Which Universal Hotel?

[Princess Ariel]

I’m looking at booking for May half term 2021 and on the TUI website there is only a £250 difference between Royal Pacific/Portofino Bay and Hard Rock.
Which would you choose out of the three and why?
We are planning to spend more time at the hotel on this particular break.

[chmurf]

royal pacific if budget is an issue (ok, they're not cheap either, lol)

portofino bay if you like a more relaxing hotel

HRH too busy too noisy, no thank you

I would return to portofino bay, even though RPR is somewhat closer to the parks, but water taxi makes this a non issue.

[Guest]

A £250 difference over what time period? A night, three nights, one week or two weeks? That would make a difference first of all. So I can’t really comment on your choices based on pricing at the moment as not enough information.

I have been to RPR and Portofino and stayed for quite long stays in both. Portofino has better rooms and more facilities at the resort. But we had endless service problems and it really is a bit too far to walk to the parks and back in the Orlando heat each day, whereas we did it twice a day every day from RPR. I would only ever pick Portofino over RPR again if it were significantly cheaper, which is unlikely.

I was always against the idea of HRH, because I thought the theming and the general noise and vibe would not be for us. However I stayed at HRH in London recently and it tempted me to give HRH Orlando a try. I would not pay excessive amounts to stay here over RPR, but if it were a similar nightly price I probably would for the experience.

[Princess Ariel]

Originally Posted by Claudette

A £250 difference over what time period? A night, three nights, one week or two weeks? That would make a difference first of all. So I can’t really comment on your choices based on pricing at the moment as not enough information.

I have been to RPR and Portofino and stayed for quite long stays in both. Portofino has better rooms and more facilities at the resort. But we had endless service problems and it really is a bit too far to walk to the parks and back in the Orlando heat each day, whereas we did it twice a day every day from RPR. I would only ever pick Portofino over RPR again if it were significantly cheaper, which is unlikely.

I was always against the idea of HRH, because I thought the theming and the general noise and vibe would not be for us. However I stayed at HRH in London recently and it tempted me to give HRH Orlando a try. I would not pay excessive amounts to stay here over RPR, but if it were a similar nightly price I probably would for the experience.

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Sorry it is for a weeks break

[Guest]

Originally Posted by Princess Ariel

Sorry it is for a weeks break

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And which two hotels is it the difference between? I would expect Portofino to be more expensive than the other two. I am not sure if that is what you are saying. I am quite confused by the “Portofino/ RPR” as these are usually in two very different price brackets. Have you found some sensational Portofino prices? I just don’t understand, maybe you can set out exactly what you can get for each of the three hotels?

[Princess Ariel]

Originally Posted by Claudette

And which two hotels is it the difference between? I would expect Portofino to be more expensive than the other two. I am not sure if that is what you are saying. I am quite confused by the “Portofino/ RPR” as these are usually in two very different price brackets. Have you found some sensational Portofino prices? I just don’t understand, maybe you can set out exactly what you can get for each of the three hotels?

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The £250 difference is between the cheapest (RPR) and the most expensive (HR) Portofino was in between the two. It is for a week in half term in May and I was just asking for peoples opinions because the price difference was so small. All prices quoted were for standard rooms. I apologise if I have confused you with my post.

[Sweets]

Hard Rock Hotel is my favourite. We've stayed 3 times - one of those was for 2 weeks.
We've stayed at RPR for 1 night and although it's lovely I preferred HRH.

Do you have any preference initially?

[Princess Ariel]

Originally Posted by Sweets

Hard Rock Hotel is my favourite. We've stayed 3 times - one of those was for 2 weeks.
We've stayed at RPR for 1 night and although it's lovely I preferred HRH.

Do you have any preference initially?

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Thank you. Initially I was thinking of Royal Pacific just because it is usually quite a bit cheaper but then when I’ve got the quotes the other two aren’t much more which has made me think twice lol 😂
I think I’m going to go back and watch Tim Trackers you tube walk throughs of each one to help me decide ☺️

[Guest]

Originally Posted by Princess Ariel

The £250 difference is between the cheapest (RPR) and the most expensive (HR) Portofino was in between the two. It is for a week in half term in May and I was just asking for peoples opinions because the price difference was so small. All prices quoted were for standard rooms. I apologise if I have confused you with my post.

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Ok well now it is clear, that latest information really was important and I was worried about giving a bad opinion without knowing that detail.

So, without a shadow of a doubt, I would book RPR. This is because the premium hotel of the three is Portofino, so I could understand paying £250 more for that. I cannot think of any reason to pay £250 more for HRH over RPR and definitely I would never pay £250 more for HRH or RPR than for Portofino.

HRH is similar level to RPR. RPR has the better overall location if walking to the two parks is important, location probably doesn’t matter if walking to the parks is not important.

[Princess Ariel]

Originally Posted by Claudette

Ok well now it is clear, that latest information really was important and I was worried about giving a bad opinion without knowing that detail.

So, without a shadow of a doubt, I would book RPR. This is because the premium hotel of the three is Portofino, so I could understand paying £250 more for that. I cannot think of any reason to pay £250 more for HRH over RPR and definitely I would never pay £250 more for HRH or RPR than for Portofino.

HRH is similar level to RPR. RPR has the better overall location if walking to the two parks is important, location probably doesn’t matter if walking to the parks is not important.

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Thank you 😊