What to know about Knott’s Hotel at Knott’s Berry Farm

This totally redone hotel is just steps from Knott's Berry Farm and Knott's Soak City.
Knott's Hotel lobby with jam-jar inspired chandelier
(Photo: Christine Sarkis)

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

newly redone room at Knott's Hotel at Knott's Berry Farm
(Photo: Christine Sarkis)

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. 

close up of boysenberry-vanilla scented toiletries at Knott's Hotel
(Photo: Christine Sarkis)

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).

view of coffee maker and mini-fridge in rooms at Knott's Hotel at Knott's Berry Farm
(Photo: Christine Sarkis)

Dining

30 Acres Kitchen at Knott's Hotel
(Photo: Christine Sarkis)

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 

pool at Knott's Hotel at Knott's Berry Farm
(Photo: Christine Sarkis)

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.

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Christine Sarkis
A traveling parent and longtime travel writer and editor, Christine Sarkis is the co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of FamilyVacationist. She is the former Executive Editor for TripAdvisor travel magazine SmarterTravel.com, she has spent nearly two decades finding and sharing the best places to go with an audience of enthusiastic travelers. Her stories have appeared on USA Today, Conde Nast Traveler, Huffington Post, and Business Insider. Her expert advice has been quoted in dozens of print and online publications including The New York Times, Conde Nast Traveler, and People magazine. She has also shared travel tips on television and radio shows including Good Morning America, Marketplace, Here & Now, Life Kit, and California Now. Her stories have been published in the anthologies Spain from a Backpack and The Best Women's Travel Writing 2008, and she is working on a travel memoir. Christine and her husband first met in Paris, and travel remains a big part of their shared experience. With their two kids in tow, they have piloted a barge down canals in France, befriended llamas in Peru, tended olive trees in Italy, and gone snorkeling with sea turtles in Hawaii. The family lives in California and loves traveling around the state. Their California favorites include Yosemite National Park, Point Reyes National Seashore, and the West Shore of Lake Tahoe.