Loews Universal Hotel - any discount tips?

[MichelinMan]

Just started pricing up stuff for our trip next year, and I was looking to book a few nights at one of the Lowes Universal hotels so we could take advantage of the Express Passes. We stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel previously, and got a good rate via Expedia last time, but the prices appear to be a lot dearer than last time we went. Anybody got any tips on potential discounts or places to find cheaper rates?

The rest of our stay we will probably book the Holiday Inn at Disney Springs - looks pretty reasonable, and hopefully should retain the WDW perks in 2020.

 

[Toolulu22]

I don’t know how long ago you last stayed at the Universal Hard Rock, but we also noticed a considerable price increase in our favorite onsight hotel- the Royal Pacific- since our last stay in summer of 2014. I think they are creating a tiered hotel system now, and the three (Hard Rock, Portofino, and Royal Pacific) are now the most expensive ALL the time instead of having periods that they would have lower prices.

Our Deluxe King would run $234 a night, and I have seen nothing close to that in years, on no summer nights.

Tips- if you want to stay on sight maybe consider one of the other hotels that offer the benefits you want. The website has a table that lets you compare each hotel’s benefits. On our next stay, we’ll likely choose Sapphire Falls, as much as we like Royal Pacific. I can’t pay double for the same exact room just because they just want to charge more.

Also, they offer the more you stay, the cheaper per night benefit. You can check if your room would be affordable if you stay for ALL your nights, instead of switching to DS later. Though, no Disney benefits by doing that.

Hope those tips help!

 

[saintrob]

You won't get express if you stay at Sapphire Falls which is the biggest advantage of staying onsite.

Royal Pacific does offer certain discounts throughout the year. If you're a member of the AA they sometimes offer a discount for members - just type AAA in the promotions box. These offers need to be booked on the Universal USA site. They also sometimes offer discounts for government employees and this also applies to UK employees. I have only ever been asked once to provide ID to confirm this. This is a similar scheme to that offered by the Swan and Dolphin.

The largest discounts are offered to annual pass holders which can sometimes half the cost of the room and also give discounts for food, drink and merchandise in the parks.

 

[MichelinMan]

You won't get express if you stay at Sapphire Falls which is the biggest advantage of staying onsite.

Royal Pacific does offer certain discounts throughout the year. If you're a member of the AA they sometimes offer a discount for members - just type AAA in the promotions box. These offers need to be booked on the Universal USA site. They also sometimes offer discounts for government employees and this also applies to UK employees. I have only ever been asked once to provide ID to confirm this. This is a similar scheme to that offered by the Swan and Dolphin.

The largest discounts are offered to annual pass holders which can sometimes half the cost of the room and also give discounts for food, drink and merchandise in the parks.

Tried the AAA discount, and it wasn't any cheaper. The Government rate I haven't looked at though - when I looked at that in the past for other US hotels, it was only available to US Government officials (certainly that is the case with Holiday Inn), but I haven't looked at Loews. I do work for the Government, so that is an option.

I know I will be definitely purchasing Express passes, and just did the number crunching, and for our family of 3 it would still work out cheaper staying at Royal Pacific, so think I will probably just book 3 nights at Universal, and the rest at the Holiday Inn. I will lose a bit of flexibility doing that though, meaning we will have to do all the Universal days in a row. I'm also not sure whether to do Universal at the beginning or end of the stay. I find Universal hard work, especially in the heat, and we might be flagging a bit by the end of our stay (looking at around 16 nights). Last visit the wife got a bad case of Disney rash there, which then spoilt the rest of the holiday.

 

[zavandor]

The largest discounts are offered to annual pass holders which can sometimes half the cost of the room and also give discounts for food, drink and merchandise in the parks.

This. And a Seasonal Ap costs just a little more than a 3 days parkhopper ticket, it's very well worth it to buy one just for the hotel discount, if you go when the Seasonal pass is valid. When you book you don't have to already have the AP, you need it when you check in. So you can book a room that can be cancelled, monitor the AP rates and if you find a good one cancel the original room and rebook, it's very easy.

 

[Toolulu22]

This. And a Seasonal Ap costs just a little more than a 3 days parkhopper ticket, it's very well worth it to buy one just for the hotel discount, if you go when the Seasonal pass is valid. When you book you don't have to already have the AP, you need it when you check in. So you can book a room that can be cancelled, monitor the AP rates and if you find a good one cancel the original room and rebook, it's very easy.

I didn’t know they offered a seasonal AP that provides access to to hotel discounts. Good to know.

 

[MichelinMan]

This. And a Seasonal Ap costs just a little more than a 3 days parkhopper ticket, it's very well worth it to buy one just for the hotel discount, if you go when the Seasonal pass is valid. When you book you don't have to already have the AP, you need it when you check in. So you can book a room that can be cancelled, monitor the AP rates and if you find a good one cancel the original room and rebook, it's very easy.

Trouble is, we will be going peak holiday season in July, so the 2 cheapest passes have blockout dates, and only the most expensive one avoids the blockout dates for Volcano Bay. So not sure that is an option.

Think I will try to get a cheap AAA or Government rate on the US site (I was surprised that the rates were cheaper on the Lowes US site last night when I checked - never found that to be the case in the past).

 

[MichelinMan]

Been doing some more hunting, and Quidco are offering 10% cashback booking through Loews, which is decent.