Best way to book Universal deluxe resort?

[Fall1]

We want to do 2 nights at either the Loews Royal Pacific or the HRC in December.
I'm wondering what you think is the cheapest way to book it, as a package, room and tix seperate? Is there a trick to getting a deal on the room?
Thanks!!

 

[damo]

We want to do 2 nights at either the Loews Royal Pacific or the HRC in December.
I'm wondering what you think is the cheapest way to book it, as a package, room and tix seperate? Is there a trick to getting a deal on the room?
Thanks!!

Booking separately is what we generally recommend here on the board. That way you can take advantage of any special rates or rate changes that come up. There's no trick but make sure you sign up for a youfirst account at www.loewshotels.com and also sign up at www.universalorlando.com just in case there are any pin codes that might give you discounts.

 

[CheetoGuido]

We have been fortunate to use the Priceline Bidding for Royal Pacific Resort 3 times already. RPR and HRH are the only 4 star hotels in Priceline's Universal Resort Area. This means when you make your bid you select 4 star hotels only and the Universal Area only. One thing to note is that they do not specify if you get 1 king size bed or the bed and sofa bed room. We have not had any problems getting the bed plus sofa room at Royal Pacific. But I remember a certain hotel in San Antonio that would not accommodate the change and they do not have to either so that is definitely something to consider. If that is a problem, then I have a solution: Priceline will also offer RPR as an Express deal for a very low price and on Express deals you can specify the type of room you want. They won't give you the name until you book, but again, as long as you pick 4 star and Universal area, you will get RPR. I always check the regular offerings to make sure they have not added any 4 star hotels into the area, but I can tell you that I just booked for 4 nts in September at $152 a night (thurs thru mon) by bidding. That was by far the best deal I could find anywhere. The Express offer for RPR was $164 and I was going to book, but I waited a day to pull the trigger and the offer was gone. So I had to bid and won at $152. I personally have used priceline bidding many times and only when I have "figured" out exactly what hotel I am going to get. This only works when the Hotel is in an area that it is the only hotel with that star rating in that area. Otherwise I don't bid. But I completely understand other people's hesitation. It isn't for everyone.

 

[Made Up Name]

We have been fortunate to use the Priceline Bidding for Royal Pacific Resort 3 times already. RPR and HRH are the only 4 star hotels in Priceline's Universal Resort Area. This means when you make your bid you select 4 star hotels only and the Universal Area only. One thing to note is that they do not specify if you get 1 king size bed or the bed and sofa bed room. We have not had any problems getting the bed plus sofa room at Royal Pacific. But I remember a certain hotel in San Antonio that would not accommodate the change and they do not have to either so that is definitely something to consider. If that is a problem, then I have a solution: Priceline will also offer RPR as an Express deal for a very low price and on Express deals you can specify the type of room you want. They won't give you the name until you book, but again, as long as you pick 4 star and Universal area, you will get RPR. I always check the regular offerings to make sure they have not added any 4 star hotels into the area, but I can tell you that I just booked for 4 nts in September at $152 a night (thurs thru mon) by bidding. That was by far the best deal I could find anywhere. The Express offer for RPR was $164 and I was going to book, but I waited a day to pull the trigger and the offer was gone. So I had to bid and won at $152. I personally have used priceline bidding many times and only when I have "figured" out exactly what hotel I am going to get. This only works when the Hotel is in an area that it is the only hotel with that star rating in that area. Otherwise I don't bid. But I completely understand other people's hesitation. It isn't for everyone.

Do you think this would work for a family of 5?

 

[gcrb28]

Thanks so much for the advice Cheeto.. I'd never thought of trying that. One question though, I keep putting in bids that get turned down and I've even went above the median for what it says rooms go for in this area that are 4 star. I just read something I missed after my first failed bid. It states that I can either change up my dates or add more areas to search for hotels (which I of course do not want to do because I want RPR HRH or PBH) and try again now or wait 24hrs and try the same search. In your experiences with naming your on price did you have to wait the 24hrs to re-bid or is there a way around this?

 

[CheetoGuido]

Thanks so much for the advice Cheeto.. I'd never thought of trying that. One question though, I keep putting in bids that get turned down and I've even went above the median for what it says rooms go for in this area that are 4 star. I just read something I missed after my first failed bid. It states that I can either change up my dates or add more areas to search for hotels (which I of course do not want to do because I want RPR HRH or PBH) and try again now or wait 24hrs and try the same search. In your experiences with naming your on price did you have to wait the 24hrs to re-bid or is there a way around this?

Yes this is true.. The way I go about it is by finding other areas that do not have a four star hotel in it. The way to do that is open another browser window for the same bidding and pick another location and see what star choices you are given. If "4 star hotel" is not an option to bid on then you can add that same location to your universal bid window. I add one location at a time while increasing my bid by a few $$. You have to check the other locations one by one to be sure none have a 4 star hotel in it. I believe the mco airport, Kissimmee, alta monte were ones I used. This allows me to make several bids in one day. You can also add 5 star hotel to your bid.. That wld be portifino. What dates are you trying for?

 

[CheetoGuido]

Do you think this would work for a family of 5?

That is really up to how comfortable you are with out a guarantee that the room is double bed. I have only had this issue once when bidding with Priceline. but at the end of the day the hotel did not have to meet my request. It was a super 8 motel that wouldn't budge. All the other places were already double beds or met my request with out any issues. It is not guaranteed though.

 

[wergoin2camouse]

Anyone know if there is ever trouble getting express pass for everyone in room when booking with Priceline? We will have 5 in our room, but one will be sleeping on a blow up mattress!

Also... Wondering about how much per night? APH rate is pretty good... Is Priceline much better?

 

[gcrb28]

I'm looking to stay the night of July 10 so that I can use the FOTL both Thursday and Friday before heading to Disney for a week long stay. Personally I would rather stay at Universal but my uncle retired from Disneyland so we are taking him down to see Disneyworld. The regular rate is $308 so I tried $190 first but was rejected i then went up by $10 each time but continued to get rejected. I was unsure if I was being rejected because of the price or because of the 24hr wait. I did try once under my wife's name at $230 but was still turned down. Not sure if what I should try for a bid.

 

[wergoin2camouse]

Thanks! APH rate was 199.00 for Memorial Day weekend... Guess I should stick with that!

 

[CheetoGuido]

I'm looking to stay the night of July 10 so that I can use the FOTL both Thursday and Friday before heading to Disney for a week long stay. Personally I would rather stay at Universal but my uncle retired from Disneyland so we are taking him down to see Disneyworld. The regular rate is $308 so I tried $190 first but was rejected i then went up by $10 each time but continued to get rejected. I was unsure if I was being rejected because of the price or because of the 24hr wait. I did try once under my wife's name at $230 but was still turned down. Not sure if what I should try for a bid.

Just checked for your date and I can see they are offering the portifino as an express deal for $323 and I'm thinking the hrh for $310 because the regular rack price for rpr is lower than $310. I'm surprised you were turned down for $230 since the median price listed is $228 on the bidding page. I would try $235... Usually they accept it once it's close to that price. I noticed last time that the median price listed for my dates was the exact price of the express deal being offered for rpr.

 

[gcrb28]

Thanks so much for all your help. I tried $230 again last night only to get turned down again. I am able to try again this morning and I will probably try $240 but anything much over that and I'll just go ahead and by an annual Power Pass and take advantage of the hotel discount. I believe for July they will be around $230 a night, IF they are available.

 

[sky13]

Thought I would add my experiences - been following this thread as been dithering a bit on whether to book a Universal hotel for one night in June - i.e. I definitely want a room if there is even a chance of a soft opening for Harry Potter 2, but don't think I want a room if there is absolutely no chance of a soft opening for Harry Potter 2.

I had a look at Priceline but wanted the flexibility of cancelling. Also although I know there are no other 4/5 star hotels in the Universal Orlando area, I couldn't make myself go through with making a bid...

Then I had a look through several price comparison websites (Travelocity, Orbitz, Booking.com) which all seemed to show about the same price as the Loews website (around $309 plus tax for RPH). Some UK websites showed a slightly lower price (Lastminute was about the equivalent of $10-20 cheaper than the rest); various websites offered different amounts of cashback through Quidco.

Next I had a look at two discounts available for booking directly with Loews/Universal:
- Annual Pass discount rate was $255 plus tax for RPH. But the Annual Pass would cost me about $90 more than a 2 day hopper which is all I need/want, so decided this wasn't the way forward for me
- AAA discount. Had to call for this rate, but they quoted me $278 plus tax for RPH.

Finally... I had a look at mousesavers and they had a list of ways to get cheap hotel deals. Including a 15% off code for Orbitz - with this the RPH went down to $263 plus tax.

So in the end... it worked out cheapest for me to book through Orbitz with the 15% off code, and this works for me as it's free cancellation until a week before my stay. Thought I'd just share the efforts of the last 2 hours of my life in trying to find the cheapest Universal hotel room with free cancellation...

 

[Fall1]

Thought I would add my experiences - been following this thread as been dithering a bit on whether to book a Universal hotel for one night in June - i.e. I definitely want a room if there is even a chance of a soft opening for Harry Potter 2, but don't think I want a room if there is absolutely no chance of a soft opening for Harry Potter 2.

I had a look at Priceline but wanted the flexibility of cancelling. Also although I know there are no other 4/5 star hotels in the Universal Orlando area, I couldn't make myself go through with making a bid...

Then I had a look through several price comparison websites (Travelocity, Orbitz, Booking.com) which all seemed to show about the same price as the Loews website (around $309 plus tax for RPH). Some UK websites showed a slightly lower price (Lastminute was about the equivalent of $10-20 cheaper than the rest); various websites offered different amounts of cashback through Quidco.

Next I had a look at two discounts available for booking directly with Loews/Universal:
- Annual Pass discount rate was $255 plus tax for RPH. But the Annual Pass would cost me about $90 more than a 2 day hopper which is all I need/want, so decided this wasn't the way forward for me
- AAA discount. Had to call for this rate, but they quoted me $278 plus tax for RPH.

Finally... I had a look at mousesavers and they had a list of ways to get cheap hotel deals. Including a 15% off code for Orbitz - with this the RPH went down to $263 plus tax.

So in the end... it worked out cheapest for me to book through Orbitz with the 15% off code, and this works for me as it's free cancellation until a week before my stay. Thought I'd just share the efforts of the last 2 hours of my life in trying to find the cheapest Universal hotel room with free cancellation...

Off to try this, do you have the orbitz code? Does it have an expiration date?

 

[sky13]

Off to try this, do you have the orbitz code? Does it have an expiration date?

The code I used is BYEBYE15 http://www.orbitz.com/travel-deals/exclusive-promo-code/ - although looking at it I realised may not work for you if you're travelling in December as the current code is book by 20 April for travel by 30 September...

(That being said - there was apparently another Orbitz code for book by 1 April - so possibly they have codes coming out throughout the year? I'm not that familiar though as this is my first time booking with Orbitz!)

 

[AngelDisney]

We have been fortunate to use the Priceline Bidding for Royal Pacific Resort 3 times already. RPR and HRH are the only 4 star hotels in Priceline's Universal Resort Area. This means when you make your bid you select 4 star hotels only and the Universal Area only. One thing to note is that they do not specify if you get 1 king size bed or the bed and sofa bed room. We have not had any problems getting the bed plus sofa room at Royal Pacific. But I remember a certain hotel in San Antonio that would not accommodate the change and they do not have to either so that is definitely something to consider. If that is a problem, then I have a solution: Priceline will also offer RPR as an Express deal for a very low price and on Express deals you can specify the type of room you want. They won't give you the name until you book, but again, as long as you pick 4 star and Universal area, you will get RPR. I always check the regular offerings to make sure they have not added any 4 star hotels into the area, but I can tell you that I just booked for 4 nts in September at $152 a night (thurs thru mon) by bidding. That was by far the best deal I could find anywhere. The Express offer for RPR was $164 and I was going to book, but I waited a day to pull the trigger and the offer was gone. So I had to bid and won at $152. I personally have used priceline bidding many times and only when I have "figured" out exactly what hotel I am going to get. This only works when the Hotel is in an area that it is the only hotel with that star rating in that area. Otherwise I don't bid. But I completely understand other people's hesitation. It isn't for everyone.

My daughter is allergic to pets. If I get a room via Priceline, how can I make room request? Do I contact the hotel directly? Will they still accommodate my needs though I book through Priceline? It is just DD and me on this trip and we are ok with King bed or two double beds. I am going in August. I believe we still get all hotel perks despite where we book our room, right?

Thanks in Advance! Have fun planning!!

 

[AngelDisney]

I checked on cheaptickets.com tonight and found out about the 20% off promo which expires April 13, 2014. This 20% off applies to Universal onsite hotels but not Disney hotels. I believe they have some rooms reserved for special rates. Some 2 Queen Bed Rooms are available at $215 instead of $239 (not sure if the location is good or bad). With 20% off, it is $172/night. The reservation is fully refundable if cancelled 5 days prior. Though it is a bit more expensive than Priceline, I get to change or cancel it without any fee. The only concern is room request. I will have to contact Royal Pacific Hotel when closer to date. Instead of staying off site on my arrival day, I am now staying onsite for my entire Universal stay. Check it out if you are looking for deals to stay onsite.

Have fun planning!

 

[janetkay272]

I checked on cheaptickets.com tonight and found out about the 20% off promo which expires April 13, 2014. This 20% off applies to Universal onsite hotels but not Disney hotels. I believe they have some rooms reserved for special rates. Some 2 Queen Bed Rooms are available at $215 instead of $239 (not sure if the location is good or bad). With 20% off, it is $172/night. The reservation is fully refundable if cancelled 5 days prior. Though it is a bit more expensive than Priceline, I get to change or cancel it without any fee. The only concern is room request. I will have to contact Royal Pacific Hotel when closer to date. Instead of staying off site on my arrival day, I am now staying onsite for my entire Universal stay. Check it out if you are looking for deals to stay onsite.

Have fun planning!

thanks angeldisney. I wasn't planning on booking my vacation until a little bit further out but i couldn't turn down the 20% off at cheap tickets. And since I found that discount I decided we could stay one more day at the rpr and that made my price per day go down by like 20 dollars. plus the 20% I was so excited about that. We aren't going until September so I am 99% sure that new HP expansion will be open and we are so excited. We are going to go resort pool hoping. Got to go check out the lazy river at cabana bay!

 

[AngelDisney]

thanks angeldisney. I wasn't planning on booking my vacation until a little bit further out but i couldn't turn down the 20% off at cheap tickets. And since I found that discount I decided we could stay one more day at the rpr and that made my price per day go down by like 20 dollars. plus the 20% I was so excited about that. We aren't going until September so I am 99% sure that new HP expansion will be open and we are so excited. We are going to go resort pool hoping. Got to go check out the lazy river at cabana bay!

You are welcome!

I forgot about pool hopping. I will check out other resort pools as well. This is my first time staying onsite. Have a wonderful trip!

 

[mrsaumock]

If you book through orbitz, Priceline, etc, do you still get the perks for staying onsite? Express pass etc....