PBH or SFH -- overall thoughts? UPDATED

[dec2009mama]

other than the express pass (yes that is a big perk) -- what are the pros and cons of each hotel?
which one has the better pool vibe? going middle of August and want to have a good pool to take breaks at with our kiddo (no VB for us)
better rooms? would go with lagoon for SFH and bay or garden at PBH
better restaurants?
better park transportation?
anything else? good, bad, ugly?

 

[Lynne G]

I think both pools are nice. Slides at PBH's. PBH is a bit further from the parks, but both hotels have water taxi service, so I think the con of PBH's location is not that much of a con.
I do think PBH's rooms, and the bathroom inside them, are bigger than SF's .
Depending on your tastes, we enjoy SF's restaurants more than the ones at PB, but that's because the type of food PB has is less of an interest for us, though the pizza there is very good.
If you are willing to pay more for PB, which I am sure will be more expensive than SF, I would book the PB. The pool is great for kids, it's not a long boat ride, and your kids can go through the express line as many times as they want, in the parks.

We will be at PB the third week in August. Between the 3 hotels that give express, if money was not the issue, we would always stay at PB. Sometimes, PB is the cheapest of the three, sometimes not. We go between RPR and PB, as that express pass is just to hard to pass up. For this August, PB is a few dollars more than RPR, so for that, we are staying at PB.

Oh, and if you want to explore the other hotel's pool, free pool hopping is allowed between all the hotels. We sometimes visit the HRH's pool, as my adult kids like the music there sometimes.

Anyway, that is my thoughts.

 

[Ohanaof3]

I stayed at PB the first time we stayed onsite, and it’s my families favourite universal hotel. We have since tried all the deluxe hotels, and Aventura. We did not eat at the restaurants, just the pizza from Sals. My teenage boys were not that into the pool, as they thought there were too many small kids, but it looked like a lot of fun if your little ones are that age. They really enjoyed the quiet pools though. The rooms are amazing, clean and spacious. My boys didn’t want to leave the room. They do have camp portofino ( a kids babysitting service).

We are trying SF this upcoming trip. We have express after 4 with our AP, and booked a 2 park tour. Other than the tour, we are not going to be in the parks for a full day. We are also going to HHN. I think how we planned this trip affects why we chose SF this time.

We walked through SF on our last stay a lot. It looked great, the staff we talked to were pleasant. This pool looks amazing. They don’t seem to have great restaurant reviews though.

Neither hotel has a character meal, but Sapphire Falls has the Caribbean carnival Dinner show. Portofino Bay has an opera singer that sung in the piazza when we walked through on some evenings.

At the water taxi at both hotels, I didn’t notice a huge difference in how long it took to one hotel over the other. Probably because you had to wait until a boat came in for both. I waited up to 15 min for either boat to come in. It was still much more relaxing than going to a parkade or feeling ‘herded’ onto a bus.

If I was going with just regular park tickets, PH would be my choice. It’s a very relaxing hotel. If you have been to universal enough that rides are not the primary focus, than sapphire falls would be an excellent choice too. You will have a great vacation either way.

 

[schumigirl]

If EP isn't a priority then definitely consider Sapphire.....

It is a beautiful hotel and everything is new and fresh......

Sapphire has a fabulous pool for kids. It is fun and the slide seems very popular.....

Restaurants and food at Sapphire is amazing!!! Not sure where pp saw bad reviews but we`ve been eating there for 3 years and never had a bad experience.......the pool bar serves fabulous food and drinks, and very child friendly....well, they all are at all the hotels.....

Amatista is wonderful....very large bright airy restaurant with a good selection, and StrongWater is the best place in all of the resorts for food and drink.....they all have kids menu`s.

It`s the one thing that disappoints me about PBH......apart from Sal`s that has the best onsite Pizza the other restaurants don't work for us.....we haven't enjoyed any experience there.

The distance shouldn't be considered really......a short boat ride and you`re in PB......only affects you with thunder and lightning around....then the boats stop. But, it`s a lovely walk to all the hotels.

Same with pools....you can pool hop.....but they all have good pools.....

Good luck with your choice......not a bad choice to be making......although do consider how the EP will make a difference.....we won`t be without it regardless of when we visit.

 

[dec2009mama]

We have booked SFH already but thinking of switching to PBH
we are at USO for 4 nights and have 3.5 park days planned --Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday until about 2pm in mid August and my million dollar question would be do we need to get EP during that time since it is August and have park days planned for 3.5 days?!?!
Coming from Western Canada for two weeks and the entire trip is costing us a small fortune already and the price difference between SFH and PBH could go along way towards other things on the trip!
Such a hard decision......

 

[damo]

We have booked SFH already but thinking of switching to PBH
we are at USO for 4 nights and have 3.5 park days planned --Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday until about 2pm in mid August and my million dollar question would be do we need to get EP during that time since it is August and have park days planned for 3.5 days?!?!
Coming from Western Canada for two weeks and the entire trip is costing us a small fortune already and the price difference between SFH and PBH could go along way towards other things on the trip!
Such a hard decision......

August is HOT!!!! I would definitely do an express pass hotel. It will save you a lot of time waiting out in the hot sun.

 

[schumigirl]

We have booked SFH already but thinking of switching to PBH
we are at USO for 4 nights and have 3.5 park days planned --Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday until about 2pm in mid August and my million dollar question would be do we need to get EP during that time since it is August and have park days planned for 3.5 days?!?!
Coming from Western Canada for two weeks and the entire trip is costing us a small fortune already and the price difference between SFH and PBH could go along way towards other things on the trip!
Such a hard decision......

I understand. The UK pound is dreadful now too and has been for a many years now. It is an expensive trip no doubt.

Middle of August you may prefer having the EP.

 

[Ohanaof3]

It might be worth considering a split stay. One night a portofino would get you two days of express passes. You can get all the rides done twice (or way more) and go back to just your favorites on non express days.

 

[dec2009mama]

It might be worth considering a split stay. One night a portofino would get you two days of express passes. You can get all the rides done twice (or way more) and go back to just your favorites on non express days.

I asked hubby that already -- suggested staying our arrival night at a marriott hotel since we won't arrive at MCO until 5:30pm to save some money but he doesn't want the hassle of moving hotels.....and I understand cause it is a painful esp with the amount of luggage we will have

 

[keishashadow]

Dependent on our budget, would always pick any resort with FOTL over those that don’t offer it.

PBH is our favorite deluxe resort. If SF offered the FOTL perk, it would be a close 2nd, love the design, F&B service as well as the overall vibe there

other than the express pass (yes that is a big perk) -- what are the pros and cons of each hotel? IMO, you cannot overstate the value of the FOTL perk

which one has the better pool vibe? going middle of August and want to have a good pool to take breaks at with our kiddo (no VB for us) PBH has several pools, the main one has what I consider to be the best slide on property. I do feel the pool is a bit deeper around that feature.

SF’s poolscape is well designed to absorb the crowd and seems to have far more loungers available that the other resorts.

better rooms? would go with lagoon for SFH and bay or garden at PBH
better restaurants?

PBH is elegant, italian design, but not stuffy.. SF is modern with a bit of modern Caribbean influence.

Only once were we assigned a small balcony @ PBH. Another time hit the jackpot and were upgraded to the Phil Collins/Joe Montana suite. I will be forever spoiled lol.

However, view typically doesn’t really mean much to me without a balcony. Not about to stand and stare out the windows. Some with bayview do say they wait & watch for boat to pull into harbor though.

Restaurants are subjective, you always have citiwalk. PBH is heavy on italian offerings. I’ve enjoyed everything i’ve Eaten at SF. It’s easy walk over to RPH too. Think that SF has best pool menu & better service.

better park transportation? It’s all good, you never wait long for the boat service
anything else? good, bad, ugly can’t go wrong with either, enjoy!

 

[dec2009mama]

Well, we changed our hotel but not to PBH but instead RPR -- it was actually a bit cheaper!!!
We have a water view room and i requested tower 1 and high floor
I like the location of the hotel as it is close to SFH in case we want to pool hop!
Fingers crossed our switch is a positive one!!!!

 

[Ohanaof3]

That hotel is amazing too! Have a great trip!

 

[schumigirl]

Well, we changed our hotel but not to PBH but instead RPR -- it was actually a bit cheaper!!!
We have a water view room and i requested tower 1 and high floor
I like the location of the hotel as it is close to SFH in case we want to pool hop!
Fingers crossed our switch is a positive one!!!!

Glad to hear you`re all sorted!!!

RPR is a beautiful resort and pool hopping to Sapphire is so easy as you can walk so quickly....and both pools are excellent.....and both have pool bars with fabulous food options...….

Nice choice, RPR is our favourite resort