Stayed at the PBH and HRH for 8 nights. Both rooms were suites.
Valet-Very good and efficient both hotels. $22 per night + tips! Offered water and directions on collecting our car at both hotels. I noticed self parking is now $20!
Check-in went very smooth at both hotels. Much faster than usual. The PBH informed us we had free internet and a $100 credit to be spent at their on-site restaurants (Platinum). The HRH told us we had no food credit or internet, but a gift (red wine) and daily newspaper.
Bellboy-At the Portofino our room was over in the West Wing so it was a bit of a trek for him to get the luggage across from the lobby. He filled our cool box with ice en-route and was very informative.
On arrival to the HRH the room was not ready, but it was early in the day so to be expected. Luggage services held our luggage until our room was ready. Once the room was ready (2.30pm) the bellboy dropped the luggage at the room whilst we were chilling out at the pool.
Rooms- PBH - Portofino Parlour Suite in the West Wing. They describe this as a suite, but it's more like two large/deluxe interconnecting rooms. Great room overlooking the harbour, but obscured by trees. The room/s had two of everything (TV, Bathroom, coffee machines etc). In one room the bathroom had a bath and two sinks, the other had a walk in shower and one sink. One room had a King bed and a two seater pullout the other had large table, furniture and a three-seater pullout.
HRH- King Suite (3100) on lobby level 15 seconds down the hall from the lobby. The King Suites have always felt quite spacious on previous visits, but after coming from the Portofino suite it felt a lot smaller. However, still a great room and one advantage over the Portofino is that you don't feel like you are staying in two completely separate rooms. Again this room was obscured by trees, so although it was a "pool view" you could not actually see the pool. This room had a walk-in shower, very large table, king bed, two LCD TV's, one sink, one coffee maker, one three seater pullout.
Housekeeping- Both hotels did a great job. The turndown service was a bit hit and miss at the HRH, but we found if we left the room earlier to go out for the evening it would always get done. We also had the head of housekeeping question us on whether the maid had been and done the room before 3pm daily. Each evening we had fresh towels and the bed was prepared for the evening. One thing we did notice was the fact that the HRH no longer replenish the ice bucket or set the radio as they did on previous stays.
Public areas- Both pools were fantastic*.The PBH has a nice big spa. If I had to choose between the two it would definitely be the Hard Rock, because it has more of a feel good vibe to it, but at times during the week we felt like going over to the PBH pool. *The reason for this was because the Hard Rock will not heat the pool from Monday to Thursday and because the pool is the central point and a huge part of our stay this was very disappointing for us. There were a couple of occasions when there were approximately 100+ people around the pool area, but not one of them would brave the cold pool temperatures and get in. Considering they advertise it as Orlando's best hotel pool (Disney's beach club 2nd, Nickelodeon studios hotel 3rd) you would think they would like to keep the title and make their guests as comfortable as possible. The good news is Friday, Saturday and Sunday they heat the pool and normal service is resumed. Perhaps when they say Orlando's coolest pool, they really mean it's freezing
Restaurants-On our first night at the PBH we ordered room service. The food was brought to our room within 30 minutes and tasted great. For lunch we ate around both pool areas. The room service and pool food at the PBH was never charged to my account and it totaled $120. The service was always great at both hotels. One thing to note is they automatically add a 18% tip to your bill. We ate at The Kitchen. One thing that annoyed me slightly was that our waitress switched the bottles of wine we ordered to a more expensive one, then charged us for both. When I pointed this out she apologized, but I got the impression it wasn't exactly a mistake. The food was also disappointing and standards all round seemed to have dropped here. The magician (bellboy by day) who comes round to your table was very friendly and entertaining
We also ate at Margaritiville (twice for dinner), Confisco Grille (lunch) and Bubbas. Had a great time at Margaritiville and bubbas. If you order the nachos at Margaritiville make sure you have a very big appetite because it's enough to feed a family of four for a week.
Proximity to parks- we didn't use the water taxi's, but noticed the Portofino one always seemed packed. It would take approximately 10-15 minutes walk from the West wing of the PBH, under the bridge to the entrance of USF. From the HRH it would take around 5-8 to get to the same destination.
In summary both hotels were fantastic. Despite the HRH pool temperature being cold, our money would still go there in the future, mainly because it has more of a "holiday" good vibe/atmosphere feel to it. The Portofino was more luxurious, but felt a bit disjointed and a bit too big. We also felt the HRH cater more for small children. As a romantic vacation or if you were staying for business reasons the PBH would be our first choice. One thing that will be interesting for the future will be what loyalty program the HRH come up with. Staying in a suite is a great perk, but getting dropped down to a garden room at the HRH may sway us back to the PBH.
PS One thing to note is the HRH now use different coffees (Timothy's Espressos), not Emerils in the Keurig machines.
Valet-Very good and efficient both hotels. $22 per night + tips! Offered water and directions on collecting our car at both hotels. I noticed self parking is now $20!
Check-in went very smooth at both hotels. Much faster than usual. The PBH informed us we had free internet and a $100 credit to be spent at their on-site restaurants (Platinum). The HRH told us we had no food credit or internet, but a gift (red wine) and daily newspaper.
Bellboy-At the Portofino our room was over in the West Wing so it was a bit of a trek for him to get the luggage across from the lobby. He filled our cool box with ice en-route and was very informative.
On arrival to the HRH the room was not ready, but it was early in the day so to be expected. Luggage services held our luggage until our room was ready. Once the room was ready (2.30pm) the bellboy dropped the luggage at the room whilst we were chilling out at the pool.
Rooms- PBH - Portofino Parlour Suite in the West Wing. They describe this as a suite, but it's more like two large/deluxe interconnecting rooms. Great room overlooking the harbour, but obscured by trees. The room/s had two of everything (TV, Bathroom, coffee machines etc). In one room the bathroom had a bath and two sinks, the other had a walk in shower and one sink. One room had a King bed and a two seater pullout the other had large table, furniture and a three-seater pullout.
HRH- King Suite (3100) on lobby level 15 seconds down the hall from the lobby. The King Suites have always felt quite spacious on previous visits, but after coming from the Portofino suite it felt a lot smaller. However, still a great room and one advantage over the Portofino is that you don't feel like you are staying in two completely separate rooms. Again this room was obscured by trees, so although it was a "pool view" you could not actually see the pool. This room had a walk-in shower, very large table, king bed, two LCD TV's, one sink, one coffee maker, one three seater pullout.
Housekeeping- Both hotels did a great job. The turndown service was a bit hit and miss at the HRH, but we found if we left the room earlier to go out for the evening it would always get done. We also had the head of housekeeping question us on whether the maid had been and done the room before 3pm daily. Each evening we had fresh towels and the bed was prepared for the evening. One thing we did notice was the fact that the HRH no longer replenish the ice bucket or set the radio as they did on previous stays.
Public areas- Both pools were fantastic*.The PBH has a nice big spa. If I had to choose between the two it would definitely be the Hard Rock, because it has more of a feel good vibe to it, but at times during the week we felt like going over to the PBH pool. *The reason for this was because the Hard Rock will not heat the pool from Monday to Thursday and because the pool is the central point and a huge part of our stay this was very disappointing for us. There were a couple of occasions when there were approximately 100+ people around the pool area, but not one of them would brave the cold pool temperatures and get in. Considering they advertise it as Orlando's best hotel pool (Disney's beach club 2nd, Nickelodeon studios hotel 3rd) you would think they would like to keep the title and make their guests as comfortable as possible. The good news is Friday, Saturday and Sunday they heat the pool and normal service is resumed.
Perhaps when they say Orlando's coolest pool, they really mean it's freezing Restaurants-On our first night at the PBH we ordered room service. The food was brought to our room within 30 minutes and tasted great. For lunch we ate around both pool areas. The room service and pool food at the PBH was never charged to my account and it totaled $120.
The service was always great at both hotels. One thing to note is they automatically add a 18% tip to your bill. We ate at The Kitchen. One thing that annoyed me slightly was that our waitress switched the bottles of wine we ordered to a more expensive one, then charged us for both. When I pointed this out she apologized, but I got the impression it wasn't exactly a mistake. The food was also disappointing and standards all round seemed to have dropped here. The magician (bellboy by day) who comes round to your table was very friendly and entertaining We also ate at Margaritiville (twice for dinner), Confisco Grille (lunch) and Bubbas. Had a great time at Margaritiville and bubbas. If you order the nachos at Margaritiville make sure you have a very big appetite because it's enough to feed a family of four for a week.
Proximity to parks- we didn't use the water taxi's, but noticed the Portofino one always seemed packed. It would take approximately 10-15 minutes walk from the West wing of the PBH, under the bridge to the entrance of USF. From the HRH it would take around 5-8 to get to the same destination.
In summary both hotels were fantastic. Despite the HRH pool temperature being cold, our money would still go there in the future, mainly because it has more of a "holiday" good vibe/atmosphere feel to it. The Portofino was more luxurious, but felt a bit disjointed and a bit too big. We also felt the HRH cater more for small children. As a romantic vacation or if you were staying for business reasons the PBH would be our first choice. One thing that will be interesting for the future will be what loyalty program the HRH come up with. Staying in a suite is a great perk, but getting dropped down to a garden room at the HRH may sway us back to the PBH.
PS One thing to note is the HRH now use different coffees (Timothy's Espressos), not Emerils in the Keurig machines.
That is just ridiculous. 
Does it apply to all 3 hotels or just the HRH now that it is not Loews?
We usually rent thru Budget because the Holiday Inn Universal across from PBH has a Budget in it...can easily walk to UO from there.
, she has me hooked on seeing the sites, especially going to Old Town, we go over a few times every trip now.
