Riviera vs Loews Portofino?

[Jlo85]

Searched online but I’m not seeing a real comparison between these two resorts that seem really competitive…. Wondering if anyone has stayed at both and can give an (unbiased) comparison please? I’ve never visited either, but I want that vibe and I’m trying to decide between the two.

Stayed at other DVCs and Loews Royal Pacific… also been to the real Riviera.

 

[Grumpy by Birth]

We've stayed at both Riviera (we're owners at Riviera) and Portofino Bay. I feel like the theming of Portofino Bay is more "old world" Italian, especially the exterior areas. We enjoyed wandering around and exploring the various nooks and crannies of the resort. Lots of nice details in the architecture. The room we stayed in was nice and getting Express Pass at Universal is a great benefit.

Riviera has a more modern feel. We enjoy all the artwork on the walls with subtle Disney content in a variety of artistic styles. I would describe the rooms as elegant.

If planning to visit Universal, I would probably opt for Portofino Bay which is walkable to the original parks (plus getting Express Pass). We also really enjoyed staying at Royal Pacific on a previous trip to Universal.

If going to WDW, I'd go with Riviera. It's a long drive from Portofino Bay to WDW and you'd have to pay for parking since you're not staying onsite at WDW. For WDW, staying at Riviera offers the skyliner to two parks (or free parking if driving to the parks).

 

[VGCgroupie]

I think @Girlstar30 has stayed at both

 

[Eastcoast02]

If visiting Universal Parks I’ll echo staying at Portofino. There is a Starbucks on site. The fitness center has your basics for a good workout. The pool area is decent. The rooms are outdated but spacious. They’ll get ya for parking, and in my case a cot for $60/night since we slept 5 in the room. We stayed club level on our AP rate and I would recommend.

Breakfast & dinner options in the club were great. Worth headed back to the hotel for as options were hearty and healthier than park food. Universal Express makes the high cost worth it, especially since they recently added Hagrid’s to the service.

Stay at Riviera if visiting WDW parks. It’s just a way nicer, more modern resort. People say the quick service is one of the best of the deluxe resorts. It’s all honestly the same to me. A little coffee shop in the lobby is nice but not as good as SBUX imo. Skyliner is great. Topolino on the top floor for table service. Good reviews but $$$.

They have a decent gym with bottled water and maybe oranges if I remember? On checkout day I enjoyed being able to shower and get changed in the private facility around the corner from the pool. It felt like a nice luxury (towels and hamper in there). Warning I did flood it, that dang drain is not installed right in there or something lol.

If accustomed to Disney you’d likely appreciate Riviera more. I am in my Universal phase as kids are getting older but it is a bit more dumpy than WDW. Don’t come for me! Haha

I absolutely do love Volcano Bay though. 10 out of 10 for me there. Did a couple cheap nights at Cabana Bay & walking to VB is quite the perk as it’s a bus ride any other way.

 

[Best Aunt]

I stayed at Portofino Bay. I visited Riviera Resort.

I think it depends on what you want to do while you are there.

Going to a theme park? The two resorts are not close to each other. Pick the one closer to the park, or you will waste a lot of time traveling.

Eating at a hotel restaurant? Look at the menus.

Buying something at the resort? Riviera has a very small gift shop. I think the one at Portofino was larger, but I can't really remember.

Swimming? Using the gym? Participating in other activities? Those are all things you can find online and compare.

You also should compare transportation if you will be going from the resort to someplace else and will not have a car. At Riviera, are you okay with using the skyliner? If you get motion sick and claustrophobic, the skyliner might not be right for you. The skyliner does not take you to MK or AK. At Portofino, I remember waiting a really, really long time for a boat which did not hold many people, and IIRC it takes you to City Walk but not all the way to the theme park entrances.

 

[jcolvin5]

We just completed a 3 night stay at Portofino Bay in the middle of a Disney trip. First time staying at a Universal resort. We are owners at RIV and absolutely love it. So take this from a somewhat biased point of view.

I'd agree with a lot of what has been said by others. If I were planning to do WDW, I would stay at RIV. If I were wanting to do more Universal, I'd choose Portofino over any other Universal resort mainly because I love the theming. It's beautiful.

It's hard to justify staying at Portofino, getting the EPs and then not using them. That goes for visiting WDW or Epic. Both take away from getting the EPs. To me, that's the only reason to stay at a Universal resort.

A big factor is the type of room you are expecting. If you are used to DVC, you will likely be disappointed by a standard hotel room. At Portofino, you will need a Suite to get a mini-fridge. You will need a Hospitality Suite or above to get a mini fridge, a microwave and a sink. We stayed in a Portofino Suite, Bay View. I believe it is 900 sq ft and basically two rooms with an adjoining door. One has a king bed, the other has a pullout couch. Our girls are used to the murphy beds at this point, but made the best of it. It did have a 2nd bathroom, which is always nice.

Big plus for Portofino are that the rooms, in general, are huge, the pool is more exciting/interesting than Riv's and they have room service. Which DVC at WDW does offer outside of VGF I believe.

We really enjoyed our stay and may venture out and stay at Grand Helios if they ever decide to provide EPs for Epic. Doubt we stay at Universal otherwise. We take a rideshare from Disney and don't mind it.

Bottom line...there is nothing like being in the Disney bubble IMO.

 

[Brian Noble]

If you are doing a Disney-focused stay, I would stay at RIV. If you are doing a Universal-focused stay, I would pick Portofino. If you are hitting both sets of parks, consider either splitting or, if you don't want to split, I'd pick Portofino for the unlimited express at IOA and UO.

After that, it comes down to the "campus vibe" you are looking for. Portofino is less than a mile's walk to the center of Universal, and everything (other than Epic and the water park) is easily accessible from there. Riviera is more of a respite from the action.

If you can't decide any other way: In general I think Universal does a better job in their high-end hotels than Disney does, in terms of overall service. But it has also been a minute since I've stayed at Universal, so this could be out of date.

 

[disneydreamer1980]

If you’re just looking at hotels and not interested in parks, imo Porto Fino is MUCH better than Riviera. More themed, prettier, better all around. Riviera is boring and unimpressive with a tiny, boring lobby. And having been to the French and Italian riviera multiple times, Porto fino feels more authentic.

 

[Girlstar30]

I would 100% choose Portofino over Riviera. So much so that if Portofino was DVC I would purchase it in a heartbeat. I stayed there and Riviera back to back to compare the two because I was interested in purchasing Riviera and perhaps that was a mistake because I ended up not purchasing Riv by inevitably comparing it to Portofino. I know some people disagree with me, different strokes for different folks but

Here is my unbiased in-depth analysis of Portofino vs Riv

1. The cast members are phenomenal at both Riv and Portofino, but I love the text feature at Portofino. You can text them for anything isntead of calling or having having to go the front desk. So Portofino wins in this regard.

2. The rooms. Riviera wins in this regard by a landslide. The rooms at Portofino are just regular ol hotel rooms and nothing to be impressed by. Riviera also gets bonus points for all of the rooms having balconies. It is very hard to get a balcony at Portofino. I was impressed by the bathroom at Portofino tho, it was pretty large and we liked that! But soaking in a jacuzzi tub at the end of a theme park day at Riv was just magnifique!

3. The views. Portofino wins by a landslide. Stunning view of the harbor with cute little floating boats make you feel like youre in Italy. I loved having room service by the window and staring out. It reminded me of the film Luca.

4. The themeing. Portfoino blows it out of the water. You feel like youre in Italy. Now some people say its not fair to compare because Portofino and Riviera represent different parts of Europe. I have been to Europe, France and Italy including the Riviera. And the Riviera hotel did not make me feel like I was in the actual Riviera in Europe. In portofino, I did feel like I was in a seaside village in Europe and I loved that.

5. The entertainment/hospitality. Once again Portofino wins. Nightly opera singing from the balconies that you get to watch from the piazza while you eat pizza or enjoy gelato. Popular hits were sang like Andrea Bocelli and Phantom of the Opera. We loved that every day there was food in the lobby for guests. Build your own cannolis, pasta, caprese cones, etc. Every day was a delicious surprise.

6. The transportation. This is a personal preference so I wont say which one wins. But the portofino has a boat ride to the theme parks which i enjoyed more because I prefer boats to the skyliner and both resorts have buses.

7. The pool. Portofino blows it out of the water again. Sandy bottom beaches and rock formations look like ancient ruins and the waterslide was awesome. The pool area is large with nightly entertainment. Riviera pool is very boring to me. Like so boring that we left and went to CBR.

8. The food. The taste and quality of the food at Riviera is far, far superior. Topolinos had one of the best steaks ive ever had and Ive had a lot of steaks. Dessert was phenomenal and the gelato at Riviera is superior, just delicious. Portofino has more options and some fun ones like Italian singers coming to your table and serenading, adult dining at Bice and pizza, but nothing I ate at Portofino was better than Riviera.

9. The Gift Shop/Merchandise. Riviera wins without question. The art on demand artwork is lovely and I am buying some for my house. I bought some clothes, ornaments, and just really cute stuff. I bought nothing at Portofino and my wife bought a hat. To me, Riv has some of the best merch in DVC.

10. Bell service. Riviera wins for me again! The bellman at Portofino acted so weird about accepting my water case and other non perishable items from target that I got really irritated. Disney has this down flawlessly.

Overall the spectacular themeing and entertainment and pool area at Portofino stole my heart and I cant wait to stay there again. With Riviera, i cant wait to eat and shop there again! The coffee at Riv is superb! Hope this helps!

Ah how could I forget. On top of everything you get express passes staying at Portofino as well. A huge benefit that that alone would make it worth staying there!

Id like to add some insider advice that it is much cheaper to book a balcony room at Portofino by paying onsite than ahead of time, at least in my case. This is a risk if youre going at a popular time, but if youre not I would def do this. The upgrade is worth it. Just please keep an eye on your billing as upgrading it after caused the system to start charging us a nightly room rate! That was rectified by the front desk with a dining credit for the inconvenience, but it put unnecessary holds on my credit card and I didnt appreciate that so next time I will make sure the front desk knows to please keep an eye on that!

For those that want a flawless stay with superior room accommodations and food id say they may prefer Riviera! For those that want to be fully immersed in more themeing and stay somewhere with more entertainment options and more *fun* things to do onsite, i say go Portofino! I love hotel only stays, so I am the latter!

 

[jcolvin5]

10. Bell service. Riviera wins for me again! The bellman at Portofino acted so weird about accepting my water case and other non perishable items from target that I got really irritated. Disney has this down flawlessly.

Good to point this out! We had an order with Instacart and the hotel would not accept the delivery unless we were there to accept it. No alcohol was involved. Disney spoiled I guess. Didn't even think to ask ahead of time.

 

[Girlstar30]

Good to point this out! We had an order with Instacart and the hotel would not accept the delivery unless we were there to accept it. No alcohol was involved. Disney spoiled I guess. Didn't even think to ask ahead of time.

Yes me neither I dont understand what the issue is. They did accept it after me going back and forth with the driver, calling the front desk, texting them, etc, it was very stressful! Disney spoiled for sure! This is a big deal to me because portofino is pretty large and the layout a bit confusing at first. I need to address this with them at check in next time!