I always recommend staying on site not just for the unlimited FOTL pass with your room key for most of the rides, but its just so much more convenient staying on site, you are so close to everything, the parks, City walk etc.
Now IMO Portifino is the nicest, most plush of the resorts, and has the best pool as well (actually P has 3 pools, but the main pool is very nice IMO). Now we usually end up actually staying at the ROyal Pacific, which I really like a lot, but its cheaper than the P and that is the main reason. Hard Rock is my least favorite.
Now with saying all that, except for Halloween Horror nights, I am guessing October during the day time is going to be fairly light crowds so you probably would not HAVE to stay on site. It depends on your budget really, if you really need to save the dollars, you could get away with staying off site in October I believe. But if you have the money to burn, definitely stay on site.