This is an excerpt from my trip report. If you'd like to read the full trip report (long!) - it's on the trip report forum.
Portofino Bay Hotel
I cannot say enough good things about this hotel! It was wonderful!
The service and staff at this facility are excellent. Kudos to whomever is in charge of their training programs. Every employee you encountered said hello and/or asked how we were. It was a true pleasure.
We checked in around noon on 7/3. I had reserved a garden view room and we were upgraded to a deluxe room in the villa wing at no charge. We were also given a bottle of wine (a nice Chilean Chardonnay) and we have since discovered that we received the airline miles bonus as well! I had an entertainment rate of $186 a night, so I wasnt expecting any of the perks, but was very pleasantly surprised.
When we returned later in the afternoon our room was ready. The room was on the third floor overlooking the villa pool. Very nice room. The bed was wonderfully comfortable. Nice to have the in-room coffee maker. Loved having the little stereo system (boy, do I ever miss 103.1 Orlando a fantastic jazz station). Had a love seat with ottoman and a round table with 2 chairs. Bathroom was huge. Nice soaking tub. Large double sink area and freestanding shower stall. Nice bath products (soaps and shampoo, etc.) Regular hair dryer (not one of those useless wall mounted things). Plenty of towels.
The Bellman asked us not to empty the in-room fridge and was able to bring us a separate fridge at no additional cost. He was most helpful.
The pool areas were really nice. Not as large as I though theyd be, but nice. The beach pool was always packed and loaded with kids. The only chance I got to go down the water slide was late in the evening, and even then, there was several kids in line. We spend more time at the villa pool as it was quieter. When the kids came over from the beach pool at 10pm when it closed, thats when wed go back to the room. The hot tub and cool-off pool were quite nice as well. Where we were right on the villa pool, we never made it to the pool area at the end of the east wing. Also, because the pools are so shallow (deepest part is only 5 feet), the water was like bath water. Had to be 80-something degrees easily, and therefore not very refreshing!
We asked to be in a quiet area and believe they worked hard to accommodate us as during our 5 night stay we heard virtually no noise, and were not disturbed. Especially the first couple of nights, being the holiday weekend, the hotel was full and we figured the place would be buzzing, but even though they were full, you never got that feeling.
Enjoyed the variety of shops on site at the Portofina. Nicely done and nice variety of things.
Portofino Bay Hotel
I cannot say enough good things about this hotel! It was wonderful!
The service and staff at this facility are excellent. Kudos to whomever is in charge of their training programs. Every employee you encountered said hello and/or asked how we were. It was a true pleasure.
We checked in around noon on 7/3. I had reserved a garden view room and we were upgraded to a deluxe room in the villa wing at no charge. We were also given a bottle of wine (a nice Chilean Chardonnay) and we have since discovered that we received the airline miles bonus as well! I had an entertainment rate of $186 a night, so I wasnt expecting any of the perks, but was very pleasantly surprised.
When we returned later in the afternoon our room was ready. The room was on the third floor overlooking the villa pool. Very nice room. The bed was wonderfully comfortable. Nice to have the in-room coffee maker. Loved having the little stereo system (boy, do I ever miss 103.1 Orlando a fantastic jazz station). Had a love seat with ottoman and a round table with 2 chairs. Bathroom was huge. Nice soaking tub. Large double sink area and freestanding shower stall. Nice bath products (soaps and shampoo, etc.) Regular hair dryer (not one of those useless wall mounted things). Plenty of towels.
The Bellman asked us not to empty the in-room fridge and was able to bring us a separate fridge at no additional cost. He was most helpful.
The pool areas were really nice. Not as large as I though theyd be, but nice. The beach pool was always packed and loaded with kids. The only chance I got to go down the water slide was late in the evening, and even then, there was several kids in line. We spend more time at the villa pool as it was quieter. When the kids came over from the beach pool at 10pm when it closed, thats when wed go back to the room. The hot tub and cool-off pool were quite nice as well. Where we were right on the villa pool, we never made it to the pool area at the end of the east wing. Also, because the pools are so shallow (deepest part is only 5 feet), the water was like bath water. Had to be 80-something degrees easily, and therefore not very refreshing!
We asked to be in a quiet area and believe they worked hard to accommodate us as during our 5 night stay we heard virtually no noise, and were not disturbed. Especially the first couple of nights, being the holiday weekend, the hotel was full and we figured the place would be buzzing, but even though they were full, you never got that feeling.
Enjoyed the variety of shops on site at the Portofina. Nicely done and nice variety of things.
