Webmaster Pete's review of the Royal Pacific

[safetymom]

http://www.disunplugged.com/2010/03/29/royal-pacific-great-place-but-dont-trust-a-ho-really/

 

[rpbert1]

Hi pete enjoyed your report on RPR and the pics. Agree about the music being inappropiate, and maybe management will take your concerns onboard.
Was a bit concerned about the parking charge you mentioned, $20,i thought they had put prices up, its only $15 for people staying ,and $20 for day guests, maybe you should query this with them.

 

[Cyrano]

Was a bit concerned about the parking charge you mentioned, $20,i thought they had put prices up, its only $15 for people staying ,and $20 for day guests, maybe you should query this with them.

I thought the same as I am sure we were $14 at HRH last year

 

[damo]

Someone should comment on his review so it doesn't discourage others.

 

[Grumpy92]

I loved the review. We are staying at RPR for the first time in a few months. We are Disney fans who are braving Universal for HP. I was concerned about the rooms but they sound very nice. Believe me I am very picky having worked in some of the top hotels around.
I did agree with Pete regarding the music, take a look at your audience and adjust. If you are marketing this as a family resort playing questionable music is not going to win any fans.
I stayed at the HRH one time and also agree that they do tend to nickel and dime you more then other hotels. $20 for parking seriously!
But over all I felt his report very helpful!
Cant wait to experience it myself.

 

[damo]

I loved the review. We are staying at RPR for the first time in a few months. We are Disney fans who are braving Universal for HP. I was concerned about the rooms but they sound very nice. Believe me I am very picky having worked in some of the top hotels around.
I did agree with Pete regarding the music, take a look at your audience and adjust. If you are marketing this as a family resort playing questionable music is not going to win any fans.
I stayed at the HRH one time and also agree that they do tend to nickel and dime you more then other hotels. $20 for parking seriously!
But over all I felt his report very helpful!
Cant wait to experience it myself.

Parking isn't $20, it is $15.

Not sure why he agreed to pay $100 for the upgrade when he only had to pay $50.

Kinda strange.

 

[patster734]

I don't see anything wrong with the song "Don't Trust a Hoe". Personally, I trust rakes even less, although that might be because I stepped on one in my youth at night, barefoot, and had to have stitches to close the wound.

 

[mcbailey]

Thank you for the review. We are booked at RPR for June and it will be our first time there. We have two fifteen year olds, who probably will like the music, however, I would be the first one to the DJ stand to protest also. So thank you for that.

The rooms looked great, the food at the pool looked great! Hopefully, SOMEONE will see this review and get the pool and pool area cleaned up. All it takes is a little bad press and I believe that things get fixed......we will see. I was also told by the hotel that parking was $15.00 per night?

Thank you, again for all the good information!

 

[KEW80]

Someone should comment on his review so it doesn't discourage others.

For what it's worth...We have been visiting Universal and staying onsite since 1999. Last summer was our first time at RPH. We are a large family, kids ages ranged from 1 1/2 to 17 years. We enjoyed our stay. The family agrees that the pool at the RPH is the best. There were a few problems with the cabana's but the staff recitfied them quickly and couldn't do enough to make our stay the best. Our Grace was celebrating her 4th birthday and the cabana attendant brought her a gigantic basket full of fun things. Stuffed George, candy, pool stuff, drinks and beautiful colorful balloons all compliments of the hotel. The DJ was there two or three days but I did not find the music offensive. If I had, I would have registered my concern. We spent alot of money because that is how we do vacation and I feel the RPH was worth every dollar.

 

[Lewisc]

I thought it was an informative review.

Pete's sister and her kids were visiting. I suspect the $20 parking charge was the day rate for them. Maybe Pete had the parking charge put on his room.

The $50 upgrade to a suite is based on availability. I suspect availability means the hotel doesn't think they'll sell out. Pete checked in early, 11a. I can't blame the hotel for not offering an upgrade that early.

Pete said this is Universal's value property. It is the lowest price resort. It's not a value resort. It has the same 4* rating as the other two properities and has similar amenities.

 

[rpbert1]

We have been staying at RPR the last 5 years, , over the last 4 usually for 2 or 3 weeks in July. The RPR is our fav resort, pool is great and always plenty going on for kids. Never had any probs with music, being played by the DJ, and never heard any inappropiate music, but it can happen . The music is never loud at the pool, and once you are away from the immediate area of the DJ you would not hear it, and definetly not in the pool with all the noise going on. Like i said the $20 was prob for his visitors parking and not for them staying.
The rooms are a good size at RPR , bit tight if there is 5 of you, but a lot only stay to get the fotl so it should never be a problem.
It is usually the cheapest option , although we got PBH cheaper for a week last July,but its still a fantastic resort and excellent facilities.
Looking forward to our stay in July, although its only 10 days this year, but would recommend this resort to anyone.

 

[ATAfamily]

We have stayed at the RPR multiple times and we love it. We are a family of 5 and we have never had a problem with the 5 of us sharing one room. The bathroom situation does take a bit of so-called scheduling as we all try to get ready in the morning but after getting down a routine we have no problems. I just wish that the RPR offered queen suites instead of just king suites.

 

[nhrenee]

"..I understand that Universal is a much different beast than Disney, and that’s one of the reasons I love Universal so much – but lets be blunt – Universal is not normally the destination for people visiting Orlando, it’s what people do before or after their Disney vacation..."

That's news to my family and I. We haven't been to WDW since 1998. But we have been to Universal 7 times in the past 10 years.

 

[WebmasterPete]

Someone should comment on his review so it doesn't discourage others.

The review was largely positive and extremely fair. I just relate my experience as honestly as I can. There are people who would care a great deal about the music - those people should be warned that they may have an experience at the pool they would rather avoid. That is, after all, what the site is here for.

"..I understand that Universal is a much different beast than Disney, and that’s one of the reasons I love Universal so much – but lets be blunt – Universal is not normally the destination for people visiting Orlando, it’s what people do before or after their Disney vacation..."

That's news to my family and I. We haven't been to WDW since 1998. But we have been to Universal 7 times in the past 10 years.

Hence the phrase "not normally" - I didn't say "not ever" or "no one". The vast majority of people visiting Orlando are visiting Walt Disney World and taking excursions to Universal. That's not an opinion, it's a fact. I wish there were more people that went to Universal as a destination as I believe it more than warrants it, but that's not the reality. If Universal wants to attract the Disney audience, they need to pay attention to some of these details a little better.

 

[WebmasterPete]

Parking isn't $20, it is $15.

Not sure why he agreed to pay $100 for the upgrade when he only had to pay $50.

Kinda strange.

I was charged $20 per night for self parking. Just checked my bill - that's what's there.

Universal makes a select number of rooms available for AP upgrades. Just because a room is available doesn't mean it's available for an upgrade. From what I could gather the hotel was running at something close to full occupancy. If they think they can get the $100 a night, they're not going to let it go for $50, which is why I didn't make an issue of it. Also, I do note in the review that the size and comfort level of the room more than warranted the price. Yes, I would have liked the $50 upgrade, but it was worth the $100 I paid.

Pete

 

[trainingupmy4princes]

The review was largely positive and extremely fair. I just relate my experience as honestly as I can. There are people who would care a great deal about the music - those people should be warned that they may have an experience at the pool they would rather avoid. That is, after all, what the site is here for.



Hence the phrase "not normally" - I didn't say "not ever" or "no one". The vast majority of people visiting Orlando are visiting Walt Disney World and taking excursions to Universal. That's not an opinion, it's a fact. I wish there were more people that went to Universal as a destination as I believe it more than warrants it, but that's not the reality. If Universal wants to attract the Disney audience, they need to pay attention to some of these details a little better.

I know for my family we appreciate being warned about the music choices at the pool. We don't let our kids listen to any questionable music. And the last thing I need is my autistic son repeating the word Ho, or any other not proper word, all vacation long.
Hopefully they change that as they have more families coming this year for HP.

 

[mobiana]

The attitude of the staff was nothing short of shocking and especially given the audience that we have on the DIS, I have to say that I cannot in good conscience recommend this property to ANYONE with young kids. That kills me to say, because in almost every other respect it’s a great resort – but I’ll be honest – if I won’t bring my 7 year old niece back there again, how could I suggest than anyone else do it?

We're planning our first trip to the RPR in August/September, and we're really looking forward to this trip. Reading this particularly harsh couple of sentences in this review made me stop ... but we're not changing our reservations. Inappropriate music aside, I didn't think this review was fair or mostly positive. Felt like the reviewer had some sort of an ax to grind, in my opinion. Not sure why.

 

[WebmasterPete]

We're planning our first trip to the RPR in August/September, and we're really looking forward to this trip. Reading this particularly harsh couple of sentences in this review made me stop ... but we're not changing our reservations. Inappropriate music aside, I didn't think this review was fair or mostly positive. Felt like the reviewer had some sort of an ax to grind, in my opinion. Not sure why.

Did you read the rest of the review? What exactly wasn't fair?

Also, the travel agency that I own, Dreams Unlimited Travel, SELLS this property - so what axe would I have to grind? If I had an agenda to push, I would have looked the other way with the pool incident.

 

[ckey]

We didn't have a great experience when we stayed at the RPR in June 2008, and I was so disappointed after reading all the glowing reviews here. The front desk was less than helpful--we had to go back 3 times to get them to finally add charging privileges to my husbands key (even though we specifically asked at check-in). The rooms are tiny, the pool area was dirty with dishes/glasses/beer bottles all around and the service at the pool was ridiculously slow. I love the FOTL so we are going back to the Hard Rock this summer. We had decided to try the RPR to save a few $$, but it was a totally different experience. I'm hoping the Hard Rock is as I remember it from 2005.

As far as Pete's review/experience--the thing that I keyed in on here is not whether you think the music is or is not appropriate at a kid's pool, it is the callous/condescending way the DJ and the manager handled his complaint. The way an establishment responds to complaints/concerns speaks volumes about its total attitude to customer service.

 

[nerdboyrockstar]

I don't see anything wrong with the song "Don't Trust a Hoe". Personally, I trust rakes even less, although that might be because I stepped on one in my youth at night, barefoot, and had to have stitches to close the wound.

lmao! I agree.. Sadly, a lot of kids listen to this. This is what the radio plays. The band even has the #2 song on Radio Disney right now, behind Justin Bieber. But I also understand any parent's concerns.

The RPR usually plays GREAT music around the pool but this was really the DJ's choice. Sorry management wasn't more receptive to your complaint.