RPR $110 or HRH $229

[J and E's Mom]

When I called to book HRH for July, I was told that there was no entertainment rate. I was able to book RPR for $110 per night using the ent. rate. But, my family had their hearts set on staying at the HRH. We stayed there two years ago and loved it (especially the pool).

Will we be disappointed with RPR? My kids (7 and 9) liked the water slide at HRH. How easy is it to pool hop? How do the two resorts compare?

Thanks!

[taylor1293]

Have you checked availablity through this site yet?

www.discounthotelsamerica.com

You may be able to get HRH for a little less through them :)

Teresa

[Paris]

HRH is my favorite of the three, but, there's no way that I would pay $132 a night more to stay there ($229 - $110 = $119 * 11% tax).

The pool at Royal Pacific has many of the same zero entry features as Hard Rock though it has an interactive water play area instead of the slide (and well, a different kind of soundtrack naturally). Poolhopping isn't easy -- as you'll have to take a boat to Citywalk than another to HRH, but if you time the pool stint after a day at USF you can actually walk out of the park and be at the Hard Rock pool in all of five minutes.

I've never bothered to pool hop. Once I'm out of the pool I just need to get back to my room and shower, but I've read cases here of others poolhopping. There seem to be no complaints. But, think about it, for that $132 you can pay for a day for four at Wet & Wild which would put the HRH pool to shame. Save that money. Spend it elsewhere!

[2vets]

My sister and I booked HRH last minute for a spring weekend when no more rooms were available at the ent rate - we were quoted a rate of $229, horrors!! We were able to get a standard view room on expedia.com for $179/night (the rooms had to be fully paid for at booking, $25 cancellation fee). Give it a shot!

[pathubia]

I thought I would be dissapointed with the RPR, but I wasnt. Matter of fact we are going there again this weekend. I love all three, but $$$ usually is the deciding factor.

Patty

[WebmasterBarry]

I'd go for the cheaper one: RPR. I would pay $229 for PBH but not HRH.

[beattyfamily]

I prefer HRH to RP, but RP is very beautiful and I'd stay there again if it were a great deal and HRH was too expensive.

In your situation, I'd stay at RP. I don't think HRH is worth that extra $119 a night!!!!!!

[gschmerl]

For pool hopping, there is also a bus that runs between the resorts.

[Robinrs]

I like them both but like Barry said, $229 is a PBH price not a HRH standard room price. $110 is a great price for RPR, try it, you'll like it.

[taxman]

I have stayed at the RP but not at the HR, so I cannot speak for the HR. Having said that, if you were only staying a few nights and the price differential was not going to keep you from going on the trip, I would go with the HR. You said your family was set on the HR and that the pool was a factor. I wouldnt want to "hop" over to another hotel to go swimming. And the RP pool, while ok, doesnt have a slide. If that's important, stay with it. When I am on vacation, I like to enjoy myself - not run around a lot. Your trip should never be second-guessed. You dont want to say "I shoulda..." Anyway, enough rambling. Good luck on your decision.

[jtopicz1]

I'm sure you can do much better than $229!! What are your exact dates?? I did some random searches for all different times of July and found Hard Rock for $189, Portofino for $199 at www.hotelkingdom.com. On top of that, every fourth night is free. So that brings the average down to below $150/nt for Hard Rock. I've used hotel kingdom before and they are great!

Hotwire also comes up with Portofino Bay for $149 for every day in July. If your interested in that, you may want to read the Hotwire guide on my site.

Jim

[lUVTOGO]

I also went thru HOTELKINGDOM.com for our November trip and it was stay 3 nights get the fourth free. So we are staying in the club level for 229.00 a night. I believe this offer is still on there.

[bekkiz]

Currently hotwire is offering RPR for ~119, HRH for ~140. I would check there for your dates as well

[J and E's Mom]

Thanks for all the good advice. I am going to try hotwire and see if I can find the $140 rate for my dates (July 10-13).

[BarbaraMB]

J & E's Mom -

Why do you think they told you that you couldn't get Entertainment Rate for July. We got 2 rooms at HRH for July at the ER of $125 a night. Do you think that they only book so many at ER? Sorry to hear that. I guess it is best to book as soon as possible. If it were up to me I would stay at the RPH instead of off site. You want to be sure that you are able to utilize the front of the line access that you get staying onsite. Good luck.

[J and E's Mom]

I started calling in November. I called once per week since then, and everytime I was told that the Entertainment rate was not being offered. I find their system very frustrating. You can't just call and get the lowest price. You have to guess at all the different discounts to see if one applies.

I cannot afford to pay the extra money to stay at HRH, so we will stick with RPR. I am disappointed though.

[BarbaraMB]

Don't be disappointed. I hear it is really nice there. You will be still saving money. The best part is that you get to use front of the line access. Maybe you couldn't get the entertainment rate because you wanted to go on the weekend? Just my guess. I bet you have so much fun anyway.

[karin037]

The RPR is beautiful. We went there to visit while we were staying at the PBH and the HRH in October. RPR and PBH are in "The Connoisseur's Guide to the World's Best Resorts & Great Hotels, the 2003 Collection. http://www.resortsgreathotels.com/articles/royalpacific.asp
http://www.resortsgreathotels.com/articles/portofinobay.asp
HRH is not in the magazine. In todays New York Daily News, there is an article about Orlando. It says "Universal's serene Royal Pacific Resort is among the most sophisticated of the theme park hotels." It also says "the Portofino Bay, home to the Greenhouse Spa, is also a good choice." The article also says "Universal has been waging a serious campaign to position itself as the more adult alternative to Disney World, and its hotels (with the exception of the family-overrun Hard Rock) are worthy destinations in their own right." IMHO, they are all really beautiful hotels. You really can't go wrong with any of them. DD and I are staying at the RPR in July. I can't wait!!!!!!

[tyke]

Help !!!

Spending a couple of nights at a Universal Resort after my wedding -

HRH - Deluxe King - $194

or

RPR - Water View King - $134

Are the deluxe rooms at the HRH worth the extra $$$ or would the RPR be more suited for us newlyweds !!!

tyke

[Bonnie40]

JMHO, but after staying at RP and visiting HRH, we were very happy to have been staying at RP! I didn't see a room of course, but our family (including teenagers who we thought would love HRH) much preferred the setting and feeling of RP. We used the HRH pool one afternoon and found it cold and the lounge chairs were not as nice as at RP. The theming of the RP is outstanding! You will love it!

[theycallmewinnie]

I just booked HRH July 6-10 at $125 entertainment rate. Maybe you should call again.

[Howling Howie]

My kids also preferred HRH but for the price difference, I'd definately pick RPR. IMHO, it also has a better location in that you can easily walk to Citywalk for dinner or better yet, back after dinner. When we had dinner at Citywalk, we packed our suits and went evening swimming at HRH after that and then took the boats back or if we had dinner at the parks, we headed back to RPR and took the bus over for a swim. Again, I loved the location and the teens were able to take off by themselves for a bit in the evenings to discover whatever it is that teens discover at Citywalk when parents are absent (probably others of the same age but opposite sex) LOL.