Hotel quandry. What to do? HELP NEEDED ASAP!

[MickeyManiacMom]

Ok, so long story cut extremely short. I won a trip to US in February and scheduled my trip for November 1-4 and our rooms were booked for us at the RPR. Fast forward to last night. I got a message from our promotions person that they have "upgraded" us to HRH instead and they will be sending me a new hotel reservation.

Is this truly an upgrade? After getting excited about RPR for the last 6 months, I am finding it hard to shift gears 2 weeks before our trip to a new hotel. I have not talked to the person yet - but I'm wondering why the sudden change.

Our group is 6 people - 4 adults and 2 children ages 5 and 6. We will be in 2 rooms. One family in each room. Honestly which hotel would be best, or are they about the same? We have never been to US so we don't know what to expect from any of this! Thank you so much for your help, you guys are the best!

 

[macraven]

luckie duckie.


go for hrh in a heartbeat.

the rooms are larger at hrh than at rph.
the layout is different.

the bathroom area at hrh has a full wall dividing it from the bed area and has a separate sink area outside the bath room area.

the wall when you enter the room is closet space with glass mirrors instead of doors.


and the hrh has been renovated and has plasma tv.


hrh costs more than rph.
be happy with the upgrade and if you want to return to universal hotels on your nickel for a future trip, go to rph where it would be cheaper for you on hotel costs.



you will not regret staying at hrh once.
the lobby is small compared to rph and the resturants at rph are better than hrh.
you will hear music in the lobby and elevator area but not on the floors.


came back to add, i have stayed 12 times at hrh, last week 4 days at rph and one night at pbh.

rph was a nice stay last week for me but my heart still belongs to hrh at this point. just wanted to add that so you know i have a preference on hotels. people that have preferences tend to overlook the deficiences at that hotel.
pm me if you have questions.

 

[goofy!]

I've never stayed at HRH, just RPR and PBH. But we have rented a cabana several times at HRH, so know the layout pretty well.

I don't think you can go wrong with either resort. The biggest Pro with HRH is it proximity to the parks, especially with young children. With FOTL, you won't have to worry about lines, so you can tour at your leisure. So, if the kids need a break at the pool or in the room, you are very close by. Although all three of the resorts are incredibly easy to go back and forth from the parks to the hotels, HRH is the easiest as it is the closest.

I wouldn't worry too much. The feel of the two places are different; RPR has that tropical, laid back feel and HRH more of the energized, rock and roll feel, but both are awesome. AND you will be at Universal. It can't get better than that

 

[damo]

You'll really like the HRH. You will probably get a newly renovated room, the kids will love the slide and the ice cream shop, the walk is closer... You will love it, don't worry.

 

[disneyfreakk]

WOO HOO!! lucky you! Yes, the HRH is a upgrade.

 

[MickeyManiacMom]

Ok, thank you for easing my mind. I am a bit of a control freak - so a last minute change in plans has thrown me into a small tizzy. I know it will all be fantastic - and who can beat free?

I now have a lot of catching up to do. The last 6 months I've been reading reviews on RPR, looks like I need to go back and read up on HRH! I like to be an informed traveler. I was worried that HRH might be too grown up or out there for little kids to enjoy. We were kind of digging the idea of the beach-y feel of the RPR.

When I spoke to promotions today, I asked to see if I could pay to upgrade to club level. It seems if you get a complimentary room they do not allow you to upgrade. Bummer. I would assume they would as right now they are getting $0 from me, and if we upgraded they would at least make some money. But that is ok, we are just so excited to be coming.

 

[macraven]

if you walk to the park there is a shortcut way.

i go out the front doors, down past the palm resturant and thru the employee parking lot.
at the studios side in 5 minutes tops.

you can walk, its the shortest walk of the 3 hotels to the park, you can take the shuttle bus (by pass this definitely) or the water taxi.

i take the water taxi and have walked if i miss the boat.

i have noticed that the boat schedule is every 10-2 minutes for hrh patrons.
last week it was announced that the boats for rph to the park run every 15-20 minutes. but, one day it was a 24 minute wait.
pbh has a wait longer than hrh.

hrh has less rooms than the the other 2 hotels.

if you have some down time, take the boat over to rph and check out the lobby, grounds, resturants and ask the front desk if you could see an emplty room. tell them you might be interested in staying there sometime in the future. you can also do the same for portifino bay hotel.

if the hotels are busy, you might not be allowed to see the rooms though.

you can pool hop and use any of the hotel pools even if you are staying at hrh.

you are a luckie duckie.

what type of contest did you enter in order to win this 4 day free trip?
i'm just curious. i have never entered any contest for a free trip and thought just now, why not .........

congrats on your win.

you will love staying on site at universal.
the fotl is great.

when you return please tell us all about your thoughts and the trip.

 

[MickeyManiacMom]

I won my trip from Nestle Waters. I had to buy 2 cases of bottled water for a work function. On the package it had Shrek and said something about "Choose your Own Adventure" sweepstakes. I thought "well what do I have to lose?" So I went online and entered the 2 codes from the cases of water and never thought about it again.

Until...... 3 months later out of nowhere I got a Fed Ex letter package. Odd - I didn't remember ordering anything. Inside it said I was the grand prize winner! YIPPEE!!! <----- I was like this for weeks! LOL! So I got to choose between attending a red carpet movie premier in Hollywood, Attending any concert I wanted with backstage privlidges or a 4 day trip to Universal with MANY perks (limo, hotel rooms, airfare, tickets, exclusive VIP tours of both parks..) So it didn't take much to convince me to do Option #3! So here we come - ready or not!

We decided over the course of several weeks to leave ds (2) at home with family for the trip, as he is too small to do anything and he is still afraid of even the kiddie rides. He also has ear troubles and I fear a flight with him! So for the "official winners" it lists me, my husband, my sister and her husband. We paid out of pocket to take along our daughters (mine is 5, hers is 6) with us.

 

[macraven]

thanks for sharing on how you won the contest.

i guess i am too lazy to fill out forms for contests but now i will not pass up that opportunity !!

this is the first time i have heard someone really win a universal trip.

i think this is so exciting for you and your family.

thank you for posting on the thread and sharing your great news !

 

[MickeyManiacMom]

I'll be posting pics in a few weeks when we return. We can't wait. At least once a night we are talking about it! We're getting antsy! Plus it's a miserable cold and rainy 46 degrees outside right now. The thought of warm, sunny 70-75 sounds great!

 

[silverhaze269]

You are soooooooooooo unbelievably lucky! I would kill for your trip

The Hard Rock is the best! I’ve never stayed at RPH, but I would assume it would be really nice as well. I guess it’s all about what you like and the type of atmosphere you prefer. HRH is rock music themed. If you like music there’s no way you can’t love this hotel. They have tons of rock star memorabilia so you won’t get bored when checking in. There’s music playing 24/7 in the public areas, like the lobby and pool area. Your younger children will probably really enjoy it, and if nothing else they will like the pool! There are underwater speakers so you don’t miss a song, plus water slide is great.

It’s also really close to the parks, which you will appreciate if someone needs a break in the afternoon.

Congrats on the win! I’m sure you will have a great time!

 

[marvel]

Congrats on the win. I would love to hear about HRH when you return. We were planning on RPR for May but now with all the positive talk about HRH I am starting to swing towards that. I have only been to one Hard Rock in Vegas so I
always think that it might not be appropriate for small children, of which we also have two. Look forward to hearing about your experience.