Universal Hotels Advice

[Rac20]

Next summer, the main chunk of our stay will be in a villa but are thinking of spending 4 nights maximum at a Universal hotel prior to the villa stay.

Initial thoughts are either:
3 nights Cabana Bay
1 night Royal Pacific for folp

Or

2 nights Cabana Bay
2 nights Royal Pacific for Folp

We stayed at the Portofino before for 1 night and loved it so hoping we won’t be disappointed with Royal Pacific.

My questions are:
1) Do you think we’ll need the night/2 nights for FOLP if we get early entry in to the parks? Should we just book Cabana bay for 4 nights?

2) Which sites have you used to book? The dates are 21/7-25/7 so it’s peak summer dates.

3) What should I be expecting to pay? We paid £345 in 2016 for our one night stay at the Portofino but obviously the economy is not as good as it was then.

4) Is it better to book sooner, rather than later?

Thank you all so much for any help you can give.
X

[Grainne80]

Yesterday we booked a family room in Royal Pacific for one night to make use of the universal fast passes for next Easter so peak time as well. Was £480 for the room but then we converted our Tesco vouchers so got £120 off that

[Rac20]

Thanks. My Tesco vouchers currently convert to virgin flying club miles which I have a total of 25,000 ish. Don’t know if I can use them at all?

[Floridarules]

Definitely need at least one night to get FOLP. We paid £350 at RPR

[JellyEllieBean]

We did one night at RPR to get express pass and with just two days we got all the rides done and did IOA twice as we went back for the evening. If you’re going early summer July/early August you will need express pass.

Because we had a 2 week pass, we went back to universal after 6pm as parking is free and managed to get most of the rides done again at Universal without express pass (this was 3rd week in August)

[Rac20]

So I’m getting the vibe from the replies that I need folp.. what a shame😂

Virgin holidays have currently come back at £650 for 3 nights at Cabana Bay for Volcano Bay View room? (This will be prior to my Royal Pacific Stay for the FOLP). Does that seem like a good price?

I’m eager to book if it is but I’m basing my dates on it currently being cheaper to fly on a Tuesday. Maybe I need to just wait until my flights are booked! I’m so impatient!😬 Plus I don’t want prices to go up...🤔

[mouskevik]

If you book 4 nights or more at a deluxe hotel, the price comes down. I booked 4 nights club level at HRH for not much more than your Cabana bay quote (per night, that is). Can you book that bit independently so Virgin don't get a cut?

[Rac20]

Originally Posted by mouskevik

If you book 4 nights or more at a deluxe hotel, the price comes down. I booked 4 nights club level at HRH for not much more than your Cabana bay quote (per night, that is). Can you book that bit independently so Virgin don't get a cut?

See more...

I thought that was the case and so I put 4 nights in at Royal Pacific and it came back at over £1400! 😬😬

Not planning on booking flights with Virgin unless their prices are cheap. I did a flydrive quote and it came back at over £6000 for 2a 2c for 3 weeks.

Depending on BA prices, I might consider booking a combined package with them as they seem more reasonable.

[shack69]

I think 1 night with 2 full days of express would be enough. Have you considered instead of cabana bay the double tree or holiday inn which are both just outside of Universal and within easy walking distance. They are half the price of cabana bay.

[Rac20]

Originally Posted by shack69

I think 1 night with 2 full days of express would be enough. Have you considered instead of cabana bay the double tree or holiday inn which are both just outside of Universal and within easy walking distance. They are half the price of cabana bay.

See more...

I haven’t. Purely because I really fancy the look of Cabana Bay and you get early entry in to the parks. I’ll check them out though. Thanks for the suggestion. 👍🏻