I recently checked out the revamped Knott’s Hotel at Knott’s Berry Farm in Southern California’s Buena Park. It was my first time at the hotel, so I didn’t get the full before-and-after impact, but when I asked someone what it was like before the major renovation, they answered: “think 1980s bank.” It was a candid and funny answer that really drove home just how big of a change the hotel has undergone.
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Farmhouse chic—warm, inviting, and comfortable with plenty of personal touches—rules in the airy two-story lobby. A massive chandelier inspired by antique jam jars (this is Knott’s Berry Farm, after all) creates a cool centerpiece to the great room, and details like antique china in display cases and carpets decorated with a boysenberry motif add more rustic-elegant charm.
The rooms
The 322 renovated guest rooms are laid out in three configurations: standard two queen, oversized two queen, and single queen or king rooms. Many of the rooms offer adjoining interior doors, and a few are configured so you can connect up to three rooms.
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I stayed in a standard two queen room with two kids. There was plenty of room for all of us (we could have easily fit four), though if I were staying for longer than a night or two, the larger oversized room (400 square feet instead of 300 square feet) might have been a better fit, since it also has extra seating space and a little kitchenette area with a sink, mini-fridge, and some storage.
Rooms come with Keurig coffee makers and mini-fridge, a pull-out sofa, large flat screen television, WiFi, and toiletries in the hotel’s signature boysenberry-vanilla signature scent (the whole hotel smells a bit like baking pie).
Dining
The hotel has its own restaurant, Thirty Acres Kitchen (a nod to the 30 acres of farmland that was the original Knott’s farm). Inside, booths are separated by repurposed window panes and a double-sided bar that serves both the restaurant and lobby runs along one side of the dining room. There’s a big patio that’s popular on warm days. Signature dishes lean heavily on boysenberry (boysenberry BBQ chicken salad, boysenberry-topped pancakes, and boysenberry coffee, for instance), but the menu has options to suit all tastes and diets, including vegetarian, vegan, and gluten free. The restaurant is also home to the generous and varied daily buffet breakfast, which is included in some of the hotel’s packages.
The pool
The hotel has a large pool with a splash pad and plenty of room to kick back and relax when you need a break from the park.
Proximity to Knott’s Berry Farm and Knott’s Soak City
If you’re walking from the Knott’s Berry Farm hotel to the theme park, it’s a 500-step, less-than-10-minute stroll (or if you’re with kids, sprint) through a parking lot and along a walking path (it takes you right by a large gift shop outside the park as well as past Mrs. Knott’s Chicken Dinner Restaurant, the spot that turned the original farm stand into what it is today).
To the seasonally open Knott’s Soak City, it’s a two-minute drive or a 20-ish minute walk from the hotel.
Hotel packages
Knott’s Hotel has packages throughout the year that bundle hotel stays, park tickets, and extra perks like Fast Lane vouchers, buffet breakfast, and parking. During the Halloween season (the park goes all-in on Halloween), there are hotel packages that include a Haunt dinner before Haunt nights in the park.
An alternative to Disneyland area hotels
Knott’s Hotel is about 15 minutes from Disneyland and runs a free shuttle to Disneyland throughout the day and evening, which makes it a non-traditional but affordable alternative to Disneyland hotels and gives you the chance to work two theme parks into your Southern California theme park vacation with one easy home base.
