My TA sent me a quote for the 3 premier hotels for a week stay (Saturday-Saturday). There is about $400 difference between Royal Pacific and Portofino Bay and about $100 difference from there to Hard Rock. Of course my initial reaction is to go with Royal Pacific, but I’m wondering if I’m missing something? What is your preference and why? I don’t mind spending a bit more if its really worth it, but I’m just not sure. It would be 2 adults and 2 kids (13 & 7).
Thanks in advance!
We’ve stayed at all 3 of them. Royal Pacific is my least favorite, but I would stay there again if the rate was really good. I love Portofino–the whole resort is lovely. The rooms are great and the pools are fabulous. But we tend to stay at HRH the most. You can easily walk to both parks (the walk from Portofino is not fun so we usually take the boats). The HRH pool is huge. The theming is awesome. It is my kids favorite of the 3. If the difference for the whole week is only a $100 between RP and HRH, I would absolutely pick HRH.
It’s $500 between RP and HRH. $400 between RP and Portofino, then $100 between Portofino and HRH. We don’t spent much time at the pools usually, but the easy walk to the parks would definitely be a plus!
Oh, that makes it harder. You can easily walk from RP to the parks too. It’s actually the closest hotel to IOA. And it’s the closest to City Walk. I don’t love the pool at RP, but it doesn’t sound like that is an issue for you.
I haven’t stayed at RPH or Portofino, but I loved HRH! That price difference is a doozy though. I think I’d try RPH. You still get the premier benefits and it’s super close to IoA and City Walk. I wouldn’t stay at Portofino unless I wasn’t planning to go to the parks or was at a really relaxed pace - too far to walk.
We stayed at Royal Pacific for one night during our only trip to Universal about 5 years ago and it was lovely. We easily walked to the park and took the boat home to rest our tired feet. 
With that price difference, I would go w/ Royal Pacific.
I prefer RP over HRH even at the same price. We stayed at both in May.
Two things I disliked about HRH. The decor. Hated it. It started with the picture by my check-in desk. The woman looked like she had a snot bubble on her upper lip. The room decor … they were trying too hard. DD liked it.
Getting to the parks. Choices are to walk, which is admittedly close. But I liked the boats. I found it annoying that I started out the same side as the parks, but the parks dock was on the opposite side.
I never tried the HRH pool, but I did really like the RP pool. Either it is a saltwater pool, or it was both really clean with minimal chlorine. I was happy to just stand in the water and let the grunge from showering in the nasty florida water go away.
If I were to go back, I’d request 2nd floor by the boat dock. Reason for the 2nd floor is that I might be willing to take the stairs rather than the elevator.
Royal Pacific has the weakest pool as it doesn’t have a slide but has a nice water play area. They recently redid their lobby and it’s lovely. For a $400 savings I’d stay and Royal Pacific and take a boat to visit Portofino one night.
I don’t even need to write a separate post, just going to say “ditto” to yours!
I think everyone has their favorite (mine is Royal Pacific) but to me, I will always go with the cheapest.
Would the upscale sophisticated vibe of Portofino be lost on the kids?
We loved Royal Pacific and have stayed there three times. It is SO relaxing and not a bad walk at all to/from the parks.
Quite possibly…we typically do value at Disney and they seem to love it.
I have only stayed at Royal Pacific, but we really enjoyed it! It was a 10-15 min walk to the parks and such a great price for the free Unlimited Express Passes! I’d definitely stay at RP again if there was another great discount. I’d be open to trying the other deluxe hotels sometime, but only if they weren’t much more of a price increase. The price increases you are stating would be too high for me.
I have stayed at all three and my family’s favorite (kids included) was PB. But I will say that if you are not going to spend time at the resort, it’s probably not worth the extra $400. I don’t like the decor of HRH and I find it too loud and obnoxious. My kids agreed and much preferred to spend time in the pools at PB than the pools at HRH. And I realize that I’m in the minority on this, but I actually very much enjoy the walk to and from PB. I think it’s beautiful. If you don’t like the walk, you can take the boats, which I also enjoy. The short walk to the park is not enough of a sell for me for HRH.
And if you’re the type of family, like we usually are, that is in the parks from open to close you will really only sleep in the room, RP is a no-brainer. You get the Express Pass at a fraction of the cost and still have a nice, clean room to come back to every night.
Also, is this trip far enough in the future that the pass holder rates aren’t out yet? That is when a Liner TA really shines. You make the reservation for the hotel at the price you can stomach using the TA. Then you tell them to switch you to passholder rates when they come out. Then once you are there you switch one of the tickets to a pass and present before checkout.