Money not an issue

[Rainandlattes]

I have never been to universal studios so I have no clue what the hotels or hotel on site is like, but if money was not an issue where would you stay and what packages would you get???
Thank you

 

[macraven]

i stay at rph on all my visits.

i don't book packages but r/o.
i find that packages have disadvantages.

when i plan my visits, my dates, not money, are my priority.

 

[RMulieri]

Money isnt an issue( we save all year to splurge on vacation ).We go in lower crowds seasons when we can, We stay onsite at Portofino Bay .We stay Club level and for a week. We do not do packages since there is no real benefit or savings and a bunch of penalties that come with them.We book thru loews hotels and buy our tickets thru undercover tourist.we do 4 park days and the rest downtime at the resort or citywalk

 

[schumigirl]

Would never get a package, wouldn't be any advantage to us.

Money is not an issue for our trips............a great vacation is.

We stay at the RPR because we love it, it suits our family. We could stay anywhere, but that's where we choose every year and can't imagine staying anywhere else while in Orlando, whatever it costs. We feel very at home and very relaxed when we are there and that is priceless to us.

All the hotels have a different appeal so whichever you choose I'm sure you'll be happy with........have a good look at the theming of all 3 and then decide which one is best for you

 

[damo]

No package but Portofino Bay Hotel in a Villa suite. I wouldn't even get club level...I'd just do all the nice restaurants and order room service for breakfast.

 

[CPA_ESQ.]

I would book the Graceland Suite at the HRH:

https://www.google.com/search?q=graceland+suite+hard+rock+hotel&client=firefox-a&hs=30m&rls=org.mozilla:en-USfficial&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=dULgUrzbAYP42QWXpoDwCA&ved=0CGAQsAQ&biw=1280&bih=878

We stayed in this for a weekend and it was one of the most impressive rooms we have ever been in!

I would book club level - if you are a drinker. Nice to wind down at the end of the day.

 

[wiigirl]

No package but Portofino Bay Hotel in a Villa suite. I wouldn't even get club level...I'd just do all the nice restaurants and order room service for breakfast.

 

[donnajherren]

Money isnt an issue( we save all year to splurge on vacation ).We go in lower crowds seasons when we can, We stay onsite at Portofino Bay .We stay Club level and for a week. We do not do packages since there is no real benefit or savings and a bunch of penalties that come with them.We book thru loews hotels and buy our tickets thru undercover tourist.we do 4 park days and the rest downtime at the resort or citywalk

Except for the lower attendance time--we're locked in to the first week of June, which shouldn't be TOO bad--this is exactly what we're doing this summer.

 

[Rainandlattes]

Thank you all for responding . It's so hard making a decision but all your feedback has helped. Thanks again : )

 

[LucyBC80]

We're staying at Royal Pacific for 11 days, so money is definitely not an issue. All we care about is if the hotel offers good accommodations, amenities and onsite restaurants (and that's why we ruled out HRH, even though it was closer to the parks, RPR has Emeril's Tchoup Chop and Emeril Lagasse is our favorite celebrity chef!).

We did buy a package, hotel plus tickets. Ticket's worth up to 14 days after first use , we plan to go to 5 days, so it was cheaper than other alternatives.

 

[Selina]

Portofino is very nice but dead.....we stayed Inthe peak summer in August and we were amazed the bar closed at 11 and one day mid week the italian restaurant closed. The rooms are very lovely here so if you intend to hang around your room a lot then this is the hotel for you......if not, Royal Pacific Resort is the better of all the hotels. Lovely rooms, restaurants and pool area and pool bar. We are there again this summer. We have stayed twice at the HRH - but on our last visit giant beetles in the rooms and the rooms were not as nice as RPR. However, the teens like the rock music and wild activities that are constantly on in the pool. We love RPR best and stay there for 14 nights.

 

[jnsma]

We got the minion room at PBH as a splurge on our last trip. The kids loved their room, it was really cool.
Sorry, I haven't spent any time at the other hotels (next time). The minion rooms are very pricey but as a one time splurge/surprise we had a great time.

 

[buckeev]

I kinda feel inferior responding here...(I rarely say "money is not an issue", even on those rare occasions when it really isn't...),
BUT...The convenience that staying onsite offers makes the pricing well worth it, (IMHO!)The Hard Rock Hotel is so close to the Universal Studios, you can hear a Minion sneeze! (Well, if the loud music wasn't on, you probably could. ...) And pretty much the same for Royal Pacific. Portofino is absolutely beautiful! There is no bad choice...they are all awesome. They all have super restaurants...The staff at Royal Pacific has spoiled us in so many ways.

Pamper yourselves if you can and go for Concierge Level..even a suite/villa if you want, but the proximity to the parks-(and City Walk) is what keeps us coming back year-after-year!

..AND...I guess I gotta throw this out there too...We had a flat tire on our rental a few weeks ago, and the flippin' manager at HRH came out, rolled up his sleeves, and helped me change the tire...(said he didn't want me to hafta lose "park time" going back to the room to cleanup and change!..). I'm too spoiled!

 

[schumigirl]

I kinda feel inferior responding here...(I rarely say "money is not an issue", even on those rare occasions when it really isn't...),
BUT...The convenience that staying onsite offers makes the pricing well worth it, (IMHO!)The Hard Rock Hotel is so close to the Universal Studios, you can hear a Minion sneeze! (Well, if the loud music wasn't on, you probably could. ...) And pretty much the same for Royal Pacific. Portofino is absolutely beautiful! There is no bad choice...they are all awesome. They all have super restaurants...The staff at Royal Pacific has spoiled us in so many ways.

Pamper yourselves if you can and go for Concierge Level..even a suite/villa if you want, but the proximity to the parks-(and City Walk) is what keeps us coming back year-after-year!

..AND...I guess I gotta throw this out there too...We had a flat tire on our rental a few weeks ago, and the flippin' manager at HRH came out, rolled up his sleeves, and helped me change the tire...(said he didn't want me to hafta lose "park time" going back to the room to cleanup and change!..). I'm too spoiled!

at hearing a minion sneeze...........I'm going to borrow that one day

How nice of the manger to do that for you...........that was so kind and well above and beyond!!

 

[ocalla]

So glad you posted this! We are thinking about a First time Universal vacation this summer I can pick Disney resorts with NO problem, but I am completely stumped at which one for Universal!!!

Glad to read the feedback from everyone. As a newbie this info is so important!!!

 

[nerdboyrockstar]

I can not relate to you guys at all. Money is a major issue. But I have stayed at all 3 multiple times in various levels and nothing compares to those big mama jama suites at the Portofino.

 

[rowan555]

So glad you posted this! We are thinking about a First time Universal vacation this summer I can pick Disney resorts with NO problem, but I am completely stumped at which one for Universal!!!

Glad to read the feedback from everyone. As a newbie this info is so important!!!

Well, there's not nearly as many to choose from, so that helps! On our first stay last autumn and our upcoming May visit, Royal Pacific was $30 or so cheaper per night, so it was a no-brainer for us - we went with that one. I really enjoy the walk from RPH to the parks - I'm sure the others are equally nice. While I do like to try different hotels, I'm happy to give RPH another go and save the $30 for lunch at the parks!

 

[macraven]

Well, there's not nearly as many to choose from, so that helps! On our first stay last autumn and our upcoming May visit, Royal Pacific was $30 or so cheaper per night, so it was a no-brainer for us - we went with that one. I really enjoy the walk from RPH to the parks - I'm sure the others are equally nice. While I do like to try different hotels, I'm happy to give RPH another go and save the $30 for lunch at the parks!

it really depends on your dates on which hotel is the cheapest.

the past two octobers for my dates, rph has been the highest in cost.
i had friends that stayed at pbh while i was at rph for the same dates.

the rate for a standard room was higher at rph than pbh.

 

[bumbershoot]

No package but Portofino Bay Hotel in a Villa suite. I wouldn't even get club level...I'd just do all the nice restaurants and order room service for breakfast.

I'm totally with you!

I liked having the lounge; the space there.

And we appreciated the snacks and water and coffee on this trip more than ever, but it was because DS was very sick for most of the stay and I was, too; we had NO appetite and almost no sense of taste or smell, and going to restaurants for large amounts of food wasn't what was in the cards for this trip...the small offerings in the lounge were perfect for me, and it was supplemented by pizza etc from Sal's for the most part.

That set of circumstances will hopefully never happy again (to anyone!) and for a normal health trip the lounge offerings just wouldn't really have been overly useful.

 

[rowan555]

it really depends on your dates on which hotel is the cheapest.

the past two octobers for my dates, rph has been the highest in cost.
i had friends that stayed at pbh while i was at rph for the same dates.

the rate for a standard room was higher at rph than pbh.

I'd gladly try one of the others, but for some reason, RPH was the most affordable option each time. I know my daughter would enjoy HRH and their pool.