Completely Disappointing Experience at Portofino

[connorlevismom]

Had a completely disappointing stay at Portofino and based on how they handled things, we will not be back. Here is a snapshot of the issues we had.

1. We arrived at 2:30 for check-in and they informed us that rooms would not be ready until 4:00PM. No problem, got checked-in and headed over to City Walk for a bit. Never heard anything and at 5:00PM we headed back to the hotel to freshen up for dinner. I texted the number they said to text with questions/requests and asked if our room was ready. Radio silence. I get to the front desk and there is a line 12 people deep checking in. So I call the hotel number and ask them in my room was ready. Nope, not ready, but they will text me when it is. FINALLY at 6:00PM we get the text that our room was ready. We quickly head there, drop our bags and head over to Hard Rock for dinner.
2. We arrive back to our room at 8:30PM and we are all dead tired from a day of travelling and want to get to bed so we can get up early for early hours at the park. We go to make the pull-out couch and there is no bedding for it at all. I call down to the front desk and let them know we have no sheets, pillows or blankets for the couch. They said it will be a while if we need a pillow because they are short on pillows. I explain we need sheets, blankets and pillows. Over 1/2 hour later someone shows up and hands us a bag and a pillow. I go to make the bed and there is just a blanket in the bag, no sheets. I have my husband chase down that person and they said "you didn't order any sheets, just a blanket and pillow". My told them we ordered sheets as well and they went and got us some sheets. There were a couple of blood stains on one of the sheets but at this point we all just wanted to go to bed so we put that area on the bottom and tucked it under the mattress.
3. The next day we got up early, went to the parks and came back around 3PM for a quick dip in the pool......and none of our keys work. So we have to go to the front desk, wait in a huge line of people to get new keys. The girl at the front desk asks me what color they are blinking, I tell her yellow. She asks me how many times it was blinking yellow. WHAT? I have no idea how many times it was blinking yellow. She says that if I go back and they still don't work to count how many times it blinks and then come back and tell her. Thankfully they worked.
4. While at the pool I text my issues to the number and get a response back from Anthony who apologizes and asks if we will allow him to do something for us to make up for it. I say that I would really appreciate that as it has been a very rocky start to our stay. This guy NEVER responds back!
5. 2 days later at 8:30am I text a request for towels for the room and I get a reply, "can do". We get back from the parks late that night and guess what? No towels! My husband calls the front desk and asks to speak to a manager. He explains all the issues we have been having and that Anthony seems to have ghosted us and then she explains that Anthony is actually her SUPERIOR and she is sorry for our experience and we will get a survey to fill out after our stay. That's it, nothing else. We even texted back to Anthony who had responded "can do" to our original request and asked him if he sent the towels. Got no response. Finally we got towels brought up to the room.
6. Every single day at this hotel the garbage's by the elevators were overflowing with garbage and food boxes all over the floor. Every single time we walked by them they looked like this.
7. Lastly, we did fill out their survey and explained all the issues we had. We got a canned response back that they were sorry and hoped we would stay with them again. Why would I EVER stay at a hotel who treats guests this way? We were there for 5 nights and our room was $2800.00 and when I am paying over $500.00 a night for a room, I expect a much higher level of service.

This hotel has so much potential but when you have mangers who could not care less about the guest experience, it really makes an impact. Disney would never respond to issues like this.

 

[easyas123]

Yikes, we've never stayed at Portofino - but earlier today we started kicking around possibly going down for a quick 2 night stay in a few weeks.
This makes me think twice...

 

[davper]

Portofino was next on our stay at list.

 

[cfoxga]

That would definitely keep me from coming back. Our trip back in Nov 2020 was fabulous, and PBH is our favorite of all of the hotels we've been to (PBH, HRH, RPR, CB, ESS). The staff were fantastic, really showing pride for their resort. With the closure of PBH because of Covid, I wonder how much of the original staff is still there...

 

[easyas123]

With the closure of PBH because of Covid, I wonder how much of the original staff is still there...

Good point, hadn't thought about that...

 

[Mrsjvb]

We were at Portofino during hurricane Michael. They did a fantastic job arranging entertainment, meals and general safety protocols.

my guess is this is 98% due to C19 related issues, and not the way things are normally.

 

[tony67]

Not making excuses for them but...

Probably really hard to judge the hotels during covid, especially after it was shut down for a long period of time.

It's also hard to get people to come back after letting them go - the extra money from unemployment means many people were making more money than they made working - so you could have a very new staff and or be under staffed.
Then there is the extra cleaning required around COVID and of course the high volume of the holidays on top of that - they were basically thrown to the fire when they opened.

Still its the most expensive hotel on property and this should not happen - It really should not happen at the least expensive properties.

I would probably write to the hotel and to Lowes and express your dis-satisfaction.
Universal is very responsive and by writing to Lowes your dealing with the chain which should be much more responsive.

I know when I have had issues at Universal they were always resolved before I left.

 

[J'aime Paris]

Sorry your stay was sub-par, that stinks.

I do agree with the garbage situation...
We stayed at RP in October. They do not enter your room during your stay. Garbage begins to be overwhelming in the rooms and the overflow ends up in the public bins.

The hotel either needs to put larger bins in the rooms, or have staff empty the public bins much, much more often. It's an eye sore and sometimes even smells, yuck!

 

[Victoria3]

Not making excuses for them but...

Probably really hard to judge the hotels during covid, especially after it was shut down for a long period of time.

It's also hard to get people to come back after letting them go - the extra money from unemployment means many people were making more money than they made working - so you could have a very new staff and or be under staffed.
Then there is the extra cleaning required around COVID and of course the high volume of the holidays on top of that - they were basically thrown to the fire when they opened.

Still its the most expensive hotel on property and this should not happen - It really should not happen at the least expensive properties.

I would probably write to the hotel and to Lowes and express your dis-satisfaction.
Universal is very responsive and by writing to Lowes your dealing with the chain which should be much more responsive.

I know when I have had issues at Universal they were always resolved before I left.

That ended in July. I know plenty of people that would rather be working than dealing with unemployment right now.

 

[melissa723]

I'm so sorry that your stay was less than stellar, especially for the cost of those rooms. We stayed at RPR in November and never had one issue with anything. Not the trash, towels or bedding. When we needed to empty our trash, we would just put it outside of our door and by the time we returned in the afternoon it would be gone. I never saw trash bins overflowing or bags sitting out for long periods of time. Anytime we sent a text requesting something, we got a response immediately, and then shortly after their response there would be a knock at the door. I was so impressed with their service during this time that I wouldn't hesitate to stay there again. Yes, I'm sure it's difficult during the time of COVID, however, based on our experience it can be done, and it can be done right.

 

[connorlevismom]

I'm so sorry that your stay was less than stellar, especially for the cost of those rooms. We stayed at RPR in November and never had one issue with anything. Not the trash, towels or bedding. When we needed to empty our trash, we would just put it outside of our door and by the time we returned in the afternoon it would be gone. I never saw trash bins overflowing or bags sitting out for long periods of time. Anytime we sent a text requesting something, we got a response immediately, and then shortly after their response there would be a knock at the door. I was so impressed with their service during this time that I wouldn't hesitate to stay there again. Yes, I'm sure it's difficult during the time of COVID, however, based on our experience it can be done, and it can be done right.

This is where we chose to stay in March so I am hoping for the same experience as you. I realize that things can go wrong and I am a fairly understanding person, but I was most disappointed in the way that management handled things. That tells me a lot about how that hotel is run.

 

[damo]

That is unacceptable. PBH is our favourite hotel and we've never experienced anything like that.

You can take your complaints further by posting on Trip Advisor and also seeing if there is another manager you can complain to. Find their social media pages and post there.

Not only is the situation unfair to you, but I assume that it is happening to others as well. Unless you complain, nothing will happen.

 

[connorlevismom]

That is unacceptable. PBH is our favourite hotel and we've never experienced anything like that.

You can take your complaints further by posting on Trip Advisor and also seeing if there is another manager you can complain to. Find their social media pages and post there.

Not only is the situation unfair to you, but I assume that it is happening to others as well. Unless you complain, nothing will happen.

I just posted my review on Trip Advisor and wow, I was NOT the only one having these issues during my stay. Almost every review mentions the same thing as I did. I totally forgot about the parking garage as we only used it a few times but our keys NEVER worked and we always had to call and wait for someone to let us in or out. Lots of reviews about that as well on Trip Advisor.

 

[nkereina]

This is not par for the course at this hotel, so I'm sorry you experienced it. I have to attribute it to what PP mentioned - re-opening woes, lack of staff, lack of training, still working out the kinks after being closed for so long. Definitely not excuses as that is unacceptable for any hotel, much less one as expensive as PBH.

The "no extra pillows" is a head scratcher to me. I'm not sure whether the hotel is allowed to operate at full capacity and even if they are allowed to, I can't imagine they're fully booked in the current environment. Therefore, there should be vacant rooms that pillows can be pulled from if they're short on extra pillows.

The 6pm room ready would set me off as well. I realize housekeeping is also probably short staffed, but assuming they are not operating at full capacity, there is no reason why rooms couldn't have been turned over earlier or faster. You essentially lost 3 hours of the room on your first night, which you're paying for, and that of course is an imposition to people tired from travel or just want to get settled in.

 

[fancymouse]

We had a horrible stay there in February 2020. We were doing a split stay at Portofino and Disney and I decided we no longer need to stay at Universal. Their front desk staff was totally unwelcoming. It was past check-in time and our room wasn’t ready. We had a baby and needed to feed him. The guy saw us struggling to form a plan since we had nowhere to go. We were staying Club Level and he did a very poor job of explaining the lounge is no where near the room. Then failed to mention the lounge was also closed initially. He vaguely motioned to a bar which was also not open. Not once did he apologize for the fact the room wasn’t ready which was inconvenient.

The hotel was under construction at the time and every day they turned the water off for several hours. Both days when we returned to to hotel for a shower it was off and we had to wait for it to come back on. Again, no compensation for this inconvenience. In general I also just felt the hotel didn’t feel as clean as Disney resorts. There was trash and coffee cups in multiple places in the lobby or corners of the hallways. There were water stains on some of the walls in the lobby corridors. The furniture in our rooms had disgusting stains (I think they renovated the rooms afterward though).

Honestly I’m not even that picky and at a certain price level I could have excused these things, but for the rate we paid I was extremely disappointed. I paid a similar rate at Wilderness Lodge Copper Creek and our stay was fabulous.

 

[GreyStr0ke]

I stayed in December and won't be back anytime soon. They clearly weren't ready to open back up and the reviews on Trip Advisor echo this.

 

[tony67]

That ended in July. I know plenty of people that would rather be working than dealing with unemployment right now.

You may be right but Im pretty sure it was changed to +300 in Aug (executive order) as far as I know and the state was meant to kick in another 100 (optionally) to make it 400.
I think Universal hires a lot of people for 1 or 2 days a week so they dont have to pay benefits etc...so Unemployment +300 is not bad.
That said I know the Florida unemployment system is a total mess so I can understand not wanting to deal with it.
I do know several people who just gave up on collecting since they lived with their parents anyway.

We had a horrible stay there in February 2020. We were doing a split stay at Portofino and Disney and I decided we no longer need to stay at Universal. Their front desk staff was totally unwelcoming. It was past check-in time and our room wasn’t ready. We had a baby and needed to feed him. The guy saw us struggling to form a plan since we had nowhere to go. We were staying Club Level and he did a very poor job of explaining the lounge is no where near the room. Then failed to mention the lounge was also closed initially. He vaguely motioned to a bar which was also not open. Not once did he apologize for the fact the room wasn’t ready which was inconvenient.

The hotel was under construction at the time and every day they turned the water off for several hours. Both days when we returned to to hotel for a shower it was off and we had to wait for it to come back on. Again, no compensation for this inconvenience. In general I also just felt the hotel didn’t feel as clean as Disney resorts. There was trash and coffee cups in multiple places in the lobby or corners of the hallways. There were water stains on some of the walls in the lobby corridors. The furniture in our rooms had disgusting stains (I think they renovated the rooms afterward though).

Honestly I’m not even that picky and at a certain price level I could have excused these things, but for the rate we paid I was extremely disappointed. I paid a similar rate at Wilderness Lodge Copper Creek and our stay was fabulous.

I have had really bad stays at Swan, GF, Contemporary and WL so it can happen anywhere - and they had no excuses of construction or COVID so it can happen anywhere. YMMV
I am still amazed at how dirty the club lounge at Contemporary was and the employees did not care - wine glasses with lipstick is one thing that sticks in my head and they acted as if I was the issue
Ill never stay at another Disney Deluxe - I find it a total ripoff - the moderates are the way to go IMO

I'd say the same for the Deluxe's at Uni - except that you get express pass - if it were not for that Id prefer SF or Aventura

 

[cfoxga]

I'd say the same for the Deluxe's at Uni - except that you get express pass - if it were not for that Id prefer SF or Aventura

This is a great point. If you subtract out the "value" of the EPs, the room cost of the deluxe hotels looks like a "value" hotel. For our split stay last Thanksgiving, there was about a $150 per day difference between HRH and ESS. SF/Aventura would probably have been a $125 difference, but was not open. For our family of 4, that comes out to less than $40 per person per day. To us, that was a small price to pay to turn 60+ minute lines into 5-10 minute lines.

For the ESS days, what it really meant was that we woke up super early, got on a bus to CityWalk security, and then rushed through as many rides as we could before 10:30 am. At that point, everything we wanted was 45+ minutes. At HRH, we slept in, took a leisurely walk/ferry to the parks with almost no line through security, rode everything we wanted multiple times, and still had time for a nap/pool time before coming back for more rides at night.

 

[fancymouse]

I have had really bad stays at Swan, GF, Contemporary and WL so it can happen anywhere - and they had no excuses of construction or COVID so it can happen anywhere. YMMV
I am still amazed at how dirty the club lounge at Contemporary was and the employees did not care - wine glasses with lipstick is one thing that sticks in my head and they acted as if I was the issue
Ill never stay at another Disney Deluxe - I find it a total ripoff - the moderates are the way to go IMO

I'd say the same for the Deluxe's at Uni - except that you get express pass - if it were not for that Id prefer SF or Aventura

The inclusion of the express pass was why I booked their top tier resorts, but even with it, I won’t go back. There just not enough that I liked about staying onsite at Universal and the cleanliness was far below anything I’ve ever experienced at Disney. I’m sure people have their horror stories there as well, but we go 2-3 times a year and usually stay in deluxes. I’ve never met a rude employee at a Disney resort. I’m not saying that every stay has been amazing (most were just ordinary), but I’ve never had anything I felt I needed to complain about. I’ve even stayed at club level at Contemporary and thought they did a great job. I guess everyone is due one bad experience and maybe Portofino was mine! But believe me, I am definitely realistic about the fact that Disney deluxes are just completely average hotels comparatively. If it wasn’t for onsite perks there would be no real reason to pay the exorbitant rates.

 

[keishashadow]

OP wow that is so out of the norm based upon our (precovid) visits there. Always felt it was the best run, luxurious onsite property

Appears the existing manager on duty dropped the ball for you, sorry to hear.

It’s not ‘if’ you will encounter an issue when traveling, it’s ‘how’ the management responds.

ive never understood the wisdom of posting complaints to social media/travel websites without Giving the respective management a chance to respond or rectify a situation

FYI, sadly, TripAdvisor’s review features were always helpful to me but the validity of their rating system was questioned a few years ago. They are for profit, best to check more than one site for reviews

WDW front desks seems to have more initial leeway to make things happen when there is a simple issue

Have found it’s best to work your way up Loews chain of command:

Front desk

Assistant manager on duty

general manager, while Still
A guest

Ultimately, If not satisfied, take notes & contact Loews corporate. They have a great track record of being responsive

I totally forgot about the parking garage as we only used it a few times but our keys NEVER worked and we always had to call and wait for someone to let us in or out. Lots of reviews about that as well on Trip Advisor.

That’s been hit or miss for us for years. System obviously needs updated