4-Star JW Marriott Hotel now planned for GardenWalk

TP2000

TP2000

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Thanks for the update @NobodyElse. GardenWalk is like one of those empty Ghost Malls in all the Ghost Cities they build in China. It's creepy, and the only people consistently working there are lonely security guards.

WARNING: Do not go to McFadden's Pub at GardenWalk and try to order a drink or any food. The food is disgusting, the bar is painfully under-stocked and poorly maintained, and the waitresses will never win any contest involving beauty, personality and charm, or efficiency.

GardenWalk was originally supposed to have several highrise hotels on the empty northeast and southeast corners (the southeast is where the JW Marriott is finally going), in addition to multiple levels of timeshare condos built on top of the parking structures on the western flanks of the mall, which is why those structures are so overbuilt and with triple the capacity needed for the mall.

Anaheim GardenWalk publicity sketch circa 2006
GardenWalkTimeshares1W.jpg
 
D

Deleted member 107043

TP not sure if you remember, but we both argued that this development would be a flop over at LP way before it opened, and lo and behold we were right.

Speaking of flops, what's going on with the Great Wolf Lodge project in Garden Grove? Is it open and hemorrhaging money yet? :hilarious:
 
TP2000

TP2000

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Dr. Hans Reinhardt said:
TP not sure if you remember, but we both argued that this development would be a flop over at LP way before it opened, and lo and behold we were right.

Speaking of flops, what's going on with the Great Wolf Lodge project in Garden Grove? Is it open and hemorrhaging money yet? :hilarious:
Click to expand...

Oh, I remember! I have to assume at this point that GardenWalk is built on an old Indian Burial Ground and that is why the mall is so cursed.

Great Wolf Lodge is coming along. I drove by a few months ago and they were installing all the giant plastic waterslides. In the OC Register comments section any Great Wolf Lodge story is flooded with comments from locals who are indignant and insulted that they will not be allowed in to use the water park without reserving a $300 per night hotel room there. It should be fascinating to see this Midwest company try to dip their big toe into the SoCal hospitality industry market.
 
D

Deleted member 107043

With a big portion of the cost billed to Garden Grove. Interesting indeed.
 
Phroobar

Phroobar

Well-Known Member
TP2000 said:
Thanks for the update @NobodyElse.

Anaheim GardenWalk publicity sketch circa 2006
GardenWalkTimeshares1W.jpg
Click to expand...

I understand the hotels and apartments were phase 2 but why couldn't they add all the plants and trees the concept art shows? The mall looks colorful and not a grey canyon. Why couldn't the buildings be painted?
 
NobodyElse

NobodyElse

Well-Known Member
TP2000 said:
Thanks for the update @NobodyElse. GardenWalk is like one of those empty Ghost Malls in all the Ghost Cities they build in China. It's creepy, and the only people consistently working there are lonely security guards.

WARNING: Do not go to McFadden's Pub at GardenWalk and try to order a drink or any food. The food is disgusting, the bar is painfully under-stocked and poorly maintained, and the waitresses will never win any contest involving beauty, personality and charm, or efficiency.

GardenWalk was originally supposed to have several highrise hotels on the empty northeast and southeast corners (the southeast is where the JW Marriott is finally going), in addition to multiple levels of timeshare condos built on top of the parking structures on the western flanks of the mall, which is why those structures are so overbuilt and with triple the capacity needed for the mall.

Anaheim GardenWalk publicity sketch circa 2006
GardenWalkTimeshares1W.jpg
Click to expand...

They really should be aggressively marketing this place for location shooting. They wouldn't be inconveniencing anybody.

Also, in one of the original proposed incarnations of this property, wasn't there a plan for a world-class aquarium?
 
NobodyElse

NobodyElse

Well-Known Member
TP2000 said:
Oh, I remember! I have to assume at this point that GardenWalk is built on an old Indian Burial Ground and that is why the mall is so cursed.

Great Wolf Lodge is coming along. I drove by a few months ago and they were installing all the giant plastic waterslides. In the OC Register comments section any Great Wolf Lodge story is flooded with comments from locals who are indignant and insulted that they will not be allowed in to use the water park without reserving a $300 per night hotel room there. It should be fascinating to see this Midwest company try to dip their big toe into the SoCal hospitality industry market.
Click to expand...


I'm pretty sure Greg Brady stole a small tiki from the construction site.
 
TP2000

TP2000

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
2016 UPDATE:

Today the Anaheim Planning Commission approved the submitted plans for this hotel and the developers were given approval to begin construction of this JW Marriott. The final approved hotel has 466 rooms, is 12 stories tall, and has a cost of just over $150 Million.

Newspaper article on the Planning Commission's decision is here: http://www.ocregister.com/articles/anaheim-699490-hotel-city.html
 
D

Deleted member 107043

I'm not a fan of Garden Walk, but this is very good news for the Anaheim Resort District. Almost 2 decades after Disney announced a second park in Southern California and Anaheim is finally going to officially have a luxury hotel property adjacent to Disneyland. It's about time.
 
D

Deleted member 107043

What the heck is going on down there? So many new nice hotels and hotel expansions. I guess the only disappointment I have with the Park Vue Inn news is that it means Disney likely won't be able to acquire the property anytime in the foreseeable future.
 
TP2000

TP2000

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Dr. Hans Reinhardt said:
What the heck is going on down there? So many new nice hotels and hotel expansions. I guess the only disappointment I have with the Park Vue Inn news is that it means Disney likely won't be able to acquire the property anytime in the foreseeable future.
Click to expand...

Disney never wanted this property, it was the city of Anaheim that was threatening to take it from this family via eminent domain laws. Anaheim was going to use the property as a streetcar route, but after the bad publicity they backed off. Shortly thereafter the entire streetcar project died when the federal government told Anaheim it failed to meet its minimum criteria for matching federal funds. Now the Anaheim streetcar is fading into obscurity and a forgotten idea.

The Park Vue Inn is safe, and I think it's great that this multi-generation family that has owned it since 1962 will get to keep it and improve it. Plus, they want to keep the International House of Pancakes and Coldstone there, which is terribly handy to the park. That IHOP is the highest grossing location in the entire House of Pancakes chain.
 
Curious Constance

Curious Constance

Well-Known Member
TP2000 said:
Disney never wanted this property, it was the city of Anaheim that was threatening to take it from this family via eminent domain laws. Anaheim was going to use the property as a streetcar route, but after the bad publicity they backed off. Shortly thereafter the entire streetcar project died when the federal government told Anaheim it failed to meet its minimum criteria for matching federal funds. Now the Anaheim streetcar is fading into obscurity and a forgotten idea.

The Park Vue Inn is safe, and I think it's great that this multi-generation family that has owned it since 1962 will get to keep it and improve it. Plus, they want to keep the International House of Pancakes and Coldstone there, which is terribly handy to the park. That IHOP is the highest grossing location in the entire House of Pancakes chain.
Click to expand...
That's interesting about IHOP! We usually eat there once during our trips since it's so dang handy when we're staying at the Park Vue Inn. I've always recommended the Park Vue Inn, we like it there.
 
TP2000

TP2000

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
ForeverAnna said:
It doesn't feel like it.
Click to expand...

I know. But there's an entire second floor of retail space that sits abandoned up there. It's easy to not think about since no one ever goes up there, especially with the movie theaters closed now.
empty-courtyard.jpg


From a square footage perspective, it's quite a big place.

If all these hotel and condo expansions work out, the mall could look like this by the end of this decade.
gardenwalk-hotel1a.jpg
 
D

Deleted member 107043

TP2000 said:
I know. But there's an entire second floor of retail space that sits abandoned up there. It's easy to not think about since no one ever goes up there, especially with the movie theaters closed now.
empty-courtyard.jpg


From a square footage perspective, it's quite a big place.

If all these hotel and condo expansions work out, the mall could look like this by the end of this decade.
gardenwalk-hotel1a.jpg
Click to expand...

A bit off topic, but why such boring and functional looking cookie-cutter architecture? No sense of place at all. The developer could drop a carbon copy of this thing in any suburb in any first world country around the world and no one would be the wiser.

It's kind of sad that Anaheim doesn't demand better design from builders erecting this stuff in what is supposed to be a world class tourist destination, especially given the area's reputation for schlocky chain restaurants and motels. They completely blew it with this development in just about every way possible.
 

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