HELP PLEASE! PORTOFINO BAY CLUB LEVEL/ or HRH CLUB LEVEL??

[chimo2u]

OK: Dilema!!! could use some help/recommendations please!

I am currently booked at Portofino Bay Club Level for 2 nights in August. It is just my 14yo son and myself traveling. I really wanted to try PBH for the pretty rooms, and "Italy" feel....as well, I've read that the beach pool is pretty fun! (one of the best)

I am beginning to second guess my choice again with all the reading and research I do! I know my 14yo son would probably love the HRH hollywood/rock theme....music in the pool, etc. Another Pro to HRH would be a closer access to the park.

I don't want to be "traipsing all over God's green earth" so-to-say to get to the parks by staying at Portofino Bay. Is the walk/boat transportation fairly manageable to get to the parks?

Have you stayed Club level at either of these resorts? Which one do you prefer?? Important to me are: Nice atmosphere, good service, lovely rooms, good club level. I am a Deluxe gal at heart and love the Deluxe resorts at Disney. Love AKL and this trip are staying at the Beach Club for our first time. I am wondering if I should stay put with my current reservation, or transfer it to Hard Rock Hotel?
Oh, did I say....I am a resort waffler?? for some reason everything I pick gets questioned over and over again until I finally settle and am at peace with a decision! I am pretty happy with myself as I am FINALLY 100% at peace with staying at the Beach Club for our Disney portion of our trip (even though it's new for us, we are looking forward to trying it! )...Now I would love to be at peace with our Universal Resort Reservation too!
Please help this indecisive, flip-flopping, questioning gal so I can HAVE SOME PEACE and stop re-thinking this!!!!
Thank you

 

[chimo2u]

Ok....after reading (more research ) while waiting for some replies, I came across this earlier thread:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2465931

I think with what I read, I will stick to PBH. It really sounds like a beautiful resort and much my style (luxurious!!)
If the walk is a little longer, then so be it..... just means an opportunity for added exercise, which I am sure I'll need to burn off all those vacation calories I am sure to consume with the DDP and eating out everyday for 9 days!!!
I am getting excited for our trip, but don't want time to go too fast, I enjoy the researching, planning and dreaming! I know it will be over before I know it, so I want to savour it all

Back to reading, dreaming and planning!

 

[tfoster]

Well, hello there, fellow resort waffler! Someone should really start a support group for our kind!

We've also gone back and forth and back and forth and back and forth about where to stay for our upcoming trip (this December). I'm in love with all of the pictures of PBH, but boy, wouldn't it be nice to be as close to the parks as HRH or RPR are and wouldn't it be nice to have that extra several hundred dollars for something else (we need two rooms)? Right now, we're booked at PBH, but honestly, who knows whether or not that will change?!

We're not doing club level, but from what I've read, it seems that "the club" is nicer at PBH than at HRH.

 

[dvcdisney]

Our upcoming trip is our first time staying onsite at Universal as well. And I definitely know what you mean about changing my mind. Originally when I booked it, I booked RPR club level because I noticed a lot more reviews about it and how many absolutely loved their stay. I love the theming. But as I did a little more research, I realized my family would prefer PBH because the rooms are larger and it's more our type of resort. I would prefer the quietness. But then I found out that the club level rooms are not all in the same level and the club lounge is on the main floor. I started to think that it may be just too inconvenient. So I started questioning that decision. I think we'd prefer this resort, but like the idea of a club level rooms (all in the same floor). But, my husband finally mentioned to me that I was overthinking this because we were not the type of people to get up and go to the lounge immediately after waking. We were always going to get up, get ready and then go to the lounge. And so after visiting the lounge we'd go straight out and to the parks. It made sense to me. I think I was just getting carried away when I read that people found it inconvenient sometimes since it may not be on the same level as the room.

I will admit that it's mostly because I was afraid that I would get in a floor with pets and my husband is allergic. One of the main reasons why we chose club level (one of the easiest decision we made) was that there were no pet rooms on club level.

Anyways, back to my point. I'm sorry that I don't have any experience at the onsite Universal resorts. But I thought that I'd chime in to let you know that we had similar thoughts and decided that PBH appears to be a better fit for us (I am hoping we made the correct decision). We usually at the Disney's deluxe villas - AKV, VWL, BWV, BLT, OKW and our absolute favourite is BCV. I know I don't have to talk you into BC, but we stay there at least once a year and we love it!

Good luck! And with all the reviews of the 3 hotels, I don't think anyone could make a wrong choice. It seems like they are all great!

 

[chimo2u]

Our upcoming trip is our first time staying onsite at Universal as well. And I definitely know what you mean about changing my mind. Originally when I booked it, I booked RPR club level because I noticed a lot more reviews about it and how many absolutely loved their stay. I love the theming. But as I did a little more research, I realized my family would prefer PBH because the rooms are larger and it's more our type of resort. I would prefer the quietness. But then I found out that the club level rooms are not all in the same level and the club lounge is on the main floor. I started to think that it may be just too inconvenient. So I started questioning that decision. I think we'd prefer this resort, but like the idea of a club level rooms (all in the same floor). But, my husband finally mentioned to me that I was overthinking this because we were not the type of people to get up and go to the lounge immediately after waking. We were always going to get up, get ready and then go to the lounge. And so after visiting the lounge we'd go straight out and to the parks. It made sense to me. I think I was just getting carried away when I read that people found it inconvenient sometimes since it may not be on the same level as the room.

I will admit that it's mostly because I was afraid that I would get in a floor with pets and my husband is allergic. One of the main reasons why we chose club level (one of the easiest decision we made) was that there were no pet rooms on club level.

Anyways, back to my point. I'm sorry that I don't have any experience at the onsite Universal resorts. But I thought that I'd chime in to let you know that we had similar thoughts and decided that PBH appears to be a better fit for us (I am hoping we made the correct decision). We usually at the Disney's deluxe villas - AKV, VWL, BWV, BLT, OKW and our absolute favourite is BCV. I know I don't have to talk you into BC, but we stay there at least once a year and we love it!

Good luck! And with all the reviews of the 3 hotels, I don't think anyone could make a wrong choice. It seems like they are all great!

Hello to a fellow Canuck
Thank you for your post....I could have written much of that, as I have thought the same things often.....going around and around overthinking things! I too, finally decided to just stay put with PBH no matter the distance from the park, or the floor club level is on. I just love the overall style/feel of the Italian theme the most. I think I will really enjoy this beautiful resort and a "little taste of Italy" won't hurt either! I also agree with you that the lounge not being on the same floor as my room won't be that big of a deal as I usually get ready first and then head to the lounge. I am not one of those ppl who go to the lounge in my bathrobe every AM for my breakfast! I dress, hit the lounge for B'fast then hit the parks. I don't mind taking an elevator for a couple floors to get to the club lounge. I am used to staying Club Level at AKL, and we fared just fine without having the lounge outside our bedroom door
I am looking forward to PBH.... it looks amazing and I am also looking forward to trying some yummy Italian Gelato, Sal's pizza and soaking in the ambiance! It looks and sounds dreamy!
When is your trip?? We will be there August 26th, 27th and then fly home later in the afternoon on the 28th. Have and amazing trip!

 

[dvcdisney]

Hello to a fellow Canuck
Thank you for your post....I could have written much of that, as I have thought the same things often.....going around and around overthinking things! I too, finally decided to just stay put with PBH no matter the distance from the park, or the floor club level is on. I just love the overall style/feel of the Italian theme the most. I think I will really enjoy this beautiful resort and a "little taste of Italy" won't hurt either! I also agree with you that the lounge not being on the same floor as my room won't be that big of a deal as I usually get ready first and then head to the lounge. I am not one of those ppl who go to the lounge in my bathrobe every AM for my breakfast! I dress, hit the lounge for B'fast then hit the parks. I don't mind taking an elevator for a couple floors to get to the club lounge. I am used to staying Club Level at AKL, and we fared just fine without having the lounge outside our bedroom door
I am looking forward to PBH.... it looks amazing and I am also looking forward to trying some yummy Italian Gelato, Sal's pizza and soaking in the ambiance! It looks and sounds dreamy!
When is your trip?? We will be there August 26th, 27th and then fly home later in the afternoon on the 28th. Have and amazing trip!

We'll be there Aug 21-28th. We're also at SeaWorld the week before. This is our first vacation to Orlando that doesn't involve Disney so I'm a little nervous about it. We rarely ventured out of Disney property. Last year we drove to US/IOA but we did not want to stay onsite. Now, I'm really looking forward to it.

By the way, I'm also looking forward to some Italian desserts.

Hope you have a great trip too!

 

[SmallWorld71]

I think you made the right choice! We have been waffling back and forth between PBH and HRH and finally settled on HRH club level. No matter how many pictures we looked at, PBH just wasn't calling out to the family. At Disney, we prefer the values and moderates. Although they are lovely, I think Disney's deluxes are way overpriced. I tried to book a room at the Poly in Feb. (40% off code!) and ended up switching to POP because I couldn't justify the price to myself. So, using crazy reverse psychology, since we seem to have opposite opinions about Disney resorts, makes sense that we would choose differently for Universal. We'll be there in August, too.

 

[goNDmay9]

Hi Fellow Wafflers!

I have stayed at all three resorts and honestly, i doubt you can go wrong with any of them. My family goes back and forth and to which are our fav's!!!! I have to say though, that the beds at PBH are kinda fab, so if the rate is at all close and you like luxury, i would pick PBH. The coolest thing to us at HRH was the underwater music in the pool!!

Then you have to think about the cuisine too. The italian food is oh so yummy. I looked into having my wedding there! Also, since you are on club, PBH has peroni beer. HRH and RPR have corona. hmmm - did i mention the beds? I have also found that the pools at PBH are a little quieter.

I do have to say that we were originally reluctant to stay at PBH b.c of the club room being on a different floor, but it was not even really noticed at ALL!! you are closer to the pool anyway.

 

[MinnieTheisen]

goNDmay9 - love your tag. Awesome books!

 

[CRSTEPHE]

I've booked a queen deluxe room for Aug 1-6. Does anyone have recent pictures of the room interiors? Wondering if they have flat screen TV's and also wondering about bath/shower products.

 

[CRSTEPHE]

Posted in the wrong place--sorry