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Old 5 Dec 19, 05:18 PM  
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#21
cornishfrogboy
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When we arrive in the evening, we invariably get a taxi into IDrive and stay in a budget hotel close to Sandlake road for the 1st night. There is absolutely no point in paying for facilities we will not use when all we want is something to eat and then a sleep before getting a taxi to the Universal hotel as soon as possible next morning. We use taxis because we see little point in hiring a car for the first 3 days and also paying for parking. I pick up the hire car at the end of our second Universal Park day after 1800 from Holiday Inn (Universal) before moving back to the by now free Universal parking and rejoining my family in one of the parks.

I have just recapped and can state that I have stayed at HRH x 5 and RPR x 3. One of those RPR visits (this summer) was at Club level which cost an extra £70 between the four of us. On one of the HRH visits, we were upgraded to a 2 bedroom kids suite at no extra cost.. fantastic and at the time well over twice the price of the room we had booked.

I very much prefer RPR. I like the atrium, the club level lounge, the pool and think that club level for us was an absolutely awesome bargain with two x breakfasts which were more than adequate, loads of nibbles and cold drinks, many of which we then took into the parks, evening snacks, wine etc etc.. plus a room on the top floor with really good views. Yes the room was rather ‘modern’, but it was clean, very spacious and with a large bathroom. The club level staff were both helpful and courteous. We most certainly got our money’s worth and then some whilst not in any way over indulging.

Should we return to Orlando in the future and should the price again be reasonable with the same perks, then it would be inevitable that we would book RPR at Club level again.

As for Portofino, I haven’t been so cannot comment. The extra cost of the Hotel over the other two is a major factor as I am mainly booking into one of these hotels for the FOTL and other ‘goodies’. They are identical, whichever I choose.
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Old 5 Dec 19, 10:42 PM  
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Originally Posted by dreamisawish View Post
Is it the same for portofino? Both for club and non club? Looking at club rooms but I’m not sure it’ll be worth it for us sadly as we are fine with cheap breakfasts and have a few restaurants planned offsite.

Upgrading to portofino from endless summer will already have been a big jump!
I remember at Portofino, there was a fridge, but definitely was the kind that you couldn't move the bottles or you would get charged. There was no room for our stuff. Even the $7 bottle of Fiji water that was on top of the dresser was sitting in a holder with a wire out the back connecting it to the same system.

It was 5 years ago though, it might be different now.
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Old 6 Dec 19, 09:44 AM  
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Originally Posted by Disney_time View Post
I remember at Portofino, there was a fridge, but definitely was the kind that you couldn't move the bottles or you would get charged. There was no room for our stuff. Even the $7 bottle of Fiji water that was on top of the dresser was sitting in a holder with a wire out the back connecting it to the same system.

It was 5 years ago though, it might be different now.
I hope it’s is different now, not having a fridge we could use would be a major detractor. We stayed at cabana bay in Feb and had a fridge there, and that’s considered a value! We used that fridge a lot as well.
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Old 6 Dec 19, 09:55 AM  
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Originally Posted by Claudette View Post
Is the extra £200 for a week? If so, it is not a bad price for the extra quality of Portofino.

But I would not let what is on the wall feature too much in my hotel decision making process. I don’t even recall what was on the wall at RPR, certainly nothing that made us pass comment. We thought the room was nice and certainly as good as any other onsite deluxe hotel we have stayed in.

I still think I would pick RPR / HRH for the better location. Not that Portofino is a bad location.
£200 more is for 8 nights, so yes not a bad difference when you think of it that way. To go up to club at either is about £500 more at each, at least on the site I’m using- and will have to use to get my discount!- so I think club is a no go for us.
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Old 6 Dec 19, 09:57 AM  
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Originally Posted by Clare View Post
Portofino is undergoing a refurb, tbh I never liked the big flowers on RPR’s bedroom wall and preferred PB, but having seen a video of a new room at PB ... let’s just as I’m preferring the RPR rooms.

New PB rooms appears harsher than before, more masculine and the carpet reminds me of something my cats used to do on the carpet. Such a shame but I still love PB.
I need to have a look at these rooms! We will be going in September 2020 so I imagine if they are returning now then the majority of rooms will be done by then. I’ll see if I can find a picture of the refurb online.
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Old 6 Dec 19, 10:07 AM  
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I've never stayed at Portofino but have stayed at HRH and various times at RPR. For me what would swing it is the location - although you can get the water taxi from all 3, HRH and RPR are much closer than Portofino. You could walk from both to city walk in 10 mins, whereas it would easily be double that staying at Portofino. 20 mins doesn't sound too bad but when you have been walking around in parks in the sun all day the last thing you want is a 20 mins walk. (just flagging as there are times when the water taxis are down due to rain/thunder - or if you just miss one you have to wait 20 mins)

I personally love the decor at RPR but I understand that is completely subjective. The whole hotel has a really relaxing vybe and although £200 isn't much for 8 nights I'd save it and have a couple of nice meals etc
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Old 7 Dec 19, 09:01 AM  
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Originally Posted by dreamisawish View Post
I need to have a look at these rooms! We will be going in September 2020 so I imagine if they are returning now then the majority of rooms will be done by then. I’ll see if I can find a picture of the refurb online.
Refurb is meant to be during first 2 quarters of 2020 but some rooms appear to have been completed already (or potentially trial rooms?). Room I saw online now has blue headboard and white/cream walls (instead of white/cream headboard and blue walls), curtains are a dark blue/navy print and carpets a pattern of blue/brick colour.
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Old 8 Dec 19, 07:07 PM  
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We’ve stayed in all 3 of them this year. There is nothing I dislike about any of them but there are things I love.

Rpr- I really like the pool here and club level here is fantastic. It’s also a good location and if you want to explore sapphire falls or Aventura it’s really easy to walk across through the convention centre.

Hard Rock - my favourite location. I love the closeness of the original universal park. Also like the vibe around the pool.

Portofino - larger rooms are great and I love the courtyard for either a Starbucks breakfast or a glass of wine from the thirsty fish - it’s like a holiday within a holiday. Also love Sals for pizza.

I don’t really think you can go wrong with either of the 3.

We are booked in at RPR club level in the summer for a week again and have Aventura booked for our next trip.
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