Christmas at Portofino Bay 12/23 - 12/27

[skiingwife]

Just wanted to post a quick trip report because there are so many for WDW and not that many for US.

There are 5 of us on this trip - me, DH, DS15, DS13 and DS9. We've been to WDW for 10 day trips the past 2 Christmas' and last year we spent 2 of those days at the Hard Rock Hotel. My boys like US so much that we decided to take a quick trip there this year. We could only get away for 4 nights, rather than the usual 10, so I was worried it would be too short. But it turned out to be just right for seeing all we wanted to at US and IOA and spending downtime at Portofino.

Dining: We had some really good dining experiences. The first night we ate at Margaritaville. Even with a reservation (or whatever it's called) and staying onsite, we waited a good half hour. The food was so-so. Probably wouldn't go there again until we try all the other restaurants.

The next day we ate at Mythos. We all agreed that Mythos was outstanding. First they brought warm bread and a garlic butter which was delicious. DS15 had a grilled chicken sandwich, DS13 had a cowboy steak burger, DH had the blueberry/pistachio pork with mac and cheese, and I had the risotto which came with coconut shrimp. Everything was delcious especially my husband's pork and my risotto, but my DS13 raved about his steak burger.

The next day we ate at NBA City. We all liked this as well but we are basketball fans so we liked the atmosphere. I had the cobb salad which was very fresh, a little spicy and very delicious. DH had the chicken club, DS15 had a philly cheese steak sandwich, and DS13 had a fillet steak sandwich. Again, we thought it was all good.

On our last night, we took the recommendation of a concierge at the Portofino club and went to Latin Quarter. My boys aren't real adventurous eaters; they mostly like steak and pototoes, mexican, or pizza. He assured me it would be very good and not too spicy. He was right. We really enjoyed our meals here. DS15 had the skirt steak, DS13 had steak fajitas, and my DH and I shared steak and chicken fajitas. DS9 had a cheese burger off the kids meal and it was big. We all thought the food was very good and the atmosphere was nice and relaxing. They had a man playing guitar which was very nice. There was no wait at all here, unlike Margaritaville and NBA City. I presume because it's set back a little from the main traffic area. We'd definitely come here again.

We also at Sal's at Portofino Bay. We ordered two pizzas. They were really good as well. I think they were $12 or $13 each.

More later.

 

[PatsGirl]

I look forward to the rest of your trip report. We (myself, DS, DD, and son's GF) are heading down for five nights in February and staying at Portofino Bay. I sat by the pool here a few years ago when we stayed at RPH but have no idea (other than what I've read here) about the rooms, etc.

How long is it to Citywalk? Closer or farther than the parks themselves? I expect that the teenagers will be there most evenings and I'd like to be able to get to them quickly if need be.

What wing were you in? Did you like it? Distance to pools, boat, restaurants?

Yeah, I wanna know everything Come on' spit it out!

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

Thanks for the trip report.

I'm glad to know NBA City was good.

DS has asked to eat there when we go for our next trip since we chose Hard Rock Cafe (left a lot to be desired) last time.
I told him yes even though I hadn't checked it out yet.

How was Portofina Bay? I booked us into Royal Pacific to save some money this trip and I'm hoping we like it.

 

[KEVIN M]

Great Report!

 

[skiingwife]

Next I'll give me review of Portofino Bay. We loved it!

It was so pretty and beautifully decorated for Christmas. All the staff, especially in the club, were very helpful. Upon check in, our assigned room was not ready but the nice check in lady found us a room that was ready and said it was in a much better location, close to the club lounge and with a view of the harbor. We took that instead so that we could drop off our luggage and change into our suits and head to the pool.

Our room was lovely. We especially loved the large bathroom with separate shower. The beds were very comfortable as was the pull out chair that my youngest slept on. It was a twin size.

Let me just add that we flew in to Sanford airport and got a ride to the hotel by Sunray Transportation. This is the third time we used them and will continue to use them. Very prompt, nice black SUV that fit 5 of us comfortably, and waiting for us when we got off the plane. The ride from Sanford was only about 35 minutes. Our driver Roger told us we would need a GPS to get around Portofino Bay and he wasn't kidding! The hotel is so big and has so many hallways. It was very confusing at first, but by the second or third day, we were finding our way more easily.

Club lounge - I'd read that people haven't been happy with the offerings lately in the lounge and that people would scarf the food and take huge amounts back to their rooms andn that non-club people would sneak their way in. We found none of that to be true. I booked club level primarily to have a quick breakfast available. Breakfast was good - cold cereal, oatmeal, bagels, toast, fresh fruit, yogurt with granola topping, and an assortment of pastries, muffins, and juices. We met some new friends who told us that they spent $70 for the 4 of them to eat breakfast at the hotel, so for the 5 of us, I felt that the cost of staying on club level paid for itself in breakfast alone.

We usually stopped in the club upon returning from the parks and grabbed some pop and bottled water to take with us to the pool. It'd have been nice if they were kept cold, but we just filled a plastic cup with ice, poured it in, and put a top on it.

Club offerings in the evening were enough to fill me up. I would have been fine having that as my dinner, but my husband and boys still wanted to go out to eat each night. Some of the offerings were the same each night: cheese & crackers, veggies & dip, some sort of antipasta in a martini glass, an assortment of marinated veggies in a martini glass, and skewers of chicken and/or steak. Plus each night there was a more child friendly item like grilled cheese sandwiches, uncrustables, or chicken nuggets. And the best thing - free beer and wine. There was usually a red and a white, which I thought were both good. I think the beer was Bud Light, Amstel, and one other kind. There were no limits.

We only made it back to the club for desserts one time. This was my least favorite of the offerings. Compared to the desserts at the Polynesian club level, there was no comparison.

The beach pool was very nice. We never found it crowded at all. They had music playing at the pool and my teenage sons proclaimed that they liked the music better at the beach pool better than the music at the Hard Rock pool. It was more current so they knew it better. The staff had activies planned for every half hour or so. My 9 year old participated in a limbo contest, cannonball contest, red light green light, and a few other things that I can't recall.
The slide at the pool was nice; not as long as the Hard Rock slide, but still good. There were two hottubs at the beach pool. The water was pretty cold in one, but the other was nice.

We also ventured to the villa pool once. It was very quiet there. Two hot tubs at the villa pool too. One was super duper hot that I had to ease into slowly. The other was a cold tub. We went here one night and there were only about 4 other people around. For such a large hotel, I'm surprised that it was really not crowded anywhere.

Finally, transportation to the parks by boat was fantastic. We never waited more than 5 minutes for the next boat. And we really liked not having to stop to pick up riders at other resorts (like the boats at the Epcot resorts that make 3 stops).

That's it for now. If I can think of more to add, I will. In the meantime, if anyone has any questions, let me know.

Oh, one more thing. I booked an annual passholder rate, and they did not ask to see it. We got a pretty good rate for club level - $294.