Which if the 3 hotels is best?

[Mouseturtle]

I know it is largely a matter of opinion, but I am new to Universal (going for the 1st time) and am going for just 2 days before our next Disney trip

I usually stay at the Grand Floridian. I will have two teenage boys with me, they could care less about where we stay - so it's all about me. I just want a NICE CLEAN hotel - and I like the fact that the onsite hotels have Express passes. We'll be going Nov 25 & 26

I'm also lookin for a cheaper rate than $339...yikes!

 

[edamethyst]

We always stay at the Hard Rock Hotel. It is by far our very favorite. Its always been very clean, the staff has always been exceptional, the pool is great, the closeness to the parks is the best and we love the atmosphere.

 

[schumigirl]

Royal Pacific is our personal favourite.

Absolutely beautiful hotel with superb themeing all the way through. Immaculately clean, if it wasn`t we wouldn`t return every year.

Staff are incredible, so friendly and helpful if you ever need anything. Facilities are really good, pool has fun atmosphere without being too loud if you know what I mean.

Plenty of good food choices too. You wouldn`t be disappointed staying here

 

[patster734]

I agree with Schumigirl!

Royal Pacific is our (DW and I) favorite.

 

[nytimez]

They're all great. I loved RPR... until I stayed at PBH.

Now, given the choice, I'd always pick PBH -- but I'd have no problems staying at any of the others, and would have no problem picking the cheapest of the three at any given time since they're all great.

 

[EAP'sDAD]

We have stayed at all three and love them all. Really matters what your looking for. Portifino is a little more money but the rooms are bigger. HRH seems to have the most entertainment poolside, while all three have pool activities HRH seemed to go a little further then the others. HRH is also the closest to the parks. RPR is the least expensive of the three but has a beautiful layout and seemed to be a little more relaxing then the others. Again this is just the humble opinion of one man.
We are going back this year for Christmas and in a unanimous vote by my kids (15, 12, 10) we are heading back to HRH. They loved the pool best with my ten year old saying the slide was the best part.

 

[Melanie230]

Hard rock hotel

 

[donaldduck352]

Royal Pacific is our personal favourite.

Absolutely beautiful hotel with superb themeing all the way through. Immaculately clean, if it wasn`t we wouldn`t return every year.

Staff are incredible, so friendly and helpful if you ever need anything. Facilities are really good, pool has fun atmosphere without being too loud if you know what I mean.

Plenty of good food choices too. You wouldn`t be disappointed staying here

I agree with Schumigirl!

Royal Pacific is our (DW and I) favorite.

I'll 3'rd that!!

 

[patster734]

I'll 3'rd that!!

Hi Donald Duck! I haven't seen you posting lately. How's everything going?

 

[macraven]

Royal Pacific is our personal favourite.

Absolutely beautiful hotel with superb themeing all the way through. Immaculately clean, if it wasn`t we wouldn`t return every year.

Staff are incredible, so friendly and helpful if you ever need anything. Facilities are really good, pool has fun atmosphere without being too loud if you know what I mean.

Plenty of good food choices too. You wouldn`t be disappointed staying here

I agree with Schumigirl!

Royal Pacific is our (DW and I) favorite.

I'll 3'rd that!!

i totally agree with all of the above...

i have found the staff to be beyond excellent at rph.
i have zero complaints on that hotel.


i have stayed at all 3.
over 20 times at hrh but once i stayed at rph, there was no going back.

i call rph home.


back to your question, you would most likely enjoy the pbh the most due to its size.
having teens with you, you'll appreciate the extra space there.

don't let the hotel pool determine where to stay.
you are encouraged to pool hop to any of the hotel pools.

hrh is closest to the studios.
rph is closest to IOA
pbh is further out from the parks but still walkable.


if you don't know much about the 3 onsite hotels, go to the UO site or Loews site and explore the hotels.
pictures and videos.

loewshotels.com

 

[donaldduck352]

Hi Donald Duck! I haven't seen you posting lately. How's everything going?

Patster.Everything been great,just little time to post anymore.

 

[Lou Holtz]

All of the hotels are great. It depends on your personality as far as which you'll like best. Just look at the theme from each and whichever one intrigues you more is probably the one you will like the best. I can't promise that you won't long for the overt stuffiness of the Grand Floridian, but it's worth a shot!

 

[SharkyGoddess]

We have only stayed at the HRH and here are my 2 pennies. The main lobby had mold growing thick over the curtains looking out over the pool, the rooms are too small for the price, our bathroom had a broken shower and there were bright orange, buy here/pay here stickers all over the sink. I was also a little disappointed in the decor, IMO it was too bland. We were refused trying to use our HR All Access card, refused an upgrade to CL even though we were supposed to have received one and the staff made no effort to remedy any concerns we approached them with. So for the price, I was very disappointed. We loved the pool and the short walk to the parks how ever.

We have talked and plan on staying at the other two hotels next trip so we can choose a fav

 

[macraven]

We have only stayed at the HRH and here are my 2 pennies. The main lobby had mold growing thick over the curtains looking out over the pool, the rooms are too small for the price, our bathroom had a broken shower and there were bright orange, buy here/pay here stickers all over the sink. I was also a little disappointed in the decor, IMO it was too bland. We were refused trying to use our HR All Access card, refused an upgrade to CL even though we were supposed to have received one and the staff made no effort to remedy any concerns we approached them with. So for the price, I was very disappointed. We loved the pool and the short walk to the parks how ever.

We have talked and plan on staying at the other two hotels next trip so we can choose a fav

you won't have that issue at the other two hotels.

pbh and rph are owned by the Loew's company.

hrh is not.

 

[SharkyGoddess]

you won't have that issue at the other two hotels.

pbh and rph are owned by the Loew's company.

hrh is not.

That's why we want to give them a try too, besides, it just gives me two excuses to schedule trips

Isn't it odd though that the HRH is still listed on the Loews website? That's confusing.

 

[macraven]

That's why we want to give them a try too, besides, it just gives me two excuses to schedule trips

Isn't it odd though that the HRH is still listed on the Loews website? That's confusing.

it's listed as one of the universal property hotels.
only royal pacific and portafino bay are listed as loews hotels.

i think it was in '07, that hrh stopped being associated with loews.
that was when the Seminole Indians bought the hard rock chain in december 06.

i know in '08 the hrh had the all access card program in effect.
i do think in '08 the all access program was used at the orlando hrh.

all three hotels are listed as universal hotels as they are on the universal property.

if i made any errors on the above statements homies, correct me.
i could be off on some of it.

 

[SharkyGoddess]

I was just pointing out that when you go here http://www.loewshotels.com/en/destinations and choose Orlando, it looks like (at first glance) it's still a part of Loews, when it's not. Wording like this "You are here: Loews Hotels & Resorts Home Page / Destinations / Hard Rock Hotel at Universal Orlando® / Hotel Overview" doesn't clear things up either LOL

Anyway, to the best of my knowledge, every thing you posted is correct regarding the hotels and their reward programs

 

[macraven]

thanx for having my back.......

 

[Pinkpony]

We've stayed at HRH, both standard and club level, and RPH once.

Our three boys have been various ages through the years of our stays there, from pre-teen to teen to married.

All of us agree we like RPH the best. The path to the parks is beautiful, the hotel is gorgeous, the rooms spotless, view was stunning. Only problem with our room one night was the AC kept turning off in the middle of the night. They took care of it promptly and even offered us an extra room to use while our room cooled off.

 

[edamethyst]

the hard rock hotel is owned by lowes just like the other two. they don't take part in the lowe's first program because they started their own program called all access. they are still kept to the same standards as lowes though. we've stayed there dozens of times and never had a problem with rooms being gross or mold or anything close to that, i think the biggest thing we ever had was not getting enuff towels and shampoo stuff for 5 but i called down and got what we needed within 30 minutes. the staff has always been overly friendly...we love it there.