Disneyland Prep where you can get straightforward advice on tickets, transportation, dining and more. Thanks again for reading!