Back from Portifino

[TigerLilly's Mom]

Hi all, we are back from a four night stay at Portifino in a portifino suite. I enjoyed so much meeting Damo - my husband still can't figure out how she knew who I was!!

I hate say anything negative, but I really did not like the hotel. We loved the pool, and the rooms were ok. Housekeeping was atrocious, and rude. We were put in a smoking room on our first night, it really smelled bad and my daughters asthma starting acting up. Towel, bathrobes, and red throws on bed were dirty in second room. The red throws were really bad with white stains on them - GROSS! We used the glasses for ice water the first night, and they were never replaced, even after I put trash in them so they would know they were dirty. A guy from star service came after I requested foam pillows, except he brought more of the same pillows that I already had in the room. When I asked nicely for foam again, he shoved them at me and told me to "feel them, they are fine". When I asked AGAIN nicely for foam pillows and gave me a dirty look, rollled his eyes and stomped away. He returned in less than two minutes with the right pillows.

I did complain to management on the second day, when we came back to our room at 4:00 sopping wet. I wanted to get my little one in the tub, she was freezing. We had left at 9:00am that morning, and of course, when we came back, our room wasn't clean. The tip I left, sure was gone though!

Management was very nice and understanding. Offered the kids hot chocolate and promised to get the room clean fast. An hour later, it was finally cleaned.

The walk from the hotel to park wasn't bad at all. We mostly walked, but the water taxi's came frequently, so you never had to wait long at all. We had the buffet at the Trattoria restuarant one morning and it was very good. I loved the Gelato place - very yummy.

The kids loved the pool. It was much deeper that the Hard Rock and the slide was fun too.

I remember reading posts about people who didn't like the PBH because it seemed "fake". I thought that was pretty stupid - after all, you are obviously not in Italy. I do understand these comments a little more now. Everywhere you go in the hotel, it is fake shutters, fake bricks, fake signs, fake windows, fake moldings, fake plants, ect. The rooms had fake moldings on the walls, and I thought this was just silly. Either put real moldings in the room, or if that is too expensive, skip it! By the way, none of this "fakeness" lessened my enjoyment of the hotel or my vacation, but I thought it was worth mentioning. There were definately beautiful aspects of the hotel, the bay, pulling up at night, the pool, ect.

I hope no one is offended by my observations. We love Universal and will return often. We had a lovely vacation regardless of any issues we had. I did not take a single photo this trip, because my son insisted on being the cameraman. He took some great and obscure pictures, I will try to post them later in the week.

 

[Fan2CSkr]

Double post!

 

[Fan2CSkr]

Welcome back! I'm glad you all enjoyed your trip. Portofino Baby isn't for everyone and thankfully they have two others to choose from. We like them all. The fake effect you described is intentional. The painting style is called trompe l'oeil. It translates to 'trick the eye'. Portofino Bay hotel is a re-creation of the famed Mediterranean seaside village of Portofino, Italy. This recreation was very expensive but its intent is lost on some.

We also recently had the breakfast and dinner on the piazza and our meals were wonderful! I love that atmosphere. My kids love the pools too and especially that they could swim so late at the villa pool each evening.

That's too bad that you had housekeeping that wasn't up to par but I would absolutely write a letter. It isn't the first time this has been mentioned and they need to know. We lucked out and had great service and room cleaned by 10A each day. I also would have requested a room change if it was dirty and smoked in. That just isn't acceptable. I honestly dont blame you for not wanting to stay there again. Thanks so much for the report.

 

[damo]

That's so interesting because our room was absolutely spotless and our housekeeping was amazing. It is weird how things can vary so much in one hotel. Someone actually came into our room to water the plants, ours weren't fakes and there were fresh flowers in our bathrooms. I didn't think they were and I touched one and the petals fell off!

The mouldings in the villa suite were all real but I did notice that the ones in the portofino suite were wallpaper. I guess they cheap out on the basic rooms?

I'm sad you didn't like that hotel. It just goes to show that two people can have two totally different feelings about the same place. I guess we got comped so much and the weather was so absolutely gorgeous that it was hard for us not to love it.

Looking forward to obscure pictures. Please take over my thread!!!

 

[TigerLilly's Mom]

Don't feel bad! We really did enjoy a lot of aspects of the hotel. Just had bad luck with housekeeping and that can happen anywhere. The hotel just wasn't our style, but I hope my post doesn't discourage anyone from going there, because that was not my intention.

As soon as I can figure out how to get my son's photos on the computer I'll add some to your thread!

 

[AlexandNessa]

I hate say anything negative, but I really did not like the hotel. We loved the pool, and the rooms were ok. Housekeeping was atrocious, and rude. We were put in a smoking room on our first night, it really smelled bad and my daughters asthma starting acting up. Towel, bathrobes, and red throws on bed were dirty in second room. The red throws were really bad with white stains on them - GROSS! We used the glasses for ice water the first night, and they were never replaced, even after I put trash in them so they would know they were dirty. A guy from star service came after I requested foam pillows, except he brought more of the same pillows that I already had in the room. When I asked nicely for foam again, he shoved them at me and told me to "feel them, they are fine". When I asked AGAIN nicely for foam pillows and gave me a dirty look, rollled his eyes and stomped away. He returned in less than two minutes with the right pillows.

I did complain to management on the second day, when we came back to our room at 4:00 sopping wet. I wanted to get my little one in the tub, she was freezing. We had left at 9:00am that morning, and of course, when we came back, our room wasn't clean. The tip I left, sure was gone though!

Tonia, I for one am certainly not offended as these were MANY of the same issues that we encountered during our trip there, which have kept us from going back! Housekeeping not only didn't replace our dirty glasses, but we had some cans of diet soda and bottled water that we'd thrown away, and housekeeping TOOK THEM OUT OF THE GARBAGE, placed them on the floor, and never took care of them. Every time we'd throw cans or bottles away, housekeeping did the same thing, and never removed them from the room. We looked all over that darn room for a recycling bin, thinking housekeeping was giving us a hint, but there was none to be found. It was ridiculous. We tried to ask the front desk what was up with that. They said they'd address it with housekeeping, but no one ever got the message. We started taking the empty bottles with us to throw out on the way to the parks because by day 4 of a 6 day stay, this was NEVER taken care of.

We too had trouble with star services. They were wicked snotty when we requested something that they didn't have available. We'd forgotten our sound soother, and they made us feel crazy for requesting one in the first place because I guess we were supposed to know that all available sound soothers were checked out. Add to that the gushing idiot at the front desk who said what a great upgrade we got -- being on the club floor with NO club privileges (and yes, we paid for a Deluxe room and got a Deluxe room). Oh, here's another ....when our room wasn't ready and we wanted to add our carryons with our other checked baggage, the guy at luggage service told us that it'd be easier if we went into the luggage room and found our luggage ourselves to keep the bags together. That's right, a 4* hotel, and you have to find your own luggage at luggage services, even though we tried to give him our tag. I also remember ordering room service, and them not picking the trays up after 2 days ... we had to leave everything outside the room to get them to take care of it. And, after night one, they took our bathrobes away, and after many calls, didn't replace them. There were other issues too, but these are the oddball ones I remember off the top of my head. After several good reviews from damo and motherfletcher, we were tempted to give PBH a try again, but your review sounds like you relived our 2004 experience to a T. Sorry, PBH wasn't to your liking.

 

[Disney owl]

Glad to hear you had a good vacation

 

[CJN]

Oh, oh, oh, hearing this is a dagger through my heart! Last month we stayed at PBH for the first time and absolutely loved it. (Been to RPR twice and wanted to try something new) Everything was clean, staff was friendly and quite helpful, dainty little fresh flowers in the room, beautiful architecture and landscaping. And, most importantly, nobody seemed to mind when three women dressed in white spa robes made a nightly stop at the "Thirsty Fish" for kahlua and cream on their way back from the hot tub.

 

[Melanie230]

I am not offended. I have never stayed there. I think it is good to hear the bad and the good when it comes to others trips. Glad you had a good time though!

 

[goofy!]

It is absolutely true that everybody can have different experiences at the different hotels, even at the same time. I think you just have to realize that even in the best of hotels, you can encounter laziness, stupidity and even surley workers. You just have to not let it ruin your vacation and keep after management until it is made right for you. And management can't do anything about something they are not aware of, so let them know.

AlexandNessa - you pretty much described our last stay at RPR, even down to being told to go get our own luggage out of the storage area. This has caused me to be nervous about ever leaving anything with the bellhop again, because if they let anybody in there unsupervised - who's to say that somebody won't just help themselves to my luggage. Our last check-in at RPR was also a nightmare. At 1:00 am in the morning, I was standing in the LoewsFirst line for check-in. Unbelievably at that late hour, there was a long, long line in the regular line. I patiently waited approximately 10 minutes until the LoewsFirst reservationist finished with a large group ahead of me and then started to step up to the desk. The person next in line in the regular line also started towards the LoewsFirst person. The LoewsFirst person actually had the gall to tell me that they didn't do LoewsFirst that late at night, that the person in the regular line had been waiting much longer than me, and that I would have to go to the end of the regular line. AFTER I had already waited 10 minutes in the LoewsFirst line - AND she had obviously seen me standing there. Excuse me, but if there is no LoewsFirst line at night, then you probably ought to put away the LoewsFirst sign indicating where the line is and close off the ropes to the line. Anyway, it was nice way to treat your Platinum members! Although, to give the hotel credit, the rest of the stay was wonderful- no problems with housekeeping or anything else.

We have since stayed at the Portofino and have not had any issues..yet (I am sure that sooner or later we will run into the housekeeping staff that is not really happy with their job.) But so far, we keep getting wonderful upgrades, housekeeping has been phenominal (yes, the plants were real in our room too) and everything we have asked for has been at our door within 5 minutes.

Last vacation, we had 8 people in our Villa Suite and we generated lots of bottles and cans, as we had stocked up at the grocery store and made good use of the kitchen. We multiple bags of trash daily, and each day it was promptly removed.

Although, I do have to admit that we did have a rather amusing incident at the Portofino our last stay. Our toilet was clogged in one of the bedrooms. We called Star Services and they had a plumber up practically before I hung up the phone. He plunged it a few times and declared it fixed. It worked about half a day before becoming clogged again. Called Star Services again. Dave was at the door within 5 minutes. Plunged it again. He then told me that the Portofino was not equipped to handle toilet paper. Huh????

Our conversation:
me in blue
Dave the Plumber in red:

I plunged your toilet, but you have to remember that you can't put toilet paper down the toilet. This hotel is not equipped to handle toilet paper.
"You mean sanitary products, right?"
"No, toilet paper."
"So, exactly where are we supposed to put the toilet paper?"
"In the trash can"
"Even when a person has a bowel movement?"
"Yes"
"But the trashcan is not enclosed" (now, I am from Colorado, and there is a particular bed and breakfast in an 1890's mining town that we have stayed at that does ask you to put the toilet paper in the trash. But there are signs all around the toilet AND the trash can is specially sealed. So I was completely baffled that this guy was advocating putting soiled toilet paper in a tiny, uncovered trash can.)
"the Portofino was not built to handle toilet paper."
"You are telling me that a 4* hotel's sewage system cannot handle toilet paper?"
"Yes."
"but we have stayed here numerous times before, and have never been told that. And why do they not tell you that at check-in?"
"well, I am telling you, you cannot put toilet paper down the toilet at this hotel."
while barely able to contain my laughter "Okie Dokie."
Dave leaves and I am on the phone with the front desk asking for the manager. I explain the whole thing, get huge apologies, and they send in another plumber less than 10 minutes after I call and one who fixes the toilet properly and we did not have a problem after that.

But nothing, absolutely nothing will ever top the disgustingness we encountered one stay in our room at the Poly Concierge. Suffice it to say, we found snot on the pillow and prescription medication from the last, obviously ill guest in the room. YUUCK! But it just goes to show that you can have problems anywhere, from the Motel 6 to the fanciest of all hotels!

Tigerlilly - I am glad you didn't let the housekeeping problems ruin your stay. I am glad you posted. And welcome back! Glad you had a great time. And can't wait for the pictures. If they are as sweet as the one with your daughter and her dog, they will be great.

 

[AlexandNessa]

Hi goofy! OMG, your plumber story made me immediately think of our Mexican Riviera cruise, where any time we got off the ship, there were about 8 million reminders to Americans that TP must not be flushed, but thrown away in the garbage. That totally scheeved me, and I never went to the ladies room while in port unless absolutely necessary!

Don't get me wrong ... we had one stay at RPR that was not-so-great too, so I definitely know where you're coming from. I think it's just luck of the draw .. you know, who checks you in and what kind of day they're having. Who's assigned to clean your room, and what kind of week they're having. Who's working luggage services upon your arrival and departure and whether or not they know they're working at a 4* hotel, etc. Sometimes the perfect storm happens, and everyone you deal with during your stay is either not having a good day or is incompetent, oblivious, what have you. And, sometimes the right person has checked you in, handled your luggage, and cleaned your room with a smile and no worries. Just luck of the draw.

 

[Fan2CSkr]

goofy, your plumber story is hysterical and I am pretty positive we had Dave visit us at the HRH once also. After he went on about toilet paper in the toilets he told us that soon there would be no worries since they were installing the new super flushes when they renovated!

 

[TigerLilly's Mom]

Goofy - your plumber story is too funny!! I can't stop laughing thinking about it.

I think some people got the wrong impression about the "fake flower" thing. Just to clarify, we did have fresh flowers in our bathroom, and thought it was a very nice touch. I was referring to the fake plants that are painted on the walls throughout the interior of the common areas of the hotel. And I do understant the effect of the painted bricks, shutters, ect., I just don't particularly like them.

I will get my son to get his pictures on my computer today, so I can share some pictures.

 

[Dixie Luvr 98]

Well, I don't think I can top the plumber story! But here's a very brief version of what happened to us at PBH.

In June 2004 we returned to the resort from IOA around 4:30 p.m. only to find ourselves locked out of our room. Called the front desk on the nearest house phone and was informed that we had called down and said the room was too far out and requested a switch First I heard about it. I insisted we hadn't, but the clerk (same one that checked us in) kept insisting "yes, yes".

We were asked to come to the front desk to straighten the matter out. The five of us drug our damp, sweaty, icky selves down the nice marble lobby to deal with the perfectly groomed and coiffed front desk clerks.

They continued to insist we had requested a change and that our room had been assigned to someone else. I asked where our belongings that we had left in the original room were. They didn't know. They couldn't enter the room to check because it was assigned to someone else. We were told we were welcome to check the baggage storage area. Of course it wasn't there.

When I asked about the room we had been reassigned to, I was told it had been given away because we never checked-in and the hotel was now full! The head of bell services, a great guy who had gotten involved during the search for our luggage, was looking over the clerks shoulder. He pointed to the screen and asked, "What about this one?"

Clerk: No, no. That's a suite
Bell Capt: So!?
Clerk: We can't do that.
BC: Why?
Clerk: We just can't.
BC: For God's sake, give these people a room!
Clerk: OK, OK, let me check something.

She disappeared into the back. Nearly four hours after we returned to the hotel, we were assigned to an "upgraded" deluxe room. (Still didn't have our stuff.)

When we got to the new room, we got a call from the manager saying that he and the head of security were going to enter our original room and asking me describe our belongs.

At 10:30 the bellman shows up at our door with our luggage. A short time later, the manager calls again and says he will be stopping by the room to discuss the matter. Never saw him.

Couldn't even get late check-out the next day since the hotel was at capacity.

That is the super abbreviated version, so it may make even less sense that it really did!

We did have a lovely stay in 2001 and were even upgraded to a deluxe room while using the Entertainment rate

 

[Melanie230]

I cant even imagine dealing with that stuff. Where was your stuff?

 

[mainelyj]

I have always enjoyed staying onsite at Universal. However, their extremely high prices during the past 2 years makes it impossible for an average family. We have not been back in 3 years. Also, I have to agree with the housekeeping. My experience is that their housekeeping is terrible and under staffed, so our room was often cleaned very late in the afternoon. Whenever I sent letters or discussed it with management we seem to get the same old line - that this is not how their service should be and to please accept their appologies. I will not stay there again unless I win powerball, have a free room or the price is under $120 a night.

 

[Dixie Luvr 98]

I cant even imagine dealing with that stuff. Where was your stuff?

Still in our original room, which hadn't even been touched by housekeeping. The room hadn't even been made-up, but was apparently entered in the system as ready for occupancy.

 

[Melanie230]

I have always enjoyed staying onsite at Universal. However, their extremely high prices during the past 2 years makes it impossible for an average family. We have not been back in 3 years. Also, I have to agree with the housekeeping. My experience is that their housekeeping is terrible and under staffed, so our room was often cleaned very late in the afternoon. Whenever I sent letters or discussed it with management we seem to get the same old line - that this is not how their service should be and to please accept their appologies. I will not stay there again unless I win powerball, have a free room or the price is under $120 a night.

I have to say I agree with you. It is very expensive. However for a family of 4 (like us) I dont think it is that bad. I live in NC and to rent a house on the beach is a lot more than what it costs us to stay at Universal. We are very fortunate that we only go 1 time per year. I think next year we will venture over to Disney when it is cooler. While I know what I spent to go to Universal is a LOT more than what I would have spent to stay at Disney the experience is so different. The hotels really kick it up a notch at night at Universal. Not to mention I cant imagine going to Disney in June. Not having the FOTL access would be awful in the heat.

 

[Melanie230]

WOW! It is hard to swallow when you pay that much money to stay somewhere. Although I know we are all human.

 

[Fan2CSkr]

Well, I don't think I can top the plumber story! But here's a very brief version of what happened to us at PBH. They continued to insist we had requested a change and that our room had been assigned to someone else. I asked where our belongings that we had left in the original room were. They didn't know. They couldn't enter the room to check because it was assigned to someone else. We were told we were welcome to check the baggage storage area. Of course it wasn't there.

I cant get past this part of the story. They reassigned your room and moved your belongings? They actually entered your room, packed up your things and moved them?