Portofino Bay or Royal Pacific?

[welsh wizard]

We always stay for the last week at the Hard Rock. Last time we felt a little disappointed and decided next time we'd try one of the others. Those that have stayed in either the Portofino or Royal Pacific can you let me know the good and bad. If anyone has stayed in both - which one did you prefer? Thanks.

[derenstar]

We are currently at the Portofino and have previously stayed at RPR. Our observations are as follows:
- both beautiful resorts but we preferred the Polynesian theming at RPR
- Rooms are much bigger at the Portofino, seriously huge with a massive bathroom with separate shower and bath
- RPR has the better pool in our opinion, kids enjoyed that more
- Portofino is a massive resort so depending on the location of your room, you could be some distance from the lobby, restaurants and shops. We are staying club so requested a room close to the club lounge and we lucky to be given villa 2336 which is just along the corridor from the club lounge
- Club food offerings at breakfast and evening is slightly better at Portofino than at RPR but they seem to have cut back on the afternoon snacks and sweet treats in the evening, fewer selection to when we last stayed at RPR
-Transport to parks via Riverboat comparable in terms of length of time.

Overall, we prefer the Portofino for the space but some areas can feel overly stuffy (we had to have breakfast and dinner in their ballrooms due to the hurricane when the club lounge was shut and it was seriously grand!). I think it’s a resort more geared towards adults than families with young kids, lots of single couples and older retired couples about.

Oh by the way, at the Portofino, you have to leave a card on the door if you want your room serviced, a bit different to other hotels when it’s the opposite! Found that out on our first night.
To be honest, whichever you chose, you won’t be disappointed.

[welsh wizard]

Thank you so much very helpful 😊

[Squidgyness]

PP is indeed correct that RPR has smaller rooms, and I would also agree that the theme at RPR is much more appealing to me than that of PBH. I really like RPR because it's nice and green with tropical plants, and that's what I expect from Florida. It's a nice compact resort too, PBH has a bit of an odd layout - watching a tour it wasn't what I was expecting at all in terms of organisation.

How many of you are there in the room? If 2 or less the size difference would be largely irrelevant imo, if 3 it's definitely a factor and if 4 then I would probably advise PBH.

If booking RPR I personally think it's nice to have a water view as it's not a vast price increase and the room is a nice place to unwind for an hour or two on an evening. Although the pool is indeed lovely - nice bar there. Orchid lounge for a quick breakfast. Can't speak as to the evening options - we mainly ate on Citywalk or in the parks themselves.

I also particularly enjoy the walk from RPR to citywalk - lots of greenery and boats tootling past.

But I'm biased - I've spent 28, soon to be 42 days at RPR and loved them all... so far! *knocks wood*

[welsh wizard]

Originally Posted by Squidgyness

PP is indeed correct that RPR has smaller rooms, and I would also agree that the theme at RPR is much more appealing to me than that of PBH. I really like RPR because it's nice and green with tropical plants, and that's what I expect from Florida. It's a nice compact resort too, PBH has a bit of an odd layout - watching a tour it wasn't what I was expecting at all in terms of organisation.

How many of you are there in the room? If 2 or less the size difference would be largely irrelevant imo, if 3 it's definitely a factor and if 4 then I would probably advise PBH.

If booking RPR I personally think it's nice to have a water view as it's not a vast price increase and the room is a nice place to unwind for an hour or two on an evening. Although the pool is indeed lovely - nice bar there. Orchid lounge for a quick breakfast. Can't speak as to the evening options - we mainly ate on Citywalk or in the parks themselves.

I also particularly enjoy the walk from RPR to citywalk - lots of greenery and boats tootling past.

But I'm biased - I've spent 28, soon to be 42 days at RPR and loved them all... so far! *knocks wood*

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Thanks for this. I always fancied PBH when we stayed at HRH but something is steering me towards the RPH. I think we'll check out some videos and make a decision this weekend. The price at RPH is much less, we could stay club for the price of a standard garden view at PBH.

[Eccle]

We stayed at Portofino 3 weeks ago club level and loved it. When booking the styling was less what I would have gone for over the other two, but I was swayed by the bigger rooms and price as for our stay it was the cheapest club, and not that much more that RPR standard.

With 5 of us the huge room and bathroom was a big benefit, and we found the club lounge really good. We had a room in the main building looking out to the water, so quick to get to the club lounge

[scoobydooby]

I haven’t stayed at RPR but have stayed at Portofino Bay, Hard Rock Hotel and multiple moderate and deluxe Disney resorts. Portofino Bay was the best room of all those I’ve ever stayed in (was upgraded to a Minions Suite but think the main room part and bathroom are the same as a standard room). I loved the resort too.

[Tj28]

We stayed at RPR last week and I loved it. Everything is conveniently close and the pool is lovely. The pool bar has great food. The shipwrecked nachos were $15 I think and fed a family of 4 for lunch. Not stayed at PBH so can’t compare, but really recommend RPR

[Vanillapod]

I’ve not been to Portofino but we chose RPR because we felt like we were over Hard Rock.
Honestly, we all feel RPR is a little tired.
It’s perfectly nice but having had a single night at Cabana Bay earlier in our trip and seeing all the cleaners going about their duties (even polishing lift doors) we feel RPR seems overdue a deep clean.
I’m writing this by the jacuzzi here!
When we first checked In Our room was lovely but absolutely stank of mould. They were more than happy to move us so I’m not complaining about the staff at all but I don’t think that room should even have been in service. Particularly as they’re practically empty right now!

The place has been deserted but actually it’s quite busy by the pool tonight.

[Vanillapod]

Originally Posted by Kissedafrog

Thanks for posting this, we have 7 nights at cabana, our first time there, & 3 at rpr (for the folp)

It’s true, RPR is tired, needs a little spruce up, but its worth it for front of line & early entry 😁

Would you recommend any particular block?at Cabana?
We aren’t doing volcano bay 💕

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I agree and I also like being able to walk into Universal.
We were in block 6 I think which had a great volcano view. It was perfect for access to Volcano Bay but that’s kind of irrelevant if you’re not going there.

We were pretty impressed with the whole place.