Just back - 2 nites at HRH

[messick4]

Hi, everyone, we just got back last week from Orlando and had a great time!

We decided to try Universal on this trip and LOVED it!

The HRH was awesome! Everyone was so nice to us, from the valet staff to the front desk and concierge! Our kids are old enough now that we rent a rollaway. The room was nice, clean, and good size. The rollaway made it a little tight, but all of us got a good night's sleep. The small starbucks/ice cream shop downstairs was convenient for coffee in the mornings. The pool was fabuous.

We were a little concerned about what the atmosphere would be like at the hotel with all the rock theming. My parents went with us (in a separate room) and they're in their 70's and are Hampton Inn people. But the place was very family oriented, and my parents loved it.

Best part was the access to Citywalk and the parks! FOTL was great! This is such an awesome perk, it's worth staying at the hotel for no other reason.

We really enjoyed both parks and could have spent another day or two there, because we kept riding each attraction multiple times. Spiderman is the best attraction we have ever experienced!

We dined one evening at Mythos and loved it.

Admittedly, Disney still has the magic, but if your kids are older (ours are 7,11), you'd probably enjoy a few days at Universal. We sure did.

Questions?
Tom

 

[alien]

We're going for the first time this weekend - staying 3 nights at HRH. How were the crowds? Did they limit FOTL pass at all during your stay? Any info would be appreciated since we've never done Universal or their hotels before.
Thanks,
Cindy

 

[messick4]

The crowds weren't too bad. They didn't limit FOTL at all.

They offer water taxis and bus shuttles from HRH to the parks, but we found the walk to be so short they weren't worth the wait.

When we checked into the hotel at 9 am, they advised that our room wasn't ready (no surprise there), but gave us our room keys without telling us the room number. They then call your cell phone to let you know when the room is ready. So take your cell phone into the parks. Naturally I got the call while riding ET but was able to hear the room number. If you don't have a cell phone, they also give you the number to call to check the room status whenever you want.

We had dinner one night in the hotel's "Kitchen" restaurant. They have a small kids buffet, but the adult menu is cooked to order. The kids liked the buffet, and the adult entrees were just OK. Nothing to get excited about.

My parents have stayed with us on vacations on other trips in other resorts that they thought were over-priced, etc., but they said several times they'd come back to HRH in a heartbeat.