Hotel at Disneyland Resort
Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa
is a hotel located at the
Disneyland Resort
in
Anaheim, California
. The hotel was constructed as part of a major expansion of the Disneyland Resort in 2001. It was constructed and operated by
The Walt Disney Company
. The hotel was designed in the
American Craftsman
style of
architecture
. It also features a
Disney Vacation Club
wing that opened on September 23, 2009. The hotel has a private entrance to
Disney California Adventure
Park. In 2017, Disney remodeled the rooms, along with the lobby.
[1]
Description
[
edit
]
The hotel was designed by architect Peter Dominick of 4240 Architecture Inc. (formerly part of Urban Design Group Inc.). It has 948 rooms, in addition to 44 suites and 71 villas.
Craftsman
style buildings often use
garden
themes, which was Peter Dominick's inspiration for the hotel's forest theme. The reception hall is based on the interior of the
Swedenborgian Church
in
San Francisco
, increased in scale to accommodate the large reception desk. The central lobby has a large fireplace and arching beams overhead, and is furnished with chairs and sofas arranged around small coffee tables.
Many of the items found throughout the hotel have been crafted by modern practitioners of the
Arts and Crafts
style, and some early
Roycroft
items are on display in the lobby.
[2]
Some of the hotel's rooms are tributes to various
Craftsman
-era architects and designers such as
Frank Lloyd Wright
,
Charles Rennie MacKintosh
, and the
Gladding, McBean
Company.
Its name is based on
Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa
, its sister resort and
Walt Disney World
's flagship resort hotel.
History
[
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]
The hotel opened on January 2, 2001, as a part of the parks expansion for
Disneyland Resort
.
At about 3:00 am on December 28, 2005, a
Christmas tree
in the main lobby caught fire after electric maintenance workers replaced lights on the tree. All 2,300 guests at the hotel were evacuated within four minutes. The fire was contained by the hotel's
sprinkler system
and by the
Anaheim
Fire Department
. Two guests were treated for minor injuries, one of which was a severe headache. Guests were returned to their rooms by 7:00 am.
[3]
On September 18, 2007, the Disneyland Resort announced an expansion of Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa that would increase accommodations by more than 30 percent and include the first
Disney Vacation Club
villas in Anaheim.
The 2.5-acre (10,000 m
2
) expansion on the hotel's south side added more than 200 hotel rooms and 50 two-bedroom equivalent vacation villas and marked the West Coast debut of Disney Vacation Club, Disney's vacation ownership program. During this expansion and renovation, a swimming pool was added as well as a 300 space underground parking garage. Peter Dominick designed the ambitious expansion to complement the existing hotel. The project was completed in September 2009.
[4]
With the completion of this major expansion, Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa became the fourth-largest hotel in Orange County.
[5]
The Villas at Disney's Grand Californian Hotel
[
edit
]
The
Disney Vacation Club
villas, added as part of the hotel's expansion, include kitchens, living and dining areas and other home-like amenities. The guest rooms feature the same decor as the hotel rooms in the original structure and continue the Californian Craftsman motif.
Napa Rose
[
edit
]
Napa Rose
is a restaurant in Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa that opened in 2001 as part of
Disney
's expansion of its Anaheim property from one theme park (
Disneyland
) into a multi-park
resort
complex.
[6]
It specializes in
California cuisine
and has a
Napa Valley
wine theme.
[7]
The restaurant's design is inspired by
Scottish
art nouveau
designer
Charles Rennie Mackintosh
.
[8]
Napa Rose's head chef, Andrew Sutton, formerly of the Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek's restaurant in Dallas,
[9]
was hired from
Auberge du Soleil
in Napa Valley, and former general manager and
sommelier
Michael Jordan
[
citation needed
]
was hired from the
Patina Restaurant Group
.
[7]
Disney hired Sutton and Jordan in order to raise the credibility of its food and wine program.
[7]
[10]
The restaurant has won multiple awards
[11]
[12]
from different organizations, such as the Wine Spectator, Zagat, The Southern California Restaurant Writers and the Orange County Business Journal.
[13]
Craftsman Bar & Grill
[
edit
]
Craftsman Bar & Grill
, formerly known as White Water Snacks, is the refurbished quick service restaurant located in Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa.
[14]
Initially opened in 2001 with the hotel, it re-opened in 2019 under this new name with an expanded pool deck and revised menu.
Gallery
[
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]
-
View of hotel from Disney California Adventure
-
Arts & Crafts architecture of the hotel
-
Storytellers Cafe entrance
-
A view of the three pools and Disney California Adventure in 2006
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa Renovation is Complete"
.
Chip & Company
. Retrieved
March 23,
2023
.
- ^
"Daveland Grand Californian Page"
.
davelandweb.com
. Retrieved
August 6,
2016
.
- ^
"Disneyland hotel fire forces evacuation"
.
The Seattle Times
. Associated Press. December 28, 2005
. Retrieved
November 20,
2022
.
- ^
Cain, Sandi (September 18, 2007). "Disney Expanding Grand Californian Hotel".
Orange County Business Journal
.
- ^
Murar, Katie (August 22, 2022).
"Anaheim Theme Parks, Hotels Boost Disney Revenue"
.
Orange County Business Journal
. Retrieved
October 31,
2022
.
- ^
Sterngold, James (February 11, 2001).
"A Park Adults Can Love"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
December 19,
2007
.
- ^
a
b
c
Shaw, David (July 9, 2003).
"A Wine Adventureland"
.
Los Angeles Times
.
- ^
Lemons, Stephen (October 9, 2003).
"Mona Lisa Lard-Ass"
.
OC Weekly
. Retrieved
December 19,
2007
.
- ^
"The Mansion Restaurant"
.
rosewoodhotels.com
.
- ^
Borden, Mark (May 1, 2006).
"Oenophile in a Strange Land"
.
Fast Company
. Retrieved
December 19,
2007
.
- ^
"Napa Rose at Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa"
.
- ^
"Napa Rose at Disneyland Resort Wins Prestigious 2007 DiRoNA Award of Excellence"
(Press release). Archived from
the original
on December 14, 2007.
- ^
"Award-Winning Cuisine by Chef Andrew Sutton"
.
disneyland.disney.go.com
. Retrieved
November 20,
2022
.
- ^
"GCH Craftsman Bar & Grill Coming Soon to Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa"
.
Disney Parks Blog
. Retrieved
March 8,
2022
.
Books
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]
External links
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]
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