PORTOFINO BAY HOTEL INFO...FAQ`s and more.......

[BunsenH]

I called the PBH and asked about construction/scaffolding/views. The agent said that the construction is in the West Wing areas. We have a Club Level reservation and those rooms are typically in the Villa section. A request was added to my reservation asking to avoid the construction. We'll see on Monday.

 

[liamthompson]

As she put it: "not a big deal unless, of course, you wanted to have light through your windows or be able to look out and see anything." (Seriously, her exact words.)

Oh my

 

[liamthompson]

I called the PBH and asked about construction/scaffolding/views. The agent said that the construction is in the West Wing areas. We have a Club Level reservation and those rooms are typically in the Villa section. A request was added to my reservation asking to avoid the construction. We'll see on Monday.

Curious how it turns out for you, please update us!

 

[weather_lady]

Big Time Myrtle Beach video update today: other than the harbor-facing or Beach Pool-facing Villa Wing rooms (which are all finished), much of the Villa wing is covered in scaffolding and window plastic - basically, the majority of rooms that would otherwise have a Villa Pool view.

See here around the 19:00 and 33:00 minute marks:

 

[Robo56]

I was at Portofino Bay in September. They had all the covering off the East Wing when I was there. It looks like they have all the scaffolding and plastic covering off the Bay View rooms in the West Wing as well as the Pool view rooms over looking the Beach Pool.

The Club Rooms are typically in the Villa rooms that are closer to Club lounge. Those Villa rooms include the rooms that are all floors above Mama Della’s (that whole section) and the rooms that wrap around the Bay Area from there.

So there are lots of options to choose from. You can request a Bay View close to the Club lounge or a Bay View farther from the Club Lounge if you don’t mind the walk and they only have a plastic covered rooms closer to the lounge.

You will love the Club Lounge. They have the most wonderful Staff.

Have a good time.

 

[Minnie1222]

We are going the 3rd week of February. There are no tarps on the bay view rooms, right? Also, where can we get breakfast at the hotel if we can't get club add-on? Thanks.

 

[CJK]

Has anyone used the villas pool recently? I know it's not pretty right now, but is it noisy? That is my favorite place to BE!!!!!!

 

[patster734]

We are going the 3rd week of February. There are no tarps on the bay view rooms, right? Also, where can we get breakfast at the hotel if we can't get club add-on? Thanks.

Breakfast is available at Trattoria del Porto. They have a buffet or you can order off a menu. Starbucks coffee (the bakery) should also be open and probably sell pastries and sandwiches. Both are located at the Harbor Piazza.

 

[Robo56]

We are going the 3rd week of February. There are no tarps on the bay view rooms, right? Also, where can we get breakfast at the hotel if we can't get club add-on? Thanks.

Yes, Bay view rooms are clear.

Has anyone used the villas pool recently? I know it's not pretty right now, but is it noisy? That is my favorite place to BE!!!!!!

The Villa Pool is definitely a quieter pool compared to the Beach Pool. It is my favorite pool. Not sure if all the scaffolding and painting is done in that area. Someone who has been recently there should be able to answer that for you.

Breakfast is available at Trattoria del Porto. They have a buffet or you can order off a menu. Starbucks coffee (the bakery) should also be open and probably sell pastries and sandwiches. Both are located at the Harbor Piazza.

Starbucks has closed in the Harbor area of Portofino. I was sad to see that. I heard that a new coffee shop is going to open in that area.

The Gelato store that sits next to the old Starbucks store used to sell cereal, pastries and fruit. Not sure if they still do.

Sal’s does offer some quick breakfast items.

The Trattoria del Porto is a beautiful full service restaurant with really good food. I would say this is a restaurant where you have a special breakfast meal if you want. The buffet is about $34.00 per person. I had the breakfast buffet and it was wonderful.

There are Starbucks still located in CityWalk and there is one in both IOA and US.

 

[BunsenH]

Just back yesterday.
We stayed in Room 2675, CL 2Q, Beach Pool view. The room was nice, but the decor is a bit plain. Unobstructed view of the pool area. There was some construction on the back side of that wing. The only time we noticed any noise at all was on departure day when we were around the hotel mid-day.
The Lounge food and staff were great. I give the food a bit of an edge over Disney BWI food. Seemed more substantial if you want to make it your evening meal. I thought that the Lounge was bright and kind of loud compared to BWI.
It's about an 18-minute walk to the parks. Boat service was efficient. We did both an equal amount of time.
I saw a sign for Cafe Espresso, serving breakfast 6-8 am.

I'm happy to answer any other questions.

 

[weather_lady]

Checked in at Portofino Bay today and am pretty disappointed in our Club Level booking. Despite requesting a non-construction room _or_ one close to the Lounge (we'd have been happy with either) we were given a villa room situated as far from the Lounge as possible, wrapped in tarps and echoing with the sound of banging all afternoon, and told nothing more could be done because all the Club rooms were booked (which was a demonstrable lie).

The Lounge is absolutely lovely (magnificent, even), but it takes 10 minutes of walking and elevator-riding to get there from our room. What was supposed to be a convenience is just a huge time suck. I realize that if we'd gotten a more convenient or enjoyable room, I'd be singing Club Level's praises, but so long as getting stuck with a room like ours is even a possibility, I wouldn't recommend this to anyone.

(*Caveat: I've been up since 3am, since we had a 6am flight. Maybe my review is colored by the fact that I'm absolutely exhausted, so with any luck, I may feel much less dismayed by tomorrow...)

 

[Minnie1222]

I called yesterday to ask if I could pay for a club room without staying in the villa wing and was told "no".

 

[MamaKate]

For those who have stayed in a club room recently, were you able to use the lounge the morning you checked in?

I know it was mentioned that using the lounge on the morning of your check in day may no longer be available.

 

[BunsenH]

We checked in around 11:30 at went to the lounge immediately after settling in.

Check out day was a bit more involved. We requested late checkout. Noon was complimentary, 1 pm was $50, and 2 pm was $75. We chose noon and needed to have our key cards replaced with the later time. All resort amenities were available to us for the remainder of the day except the lounge. Once your check out time arrives, you no longer have access.

 

[MamaKate]

We checked in around 11:30 at went to the lounge immediately after settling in.

Check out day was a bit more involved. We requested late checkout. Noon was complimentary, 1 pm was $50, and 2 pm was $75. We chose noon and needed to have our key cards replaced with the later time. All resort amenities were available to us for the remainder of the day except the lounge. Once your check out time arrives, you no longer have access.

Thanks. I knew check-out day was always limited.

But I did read the the lounge had stopped letting people in on their check-in day if they were there early. We have a red-eye flight and will arrive to the hotel around 8am. I was wondering if we would be allowed in the lounge since our room will most definitely not be ready.

It looks like your room was ready at 11:30am so maybe that's why you were able to access the lounge.

 

[sarah815]

Is there a time frame on when the renovations will be completed?

 

[macraven]

This is a hard question for me to answer…
I can only guess when the renovations will be completed…

Hopefully all renovations will be completed before you leave for your vacation.

 

[sarah815]

Thanks. We are going the 2nd week in April. I thought they may have a date they anticipated being done but I know things change. It doesn’t matter I guess anyway most of our time will be in the parks anyway.

 

[barb969]

Is there a time frame on when the renovations will be completed?

It was supposed to end in December, but then extended to March. There is a post in October or December saying this. I don’t think there was any additional info.
We went in December. We were in the west wing facing the bay. The only construction we saw, was the windows in the hallway between buildings. We didn’t explore outside.

 

[BunsenH]

I know that April is closer than one may think, but my casual opinion is that you should not be impacted at that time. We could tell that there was activity about, but most was unseen during our wanderings around the hotel. The exterior painting was quite detailed to get the effect of architectural feature that are not really there.