Just returned from our first stay at RPR

[G8r4evr]

The resort was as beautiful as advertised. We had a king waterview on the 5th floor of Tower 3 and the view was great with the pool in the foreground and Hulk in the background. Check-in was fast, but parking was frustrating. We arrived on Saturday and ended up having to self park close to a mile away from the entrance to Tower 3....definitely the worst parking experience I have ever had at a hotel, and to make matters worst, we had to pay 12.77 X 3 nights to park a mile from the entrance to our building. I was prepared to pay, but not for such a bad spot.
The interior of our room was spotless and very tastefully decorated. Housekeeping did a great job (before we checked in and on Monday), but we were disappointed that they hadnt made it to our room by 5:00 on Sunday.

The pool was beautiful, but we didnt have time for a swim. We ate at Tchoup Tchoup on Sunday evening and Im sad to say that we were very disappointed. The service was okay, but the food was average at best and the servings were tiny. I still cant believe we paid $100 for 2 entrees and an appetizer and left hungry LOL. My husband made the comment that he has had much better steak at Outback and Longhorn and I tried the seafood in a bowl dish (swordfish was the seafood of the day) and it was okay, just very bland. We will promised we would try it again someday, but we were definitely disappointed in our first visit...however, the atmosphere was definitely a fun for something new. I should also mention that we ate dinner at Jakes Bar (grille) last night and found it to be just okay as well. My steak tasted like something I would have gotten from Golden Corral (however the veggies were delish) and my husband said his hamburger was good.

Lastly, I have to ask, has anyone had problems with the noise level at this resort? We heard alot of hallway noise in our room, but the slamming of the doors was really annoying. As beautiful as the wood doors at the resort are, they need to add springs our something, because every time a door closed on our floor, we would hear is slamm (loudly) in our room.

Please dont get me wrong, we did like the resort...with out favorite feature being the room decor and the worst feature being the noise level in Tower 3 (mainly from closing doors).

We are definitely glad that we tried it, but we decided that we will give HRH a try on our next trip Thanks so much to all of you that helped me plan this trip =) I will be posting my trip report on that respective board =)

 

[damo]

Door slamming seems to be a problem at all of the newer hotels. We notice it a lot on vacations across North America.

 

[Melanie230]

Ya know...I dont get that. When we stay in a hotel we NEVER slam doors. I think it is so rude. We also dont allow our children to stomp on the floors. Kills me everytime I hear a door slam in a hotel.

 

[G8r4evr]

Door slamming seems to be a problem at all of the newer hotels. We notice it a lot on vacations across North America.

This is the first that I have noticed it and it really took away from an otherwise great hotel.

To be honest, I dont think it was anyone purposely slamming doors, because when we left the room for the first time, I opened the door and walked out as I usually would and the door slammed on its own very loudly. I just got the feeling that they really need to add springs to slow the doors down when they close....I was really curious if anyone else had noticed this at RPR.

 

[Motherfletcher]

We were on the same floor and only a few doors down earlier in the week and didn't notice any hall noise. We ate at Jake's too and were disappointed. My son rarely complains about food but the next night we ate at the HRC and he said it was 10 times better than Jake's.

 

[jewell]

Thanks for the RPR report. We are first-timers and will be staying at RPR in August, I hate the sound of slamming doors, seems like there definitely should be something done about that.

Also, I'm a little disappointed in hearing about your Tchoup Chop reviews, I have made reservations for there, but now after hearing your comments, I'm thinking about canceling. It was definitely going to be a splurge for us, but perhaps we should skip Tchoup Chop and eat at Mama Della's instead. We are big eaters and I'd hate to pay $$$ for small portions and still leave hungry.

 

[robvia]

Great TR, honest reports help others.

First of all, on the noise issue, you'd probably enjoy the PBH more, it's a quiet hotel, but like others have said, there's going to be doors slamming no matter what.

On the food, I think expectations get too high. I try to tell people to think about the number of people the restaurants are serving. Yes, this shouldn't matter, the food should be outstanding no matter what. But with so many people, the quality of the food will be just average, especially when it comes to seafood. I've seen many food reports where people order a seafood dish, and it's just ok, so it ruins their experience. I tell people to skip seafood, unless they're trying shrimp at Bubba Gumps.

In my case, I order simple food like wraps, burgers, and onion rings.

If you come back, stay at the PBH, eat lunch at Mythos at 11:30am, order a Wrap of the day, while the hubby has the Cowboy burger, and you'll be happy and only spend about $30 doing it. Then you can walk around the park and pick up an ice cream cone for desert.

 

[damo]

You might want to try Islands if you are afraid of Tchoup Chop. We have always had great meals there.

That said, our favourite place to eat is Mythos.

 

[AlexandNessa]

The only problems we've had with door slamming is on a day with high turnover. For example, the place empties out on Labor Day. Between all the parties leaving, and housekeeping cleaning all those rooms at once, that's the only time we've heard the doors slamming. Sucked when it happened, but it was only the one day.

Sorry Tchoup Chop didn't live up to its hype. We haven't been there in 2 years, so can't offer anything that would be current.

Glad that you got to see RPR before they convert to a Flamingo Motel theme. They ought to fire the decorator on that one.

 

[jewell]

Glad that you got to see RPR before they convert to a Flamingo Motel theme. They ought to fire the decorator on that one.

What I didn't hear about that!!! I knew they were going to redecorate the rooms, but didn't know they were changing the theme---where can I read more about this??? And when I'm there in mid-August will the rooms already have been redecorated?

Damo, I'm definitely eating at Mytho's for lunch one day , but one evening for dinner we wanted to splurge just a bit and eat at a really nice place. I did a search on Islands dining and most of it was about the buffet and it seemed most people didn't like it, maybe ordering from the menu would be better? I think I'll go post another restuarant question on the US/IOA board.

 

[AlexandNessa]

What I didn't hear about that!!! I knew they were going to redecorate the rooms, but didn't know they were changing the theme---where can I read more about this??? And when I'm there in mid-August will the rooms already have been redecorated?

Damo, I'm definitely eating at Mytho's for lunch one day , but one evening for dinner we wanted to splurge just a bit and eat at a really nice place. I did a search on Islands dining and most of it was about the buffet and it seemed most people didn't like it, maybe ordering from the menu would be better? I think I'll go post another restuarant question on the US/IOA board.

Ok, so I am exaggerating on the Flamingo theme, but the new decor is not for the better, IMHO. I thought they needed to brighten up the rooms a bit, but this was not what I had in mind.

See Dagny's post #980:

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1416196&page=66

They will roll out the reno slowly. I don't know how far along they'll be mid-August.

 

[Motherfletcher]

After I heard the response from Dagny's photos (which I can't open) I went home and asked my son if he thought the renovated rooms looked cheap and he said that he thought they were OK to good. Since I can't open the photos maybe the rooms just look better in person. The Bali theme is still there. And like I said the flat panel TV's were enough for us guys to think the remodel was on target.

 

[damo]

What I didn't hear about that!!! I knew they were going to redecorate the rooms, but didn't know they were changing the theme---where can I read more about this??? And when I'm there in mid-August will the rooms already have been redecorated?

Damo, I'm definitely eating at Mytho's for lunch one day , but one evening for dinner we wanted to splurge just a bit and eat at a really nice place. I did a search on Islands dining and most of it was about the buffet and it seemed most people didn't like it, maybe ordering from the menu would be better? I think I'll go post another restuarant question on the US/IOA board.

We've never had the buffet and we've always had great rooms.

Gotta agree with the Flamingo Motel thing though. Ewwwwwww!

Motherfletcher, you've gotta talk to your guy about this!

 

[Motherfletcher]

Gotta agree with the Flamingo Motel thing though. Ewwwwwww!

Motherfletcher, you've gotta talk to your guy about this!

Ask him to yank the elephant statues out of the Orchid Court and replace with pink plastic flamingos?
He did mention something about giving out frozen grapes around the pool.

 

[jewell]

I just went and took a look at the pictures of the new decor and all I can say is YUCK!!!!!!!!!! Who looked at that new decor plan and said 'oh yes, we should definitely use those colors!'?!?!?

Now I'm bummed about my stay there . I guess I could change my reservations to HRH, but I prefer the restaurants and especially the pool at RPR (at least from what I've read), not to mention the price. Oh well, maybe it will look better in person, but I'm seriously having my doubts.

 

[WDW Princess]

OMG! We used to stay at RPR almost monthly a few years ago, especially when it first opened up and have always LOVED the richness of the color palette and the rest of the decor. I have just looked at the pictures of the new rooms - it's horrifying ! It looks like something from an elderly person's home - just add a figurine of one-legged pink flamingo by the door and voila! you have a typical decor of Florida elderly (nothing AT ALL against elderly, just against pink flamingos....and these colors) I was thinking about going back to RPR for my DH's B-day specifically because of ambiance, but not so sure now ... Are all rooms re-decorated or just some? Does anybody know?

 

[keishashadow]

OMG! We used to stay at RPR almost monthly a few years ago, especially when it first opened up and have always LOVED the richness of the color palette and the rest of the decor. I have just looked at the pictures of the new rooms - it's horrifying ! It looks like something from an elderly person's home - just add a figurine of one-legged pink flamingo by the door and voila! you have a typical decor of Florida elderly (nothing AT ALL against elderly, just against pink flamingos....and these colors) I was thinking about going back to RPR for my DH's B-day specifically because of ambiance, but not so sure now ... Are all rooms re-decorated or just some? Does anybody know?

knew there had to be a reason why i'm obsessed with flamingos

To the OP - Read some issues with far flung parking in a KM's guidebook (i believe?); first time i've read a comment here. Guess it doesn't matter if we only park the rental once then retrieve it when we leave.

thanks for the review of the dining, think we'll check out Islands one night - anyone know the dress code there? Assume resort casual or are "dress shorts" a no-no?

 

[damo]

OMG! We used to stay at RPR almost monthly a few years ago, especially when it first opened up and have always LOVED the richness of the color palette and the rest of the decor. I have just looked at the pictures of the new rooms - it's horrifying ! It looks like something from an elderly person's home - just add a figurine of one-legged pink flamingo by the door and voila! you have a typical decor of Florida elderly (nothing AT ALL against elderly, just against pink flamingos....and these colors) I was thinking about going back to RPR for my DH's B-day specifically because of ambiance, but not so sure now ... Are all rooms re-decorated or just some? Does anybody know?

Like Jerry Seinfeld's parent's home?

 

[rpbert1]

I wore shorts last year.

 

[dandave]

Have any of you tried to purchase a set of the plastic pink flamingos, lately? Hmmm? They are impossible to find let me tell you, and believe me I've looked. RPR is apparently so avante-garde as to be totally misunderstood by the glib masses...