Just back from RPR Club

[Kim1964]

This was our first Universal visit, and I didn't care for the hotel. I booked club level and was dismayed when we were assigned a room on the 6th floor, as the club lounge is on the 7th floor. It was quite a hike from our room to the elevator. It was especially upsetting when people staying on the 7th floor gave me dirty looks when I got on at 6, as if I was sneaking into the lounge. One guy even questioned me about it....it was annoying and embarrassing, even though I wasn't doing anything wrong. I also didn't like the noise from people staying in the room above us, which is another reason I had booked club in the first place. Nobody who worked at the hotel gave a hoot that I was unhappy with the room assignment.

The lounge itself is a good size, and the food was very good. I also liked that it was open all day so we could grab drinks when we got back from the park, even if it was between food service times.

Our room was very clean, and housekeeping came before noon both days. I didn't like not having a balcony, though. It was really cold in the lounge and even though we adjusted the room temp, it was still cold. I would have loved to have a balcony to thaw out once in a while. I didn't think the theme was all that great, and the decor just didn't appeal to me.

It was a very short walk to IoA, which was good. WWoHP was great, though way too small for the number of tourists. We ate at Three Broomsticks three times and enjoyed it. We also had dinner at Mythos one night and it was very good, and the atmosphere was pretty cool. The rest of Universal wasn't a good fit for our family as we aren't big thrill ride folks and after being drenched at Epcot earlier in the week, we weren't into getting wet again. We stayed for 3 nights, which was too long. If we ever go back, I would book one night to get two early opening days for WWoHP, but I would try Portofino or Hard Rock, or maybe not even stay at the hotel. I'm glad we tried Universal, but I have discovered that I very much prefer Disney World and wished I was there during most of our Universal stay.

 

[macraven]

while you were there, you could have contacted the manager and be moved to the 7th floor when there was a vacancy during your stay.

if you booked club in the beginning and it was overbooked, you could have gone on a wait list to be moved from the 6th floor to the 7th.

 

[damo]

Just to be forewarned, at Portofino there is a club lounge and you can be placed on many different floors and still have club service. It isn't a specific floor. There are only a handful of balconies there and there are no balconies at HRH.

I find that that the RPR is very well themed to the Pacific Islands and is very true to any pictures that are out there. It is also very clear in the online photos that there are no balconies. There really aren't any surprises to what is being advertised on their website.

 

[Paging Mr. Morrow]

sorry you didnt like the resort, personally i think it is a great hotel. My suggestion would be to do some research before you go (i.e. look at pictures of the theme and decor/visit the universal website to look at the rides). If you look at the pictures you should be able to tell whether or not you like the theme or decor, like a few of the previous posters mentioned, the pictures on the website give you a very accurate idea of what the resort looks like overall. Also, the descriptions of the rides on the website should let you know whether or not they sound too thrilling for your likes. Finally, if you did not like your room you could have asked to be moved to a different floor (obviously not guaranteed, but worth a shot). I have been on the 6th floor at the club level before and it did not bother me at all to walk up one floor, but to each their own.

 

[Bluer101]

sorry you didnt like the resort, personally i think it is a great hotel. My suggestion would be to do some research before you go (i.e. look at pictures of the theme and decor/visit the universal website to look at the rides). If you look at the pictures you should be able to tell whether or not you like the theme or decor, like a few of the previous posters mentioned, the pictures on the website give you a very accurate idea of what the resort looks like overall. Also, the descriptions of the rides on the website should let you know whether or not they sound too thrilling for your likes. Finally, if you did not like your room you could have asked to be moved to a different floor (obviously not guaranteed, but worth a shot). I have been on the 6th floor at the club level before and it did not bother me at all to walk up one floor, but to each their own.

What's funny is about 3-4 months ago I posted a link to a website with hundreds of photos of RPR and the OP thought it looked great.

Here is that website:

http://www.oyster.com/orlando/hotels/universals-royal-pacific-resort-a-loews-hotel/photos/

 

[drag n' fly]

I can understand the op's opinion however. Sometimes all the pictures in the world dont help until you have your room assigned. For me it would suck having to access the lounge from a completely different floor. Our room was about as far from the lounge as you could get on the same floor and it was sucky. We did ask to be moved but nothinng came available. Did tons of research on HRH. Looked fine to me....got there...not my cup of tea...live and learn. Next time will stay at RPR or PBH.

 

[rpbert1]

We where on Floor 6 in July, preferred it as Club floor IMHO is or can be busy. You where lucky only being on floor 6 as they where down as far as floor 4 for Club when we where there.
Never had any probs or comments from people when we went up, although i think a lot of people think that people in Club are all on Floor 7 which is not the case

 

[Kim1964]

To clear up a couple of things:
1. Yes, I did research and look at photos and I knew going in that there was no balcony. My point was that I discovered that having a balcony mattered to me, not that I was surprised that I didn't have one at RPR.
2. Yes, I did look at Bluer101's photos and I did think it looked very nice in the photos. It just didn't "wow" me in person.
3. Yes, I could have moved to the 7th floor, but for a short stay (3 nights) it wasn't worth the inconvenience of being without a room for another full day while we waited for the new room to be ready.

damo, thank you for the information regarding club level at Portofino and the rooms being on different floors. I visited the resort one day and did notice the lack of balconies, but I didn't know about the club rooms being spread around the floors. I would have asked about it when I called to reserve it, as I learned on this trip that it can happen (it's never happened to me at WDW and that is the only other place I've ever booked a club level room). As I mentioned, this was our first time ever at Universal and I learned a lot and I'm glad we went because my kids loved WWoHP. I now have a better idea of what to expect if we return.

 

[bumbershoot]

FWIW, I've read that at the Contemporary (and probably other resorts) you can end up being put on the non CL floor, if the CL rooms are full.

And I know that it happens at the Disneyland resorts as well. Not sure if it still happens to this extreme, but in '09 at Disneyland Hotel one could be put in an entirely different TOWER from the Concierge room. We were lucky enough to be put on the correct floor in the right building, but wow what a pain that would be, to pay that money and have to actually leave your building to get to the concierge room for your morning coffee!

Point? That it's not just at Loews that this can happen. Don't expect that it cannot happen at Disney.



We weren't fans of the RPR club, and our room was tiny (especially since we were coming from OKW), but we loved the resort and ended up barely spending any time at the room. For the sake of more space, though, we're staying at PBR on this upcoming trip.

 

[Melanie230]

I am sorry you didn't like the resort. We like the RPR but it isn't our favorite out of the 3 hotels. From my understanding WWoHP is so small because J.K. Rowling wanted it to look authentic. The stores/shops are all small just like in the movies. She had the final say so in how it was designed.

I think sometimes we just have a bad experience. Our first stay at HRH was WONDERFUL..and we LOVED IT! Our last stay we had some very loud families that had didn't care that their children were squealing down the hallways at 12 midnight. We were awakened several nights. But that wasn't the hotels fault. It just is what it is!

 

[okiedokieartichoke]

Working at RPR I can tell you that almost half the guests with the club lounge access stay on the 7th floor and the others stay on the 6th floor (sometimes unfortunately on a lower floor than that, but I rarely see that happen.). I also worked at the Contemporary @ Disney and it was the same exact thing there. I've also seen hotels that have a club lounge on the top floor, and all the rooms are on floors beneath it. so I don't really see the big deal.

 

[cjc]

We stayed at RPR in club level for a week, and returned last week. I couldnt fault it - the staff couldnt do enough for you, food was varied and the Kids suite (Jurassic park) was excellent. We had a view of the parks/pool and think it was FAB.
We had stayed at the hotel before, but never Club Level, and this was excellent. We normally ate their at 4:30 when they served a hot meal and wine/beer, which saved us $$$$ over the entire week
CJ

 

[Best Aunt]

I stayed RPR Club Level last month. My room was on the same floor as the lounge. When I booked it, I assumed that all Club Level rooms were on that floor.

I have never read anything posted on here about paying for Club Level and not being on the same floor as the lounge. Perhaps there were posts and I just did not see them.

I don't think OP was naive. I think OP was presenting an important piece of information to people who are thinking about booking Club Level. I think this should be stressed more, for people going to Universal and going to Disney World, just so that they are aware of it when they are making their decisions.

 

[rie'smom]

At WDW YC, I was booked on a different floor even though we had club level rooms booked. Not a big deal, we took the elevator.
BTW, RPR is our favorite resort at either WDW or Uni.

 

[carmiedog]

Good to know about club level rooms being on different floors. Although we didn't do club (booked full), I would have been surprised if we weren't on 7.

Sorry neither RPR nor Universal were your thing. I was stuck on Disney and only reluctantly went to Universal this year for my husband and oldest son, and I was the one who fell in love with it all the hardest. LOVED every aspect of RPR, and the staff there was superior to any of the Disney resorts we've stayed at. And I don't do coasters, but I love Universal's simulator rides and the park theming was outstanding. Can't wait to go back.