Disney's Sequoia Lodge, Marne-la-Vallee

We were heading off to Disneyland Paris this time last month and already it seems like such a distant memory, so I thought I'd try and recapture our holiday by reviewing the hotel that we stayed in.

The Sequoia Lodge is one of 6 hotels situated in the Disneyland Resort. Disney give their hotels key ratings, as opposed to stars and they range from 2 keys to 4 keys. The Sequoia Lodge has been given a 3 key rating, so is a mid-range ...
...key Cheyenne, we were really looking forward to experiencing a slightly better standard of Disney Hotel.

The hotel is inspired by America's National Parks and is designed like a forest lodge, with a main hotel and several smaller lodges, seperate from the main building. The reason we chose the Sequoia Lodge was mainly down to the time of year we were visiting - January! I knew the hotel had a huge log fire in the bar/lounge and I ... more

We were heading off to Disneyland Paris this time last month and already it seems like such a distant memory, so I thought I'd try and recapture our holiday by reviewing the hotel that we stayed in.

The Sequoia Lodge is one of 6 hotels situated in the Disneyland Resort. Disney give their hotels key ratings, as opposed to stars and they range from 2 keys to 4 keys. The Sequoia Lodge has been given a 3 key rating, so is a mid-range hotel. Having previously had an amazing stay at the 2 key Cheyenne, we were really looking forward to experiencing a slightly better standard of Disney Hotel.

The hotel is inspired by America's National Parks and is designed like a forest lodge, with a main hotel and several smaller lodges, seperate from the main building. The reason we chose the Sequoia Lodge was mainly down to the time of year we were visiting - January! I knew the hotel had a huge log fire in the bar/lounge and I had been told that it was a very cosy hotel. The fact that we were there for the end of the christmas celebrations also played a part in our final decision as out of all the Disneyland resort hotels, we figured this would be the most magical with all the lights and decorations up.

I'll begin with saying that I have not included a price in this review. The reason for this is that the cost for a Disneyland Resort Hotel is variable depending on the time of year, the number of people and current offers etc, so it would be pointless of me to state a cost. If you are interested in staying at the hotel, you can check the prices for your particular needs at www.disneylandparis.com Just click on the "book your package" link at the bottom right of the page and it will take you to the hotel booking system where you can receive a quote.

** Location **

I was informed upon check-in that the Sequoia Lodge is a 15 minute walk to the Disney parks. However, we were pleasantly surprised that even with 2 young children and a relaxing stroll taking in the sights, it took us less than ten minutes to walk. There is also the option of taking the free shuttle bus which picks up outside the hotel reception area and drops off outside the parks. However, we never chose to do this as we really felt it would take just as long as walking.

The hotel is situated beside Lake Disney and if, as we were, you are lucky enough to have a lake view room, the views really are spectacular. From our window, we looked out on a completely frozen-over Lake Disney (yes, it really was that cold!). At the other side of the Lake you could see Panoramagique - the hot air balloon where you can get an unusual view of the Disney magic - and Disney Village, which looks spectacular all lit up at night time.

** Checking in **

Rooms are available from 3pm on the day of arrival (as with all resort hotels), however, you can check-in at anytime. The hotel was exceptionally busy the day we arrived, with 700 guests both leaving and arriving. We found the reception area of the hotel very noisy and crowded, but the Cast Members (the staff) were great, making sure only one person from each family queued and quickly making their way through the check-in line. I was given a clip board and pen with a form to fill out whilst in the queue which made the process go a little quicker.

Upon reaching the check-in desk, the cast member will open an envelope with all your park tickets, any meal vouchers you have bought and/or tickets for any pre-bookings you have made. You will also be issued with an Easy Pass which will give you access to the parks for Extra Magic Hours and also any hotel facilities (such as the pool). You can opt at this stage to leave an imprint of your credit/debit card with reception and use your Easy Pass as payment throughout the parks, hotels and village. This was a good thing for me as the payments all come off together in one go at the end of your stay, so if like me, your bank charges you a fee everytime you use your card abroad, you will only have one fee to pay.

Occassionally, you can get lucky and your room will be ready on arrival, despite the 3pm check-in time. However, on this occassion we were not. This isn't a problem though. The cast member will give you your park tickets at this point and there is a left luggage room in the hotel which is free of charge, meaning you can head straight to the parks and come back later for the key to your room.

This is exactly what we did.

Unfortunately on our return at 3pm our room was still not ready and I was disappointed that instead of telling us it could be another few hours (in which case we could've gone back to the parks), they kept insisting it would only be 20-30 minutes longer. We were left hanging around the hotel with 3 young kids (who had been travelling since 4am) for another 2 hours. Meanwhile we were watching other families come and collect their keys and head off to their rooms. I wasn't so much disappointed at the fact we didn't have our room, as at how the cast members handled it.

When we finally received our room key card, we were also given a map of the hotel with our room number written on it and rough directions of how to get there from the reception area.

** The Room **

We received a room on the ground floor, which suited us perfectly with having the little one in the buggy, it made for quick, easy access to the parks. A bit ironically, I booked and paid for a room in the main building (Montana room) so that we didn't have to go out in the cold to go for breakfast, or after our evening hot chocolate by the fire in the bar, yet the hotel is really so big and is such a shape that it was actually quicker and much easier for us to leave the hotel and re-enter via another entrance, which is what we did the majority of the time. I think if I was to go again I wouldn't bother paying the extra and just stay in one of the lodges.

The rooms are designed for four, so I was worried it might be quite cramped with the five of us, but it was a good size, even with a large travel cot set up. The sleeping area was equipped with two double beds and in our case a travel cot aswell, a television cabinet with lots of drawers underneath, a table with 2 chairs and a floor lamp. Also on the wall, there were controls for the heating which I was very pleased to see as I was worried we might get cold. This was never an issue however, and I always had to get up during the night and turn it down as it was far too hot.

The dressing area and bathroom were small, but adequate. The bathroom had a bath with an overhead shower which was powerful and did the job well. There was a bottle of hair/shower gel and a few bars of Mickey soap. The dressing area had a hair drier and a mini bar (which was as expected extremely expensive). We found out when we were leaving that you can have the mini bar locked if you wish. There is also an open hanging area for clothes here.

The television in the room has channels in various languages. The English options were the Disney Channel (surprise, surprise) and BBC News 24, not a huge selection, but then who goes to Disneyland to watch television?

** Restaurants/Bar **

There are two restaurants in The Sequoia Lodge Hotel - The Beaver Creek Tavern and the Hunter's Grill. Both of these restaurants serve breakfast, lunch and dinner. Breakfast is included with hotel bookings and you can eat at either of the two restaurants. Breakfast is continental and in the style of a buffet. We found this is where The Sequoia Lodge had the edge over The Cheyenne and we experienced a much better dining experience here in the mornings. Instead of having to pounce on seats as they become available, you are greeted at the entrance to the restaurant and shown to a table. As it is a buffet you are expected to serve yourself, but this was always orderly and relaxed. The foods on offer were pastries, cereals, fruit salad, yoghurt, rolls, meats, cheeses etc.

We didn't eat in either of the restaurants at lunchtime, but had dinner one night at the Hunter's Grill and were very pleased with the meal. Again it is a buffet meal. This time with three courses and there really is something for everyone. My partner and youngest daughter will eat absolutely anything, my older daughter and my son are very picky eaters and I don't eat a lot of meat (especially when abroad), so a wide range of people to please there and we all found plenty to eat here. With pizzas, curries, lasagnas, pastas, chicken legs, chicken nuggets, fish and loads more, it really is easy to find something.

The Redwood Bar is the only bar in the hotel and is set out as a bar and lounge together. It houses the huge log fire I mentioned earlier and is by far the warmest, cosiest part of the hotel. The size in comparisson to the number of guests was disappointing though. There simply wasn't enough room for everyone, particularly in the evenings when it was a fight just to get served at the bar and finding a seat was another story altogether. On offer at the bar is a selection of filled rolls, cold non alcoholic drinks, hot drinks such as coffee and hot chocolate, beer, wine, cocktails etc. They even do cute little non alcoholic cocktails for the children.

** Other Areas of the Hotel **

The Sequoia Lodge also has a concierge in the main reception area. We used this service to borrow a kettle for our room (at no extra cost), and also to make our retaurant reservations. You can book meals at any of the restaurants in the Disney hotels, parks or village here, not just the Sequoia Lodge. I believe you can also use the concierge service to book bus trips into Paris and to purchase extra park tickets should you need them.

There is a shop in the main building of the hotel aswell. This sells lots of Disney souvenirs aswell as juice, snacks such as crisps, chocolate etc and milk. However it can be quite expensive and it is much better value for money to stop at the shop at the train station (right outside the Disney parks) on your way back from the parks if you need these things.

There is a games arcade. I believe you have to pay to play the arcade games in there. This might be quite useful if you have older children, however with the age of my kids we didn't use this at all.

In one of the seperate lodges there is an outdoor and indoor swimming pool and a fitness suite. Because of the time of year we didn't use either of these facilities either.

A childrens play area can also be found in the main building of the hotel quite close to reception. During our stay there were giant building blocks and paper and crayons. Beside the play area is an area with a scene set which is used for the meets and greets with the characters. These are held every morning in the hotel, however, we also saw Pluto and Eeyore just wandering aimlessly and having a laugh with guests in the bar a few times.

** Checking Out **

Check out is prior to 11am on the day of your departure. It is extremely quick and easy to check out - as simple as popping your room key in a box in the reception area. I had thought that, because I had used my Easy Pass as a payment card, that I would have to return to reception and wait in the queues to check out. However, upon our return from breakfast, the invoice had been delivered to our room and we were advised that if everything on the invoice was correct, just to pop the key in the box as usual. Easy peasy!

** Overall **

My review has been very positive so far and I would like to say before I add a negative that the hotel was absolutely lovely - I couldn't fault it at all. It was exactly as we had expected with the lovely, cosy atmosphere and it looked amazing all decorated for christmas. The room was great and the beds were soooo comfy.

Right, with that out the way, I can report that unfortunately we did experience a problem with our room during our stay, which was not dealt with very well at all. The electricity went out in our room leaving us in total darkness. I wont go into huge detail, but it took 5 hours before anyone even came to our room to assess the problem. When maintenance did turn up, it was 11pm (on the night of arrival when we'd been up since 4am), my kids were all sound asleep and they wanted us to move all of us and our stuff (in one go might I add), from the ground floor room at one end of the hotel to a fifth floor room at the opposite end. They didn't seem to mind when I refused though, but the problem was still not resolved and as a result we also missed our breakfast and extra magic hours in the parks the following morning. Similar to the check in issue, it's not the fact that the lights didn't work that was the problem, but the way it was dealt with by staff.

My conclusion is, that this was a fantastic hotel with a lovely setting and atmosphere. If our stay had been problem free I'm sure I'd be giving this a 5 star rating, however if you are unfortunate enough to have a problem during your stay, I doubt it will be resolved easily.

For this reason, I probably wouldn't stay at The Sequoia Lodge again. We much preferred the setting and theming of The Cheyenne anyway, but being that little bit closer to the parks and having a calmer breakfast wasn't worth the extra money and the lack of customer service at The Sequoia Lodge, in my opinion. 

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