Suggestions on hotel??

[swanwed6206]

My DW and I are experienced 'Disney' people, but we are planning a trip to Universal in January for a long weekend (5 days) and I am wondering if anyone has some input as to where to stay/advantages to staying on-site/rates for the rooms, etc. We have been once to Universal about 5 years ago and stayed off-site and found it a decent stay. I have done some research on the topic but I am looking for any off-the-cuff information that anyone might have. Thanks in advance!!! BTW- we have a 12 year old son.

 

[silverhaze269]

I'm a bit biased because I've stayed at the HRH twice. There's rock memorabilia all over the hotel, the pool has underwater speakers and a water slide, and it's the closest hotel to the parks (I think). There are quotes from songs all over the place, for instance on one of the garbage cans by the water taxi they have "Who let the dogs out?" and their notepaper says, "Dream a little dream of me" on it. Both times I've been there I've stayed on the club level. It may be more expensive but it's definitely worth it. We only had to buy one meal per day because of the free food you get in the club lounge. And you get free drinks (water, lemonade, and mini cans of pop) all day. I just really like the atmosphere there because I'm a rocker at heart.

If you'd prefer a more quite atmosphere I'd suggest the Portofino Bay Hotel. Whichever hotel you stay at though, the front of the line access is priceless. Having 5 days with the FOTL is well worth it. I find that you can do one park per day and see everything. We usually do USO on day 1, IOA on day 2, then back to USO for day 3, IOA on day 4, and on the last day we bounce between the two doing our favourites one last time. It also gives you plenty of time to look in the shops and City Walk.

As for getting a good rate, they give a AAA discount. They also do price matching, which they normally don't tell people. If you go on travelocity or expeida or some other website and find the price cheaper than what they offer, they will give it to you for the cheaper price. You may have to ask though. (This is for the HRH, but I'm sure it applies to the PBH and RPR)

The rooms I've been in have always been clean, and the service has been great. I know people have had some problems when checking in and out, but as far as I know my family has never run into anything.

Sorry I couldn't give a comparison between hotels, but hopefully this will help a bit.

 

[fws]

I'd second the HRH. We've got 13 and 15 year old sons who love rock music so they were in heaven. You can use your room card as a fast pass from first arrival until the end of the day you check out. We found the wait times to be very short - especially in the mornings, but even saving 5 or 10 minutes per ride gives you extra relaxing time later. In the afternoons, the queues were 30 - 60 minutes long, all bypassed immediately. We actually did most of what we wanted to do in the parks within 4-5 hours. Plus the other advantage of staying on site is that the 5 minute walk to the parks is through beautiful gardens alongside the river. It's just so peaceful compared to driving and parking. We relaxed more there than at Disney and I had previously not been looking forward to Universal. The Portofino Hotel looks beautiful. We walked up there twice and I would prefer to stay there next time, but no way would my sons be parted from the HRH. As an extra bonus, the HRH rooms are all newly renovated and the ice cream parlour is possibly the best on earth.

 

[swanwed6206]

Thank you both so much for your input!! We are now choosing between HRH, RPR, and the Doubletree. I think the RPR looks great but our son would probably get a kick out of the HRH like your sons did! We booked the flights last night, so now it is just the particulars with the reservations! I actually looked at my DW last night and said, "Honey, we have the flights to Orlando ... maybe we could do Disney instead ..." But alas, this trip is going to be a little shorter than what we feel Disney requires! It has been a while since I have been on a crazy roller coaster, so I am excited... Thanks again for the input!

 

[fws]

If you stay on site you can easily do the Universal parks in 2 days. For your son's sake, do Disney too! You'll be shattered, but if you did a couple of days at each, he'd have the best time ever! Good luck. By the way, we found that HRH was nowhere near as noisy as we thought it would be - and we were there on HHNs when the park was open until 2 am.

 

[goofy!]

If you can swing it, stay onsite. The relaxation perks are worth it. The 5 days is perfect. You can take your time and see everything. We take many trips to Universal only and we never miss Disney. Universal has its own unique themeing that we are still discovering new things to look at.

 

[macraven]

i've stayed at all three hotels now and have to say my heart still belongs at hard rock hotel.

have stayed there a lot, think it is up to 12 stays there now.


it was the first hotel i stayed at and i felt guilty staying at rph last month

i started staying at hrh when the standard room rate was $125 a night.
it's far from it now. more expensive than the pbh in october.


i agree what all have posted so far on the hrh. i love the room layout and its size. each room has pictures on the wall of a different theme of artists/music

i love the view from the pool side that faces the park.
i leave my curtains open at night and use that park light as my night light.

the close proximately to the park still wows me. none of the parks are more than a 15 minutes walk from the hotel. but i use the shortcut and get to the studios in 3 minutes.

the pbh has the largest rooms and bathrooms. excellent layout of the room. rph has the smallest rooms. the decor in the rooms doesn't set the theme for me as much as the other two hotels.

if you are going to be in the rooms for long periods of time, book at hrh.
if you want a lot of space, book pbh.

the hrh has less rooms than the other two do.
book now if that is the place you want to start your trip at.

at hrh, you will hear music in the lobby and elevator area.
no music once you are off the elevator and on your floor or room.

 

[swanwed6206]

Thanks again for everyone's input! We really appreciate it!

 

[marvel]

IS HRH really suitable for Kids 6 and 9??

 

[macraven]

IS HRH really suitable for Kids 6 and 9??

yes.


the hotel has activites for all ages.

 

[swanwed6206]

We will be staying at the RPH on 1/11-1/16** Can't wait to get there!!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Thank you both so much for your input!! We are now choosing between HRH, RPR, and the Doubletree. I think the RPR looks great but our son would probably get a kick out of the HRH like your sons did! We booked the flights last night, so now it is just the particulars with the reservations! I actually looked at my DW last night and said, "Honey, we have the flights to Orlando ... maybe we could do Disney instead ..." But alas, this trip is going to be a little shorter than what we feel Disney requires! It has been a while since I have been on a crazy roller coaster, so I am excited... Thanks again for the input!

Definitely stay on-site!!! You can use your room key like a never-ending fast pass. (Each guest gets their own.) This is worth its weight in gold.
My boys, 6 &9, still talk about how nice the water taxi was too. Once you try it, you'll be hooked.
We stayed at the RPR and it was fine, but then again, it was only 1 night (but 2 full days use of the room key!)
The room was small but we were only there to sleep & shower. We did have an excellent view of IOA too.
We were in Orlando 6 nights and the only Disney we did was Blizzard Beach and now I wish we spent at least 1 day in MK.
Good luck!

 

[myspecialks]

IS HRH really suitable for Kids 6 and 9??

yes yes yes!!!!
My 2 girls loved it when we stayed over the summer- so close to the park & so cool!!!! they are 5 & 9.

 

[Mad4Dizne]

We highly recommend staying on-site; FOTL speaks for itself....but it is just so much more convenient and you can really make the most of your time.. Have a great trip!

 

[sharkbait89]

We stayed at HRH in 05 and though the room was lovely and the short walk to the park can't be beat I would hesitate to stay there again. We had a frustrating check in and our second and final night there we had some neighbors who decided to party VERY loudly.(2am) It took 3 calls to the desk and about an hour and a half of no sleep before anyone from the desk even attempted to address the issue. I feel that even though this is a "rock star" hotel, it is a deluxe resort at a deluxe price and all guests have the right to a pleasant stay. On the other hand we had a beautiful stay at Portifino Bay. My girls (10&13) preferred the pool and slide there over HRH and Stormalong Bay. We much prefer Portifino Bay.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

the close proximately to the park still wows me. none of the parks are more than a 15 minutes walk from the hotel. but i use the shortcut and get to the studios in 3 minutes.

macraven,
Can you explain the shortcut? My neighbor told me something about going from HRC to US a few months before we went. While it made perfect sense at the time, I should have written it down because once we got there I couldn't remember it at all. Something about coming out behind Jimmy Neutron or something? TIA

 

[macraven]

macraven,
Can you explain the shortcut? My neighbor told me something about going from HRC to US a few months before we went. While it made perfect sense at the time, I should have written it down because once we got there I couldn't remember it at all. Something about coming out behind Jimmy Neutron or something? TIA

i would have answered sooner but didn't see the reply to the thread until now.

the shortcut used to be around the pool and by the bar side to a gate. then you would walk a short distance of one minute to the end of the sidewalk which empties out to the main side walk that leads one to the studios.

that is blocked off now. it took all of a couple of minutes if that long to use the "old " secret shortcut.


now i go out the front door of hrh and down to ground level.
it empties out on a sidewalk where the employees park. it takes me 30 seconds if that much to walk around the sidewalk to where the old shortcut began.


wait, i just reread.........you want the short cut from one park to hrc and then over to ioa.

standing facing jimmy neutron in the studios side, walk down the street which leads to the old nick building . that is on your right as you walk towards it.

bear left after you pass where the nick slime fountain used to be.
there is a gated area with uo attendant that will hand stamp your hand.
it empties out to the back of the hrc.

i have been told that since bmg will be housed in the old nick building, a separate entrance may be constructed for this bmg entrance.
they want to make an entrance from city walk directly to the nick building.
that way one does not have to pay for a ticket to the park just to see bmg.

but, right now, use the shortcut until we hear otherwise.

 

[Melisa1]

Another vote for the HRH!