PORTOFINO BAY HOTEL Information

[macraven]

you could use the laundry service they provide.
if you need it back within a few hours, they will oblige.

all 3 of the hotels do provide that paid service.

 

[bas71873]

I have to be the most indecisive person EVER. And I'm a creature of habit, so that's not helping. I really want to just pull the trigger and cancel my HRH reservation and stay at PBH this August. Is it worth upgrading (at PBH) to the deluxe beach pool view. It's not that big a difference from the garden and/or deluxe villa and we spend a lot of time at the pool, especially in the evenings when the parks close early. Thoughts?

Also, has anyone ever ordered from Garden Grocer and had delivery to the the US hotels? Am considering having a few breakfast things and some munchies, like pretzels, delivered, along with a styrofoam cooler delivered on our arrival day. I like my almond milk protein shakes in the AM.

 

[macraven]

I have to be the most indecisive person EVER. And I'm a creature of habit, so that's not helping. I really want to just pull the trigger and cancel my HRH reservation and stay at PBH this August. Is it worth upgrading (at PBH) to the deluxe beach pool view. It's not that big a difference from the garden and/or deluxe villa and we spend a lot of time at the pool, especially in the evenings when the parks close early. Thoughts?

Also, has anyone ever ordered from Garden Grocer and had delivery to the the US hotels? Am considering having a few breakfast things and some munchies, like pretzels, delivered, along with a styrofoam cooler delivered on our arrival day. I like my almond milk protein shakes in the AM.

if you have stayed at hrh before and enjoyed it, i'm sure you will feel the same if you switch to pbh.

might as well try another hotel......
pbh does have larger rooms than the other 2 hotels.
if you like a lot of space and basic italian foods, then pbh would be the one to try.

i have stayed at all 3 hotels.
my heart belongs to rph for the ambiance and food places on site and near by. but since my home away from home isn't in the running for you, i say switch hotels.


i used to book hrh exclusively until i decided to branch out with rph.
going into it i was a tad nervous but was wowed over by the lobby and ambiance of the hotel.


you never know what you are missing until you try it.
go ahead and switch..........

some of the regular posters on the darkside absolutely love pbh.
they can't say enough great things about the hotel.

there have been very few posts about Garden Grocer deliveries on the threads. not saying it isn't done, just not many have discussed it.

hope you do get some replies for that portion of your question.

 

[LMO429]

I have to be the most indecisive person EVER. And I'm a creature of habit, so that's not helping. I really want to just pull the trigger and cancel my HRH reservation and stay at PBH this August. Is it worth upgrading (at PBH) to the deluxe beach pool view. It's not that big a difference from the garden and/or deluxe villa and we spend a lot of time at the pool, especially in the evenings when the parks close early. Thoughts?

Also, has anyone ever ordered from Garden Grocer and had delivery to the the US hotels? Am considering having a few breakfast things and some munchies, like pretzels, delivered, along with a styrofoam cooler delivered on our arrival day. I like my almond milk protein shakes in the AM.

We stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel last October and Loved it! But we wanted to try something new so we are going to take a chance at stay at PBH. My biggest concern between the two really is the walk. but i am just looking at the added distance as exercise so I can have more butter beers.

 

[LisaCM614]

My DH sprained his ankle this weekend and we are supposed to be checking in to PBH one week from today! ACK. We are staying in a deluxe room - any requests we should make to ensure we cut his hobbling time down? I know it is just a request but not sure what is a good thing to request.
Thanks

 

[damo]

My DH sprained his ankle this weekend and we are supposed to be checking in to PBH one week from today! ACK. We are staying in a deluxe room - any requests we should make to ensure we cut his hobbling time down? I know it is just a request but not sure what is a good thing to request.
Thanks

Ask for a West Wing room near an elevator. That will give you the shortest walk to the boat.

 

[diskids2]

I have to be the most indecisive person EVER. And I'm a creature of habit, so that's not helping. I really want to just pull the trigger and cancel my HRH reservation and stay at PBH this August. Is it worth upgrading (at PBH) to the deluxe beach pool view. It's not that big a difference from the garden and/or deluxe villa and we spend a lot of time at the pool, especially in the evenings when the parks close early. Thoughts?

Also, has anyone ever ordered from Garden Grocer and had delivery to the the US hotels? Am considering having a few breakfast things and some munchies, like pretzels, delivered, along with a styrofoam cooler delivered on our arrival day. I like my almond milk protein shakes in the AM.

I can't help with PBH rooms, I'm staying there for the first time this July. But I have ordered from Garden Grocer and had it delivered to the RPR. I had no problems at all. I did order the styro cooler and kept milk and water in there on top of a towel in case of leakage under the sink. It worked very well. There was room also for the snack type items we ordered.

 

[LisaCM614]

We had a lovely 2 days at PBH. What a pretty hotel! We did not walk to the parks as my DH is still not exactly himself but the boat was always there when we needed it and it was a pleasant ride. We ended up in the Villas and once the staff told us the short cut is was so easy to get down to the harbor. We had a nice view of the Beach Pool. The kids loved that pool as much as SAB at BC. We at breakfast at Trattoria which was a very nice buffet. Our arrival day we had lunch outside at Sal's - also a very nice deli lunch. Should we go back to Universal I would stay at PBH and could whole heartedly recommend it to anyone. Just a wonderful experience. Now to go do some laundry. Work tomorrow. Boo hoo.

 

[LMO429]

what is the difference between the villas at portofino and the other rooms. We will be staying there for the first time so I am curious

 

[k&a&c'smom]

Finally made it through the whole thread! Whew! Thanks to all the US experts for such great info, very informative.

We have a 6 night stay booked in a couple weeks; 3 nights HRH and 3 nights PBH. We've stayed at Hard Rock, but PBH will be new for us, we haven't even taken the time to visit the resort on previous stays, sorry to say.

I have a garden view room booked at both; when I called today to add the third night at PBH, the bay view was available (it wasn't when I booked two nights a couple days ago). Tempting, but I decided the extra day was more important than an upgraded view.

I have a YouFirst membership; not sure of my status, as we stayed at RPR in 2010, but I think the stays are now counted per year? If so, I'll never get anywhere, lol. RPR upgraded us to a king suite for $50/night, so maybe we'll get lucky again, who knows.

Can't wait for our trip, so excited. I have West wing, upper floor requested on the reservation. Hope we are near the pools and boat dock, as I have a pinned ankle and saving even a few steps here and there helps.

 

[LisaCM614]

what is the difference between the villas at portofino and the other rooms. We will be staying there for the first time so I am curious

Hi LMO - we stayed in the villas and I think that is just what they call that area of the hotel. We had a deluxe room booked and it was a deluxe room - nothing different. I loved the location because we had very easy pool access - both the wonderful and fun beach pool and the very lovely villa (quiet) pool.


Perhaps an expert will see this and be able to tell you if there is a real difference.

 

[damo]

Hi LMO - we stayed in the villas and I think that is just what they call that area of the hotel. We had a deluxe room booked and it was a deluxe room - nothing different. I loved the location because we had very easy pool access - both the wonderful and fun beach pool and the very lovely villa (quiet) pool.


Perhaps an expert will see this and be able to tell you if there is a real difference.

Villa wing is just one wing of the hotel. West Wing, East Wing, Villa Wing. I don't think there are any other wings than that.

 

[k&a&c'smom]

Help, PBH experts!! I feel like I read somewhere they do drink service at the Villa pool, as well as the themed pool, but maybe I dreamed it...??? Can't find it now.

TIA!

 

[damo]

Help, PBH experts!! I feel like I read somewhere they do drink service at the Villa pool, as well as the themed pool, but maybe I dreamed it...??? Can't find it now.

TIA!

Yes they do it by the big pool, not sure about the others. It is expensive though!!!!

 

[k&a&c'smom]

Yes they do it by the big pool, not sure about the others. It is expensive though!!!!

Thanks for the speedy answer!! Are you saying the drinks are expensive, or they add a surcharge for delivery (besides tip)? I think we pay about $8-$12 for pool drinks at WDW resorts, plus tip.

 

[damo]

Thanks for the speedy answer!! Are you saying the drinks are expensive, or they add a surcharge for delivery (besides tip)? I think we pay about $8-$12 for pool drinks at WDW resorts, plus tip.

The drinks are expensive and they put a hefty service charge on them. Sounds like they are comparable to WDW though.

 

[k&a&c'smom]

Thanks! I guess we'll find out in a couple weeks, we may need to search the sofa cushions for pool drink funds.

 

[Grace&Carolinesmom]

I will add that the drinks at the beach pool are yummers. They also have poolside service for food as well. Nice selections and also very good. I will say however that most of the time, we just walk over to the bar ourselves as it is poolside. We usually order from the servers when we are having our pool day and eating by the pool as well. Next stay, we are going to rent a cabana for a few days. Have fun! And....don't forget to try the croissants from Sal's for bfst. They are very flaky and DD13 and I love the ones with the chunks of dark chocolate. So good with a cup of coffee.

 

[k&a&c'smom]

I will add that the drinks at the beach pool are yummers. They also have poolside service for food as well. Nice selections and also very good. I will say however that most of the time, we just walk over to the bar ourselves as it is poolside. We usually order from the servers when we are having our pool day and eating by the pool as well. Next stay, we are going to rent a cabana for a few days. Have fun! And....don't forget to try the croissants from Sal's for bfst. They are very flaky and DD13 and I love the ones with the chunks of dark chocolate. So good with a cup of coffee.

Thanks, good to see you! Do you have a favorite(s) drink there? When we are at the GF, we get our drinks ourselves (no choice, lol), but when we stay at BC, we often sit very far away from the bar! Much easier to have someone else fetch them, SAB is so spread out - with the heat of the sand and cement, it can feel like crossing the Rubicon. I will say, catching a server there can be tricky, they are so busy.

Thanks about Sal's croissants, too, they sound delish! We love croissants in general, but chocolate ones are our addiction.

 

[Grace&Carolinesmom]

Thanks, good to see you! Do you have a favorite(s) drink there? When we are at the GF, we get our drinks ourselves (no choice, lol), but when we stay at BC, we often sit very far away from the bar! Much easier to have someone else fetch them, SAB is so spread out - with the heat of the sand and cement, it can feel like crossing the Rubicon. I will say, catching a server there can be tricky, they are so busy.

Thanks about Sal's croissants, too, they sound delish! We love croissants in general, but chocolate ones are our addiction.

Good to see you too.......venturing to the dark side(insert evil laugh) Your secret is safe with me. Gosh--I remember having vodka lemonades and some other fruity drink but for the life of me I can't remember what it was. I remember seeing it and pointing to say--I'll take one of those. Several other people were drinking them and it looked fantastic--tasted good too. Yeah--SAB is too spread out for my taste and not relaxing at all. I never even had a drink at that pool because DH and I had to be stuck like glue to the kiddos cuz they are not good swimmers.

Another tip--we always have room service our first night at PBH. Kids and DH love their spaghetti and meatballs and I like their ravioli too. Room service there is awesome. They have these heated carts that keep the food piping hot and it then turns into a table. Dh and I share that table and DDs use the room table. So fun! Sal's pizza is another must do for lunch or dinner. The morning croissants are so yummy. It is the chunks of dark chocolate that just send me into nirvana