I need your opinion on switching from HRH to the RPR

[macraven]

i have over 20 different stays at hrh but going back to rph this year.
i have stayed at all 3 hotels before.

the service at hrh was not to my satisfaction at all on my last 3 stays there.

the atmosphere at rph is a calm, serene one.
staff are very helpful.

i went to rph last year to meet a friend.
sat around the pool.

wasn't there for but a short time period of 2 minutes and wait staff come to me asking if i needed to order food, drink, etc.
very attentive....


you have a 3-4 minute walk from hrh to the studio side and then another couple of minutes to get to ioa. hrh to cw if you walk it, would be close to 9 minutes, maybe 10.

the water taxis run every 20 minutes. it would be shorter time period to walk than wait for the boat at hrh then.


coming from rph for ioa, the walkway would take you about 7 minutes to reach ioa and then another couple of minutes to reach the studio side.

but, the walkway from rph empties out at cw and feet from ioa.

when i stayed at rph before, i always took the water taxi except to time the walk one morning.

i save my feet for walking in the parks...


what i really like about rph is they have more restaurants than hrh does.
and much much closer to city walk.

if i want a snack in the morning and not the breakfast buffet at the hotel, i go to pastamore and to the side window for a take out breakfast. only about $5 and tables are provided for morning diners there.
or cinnabon and coffee is another plus for me that early in city walk.

cw opens at 8am, but last year they did let me get items at 7:45 as it was only a pastry and coffee.


i guess it depends on the atmosphere you are seeking.
you have to ask yourself, will 5 minutes more of walking make a difference on which hotel i select.

about that view, i have had a room at rph in the past where my view of the hulk was in my face type of view.

i could hear the whooshing sound when they tested it each morning.
what a thrill that was.....

not a loud sound, but detectable, you could lay in the bed, look out the window and watch it.

i loved hrh greatly.
but, service is very important to me when i stay in a hotel.

i have found staff and service at rph to meet my standards of what i expect as a guest.

the lobby at rph is much different from the other 2 hotels.
i really enjoy the middle of that lobby .........


rooms are a tad larger at hrh and even larger at pbh.
rooms are above average in size at rph.

i'm staying at a suite this year again and those king suites are 650 sq ft at rph. more than enough room for me.

 

[amystevekai&bump]

thanks Macraven for that really good reply - it's made it a lot clearer for me (especially to appreciate the distance of RPH in relation to HRH)

Can I just ask when your last 3 visits to HRH were?? (We were there in May 2008 and we didn't have a problem, but I know that you travel there a lot and wondered if the standards had slipped more recently or if I just 'got lucky' and that it has been going down for a while??)

 

[macraven]

my last visit was mid october o8 last year.
one earlier in that year and in mid october 07.

 

[kevin harrison]

I have found the servce fine on the whole at the HRH, biggest issue was the hit and miss nature of the turndown service, they kept forgetting or delivering the wrong morning paper and valet a couple of times hadn't bought my car around.

Minor issues, and pleased to be revisiting in September. Had a meal at RPR and a walk around and didn't seem to be in the same league as HRH in my opinion.

 

[kevin harrison]

my last visit was mid october o8 last year.
one earlier in that year and in mid october 07.

What happened?

 

[euclid2323]

I have stayed at both and can tell you the Royal Pacific beats the Hard Rock hands down!! RPR's grounds are beautiful and the staff is superfriendly, as opposed to HRH's small albeit attractive grounds and off-putting staff. I don't know if it is supposed to be part of the "cool" Hard Rock feel or not but from the minute we walked up to the counter to check in to the minute we left the hotel the staff was downright rude!! They all wear black and act like they don't care if you are there or not. In contrast RPR is one of the most hospitable hotels I've ever been to, if you like the Poly, you will loooove RPR.

 

[kevin harrison]

the hotel the staff was downright rude!! They all wear black and act like they don't care if you are there or not.

They all wear black??? Roadies wear black - it's the Hard Rock Hotel.

Most ridiculous criticism I've ever read on these boards.

 

[daisymae]

We just returned from seven nights at HRH and found all of the staff to be very friendly and helpful. We loved the pool activities and the people working there were our favorites. There is a laid back atmospherein the hotel. Our only complaint was housekeeping. It was inconsistent and most times not well done. We discovered there was nightly turn down service half way into the week - never received it until the last two nights. The last night, they were knocking at our door at 10 pm. Housekeeping was always friendly - just not always there!

 

[La2kw]

I have a deluxe room booked at the HRH for my upcoming vacation and I'm thinking of making a change to the RPR for a couple of reasons.

The more I look at the RPR, the more it grows on me. One of the reasons why I like to stay at Disney's Polynesian resort is the tropical feeling and theming of the resort. The RPR also has a great looking tropical theme to me and I think I would enjoy that resort more than I would the HRH. Also the price is a factor too. As with every vacation I plan it seems that the vacation grows from a quick, cheap get away to a 7 day excursion.

So any money I would save, would be more I could spend on meals and at the parks. As my wife told me yesterday, we're not in the room that much so the smaller room size at the RPR shouldn't bother us. Plus I like the looks of the pool at the RPR better than the one at the HRH. I just keep getting the feeling I'll be happier at the RPR than the Hard Rock

I would like the input from some of you who have stayed at both.

We love the RPR, it's our favorite of the 3. In fact, we just switched our ressies from Portofino to the Royal Pacific because we couldn't stand the idea of not going back there this summer. Hard Rock is nice and the walk to Universal is fantastic, but the Royal Pacific just appeals to us more. We like the restaurants better, we like the themeing better, and we like the pool better.