Is HRH $65/night better than RPR?

Universal Orlando Resort
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I know this is a subjective question…

A lot of folks here have said that RPR is 3rd on their list out of the 3 premium resorts. I’ll be traveling with two boys, 8 and 14.

The AP rate for HRH is 520/night (July 4th week) and $465/night for RPR. We r staying 2 nights for the EP benefit (vs. $255 per person per day if buying a la carte) before transferring to Aventura (to save $$'s since our last day will be at VB with a la carte EP passes).

I had convinced myself that we needed to be HRH or bust (pool, proximity, cool factor, etc).

My understanding is the pool is better at HRH, and walk to UOR is much closer. Is there that much of a difference in room quality/size? Seems like walk to IOA is about the same.

How far is the walk from RPR to the HRH pool? Is RPR really that bad?? While expectations of course will be high for a $500/night hotel, I understand the real value is in the Unlimited Express Passes.

For context:
Arriving hotel at 3pm on Tues, July 4th. Check in to HRH or RPR. Drop bags then head to park, likely IOA. Will have EPs. Get a head start on thrill rides at IOA. Watch FWs. Fear: parks will reach max capacity.

Wednesday, the 5th: Rope drop whichever park has EE. Either power through and return to hotel at 4pm-ish, for evening pool time, or leave park for a mid day break at pool and return for afternoon/evening park time.

Thursday, the 6th: check out, leave bags with concierge, Rope drop whichever park has EE. Either power through till 4pm, and leave parks for good, or leave for a mid-day pool break, and return for afternoon/evening park time.

Check-in to Aventura: If concierge no longer transfers bags, then Uber to Aventura with bags either around 4 or 5pm when we are done with the parks for the day, or really late, if we take a mid-day break at one of the closer in/premium pools.

Friday the 7th: check out of Aventura, leave bags w/concierge. Rope drop VB. We will have EPs. Stay as long as we want. Assume we will be ready to leave by 4.30pm-ish, Determine where we want to spend the evening - Ie. eat poolside at one of the premium resort pools, Cabana Bay, or Aventura or shower/change in the gym and have a nice dinner instead. Uber to airport at 8pm.

Wednesday,

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RPR is my favourite!

I’ve stayed there twice. Been at HRH once.

HRH does have the better pool because of the slide.

Other than that, RPR wins every other category.

I haven’t made it to Portofino yet.

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I too love RPR. I might actually be paying more to stay there in September. I think the walk to IOA might be a little shorter from ROR but HRH is definitely much closer to US. I almost always walk from RP, it is a flat, mostly shaded, beautiful walk.

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Thanks so much for the speedy replies. So glad to hear.

We love a tropical vibe for sure. I think it worked out to $122 in savings, and since I’m splurging in every other way (i.e. EP tickets to VB this week is $135 per person), I’ll take the win

I asked this on the app forum, but wondering if anyone knows if there is a fee to use the gym? We want to shower/change on check-out day (at the Aventura), but possibly also at the RPR, but wasn’t sure if there was a fee to use?

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Pretty sure the RPR gym and showers etc is free to use. Just need your room key, you can use it the whole day of check out.

BTW, RPR is our favorite and although I’ve had a chance to stay at the others, we still pick RPR. IOA is the park we go to most and RPR is closest to that park.

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Thank you! I think we’ll love IOA the most as well as those are the most thrill rides, so I think we’ll be happy there. Plus, we can always hang at the HRH pool.

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I’m gonna be the voice of dissent. Lol. My order goes

Portofino
HRH
RPR

But I have chose HRH more often than the others for its proximity. However, there’s nothing wrong with staying at RPR to save some money! HRH is closer if you take the back pool gate to/from. Otherwise it’s a tossup with RPR and if you were spending more time in IOA then RPR would be the winner for distance.

Portofino has the best hotel theming followed by RPR

Portofino has the best room followed by HRH

HRH has the best pool followed by Portofino.

HRH is smaller which I always prefer less people around but Portofino feels even deader than HRH so for quiet peaceful vibe it’s my first choice which is my personal preference.

Portofino has the best restaurants and I prefer The Kitchen at Hard Rock to the Islands Dining Room at RPR but I haven’t eaten at the Palm at HRH to compare gourmet dining.

Again RPR is a great hotel with great amenities most notably as you said EP. So it’s a solid choice. It’s just usually my last choice unless it’s been awhile or I’m trying to budget.

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Also the correct order as far as the standard room size goes…

PBH 450 sq ft
HRH 375 sq ft
RPR 335 sq ft

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Yup the space you feel in Portofino is significant. And I can feel the diff b/w HRH and RPR. Especially the bathroom. Regular rooms and the suites both. Last time we had a king suite in RPR which still only had 1 smaller sized standard room bathroom. We only had 1 bathroom in the kids suite at HRH but it was split so the kids could take a bath/shower while you took a shower too and it was huge.

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This all makes sense. I seriously love extra space - and am partial to condo resorts as a result.

If I were being honest I’m a bit of a space snob…I actually had a one bedroom suite booked at RPR for just $50 more per night than a regular room at HRH.

…then I started adding up all the luxuries, including my $500 Power AP, the boys undercover tourist tickets at $370 each, our EPs for VB at $445, my $85 VB entrance fee (since it’s a block out date for Power pass)…plus hotel…and I’ve determined the luxury for this trip is the parks themselves with express pass, plus easy resort access.

theme park vacays are serious budget busters!

I spent 5 nights in Paris last year with my kiddos, ganged to a longer Europe trip, and excluding air fare, I spent less than our upcoming 3 night UOR vacay.

Of course I could shave off considerable $$ if I was willing to forego Express ride access…

But no…just no.

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That’s how I feel.

I just canceled an HRH room for an RPR room in august. That would save around $45, but only I would only have two people in the room, so the extra space isn’t too much of a concern.

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1000 percent agree and RPR is still a fantastic place!

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