Royal Pacific Hotel?

[major]

Hi,
We have booked a villa for our upcoming trip but are thinking of booking the Royal Pacific Hotel at universal for a night to take advantage of the front of line passes. Has anyone any idea where to book this to get the best rate or are they all much about the same price?
Cheers Linda

 

[juliebro]

We have stayed overnight at a Universal hotel during our trips for exactly the same reason. In our experience there doesn't seem to be much, if any, benefit from booking other than via the Universal site which links to Loews booking system. I believe that Annual Passholders can get discounts and that, if you are lucky and don't go at peak times, you can get discounts through being AA members (put AAA in the discount code) or via the Entertainment Book. However, we have always been at busy times and the discounts don't seem to apply for us!

When are you going? We have booked Portofino Bay for one night in late April and got a B&B rate - still expensive at $349 plus tax for a bayview room - but a fabulous experience.

Julie

 

[Hilary]

Ditto Julie's advice about AP or AAA discounts being the best options we've ever found.

If you book direct with the resort, you can still keep an eye out for discounts being released and have them applied to your booking at a later date if there's availability (i.e. the resort will check if there's a room at the discounted rate before they cancel the booking you already have, so you don't risk losing your booking altogether).

RPR is beautiful - I loved it!

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

I booked through Virgin holidays I have stayed twice, the hotel is nice, good location, and the first in line pass excellant, but whilst the staff are so nice, they in my opinion are not well trained, they have on two trips made mistake after mistake, from double charging to saying my tickets are not included, to not finding the code for my tickets and calling Virgin for an hour, to the discounts being given at receiption not been accepted in the Resturants by some servers but freely accepted by others.

I will not stay there again!

 

[major]

Hi all,
Thanks for the replies.
I just wondered if anyone else has had the kind of experience as "Andrew Derek UK" had while staying at the Royal Pacific? We stayed at the HRH a couple of years ago and really enjoyed our stay there but thought we would try another one of the on-site hotels this time.

Cheers
Linda x

 

[juliebro]

Linda,

As you can see from my signature below, we stayed once at the RPR but then decided to try the Portofino Bay. We really love it. The beds are out of this world. DS says that they are the only beds he prefers to his own!

We prefer the theming of the PBH to the RPR. I have read some comments about PBH staff being rude and unhelpful - but that hasn't been our experience. TBH we tend to check in very early, leaving our overnight bags with the porter and head off to the parks for the whole day. We get back late, have showers and a wonderful night's sleep, get up early, breakfast in Trattoria del Porto, checkout and get to the parks asap!

Julie

ps Excellent advice from Hilary about trying to get a discounted rate nearer the time. Will try that!

 

[rpbert1]

We stayed at the RPR last July for 1 week , enjoyed it that much we are going back this year for 3 weeks.
the Resort and pool are excellent , and never had any problems when we where there, staff where all very nice and helpful.
We booked ourselves this year, have a Loews first card [sign up on Loews ]you can ask if any upgrades available when you arrive, if you have one , also read benefits and how they work, get free access to Fitness Suite.
For AAA you need to call Universal or Loews for rates, although you will get them on
WWW.bookit.com

 

[CustardTart]

I'm hoping to take DS14 to RPR for a couple of nights in early December. Have stayed in PBH before and loved it but want to try something different - glad to hear mainly positive feedback...

 

[freddykrueger]

We stayed at RPR a couple of years back and regret to say that we won't be returning. The hotel is lovely, theming is great but staff were unhelpful, not very kid friendly in my opinion. It seems very geared towards conferences. On our last day the toilet flooded and it flooded the corridor - was made to feel like an outlaw.

When I returned to the UK I was in contact with their Duty Manager - he refunded all my parking charges and half of my room rates for the entire stay. He did say that if I returned he would give me preferential rates but I still don't think I would ever go back.....

 

[UKDEB]

We've stayed at all 3 Universal resorts and, for just one night to take advantage of FOTL, I would say RPR is your best bet. IMHO, PBH is too far away for one night and, as you undoubtedly know, the most expensive of the three by some way. It's a little bit further to walk from RPR to CityWalk than from HRH, but not discernably so. Also, the fact that the walkway comes out at Margaritaville has to be in its favour.

We've stayed at RPR twice and have enjoyed it as much as the other two. Of course, no stay is just about the hotel itself. Both times we had a blast with our travelling companions, so we associate RPR with great memories. Having said that, I do think it's a very nice hotel considering it offers the lowest rates of the three.

When are you going? End of April/early May? I think you should be able to get a reasonable rate then. Both times we've stayed (once in January, once late April) we got AP rates of $139. There are often some very good deals on Annual Passes, so it might be worth considering one for one member of your party. You don't need to be an AP holder when you book, just when you check in.

I'd recommend taking a look at the Universal Resorts forum - you'll find some really helpful threads there.

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

Hi all,
Thanks for the replies.
I just wondered if anyone else has had the kind of experience as "Andrew Derek UK" had while staying at the Royal Pacific? We stayed at the HRH a couple of years ago and really enjoyed our stay there but thought we would try another one of the on-site hotels this time.

Cheers
Linda x

Not wanting to worry you, Twice its happened to me there 2003 & 2006, parking fees added when not used, booked and paid with virgin but daily rate added to my bill, saw it on the TV, service, second time at check in it was late but i asked about the included tickets she said do not worry its included and collect from desk in morning, and second time in a row waited an hour for them to sort out.

Had an apology call from virgin firmly blaming the hotel!!!!!!

 

[UKDEB]

It sounds as though the staff has problems dealing with the non-standard nature of bookings through Virgin. We've always booked directly with the hotel and haven't experienced any problems. Maybe keeping it simple for them is the key!

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

It sounds as though the staff has problems dealing with the non-standard nature of bookings through Virgin. We've always booked directly with the hotel and haven't experienced any problems. Maybe keeping it simple for them is the key!

Exactly, anything normal they are fine, But this was a virgin flagship hotel and all the peaks were not known and the inclusive tickets both times not understood by staff. Waiters in the Islands cafe had different views, on the child offers some allowed it some diddnt, one lady waitress I felt was very rude to me.

 

[major]

Hi,
I have just booked our room at RPH - I decided just to phone and booked the hotel directly. I was soo excited when I came off the phone, the lady I spoke to was lovely and said the customary "have a nice day" which I love

I paid $269.00 for a room with 2 queen beds...don't know if this is a good price or not

Not long before we go now...can't wait

Thanks for all the replies
Linda

 

[highlander447]

Hi we've been going to RPR now for last 3 years and have to say found the staff great, friendly and at the Orchid court cafe the server actually remembers me every year, we did have problems when we went with Thomson's one year but we found the hotel sorted the problem better than the TA and they supplied me with copies of communication between themselves and Thomson to prove their point this got me £500 compensation from Thomson, I have heard that others have experienced problems at RPR and All Stars with Virgin flagship benefits so it seems to me perhaps its Virgins and Loews HO who are not communicating locally

 

[UKDEB]

Congratulations, Linda - you'll have a blast.

I would be inclined to keep an eye on the rates, especially as your stay gets closer. You can check them online and, if they come down, they will swap your rate to the lower one. You will need to phone - it won't happen automatically. Do take a look at the Universal forums, too - you'll pick up a lot of tips there.

 

[major]

Thanks Deb - That would be nice if the rate went down and they matched the price.
I've looked at the universal boards as I would love a view of the parks while in our room and the info is just brill. Already asked for a top floor but that the most the hotel would note for our preference...will phone/fax/email nearer the time. Can't wait