I am looking at the prices in June of Royal Pacific, Hard Rock and Portofino and they are very close together in pricing. (we only need one night during the week of May 30th to June 7th) We are going with a 17 year old and 10 year old. Any pros/cons? What would you all recommend? We are mostly going just to get express and had planned to do the cheapest but now it doesn’t matter much…
Jenn
My personal rankings would be
1–Portofino
2–Hard Rock
3–Royal Pacific
We’ve stayed at all three and they are all great but Portofino is absolutely beautiful and relaxing.
But with that said Hard Rock would probably be my pick for you given the ages of your children. My teenager son would rank Hard Rock above Portofino.
And that is also the order from largest rooms to smallest rooms!
Well, we are a family of five so space is key.
we stay at RP because its the cheapest with EP but love portofino the most stay there! check club level
Thanks!
Jenn
I would recommend HRH for your situation.
I prefer Portofino as a resort, but HRH is closer the the parks (easily walk-able) and has a better bathroom configuration. RP is closer to the parks too (it’s the closest hotel to IOA; HRH is the closest to USF).
PB has huge bathrooms, but the shower has a clear door and is in the same room with the sink. When one family member takes a shower, no one can access the bathroom.
HRH has an external vanity outside the bathroom which has toilet, shower/tub and an extra sink.
That is an excellent point about the Portofino bathroom. It’s huge but not divided.
We’ve only stayed at HRH because that’s the theming that appeals to us, but we love it. It’s so close to the parks! And though we have had the external vanity area, last time we didn’t, we just had a bathroom - it was the same size as the bathroom + vanity but less convenient since only one sink.
Us, too!
That was my problem with the RPR bathroom when we stayed there years ago as well.
That is good to know. I have never personally stayed at RPR. My parents and sister stayed there in 2011, but it was only the 3 of them.
In my experience, bathroom layout is critical for families of 4 or more. 2-3 people and it’s not such a big deal.
The “giant” but odd design of the PBR bathrooms is a head scratcher for sure! Usually RPR is the cheaper option but we are two so the size isnt as important as price.
Omg we are at rpr. 2 adults and a 6 year old feels totally cramped. It’s otherwise a lovely resort but if you’re staying in a standard room go elsewhere. Portofino has better food imo.
RPR rooms are too small for a family of 4, in my opinion. It’s tight when I just take my 2 kids without my DH. Portofino is our favorite (and has the largest rooms), then Hard Rock. We stayed in a 2 queen plus sofa bed room at HRH years ago, it was very spacious and perfect for 4. I have teens, 1 prefers Portofino (DD18), 1 Hard Rock (DS16) for theming. The bathroom is huge at Portofino, and it works fine for us despite having everything in one room with no outside sink. My kids shower at night, and the adults in the morning so no issue there. My daughter uses the mirror and cabinet just inside the main door to put all her makeup/getting ready things so she doesn’t need the actual bathroom sink to get ready in the morning.
How do they rank in order of walking to the non-water parks?
I think we’ll stay in one of the three for one night in January, and I wasn’t impressed with the buses (from what I saw). I didn’t pay attention to their locations when we were there.
Family of 3 with a 10-year-old.
RPR is closest and then HRH (which is still a very easy walk) and then PBR (is walkable but not super close).
Hard Rock is closest to Studios, Royal is closest to IoA.