Which would you choose & why

[Darcy03231]

I'm in the process of booking a trip to US/IOA for the second week in August. Right now if I do the stay 3 nights get 2 nights free it comes to $830.70 for the Royal Pacific, $965.70 for the Hard Rock and $1,016.33 for Portofino Bay. All standard rooms. It will definitely be me and two teens (17 & 15) with the possibility of another 2 teens if each child brings a friend.

We've never stayed on-site before so I have no first hand experience. Is it worth the extra money to stay at either the Hard Rock or Portofino Bay over the Royal Pacific? or should I just book the Royal Pacific and spend the extra money toward tickets for Blue Man Group or something else while we're there. This is a kids vacation (DH and I already went away without kids last month) so it doesn't really matter to me which resort we go to. I just want to stay on-site and within somewhat of a budget.

So, which would you choose and why?

 

[macraven]

I have stayed at all 3 hotels.

I would choose RPH and use the saved money to do Blue Man's Group for the teens.
RPH is closest to IOA.
It is walkable and water taxis are free from the hotel to city walk.

I think your best hotel service will be at RPH and / or PBH.
HRH is the closet to the studio park but the service there has not been the best in recent years.

If you do take 2 more teens, the room would be crowded.
You might have to consider staying at PBH for a larger room and a roll away bed.

I would just take your 2 teens and do whatever they wanted to do in the parks and city walk.
You can always do a early or late night show in the cinema at city walk.

You would probably be spending more time away from your hotel except for sleeping and pool time.
You can pool hop to any of the onsite pools when you are a guest at one of them.

 

[Darcy03231]

Thank you. That's what I'll book then. I was leaning that way anyway, but since I never stayed on-site before I thought I'd ask the experts first. I think the kids will really enjoy seeing Blue Man Group over having a more expensive room, especially since they can pool hop if they want to.

I know it will be really tight with 5 in a room, but we did it before in an interiror cabin on a cruise ship. I find we spend very little time in a room on vacation so its doable for us.

 

[Tink_Kel]

You'll love the Royal Pacific, it's beautiful!! I love the tropical theming!

 

[macraven]

Darcy, with the money you are saving by staying at RPH instead of PBH, you can do Blue Man Group and your kids will be to you then.

you can book seats in the poncho area.
you'll get a plastic poncho so no problem with your clothes.

 

[nerdboyrockstar]

Royal Pacific is my favorite..

Daydreaming in 5.. 4.. 3.. 2..

 

[bubba's mom]

I know it will be really tight with 5 in a room, but we did it before in an interiror cabin on a cruise ship. I find we spend very little time in a room on vacation so its doable for us.

RPR then.... You won't be disappointed.

 

[Lesley Mahler]

What is Blue Man Group??? Sorry, I know this is off topic, but I haven't heard of it.
TIA

 

[rafiki]

You may have booked already -- in which case, ignore this.

I agree with the general comments posted. Like you, we spend almost no time in the room and not a lot in the hotel. However, I have to tell you that my teens really like HRH for the music element, decor and general "cool" factor. I also enjoy HRH quite a bit, but I agree with the others that the RPH is a better value and offers better service. I have eaten, but not stayed, at PBH, but for your group it is probably not worth the extra $$.

All that being said, remember that if you stay at the RPH and never go to HRH, they won't know what they are missing -- and they will enjoy both RPH and BMG or whatever you spend the saved $$ on.

 

[AlexandNessa]

Ok, I will chime in here, be the contrarian, and say that unless you plan on doing nothing in the room but sleeping and showering (and probably utilizing the RPR's gym's for showering as well) that 1 adult + 4 teens is going to be a MIGHTY tight fit in a standard RPR room. That would be a real "get to know me" situation, if you know what I mean.

If each child does not bring a friend, go for the RPR.

If each child does bring a friend, I would book a Deluxe room at the HRH, but that's me. Or, a standard room at HRH or PBH would be better than a standard at RPR.

 

[Darcy03231]

Ok, I will chime in here, be the contrarian, and say that unless you plan on doing nothing in the room but sleeping and showering (and probably utilizing the RPR's gym's for showering as well) that 1 adult + 4 teens is going to be a MIGHTY tight fit in a standard RPR room. That would be a real "get to know me" situation, if you know what I mean.

If each child does not bring a friend, go for the RPR.

If each child does bring a friend, I would book a Deluxe room at the HRH, but that's me. Or, a standard room at HRH or PBH would be better than a standard at RPR.

I did book the RPR. I know it will be tight but we've done an interior cabin on a cruise with 5 (it would be the same two friends) and were fine. The cabin on the ship is 186 s.f. and the room at RPR is 335 s.f. so I'm sure it will feel spacious to us!

I didn't realize there were showers at the gym. That's great! I'll be able to send the boys there to shower. That's what we did on the ship and it worked out great.

The kids are so excited about staying on-site they really didn't care which hotel we were at. I imagine they'll pool hop over to the HRH at some point in time. They would much rather stay at the less expensive place and use the extra money for Blue Man Group, movies, etc.. We really only use a room for sleeping and showering and according to my son it "would be a waste of perfectly good money to spend more just to sleep in a more expensive room".

Thank you everyone for all your input.

 

[Darcy03231]

What is Blue Man Group??? Sorry, I know this is off topic, but I haven't heard of it.
TIA

Blue Man Group is a show. Its very popular with teens and young adults. DH took our two older children to see it in Boston and they loved it. You can check it out at www.blueman.com.