Which of the Universal Resorts Do You Prefer?

[payankeerose]

We just don't use any of the hotel amnities, just use the room to sleep and shower in. The only reason we stay on site is for the front line passes and early entry. So the cheapest rate is the way to go for us. We usually only stay 1 night, go to parks 2 days and move to our condo for the remaining vacation time. All the resorts are really cool and if your staying for more than just the parks, then please disregard my opinion. I envy folks that truly enjoy all the stuff their resorts offer, we just don't have the time.

 

[aubriee]

I can be such a procrastinator sometimes. When I finally went online yesterday to check, Portofino no longer had standard rooms for the AP discount. I was feeling torn on either Portofino or RPR, so that pretty much made my mind up. We are now booked for two nights at RPR (May 12th-14th) with a request to be close to the walking path. We still have the full ten nights booked over at Bonnet Creek too, so will just be packing a Vera Bradley weekender bag for the two of us to take over to Universal and will be leaving the rest of our stuff over at Bonnet Creek. Can't wait!

One thing the booking agent did say that concerned me: I told her we need a medical fridge, just big enough to hold a couple vials of insulin and two pens, since both me and my mom are diabetics and she said she would put a request in, but they could not guarantee that there'd be a free one available and we might have to pay the $15.00/night to rent one. I thought fridges were free, if they were for medical reasons.

 

[Bluer101]

I can be such a procrastinator sometimes. When I finally went online yesterday to check, Portofino no longer had standard rooms for the AP discount. I was feeling torn on either Portofino or RPR, so that pretty much made my mind up. We are now booked for two nights at RPR (May 12th-14th) with a request to be close to the walking path. We still have the full ten nights booked over at Bonnet Creek too, so will just be taking a Vera Bradley weekender bag over to Universal and will be leaving the rest of our stuff over at bonnet Creek. Can't wait!

One thing the booking agent did say that concerned me: I told her we need a medical fridge, just big enough to hold a couple vials of insulin and two pens, since both me and my mom are diabetics and she said she would put a request in, but they could not guarantee that there'd be a free one available and we might have to pay the $15.00/night to rent one. I thought fridges were free, if they were for medical reasons.

Don't worry about the fridge. Just call ahead directly to RPR a few days before you arrive. They will get you a fridge free if charge, don't worry. You will love RPR, you made a great choice. The rooms are smaller of the three but if that does not matter than don't worry, does not bother us. Pretty much all rooms are close to everything at RPR. Tower 2 would be the only tower that would be a little farther but not much. RPR is closer together and everything is convenient unlike PBH. For us PBH is so spread out and not for us. You will enjoy it, have fun.

 

[tylerb123]

I'll be at WDW with my mom mid May for ten nights/eleven days and was thinking about spending a couple of nights over at Universal. I've stayed at Royal Pacific twice, but have never been inside the Hard Rock or Portofino Bay resorts. I know RPR is within easy walking distance and my mom will be in an ECV, which means at RPR we could walk and avoid the boat. How far are the other two resorts from the parks? Using an AP discount, Portofino Bay and Hard Rock are the exact same price and Royal Pacific is only $56.00 cheaper for the two nights, so the price is about the same. Why do you like one over the other and which would you choose for two females?

I'm still unsure if we are even going to stay over there though. I'd be looking at going to Universal Sunday-Tuesday. I already have a one bedroom condo booked at Wyndham Bonnet Creek and can not change my dates, so would be paying for those two nights at Bonnet Creek in addition to the room at Universal. However, I like the idea of not having to drive over to Universal three days, having front of the line pass for three days, and having a place for my mom to go back and rest mid day.

I want to go to that place but there is no resorts there I have even heard of so I can't tell you which one is better

 

[gopherit]

Royal pacific. We have stayed in all 3 and find Portifino the most elegant (but the farthest away.) Hard Rock was very convenient to US (but you had to cut through parking lots to get there... and the sweaty Jimi Hendrix or drugged out Morrison pics in room creeped out my kids. And all-white interior? Did not feel as family friendly...) Royal Pacific was like Goldilocks finally finding Baby bear's stuff - juuuust right. Liked the theme, close to parks, elegant but not so much so that you felt out of place, and the price is usually nicer too.

 

[tajz90]

HRH shares a walkway with Portofino. You get to the path thru the pool area.

 

[maiyoli]

Our favorite is the hard rock. We had one problem the first time we stayed their we were on the second floor and we can hear dogs barking and people walking their dogs very late at night. We complained in the am and they were so good, they changed our room and they gave us a discount. I have stayed at the other hotels but this one is my favorite. I know it sounds really dumb but I love their bathroom in the lobby beautiful.

 

[bumbershoot]

Royal pacific. We have stayed in all 3 and find Portifino the most elegant (but the farthest away.) Hard Rock was very convenient to US (but you had to cut through parking lots to get there...

Well you don't *have to* go through the parking lot; that's a shortcut. We just went through the pool area and out to the path.

 

[agavegirl1]

They are are all nice and have very similar amenities. However, I prefer the Hard Rock for it's location and pool bar. You can't get much closer to the parks and we stayed with teens. The big advantage was, we could hang at the pool while two teenagers rode rollercoasters all afternoon on the multi-day, two park tickets and a good time was had by all. The kids were never more than a five or ten minute walk away.

 

[SwirlyGirly]

We've stayed at all 3 and I'd say I like both RPR and HRH. I didn't care so much for Portofino. Most specifically because the lounge is on the first floor.

 

[glocon]

Royal pacific. We have stayed in all 3 and find Portifino the most elegant (but the farthest away.) Hard Rock was very convenient to US (but you had to cut through parking lots to get there... and the sweaty Jimi Hendrix or drugged out Morrison pics in room creeped out my kids. And all-white interior? Did not feel as family friendly...) Royal Pacific was like Goldilocks finally finding Baby bear's stuff - juuuust right. Liked the theme, close to parks, elegant but not so much so that you felt out of place, and the price is usually nicer too.

We stayed at HRH twice, and only ever took the path along the water, the water taxi, or the pedi-cabs to the parks. Never knew there was a path through the parking lot. Is that a short cut? Not that the path along the water is long, but....

 

[RMulieri]

We stayed at HRH twice, and only ever took the path along the water, the water taxi, or the pedi-cabs to the parks. Never knew there was a path through the parking lot. Is that a short cut? Not that the path along the water is long, but....

Yup..We took it many times from PBH .It shaves a few mins off the walk.

 

[damo]

We stayed at HRH twice, and only ever took the path along the water, the water taxi, or the pedi-cabs to the parks. Never knew there was a path through the parking lot. Is that a short cut? Not that the path along the water is long, but....

There used to be a gate behind the water slide to get you out into the parking lot. That was a really quick way to get to the park. They locked that gate up though, so you have to get to the parking lot another way. It really isn't that much shorter.

It is considerably shorter going through the parking lot if you are staying at the PBH instead of using the waterways path.

 

[MarkMichaels]

We've stayed at all 3 several times, you won't be disappointed at any of the resorts!

We like HRH and PBH for the deluxe rooms, nice to get two beds and a sleeper sofa which RPH doesn't offer. I also like the pools better at HRH and PBH, they've always felt more "fun" to us when we were there. HRH is our favorite with PBH a close second, I don't like to take the boats and the walk, even thru the parking lot is a bit further at PBH.

RPH tends to show us with some excellent prices every now and again, but its far from a discount hotel. Its funny how everyone has their favorites, HRH was our first on site hotel 10+ years ago and I'm sure that has something to do with why its special to us. We just stayed at RPH over Christmas with a great AP rate and had a fantastic time, its just not our first choice when we book Universal. Last summer we spent a few days at PBH, and in Jan we got to stay at HRH, so we have recently been to all three, still not a bad nights stay in the bunch!

Mark