PORTOFINO BAY HOTEL INFO...FAQ`s and more.......

[Runnsally]

Hi everyone!! I just booked a 7 night stay at Portofino near the end of August(family of 4, 2 adults, 2 teenagers) I decided to pay the extra(about $80.00 per night) to upgrade to a club level room. We tried club level at royal pacific about 5 years ago and enjoyed it for the most part(we enjoyed the breakfast but found the evening appetizers to be just ok)

We have visited Portofino during the afternoon to enjoy the pool but other than that we are fairly new to the resort. Our kids ages 14 and 17 requested Portofino because they loved the "feel" of the resort.

I have tried to read through most of this thread but I still have a few questions and I am sure I will have more as we get closer...

1) Does anyone know if the evening appetizers run on a 4 or 7 day cycle. We were wondering if we will get the same food twice during our stay. Also does anyone have a picture of a current club lounge "menu". I would love to to get an idea of what is currently offered even though I know it will change by August.

2) Would anyone have current pictures of the club lounge renovation. It looks like it is beautiful!!! I have found a few pictures online but I would love to see more

3) I think I have read that the club rooms are garden view. Are any of them bay view?

4) Where should I request a room. I would love to be close to the lounge and also the water taxi.

Thank you all for you help. This thread has provided me with so much information and is so helpful!!!!

I’m also interested in 3 and 4 above. Thanks for posting.

 

[ksdaveb2003]

Hi everyone!! I just booked a 7 night stay at Portofino near the end of August(family of 4, 2 adults, 2 teenagers) I decided to pay the extra(about $80.00 per night) to upgrade to a club level room. We tried club level at royal pacific about 5 years ago and enjoyed it for the most part(we enjoyed the breakfast but found the evening appetizers to be just ok)

We have visited Portofino during the afternoon to enjoy the pool but other than that we are fairly new to the resort. Our kids ages 14 and 17 requested Portofino because they loved the "feel" of the resort.

I have tried to read through most of this thread but I still have a few questions and I am sure I will have more as we get closer...

1) Does anyone know if the evening appetizers run on a 4 or 7 day cycle. We were wondering if we will get the same food twice during our stay. Also does anyone have a picture of a current club lounge "menu". I would love to to get an idea of what is currently offered even though I know it will change by August.

2) Would anyone have current pictures of the club lounge renovation. It looks like it is beautiful!!! I have found a few pictures online but I would love to see more

3) I think I have read that the club rooms are garden view. Are any of them bay view?

4) Where should I request a room. I would love to be close to the lounge and also the water taxi.

Thank you all for you help. This thread has provided me with so much information and is so helpful!!!!

I can share some pictures of Club Lounge food. I stayed in a club level room back in September when the club was in its temporary location. I found the food to be delicious and plenty enough for me. My son and I recently walked through the new lounge when we had some time to kill returning from a cruise and it looked like a great upgrade to what I remembered from April 2021.

 

[disney k family]

Thanks ksdaveb2003 for the pictures!!! The food looks great and I think we definitely could make full meals out of it some nights. I also love that it looks like there are some hot foods for breakfast.

 

[lisam70]

Do the bathrooms in the deluxe queen rooms have separate toilet area?

 

[wdwrule]

Do the bathrooms in the deluxe queen rooms have separate toilet area?

The deluxe queen room that we had in August did have a separate toilet area but I’ve heard some do not. We ended up with bayview if that makes a difference.

 

[lisam70]

The deluxe queen room that we had in August did have a separate toilet area but I’ve heard some do not. We ended up with bayview if that makes a difference.

Thanks, maybe I'll add that to my room request

 

[smile145]

I booked a Villa Parlor Suite with connecting Deluxe King (going in October). Does anyone know how many of this type of room have balconies vs not? Any particular location I should request to get a harbor view or are these all located in the same area?

 

[wdwrule]

Thanks, maybe I'll add that to my room request

It was also considered Villa section

 

[BOST99]

Just back from spending part of last week at Portofino. We had an amazing stay and can't wait to come back.

We had a bay view with a Juliet balcony, which was great to see the Opera singers at night. We had one huge bathroom with a tub (instead of the shower only). I had forgotten to put in this request so was very grateful to not have an updated bathroom.

We walked to/from the parks and used the Hard Rock cut-through. Huge thanks for sharing that tip! It felt like we saved ~10 mins each trip.

I saw that some people complained about thin walls, this wasn't our experience at all. In fact, we never heard anyone when we were in our room.

The only con I did have was a lack of breakfast options. Sal's wasn't open so the only option was Starbucks/Gelatoria. Starbucks always had a long line out the door and we struggled to find healthier options in the park. I drove off-site a few times to grab food but if Club Level isn't too expensive, we will try for that next time for different options and maybe save some time.

 

[schumigirl]

Just back from spending part of last week at Portofino. We had an amazing stay and can't wait to come back.

We had a bay view with a Juliet balcony, which was great to see the Opera singers at night. We had one huge bathroom with a tub (instead of the shower only). I had forgotten to put in this request so was very grateful to not have an updated bathroom.

We walked to/from the parks and used the Hard Rock cut-through. Huge thanks for sharing that tip! It felt like we saved ~10 mins each trip.

I saw that some people complained about thin walls, this wasn't our experience at all. In fact, we never heard anyone when we were in our room.

The only con I did have was a lack of breakfast options. Sal's wasn't open so the only option was Starbucks/Gelatoria. Starbucks always had a long line out the door and we struggled to find healthier options in the park. I drove off-site a few times to grab food but if Club Level isn't too expensive, we will try for that next time for different options and maybe save some time.

Glad you had such a wonderful stay and thanks for coming back to let us know how it went, we always appreciate that

 

[smile145]

We walked to/from the parks and used the Hard Rock cut-through. Huge thanks for sharing that tip! It felt like we saved ~10 mins each trip.

Can you share where I can find information on this? Thanks!

 

[TNKim]

Just back from spending part of last week at Portofino. We had an amazing stay and can't wait to come back.

We had a bay view with a Juliet balcony, which was great to see the Opera singers at night. We had one huge bathroom with a tub (instead of the shower only). I had forgotten to put in this request so was very grateful to not have an updated bathroom.

We walked to/from the parks and used the Hard Rock cut-through. Huge thanks for sharing that tip! It felt like we saved ~10 mins each trip.

I saw that some people complained about thin walls, this wasn't our experience at all. In fact, we never heard anyone when we were in our room.

The only con I did have was a lack of breakfast options. Sal's wasn't open so the only option was Starbucks/Gelatoria. Starbucks always had a long line out the door and we struggled to find healthier options in the park. I drove off-site a few times to grab food but if Club Level isn't too expensive, we will try for that next time for different options and maybe save some time.

What is the difference in the updated bathrooms, just the addition of a tub? Did it have a separate room for the toilet? Also, what type of room did you have? And I’d like to also know the Hard Rock short cut!

 

[briggs77]

Our trip is coming up in a week and I've been reading about room requests. I know how room requests work at Disney but how would I make a request here? I tried to search but the result kept giving me Disney not Universal. Thanks!

 

[CJK]

I sent my requests to this email address and received them!

portofinocustomerservice@loewshotels.com

 

[smile145]

I sent my requests to this email address and received them!

portofinocustomerservice@loewshotels.com

just curious, did they email back? I tried using that address but never heard back on my questions.

 

[cbonebt]

Just got back from a fantastic stay at portofino club level. We have previously stayed club level prior to covid so I was curious to see any differences.. we stayed in the villa section and our room was great. No refills on body wash etc.. club dining room was spotless and great. Staff was amazing. I did notice a difference in the food selection. While the food was great, the selection was definitely less. We are big breakfast people and we’re looking forward to the eggs and baked beans and a meat (English breakfast). This has been changed to mini premade egg sandwich’s or little quiche type egg bites. Evening hour was little different too but not as noticeable…we felt the offerings previously were more country themed (Italian night etc) and now it’s just general … don’t get me wrong it was still worth it… just a little bit of information for people who have previously been there… the selection is definitely different.

 

[CJK]

just curious, did they email back? I tried using that address but never heard back on my questions.

I heard back about 5 days later with a very nice email. How long ago did you email them?

 

[snowhite99]

Hi everyone!! I just booked a 7 night stay at Portofino near the end of August(family of 4, 2 adults, 2 teenagers) I decided to pay the extra(about $80.00 per night) to upgrade to a club level room. We tried club level at royal pacific about 5 years ago and enjoyed it for the most part(we enjoyed the breakfast but found the evening appetizers to be just ok)

We have visited Portofino during the afternoon to enjoy the pool but other than that we are fairly new to the resort. Our kids ages 14 and 17 requested Portofino because they loved the "feel" of the resort.

I have tried to read through most of this thread but I still have a few questions and I am sure I will have more as we get closer...

1) Does anyone know if the evening appetizers run on a 4 or 7 day cycle. We were wondering if we will get the same food twice during our stay. Also does anyone have a picture of a current club lounge "menu". I would love to to get an idea of what is currently offered even though I know it will change by August.

2) Would anyone have current pictures of the club lounge renovation. It looks like it is beautiful!!! I have found a few pictures online but I would love to see more

3) I think I have read that the club rooms are garden view. Are any of them bay view?

4) Where should I request a room. I would love to be close to the lounge and also the water taxi.

Thank you all for you help. This thread has provided me with so much information and is so helpful!!!!

2) Our friends sent pics of the updated club lounge but I can't seem to be able to post them in this thread unfortunately. Looks amazing. We have a few days in late August booked. Did club level in Aug last year and enjoyed it even with the temporary location.

3) We had a beach pool view when we stayed Aug 2021 club level. Friends of ours are there now and have a villa pool view.

 

[Nate5452]

Did you have to book directly through Amex? I booked an APH rate with Loews for Nov, and assumed this would not be included...

Were you successful in getting all the benefits without booking through AMEX travel? I booked a minion's suite many months ago and only recently got the AMEX platinum. I recently booked another room through AMEX travel for my parents so I should be good to go with that room. I am just trying to extend those benefits to my earlier booking, and I can change it over to this platinum card or one that my wife has.

I always go through Universal and book AP rate or best rate available when booking.

Do you have the AMEX platinum? Did you still get all the upgrades without utilizing the AMEX Travel website?



Thank you!

 

[BLTtinkerbell]

Planning first trip to Universal Studios and staying at Portofino Bay.
I have several questions:

Any guess as to when AP room discounts for June will be out?

Will I find them when looking for rooms on the Universal Studios website?

How many rooms can you book with an AP?

If I already booked a room(s), can AP discount be applied once discounts are available?

Any other thoughts for planning my family’s (all adults) first trip to Universal Studios/Portofino Bay?

Thank you! Have a great day!