General hotel booking questions from a vacation newbie

[Sparklederp]

Hey guys,

I'm planning a trip to Universal with my boyfriend for next year late February/early March, 9-11 days. I have some questions about how the on-site hotels handle bookings.

1) I don't have a credit card with a limit higher than the total cost of 9+ days in a Lowes hotel ($3500+), as I'm young and still in college. Do I need to book with a major credit card, or are there other options?
Can I book using a debit card for my reservation as long as the funds are in my account?
Or can I pay up front? (I'll have double the entire stay's cost in my checking account before we even book, so more than enough to cover any fees that come up)

2) We're looking at HRH as our first choice, anyone know how far in advance we should book to make sure it's not full up? I know it's the smallest of the on-site resorts, in terms of rooms.

3) The HRH hotel club rooms are listed at $360~ ish at AAA rate, but again, are advertised as straight club rooms instead of "deluxe with club option". Does the additional $100 apply?

4) Are there laundry facilities on site and do they cost extra?

I know these are both pretty rookie questions, but I couldn't find answers despite plenty of Googling, and I've never been on a vacation before, let alone booked my own (gasp). Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[bumbershoot]

If you book directly, which means by calling or going through loewshotels.com, and assuming you're booking just the room (not doing a package deal), they charge the equivalent of the average of one night of the stay.

The rest is due at checkin.

If I were you, I would initially call to make the reservation, and talk to them about an address to mail in payments, if you would like to do that. I bet it would be easier for you than trying to pay the bulk of it at checkin, with the rest of the vacation to pay still.

The debit card is going to be limited by your bank. We've had our bank account a long time now, and our daily limit is relatively high, but we couldn't do $3000 b/c of our bank's limits.

I recommend looking specifically here: http://www.loewshotels.com/en/booking/uo?hotel=UEPBH,UEHRH,UERPR

They will show all hotels at once (if you choose "all 4 hotels), and they'll show you the lowest publicly available rate. If you're a FL resident you can use the code FLO to check if there are FL resident rates. You can use the code APH, which gives you the Annual Pass rate...why? Well, if you might possibly consider going back inside the year, OR if an AP rate is offered that is so good it more than makes up for the cost to upgrade someone's ticket.

You can check there then call. And if you check later, after booking, and a better rate shows up, you can call and modify it.

You book a AAA rate by calling AAA (or, with my region's AAA office through the member website).

There are laundry rooms at HRH and Royal Pacific, and they are pay machines. I haven't yet used them so I don't know the cost or exact location.

 

[macraven]

If you book directly, which means by calling or going through loewshotels.com, and assuming you're booking just the room (not doing a package deal), they charge the equivalent of the average of one night of the stay.

The rest is due at checkin.

when i book, i pay one night deposit only.
i have never paid the rest at check in.

my charge for the rest of the nights stay has been when i check out.

 

[RMulieri]

when i book, i pay one night deposit only.
i have never paid the rest at check in.

my charge for the rest of the nights stay has been when i check out.

2nd..and my last visit I didnt get chrged the balance till almost a week later.

 

[bumbershoot]

when i book, i pay one night deposit only.
i have never paid the rest at check in.

my charge for the rest of the nights stay has been when i check out.

I figure it's best to expect the charge at the beginning of the trip. Especially when dealing with a debit card.

 

[Zereouem]

Hi. I returned from RPR last week and like u prior to going I wanted to have my reservation paid before I arrived. I made the reservation with a down payment of one night stay with a visa gift card. I didn't want to pay with my main debit card that I pay bills with, so I went and bought 3 visa gift cards and months before trip I would fax visa card info with copy of info and drivers license and they would apply to my bill. It was nice to have a balance of $0 when I arrived. Rpr did have a coin laundry and I used it. It was $3.00 washer/dryer. Change machine, flat screen , laundry soap was a dollar for small box. Nice and clean. Hope this helps.

 

[Zereouem]

Call Hotel u are interested in and ask about how they accept payments. Rpr did not do it over phone. They emailed me a form and I faxed it back. So convenient to have that paid before u go.

 

[Sparklederp]

If I were you, I would initially call to make the reservation, and talk to them about an address to mail in payments, if you would like to do that. I bet it would be easier for you than trying to pay the bulk of it at checkin, with the rest of the vacation to pay still.

The debit card is going to be limited by your bank. We've had our bank account a long time now, and our daily limit is relatively high, but we couldn't do $3000 b/c of our bank's limits.

I recommend looking specifically here:

They will show all hotels at once (if you choose "all 4 hotels), and they'll show you the lowest publicly available rate. If you're a FL resident you can use the code FLO to check if there are FL resident rates. You can use the code APH, which gives you the Annual Pass rate...why? Well, if you might possibly consider going back inside the year, OR if an AP rate is offered that is so good it more than makes up for the cost to upgrade someone's ticket.

Thanks so much, this is exactly what I needed to know. We will be using APs because our stay is going to be almost 2 weeks, so it's cheaper than buying 2 weeks worth of tickets.

It looks like the Stay More Save More discount is the best in this case, saving me about 30% per night. Am I right to assume that Stay More Save More doesn't stack with AP or AAA?

I figure it's best to expect the charge at the beginning of the trip. Especially when dealing with a debit card.

Agreed... although thank you everyone else who weighed in on this. Regardless, I'm going to try to have the trip paid for before we step on the plane.

Hi. I returned from RPR last week and like u prior to going I wanted to have my reservation paid before I arrived. I made the reservation with a down payment of one night stay with a visa gift card. I didn't want to pay with my main debit card that I pay bills with, so I went and bought 3 visa gift cards and months before trip I would fax visa card info with copy of info and drivers license and they would apply to my bill. It was nice to have a balance of $0 when I arrived. Rpr did have a coin laundry and I used it. It was $3.00 washer/dryer. Change machine, flat screen , laundry soap was a dollar for small box. Nice and clean. Hope this helps.

Thanks so much, great to hear from someone who's done it! I'm excited to get my vacation planned and paid down ahead of time. I'll call HRH as soon as I'm ready to book and figure out what I need to do to make this work.

Thanks for the input, everyone! I really appreciate it!

 

[macraven]

if you want to prepay your room stay, it is easy to do so.

call and request the accounting dept.
(or tell the TM you need to talk to the person in charge of handling the pre payment for entire stay)

you complete a form and take it from there.
some pay in portions, some pay the entirety.

you can't stack discounts.
if you book with smsm, you won't be able to discount the room with ap also.
choose the discount that is best for you.

 

[bumbershoot]

It looks like the Stay More Save More discount is the best in this case, saving me about 30% per night. Am I right to assume that Stay More Save More doesn't stack with AP or AAA?

You can't stack, but keep checking back. Discounts come and go, and change, so at some point it's possible the AP rate will be better than SMSM. If it changes, just call and have them change it for you.

 

[Sparklederp]

Thank you, both of you. Looks like I have all the information I need now!