HRH vs. RPH - Help!

[Kayeil]

Help! I found this site a week ago and have been addicted ever since! DH, me, DD (15) & DD (11) are planning our first visit to USO. Thanks to this wonderful site, I decided to split our hotel between WDW and USO. So many great advantages to staying onsite at USO! I’ve read lots about HRH and RPH and am totally confused which one to choose. Both sound great! Can you help me decide? Here are some questions I’d like help with:

1) Which pool do you prefer and why - HRH or RPH?

2) DH & I are long time rock fans. But we also like to resort to a quiet tropical place after a busy day. Am I correct to think that HRH is more crowded and more activity? Are the rooms quiet?

3) Which resort offers the better location?

4) Which resort offers the nicest room for a family of 4? We can secure the Entertainment Rate at HRH for $125 and RPH for $110. Both are standard garden view rooms.

5) I’ve read on this site that both hotels have problems with alarms going off in the middle of the night. Is this a regular occurrence?

I need to make a decision quickly to secure the rates. Thanks, everyone!

Kayeil

WDW - CBR (5/00)

 

[Disney Debbie]

I can't compare the two because I'm yet to stay at RPR - but I can give you my opinion on Hard Rock.

1. I think the pools are similar in that they have zero entry, a beach area, are quite shallow, have plenty of lounge chairs,beautifully landscaped, a pool side snack bar and bar, and kiddie play areas. HRH has more cabanas and has the "Dive-In Movies". HRH has a slide and RPR doesn't. RPR has a regular beach volleyball area. HRH has the music underwater - which is cool but not necessarily a reason to pick them only! We LOVED the HRH pool and that's why we're staying longer this visit when we go to RPR - so we can enjoy the pool area more. One really great thing about these resorts is that you CAN pool-hop so you can try all three of them if you want.

2. HRH was not crowded or noisy at all when we went. We were there in the middle of May 2 years ago. I've seen some complaints from folks about hearing the music around the pool until very late at night - but we had a pool view and even though my family says I can hear a door creak at 50 feet - I wasn't disturbed at all.

3. From the maps it looks like RPR is about the same distance to IOA as HRH is to Universal. So I'd say they're about equal on the location issue.

4. HRH has slightly larger rooms and they have a sink in the actual toilet/tub area and another one outside the bathroom door. I don't believe RPR has but one sink but it is outside the toilet/tub area.

5. I've only read of that happening once and I believe it was when the RPR was fairly new. You've got to expect stuff like that. I certainly didn't have anything like that happen at HRH when we were there.


At the time we stayed there our DD was 15 and she was just as impressed as we were with everything. We're staying at RPR this time just to try something new and to save $75. I LOVED HRH and would highly recommend it to anyone - I hope to be able to say the same in 89 1/2 days about RPR!!

 

[beattyfamily]

We stayed at HRH in 2001 and then RP (because of the great introductory rates) in 2002. This year we're staying at HRH again.

My thoughts...

HRH is more for rock and roll fans with its atmosphere but it's also a luxurious 5 star hotel. It beautiful.

We preferred the pool at HRH because it had a slide...

I feel the location of HRH is the best of all 3 hotels and the walk from HRH to the parks a hair closer than RP. Not as windy; more straight forward.

The rooms are a little bigger than at RP.

I didn't feel as much pressure to use the bellhop at HRH than at RP for some reason and at RP we had two different bellhops to tip; the one who took our bags from the car to the desk and then a different one to take our bags from the front desk to our room. Not cool.

RP is tropical and beautiful. Its a nice resort. We just prefer the HRH a bit more. If RP had an amazing rate again, I'd give it a try again.

 

[damo]

DH, DD (16), DS (14) and I prefer the HRH for most of the same reasons as above. It's just a really cool resort. Very, very different than anything at Disney where at RP you are more likely to be comparing it to the Polynesian. It's location, pool, atmosphere, room size and decor, ice cream shop and music make for a very memorable vacation. You will not be disappointed.

 

[lomillerin]

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[Kayeil]

Thanks everyone for the great info! HRH is the winner! I booked reservations for four nights at the Entertainment Rate of $125. A couple of additional questions: Where's the best place to request a room? I've read that it's best to be near the elevators . . . but isn't it more noisy there? Also - is there adequate room for a load of suitcases? The rooms look fantastic, but don't look like they offer a lot of free space. Perhaps the photos don't do the space justice. Again - thanks for your input!