is it worth the extra-club level at universal hotel?????

[crabbie1]

Hi
I know a lot of people probably wont know. For anyone thats stayed at the universal hotels is it worth the extra £180 to stay club level(concierge like disney) and have the benefits or is the standard waterview without the posh bit suffient. Never stayed onsite but going to book today as found a good price.£554 for waterview without concierge £734 with.Its the idea of breakfast that appeals .We are planning half a day at aquatica then come back and relax so we can pop up and have snacks and dinner in the lounge. Looked at some photos and the food is lovely and plenty big enough for a meal as we r not big eaters.
Any advice would be great. Going to book today as cancelled LBVRVS due to the fact we will have no car and having to pay taxis to get to resturant from there etc. Difference in cost is £165 extra for standard room at Royal Pacific and £345 for concierge.
thankyou
alyosn

 

[rpbert1]

Never stayed Club, but if you are not big eaters , it might not be worth it, The breakfast is Continental Danish bagels to toast and bread cereal etc, we usually just get something in orchid Court , but that would only be now and again as we do not usually have a breakfast. To benefit from the Evening offerings, you would need to be at the hotels most of the time, we like to try different places in the evenings, you need to look at the times for the different things on offer, depending how many there is as well , i think tthere would need to be 4 of you to really benefit.
we where gave it once as a comp,added to our room, but we never used it once in 3 weeks.

 

[wayneg]

We had option to upgrade for next to nothing, I think it was about $25-$30/night more but we don't eat breakfast, eat lunch in the parks and evening meal too many other places we want to eat at, just not interested in eating or drinking in the hotel.

 

[crabbie1]

Ok thanks for that.When I say not big eaters I mean full breakfasts so continental everyday and they give bottles of water which we can take out and the times are fine as we will be back from the parks to enjoy the evening facilities.Just trying to budget for breakfast x5 mornings drinks when at hotel etc to see if it adds up to the £180.We will be eating at city walk 2 nights so I suppose what you say is right. No matter what i am booking today through universal site as there price is the same as hotels .com who I have had a load of hassel with trying to get a refund as they wouldnt let me pay the extra to book through they. plus only got to pay deposit so can put the money in the bank for 2 months.

 

[crabbie1]

We had option to upgrade for next to nothing, I think it was about $25-$30/night more but we don't eat breakfast, eat lunch in the parks and evening meal too many other places we want to eat at, just not interested in eating or drinking in the hotel.

Having not stayed onsite what are the average prices for breakfasts and meals in the hotel and citywalk and where could we get breakfast from?

 

[wayneg]

Having not stayed onsite what are the average prices for breakfasts and meals in the hotel and citywalk and where could we get breakfast from?

August will be our 1st time, Robert might know.

 

[rpbert1]

Breakfast at Orchid Court is priced per item, never looked at prices, so asked DW, varies from a couple $$ for danish pastries up fruit etc, when i take something its always there Cinnamon Buns they where i think $3 and actually quite big, you get free refills of coffee up till 11am mon to fri and 12 midday Sat and Sun, breakfast when we buy it would usually cost us about $18.DD would go down on her own in the morning ,as she has to have her cereal fruit juice and a danish and if i remember it would be about $8 or $9

 

[Jets fan]

Yesterday I booked club level at the Royal Pacific as I fancied the snacks and drinks you can get. Never tried it before so am really looking forward to it, although it is quite pricey and probably not the best use of my money!

Tina

 

[scojos]

we stayed club 7 at hrh 4 years ago, and we loved it!!
bfast was great, nothing amzing but loads of snacky things that my younger kids loved, there was free beer and drinks during cocktail hour as well as snacks from 5-7 they showed cartoons for the kids and there was free soft drinks and water available all day.
they have a turn down service which leaves little gifts and chocolates as well as bed time treats ice cream, cookies etc for the kids 7-9ish, which me kids loved
for us, we made the most of it, went to the parks til lunch time then came back and chilled around the pool in the afternoon, it was deff worth the $$$.
we didnt pay to eat out whilst there (except for lunch in the parks) and saved us a fortune...except we got stung for parking, which we werent expecting
i would recommend it the staff are amazing if you spend the time to chat with them, dd was 3 and they feed her oreos for the entire time
we had a great stay thanks to them they booked our ressies for lunch and got us pictures of scooby doo
hth
tracy

 

[penlanspice]

HI Alyson

I haven't checked in with you for a while, i've been mega busy at work and hardly had an Internet time!!

We stayed at Royal Pacific a few years ago and plan to stay again next year, we were offered an upgrade at check in but turned it down, for us it wasn't cost efficient as we planned on eating out at a few places in City walk and wouldn't of got the $$ value out of it.
If brekkie is your main concerned then why don't you stop at a store on your way from Disney and pick up breakfast items, this will save you a fortune. We usually eat breakfast in our room wherever we are as we usually just tend to have a muffin/cereal or toast.

Sam

 

[jmagla]

We stayed at RPR last year in club level, which was very good, the food was much better than expected, particularly at night time and I have to say I took advantage of the free beer! The guys that worked in the lounge were very very good and overall it was a great experience.

The only downside (and the reason we are not staying club level this year at the HRH) is that we ended up staying in the lounge for most evenings and for me one of the big pleasures is sampling the different places to eat (on and offsite) and for that week we didn’t.

Personally I think if you can get a good deal, it’s definitely worth trying it, at least once.

 

[torsie24]

If as others say you are plnning to eat your meals in the lounge then it's not a bad price.

I personally wouldn't spring for it as if I were staying at US for a night or two I'd want to eat at Margaritaville and Bubba Gump, so the difference would be a chunk towards that, and we have our own snacky breakfast in the room.

 

[Babyboo]

I love club level's full stop, just think it's something special, but never looked at it to save money on food. Have done it 3 times at Portofino. At first I was smitten with it but the last couple of time we have not bothered and have been just as happy.

There is no difference in room or location from non club room, if we want breakfast we go to one of the hotel restuarants.

If booking club made a difference to the rooms (ie. RPC) or helped with planning (we don't need this at Universal) then maybe we would look at it again but as it stands not worth it to us.

 

[crabbie1]

I love club level's full stop, just think it's something special, but never looked at it to save money on food. Have done it 3 times at Portofino. At first I was smitten with it but the last couple of time we have not bothered and have been just as happy.

There is no difference in room or location from non club room, if we want breakfast we go to one of the hotel restuarants.

If booking club made a difference to the rooms (ie. RPC) or helped with planning (we don't need this at Universal) then maybe we would look at it again but as it stands not worth it to us.

When I phoned they told me that club rooms are in tower 3 on the 7th floor. Having not stayed not sure which building is best.We will prob get water taxi or walk to the parks.
For 5 nights I worked out from the price quoted today that it is £163 extra. Will still try bubba gumps and the pasta place but leaning towards the club as well.Considering was going to book sunday still podering.Was advised if I book through loews direct any further reductions on the room prices would apply but I dont think will get much less and dont have AP.
Thanks guys some great comments and things to think about.

 

[rpbert1]

Get it booked Alyson, Tower3 is my personal fav, remember if you do see it cheaper, you have to phone to have the new rate applied to your booking.

 

[crabbie1]

yes rob I am going to tomorrow. My DB has told me to stop tittin about and just book it. Obviously if dollar goes up then it will be even cheaper.

 

[disney_princess_85]

I stayed Club Level at HRH last year. It wasn't fantastic, to be honest: the food choices were minimal and the dessert hour was a joke (one plate of cookies!). The beer and wine was the best part. Overall, we expected more and were disappointed. We're staying at RPR CL this year as we've heard it's better.

they have a turn down service which leaves little gifts and chocolates as well as bed time treats ice cream, cookies etc for the kids 7-9ish, which me kids loved

We didn't get anything like that! According to what I've read, a lot of cutbacks have been made- CL used to be much better, apparently.

 

[crabbie1]

well after much deliberation and advice from you guys I have booked waterview WITHOUT club(for now) Still have to weigh up if we will be there enough to use it so booked direct through loewes who said I can upgrade and will honour the price I booked at today and what the club rate is. So paid a deposit and at least reserved the room.Was cheaper through othersites by about £20 for this room but dearer for club and I havent had to pay all up front so pleased.
Off to change ticker now

 

[disney_princess_85]

Hmm, didn't know you could pay a deposit. Do you have to call them to do this?

 

[crabbie1]

Hmm, didn't know you could pay a deposit. Do you have to call them to do this?

Yes but I phoned to enquire first and then I booked on loewes site direct. Universal studios site us is the same.