Hard rock or Royal Pacific ?

[OP95]

Hi all,

As having posted in a few other threads I am currently looking to book a stay at universal, next year in November for 2 weeks for a birthday trip with me and a friend. this will be my first time staying on site for a long stay. I have ( I think!) Narrowed it down to two options which is the hard rock and RP. The price diffence between the two are about £800 including tickets so quite a big jump. I wanted to know if hard rock would be a better option? As I’m a bit concerned RP may be a couple based type of resort and might be odd ones out.

I’d love to know what your opinions are if any of you have stayed at both and which you prefer.

 

[PollyannaMom]

Hi all,

As having posted in a few other threads I am currently looking to book a stay at universal, next year in November for 2 weeks for a birthday trip with me and a friend. this will be my first time staying on site for a long stay. I have ( I think!) Narrowed it down to two options which is the hard rock and RP. The price diffence between the two are about £800 including tickets so quite a big jump. I wanted to know if hard rock would be a better option? As I’m a bit concerned RP may be a couple based type of resort and might be odd ones out.

I’d love to know what your opinions are if any of you have stayed at both and which you prefer.

I've stayed at both very happily.

I love the theming at Royal Pacific! We went as a family of three, and didn't feel out of place at all.

And I loved the location of Hard Rock! It's closest to the parks, so it was really nice to be able to just walk right over.

I don't think you can go wrong either way.

 

[Skippyboo]

Hard Rock is closest to Studios side, RP is closest to IoA. RP is themed to the South Seas

I only have stayed 1 nights at Hard Rock. Multiple nights at RP. I don’t think Hard Rock is £800 better. You get express at both hotels. You can pool hop to other resorts. I would go for RP and use the savings for food costs

RP has convention space so you can get people there for business purposes. Not really a couples resort. I stayed a week there last September for Halloween Horror Nights. The hotel was full of Marcos Pizza people having a convention.

 

[lisam70]

I prefer RP I love the more tropical theming. It's definitely not a couples resort lots of families there. I like that its close to other resorts (SF, CB, Aventura) for pool hopping and restaurant choices.

 

[3gr8boys]

My family just had a great stay at Royal Pacific. Great ambience, nice spaces to hang out in, incredibly friendly staff at the Tuk-Tuk market..... no "couples only" vibe. There was a convention or something happening (saw a few signs), but it didn't impact our stay. We stayed at Hard Rock on our last trip and I was worried that the walk to the parks would feel longer - it didn't. I definitely prefer Royal Pacific out of the two.

 

[tony67]

I've stayed at both and I'd probably pick RP.

The walk during HHN to hard rock is great, but there are so many more options at RP IMO.
Sushi, Islands, Jakes and the pool bar are all great.
I do wish they still had Emeril's or had replaced it with something similar.

You have easy access to Sapphire Falls and the Rum bar, it's pool and pool bar and a great food court over at Aventura.

You can also walk or take the boat.

 

[BostonEd]

You can get a suite at Sapphire Falls for around the same as a regular hotel room at HR or RP. For two weeks, I think you'll be a LOT more comfortable in a suite. You won't get Express Pass, but you're there for two weeks--you'll get to do everything you want and more.

As I’m a bit concerned RP may be a couple based type of resort

Um, no.

 

[OP95]

I've stayed at both very happily.

I love the theming at Royal Pacific! We went as a family of three, and didn't feel out of place at all.

And I loved the location of Hard Rock! It's closest to the parks, so it was really nice to be able to just walk right over.

I don't think you can go wrong either way.

Thanks for the reply!

 

[OP95]

Thanks everyone for the input it seems like RP is the popular choice! I guess it would be smarter to save the extra money.

 

[OP95]

You can get a suite at Sapphire Falls for around the same as a regular hotel room at HR or RP. For two weeks, I think you'll be a LOT more comfortable in a suite. You won't get Express Pass, but you're there for two weeks--you'll get to do everything you want and more.

Um, no.

Do they have twin bed suites at sapphire or are they all king? Thanks for the advice.

 

[nighttowll]

Stayed at all the premiers, and love them all for different reasons. If money wasn't a factor, I'd choose Hard Rock because you can't beat how close it is, and we love eating at the Kitchen. At almost a $1,000 difference, I'd choose RP for sure. It's like 4 minutes longer of a walk, not worth $800 to save 4 minutes.

As others have said, RP is not a couples resort at all. It's usually the least expensive of the 3 premiers, so it tends to attract families who need more than one room. It feels the most family oriented of all 3 to me. Hard Rock definitely feels the more adult of the two, and Portofino especially does with its theme, spa, and distance from parks.

I don't recommend Sapphire. If I had the option, I wouldn't give up my EP unless I had to. You never know when you might need them, and with kids or a family group who wants to stay together, they are even more valuable. You can hop over and use all the amenities at Sapphire from RP. I'd rather have a week with EP than 2 without. That's too long anyway for Universal. Even at a week, we usually schedule in other activities outside of the park or lots of pool / water park time. I'd also do CB family suites over Sapphire if I am going to bother downgrading to save money.

This is speaking from the lesson I learned going in February when I was deciding between Hard Rock and Aventura. I decided to go with Aventura to save the $ because it should have been the off-season. It ended up being summer level crowds and awful!!! I've actually gone in the summer when it was less crowded. It was so bad. I've gone that same week or around that time in February multiple times in the past when the park was empty, so you just never know anymore.

 

[OP95]

Stayed at all the premiers, and love them all for different reasons. If money wasn't a factor, I'd choose Hard Rock because you can't beat how close it is, and we love eating at the Kitchen. At almost a $1,000 difference, I'd choose RP for sure. It's like 4 minutes longer of a walk, not worth $800 to save 4 minutes.

As others have said, RP is not a couples resort at all. It's usually the least expensive of the 3 premiers, so it tends to attract families who need more than one room. It feels the most family oriented of all 3 to me. Hard Rock definitely feels the more adult of the two, and Portofino especially does with its theme, spa, and distance from parks.

I don't recommend Sapphire. If I had the option, I wouldn't give up my EP unless I had to. You never know when you might need them, and with kids or a family group who wants to stay together, they are even more valuable. You can hop over and use all the amenities at Sapphire from RP. I'd rather have a week with EP than 2 without. That's too long anyway for Universal. Even at a week, we usually schedule in other activities outside of the park or lots of pool / water park time. I'd also do CB family suites over Sapphire if I am going to bother downgrading to save money.

This is speaking from the lesson I learned going in February when I was deciding between Hard Rock and Aventura. I decided to go with Aventura to save the $ because it should have been the off-season. It ended up being summer level crowds and awful!!! I've actually gone in the summer when it was less crowded. It was so bad. I've gone that same week or around that time in February multiple times in the past when the park was empty, so you just never know anymore.

Thank you for the advice, I think I will regret it if we didn’t have the EP even if it’s just the two of us and like you mentioned you never know the crowds. Especially as it’ll be Veterans Day whilst we’re there.We’ll be visiting Disney and hopefully epic too but the majority will be spent at universal. I think I’ve been persuaded to book RP, nice to know that it’s more family friendly. Appreciate the help.

 

[OP95]

My family just had a great stay at Royal Pacific. Great ambience, nice spaces to hang out in, incredibly friendly staff at the Tuk-Tuk market..... no "couples only" vibe. There was a convention or something happening (saw a few signs), but it didn't impact our stay. We stayed at Hard Rock on our last trip and I was worried that the walk to the parks would feel longer - it didn't. I definitely prefer Royal Pacific out of the two.

Thank you for the advice , I’ve watched quite a few videos and the giant pretzels look amazing there!

 

[OP95]

Have put down a deposit for RP, very excited! Appreciate everyone’s help.

 

[3gr8boys]

Thank you for the advice , I’ve watched quite a few videos and the giant pretzels look amazing there!

I highly recommend the Tuk-Tuk tarts . The coke freestyle machine has a water option for refilling travel cups and water bottles (though it will first warn you that you don't have the right kind of cup). If you want a cup for ice water, just ask at the register and they'll give you a good sized plastic cup.

 

[RocketCityMama]

We absolutely love Hard Rock, our hotel of choice for premiers. It is $$ though. We have also stayed at Royal Pacific a few times as well, loved it, and adore the theming at RP. We love HRH for the proximity, easy walk, and just enjoyed our overall visits more there.

We are staying at Portofino Bay this June, even with the construction. We are going in June and wanted express passes and that was avail for us.

My next choice if not needed express is Sapphire Falls. We stayed there in Feb and it was lovely.

 

[kevtlas]

Have put down a deposit for RP, very excited! Appreciate everyone’s help.

We loved it there! I didn’t feel the walk was that much further thank Hard Rock.

 

[LadybugsMum]

I picked HR over RP for next May because of the location and it was only $100 more for the 3 nights. The pool slide at HR also played a part as my kids are big slide lovers and RP's pool doesn't have a slide.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

Given the choice, would do HP over RP every time. Convenience and vibe are big pluses for HP.

 

[weather_lady]

We've had several lovely stays at both (although we'd never return to HRH again due to a final stay that was so terrible that it ruined an entire vacation, but that experience was anomalous and fluky enough that I wouldn't want it to dissuade others from staying there).

The main difference is simply theming: HRH is boisterous, loud both in decor and volume, and has plenty of interesting rock/pop star memorabilia to peruse. RPR is quieter and more serene and spa-like (albeit not by any means a "couples only" resort -- the percentage of families is the same as you'll find anywhere else on property).

The pools (although as @LadybugsMum pointed out, HRH has a slide, while RPR has a water play area), and dining are fairly comparable, although we're more interested in casual options and grab-and-go, which gives RPR the edge for my family. HRH has a lounge, 2 TS restaurants (The Kitchen, and the upscale and pricy The Palm which has a dress code), CS with ice cream and pizza and some limited snack options, and pool bar. RPR has a lounge with sushi bar, 2 casual TS restaurants (Islands Dining Room and Jake's American Bar), a pool bar, and a nice grab-and-go market with a varied selection of fresh foods and soup-and-sandwich type items.

As for transportation and location, HRH is about a 5 minute walk to the entrance of Universal Studios Florida. RPR is a 7-8 minute walk to Citywalk (near Margaritaville), and a couple minutes more to reach the front entrance of Islands of Adventure. Both resorts also offer water taxi transportation to Citywalk.