Portofino v. Royal including walking distance

[akadada]

Appreciate any opinions on Portofino v. Royal Pacific? We stayed at RP last year and loved it and so assumed we would just go back there. But I can get Portofino right now similar room (entry level 2 Queens water or garden) for $400 cheaper (random 5 night stays, we don't have a set date or month yet).

Wondering a few things:

Walking time to Universal (we enjoy the walk, and RP walk felt "just right."). We were over at Portofino but I don't recall the walking time. It felt longer.

Pool. RP was great but we have no comparison.

Theme during Christmas. We're not sure when we're going back yet, but we thought RPs decorations were " okay". When we visited portofino we only saw the outside.

Restaurants on site.

Basic room (2 Queens) comparisons.

Anything personal that tips it for you?

Thanks!

 

[jdrum3]

We love RPR the vibe, location, etc. We stayed at Portofino last year and if it was that much cheaper, I would jump on it. The rooms are a bit larger and it can definitely be felt with more than 2 people in the room. The other cool thing about Portofino is I highly recommend timing your walk back one evening to hear the balcony opera singers. The walk from RPR is a smidge closer to IOA and the walk from Portofino is a smidge closer to USO. If prices were the same, our fam would probably go RPR just because we like the atmosphere.

 

[Nabas]

We have stayed at both a few times.

RP definitely gets the edge on walking, much shorter walk to CityWalk.

Both have very nice main pools. IMO, neither is better, just different. But PB also has a very nicely themed quiet pool. That pool really did make me feel I was back in southern Europe.

Dining options at PB are a bit better.

PB has a very nice outdoor bar to hang at in the evening when the weather is nice.

RP has the better layout. Getting to the pool is a bit of a maze but everything else is centrally located. PB required two sets of elevators to get from the room to the lobby. RP definitely has more of a hotel layout than PB.

 

[Mom2Anna&Elsa]

We've stayed at both. The pools at Portofino are much better. They have a beach pool with a sand bottom and a wonderful slide, and a splash pad area for kids. There's also a standard villa pool, the "quiet" pool. I think there's even a 3rd pool but haven't seen it.

The rooms at Portofino are bigger and a better layout. As a family of 4, we felt a bit crammed at RP.

The walk does feel longer at Portofino so we typically took the boats, which came frequently. When at RP, we walked.

The decorations at Christmas at Portofino are stunning. We stayed there for Thanksgiving week-- they lit up this giant Christmas tree on the harbor, and they have the balcony opera singers. It's magical. And don't miss Mama Della's, one of the on-site restaurants. Great Italian food for a decent price and wonderful atmosphere.

My two daughters (9 & 7) preferred Portofino Bay. We've stayed there twice and Royal Pacific once. However, our June trip is booked at Royal Pacific because I go to whatever Deluxe resort is the least expensive. I would absolutely choose Portofino Bay over RP if it were cheaper.

 

[schumigirl]

It takes us 7 minutes to walk from RP to the gates at IOA.

From the studios to PBH it takes us 15 minutes.

Both still reasonable walks or there are the boats of course.

Both hotels are nice in their own way, it`s purely down to personal preference. For us, PB only has Sal`s pizza as a food option as we don`t rate the other restaurants highly, the food tasted too artificial for us, RPR food options suit us much better.....again, personal preference.

PBH Christmas decorations weren`t spectacular inside, nice, but nothing overly special, we prefer RP and Sapphire for decorations.

PBH has three pools and they are very nice, both have very good pool bar service for food. As we aren`t big pool people, the one at RP does us nicely.

PB is too sprawled out for us, but standard 2 queen rooms are bigger at PB.

But, both have their appeal, I`m sure you wouldn`t be disappointed in either hotel.

 

[DisneyMom93]

We LOVE Portofino. It's such a pretty resort. We usually stay at Hard Rock but the lobby area is just so LOUD. PB is a longer walk than HR but not by much.

We enjoyed the food at the PB restaurants but I have to say that we did not enjoy the singers inside Mama Della's. We loved them when they sang on the balcony while we had drinks outside. That was beautiful.

However, inside the restaurant was a different story. They come to your table and ask if you have a request (which we weren't really prepared for... we chose Volare lol). It's awkward having them serenading you a foot away from your table, especially while you are eating. And they wait for a tip. Just awkward.

We do not enjoy interacting with anyone outside our group aside from a waiter while we are eating. (Character meals when our kids were younger were fine, but not really our thing.)

Tipping someone that comes over to sing to you is just a bit much in my opinion. Especially in a nice restaurant.

We don't enjoy being serenaded and had no desire for them to sing to us, but we felt put on the spot. I usually don't have a problem saying "No thank you" but in this setting it was just awkward. (How many times can I say awkward in one post?)

And then we were like How much do we tip them? So we were trying to have that conversation while they were standing right there singing. And since we were two families we each wanted to contribute and then we only had twenties since we don't usually carry cash around. So they got $20. LOL.

I know we didn't HAVE to tip, but it would have been AWKWARD not to.

We are usually big tippers because we appreciate the service and hard work, of servers and waiters, etc., but we didn't want to tip entertainment we didn't want, and just didn't enjoy anything about that experience (aside from the food).

 

[DisneyMom93]

Also, the cabanas at the pool at PB were filthy and the curtains for privacy didn't stay closed. They were old and dirty and the velcro just wouldn't stick.

Not worth what we paid for them. We couldn't even wipe the tables ourselves with Clorox wipes because they are wrought iron with an open design.

They should power wash them every morning when they have them booked for a guest. Very disappointing.

 

[akadada]

The rooms at Portofino are bigger and a better layout. As a family of 4, we felt a bit crammed at RP.

The walk does feel longer at Portofino so we typically took the boats, which came frequently. When at RP, we walked.

Good points. We did feel cramped in the RP room. Definitely small; didn't realize they were bigger at PB. That's a plus.

When we were there in December last year, the boats were being repaired, so we had to walk because the bus waits were horribly long, so that's one reason I was wondering about it in case they shut boats down again whenever we go back again.

The Christmas decorations sound very nice.

 

[bumbershoot]

I haven't stayed at Uni in a few years. So I can't speak to the current state of the hotels, though I loved PBR quite a bit.

The walk from RPR puts you into Citywalk and then you have to cross the bridge. The close bridge takes you to Islands; the far bridge gets you to Studios (you can also cross the first bridge then walk on the park side to Studios).

The walk from PBR puts you on the same side as the parks, and you come out at Studios.

Looks like Hard Rock Cafe is still there on the park side, in between the parks. I once used mapmyrun to map it ou, ending outside Hard Rock Cafe.

RPR to HRCafe: .44 mile exiting the end of the wing closest to citywalk

PBR to HRCafe: .80 mile starting the walk from the middle of the "boat ramp" looking thing at PBR, where the restaurants are etc.

 

[Jen81NYC]

I haven’t stayed in either but picked Portofino for our upcoming trip. My kids love a pool slide and RP didn’t have one. Also, the Portofino rooms seem significantly bigger—my two kids don’t do well sharing a bed so I wanted to fit a rollaway bed comfortably. And finally, I was able to book Portofino through Amex fine hotels and resort option and RP wasn’t listed as a FHR. Hope this helps!

 

[Rory607]

We’ve done both and would stay at both again, but Portofino gets my vote. The size of the rooms was much bigger and they were nicer, IMO. The bathroom at Portofino was huge! We always walked from RP, but always took the boat from Portofino. I guess we could have tried to walk, but we never had issues waiting for a boat. It is a huge resort and my DD and I did get lost at one point, lol!

We were there at Christmas and the decorations were pretty, although I haven’t seen RP to compare. We enjoyed Mama Dellas and the gelato shop. My kids seemed to enjoy the pools at both, but really loved the slide at Portofino.

 

[Skywalker3]

We did our first stay at Portofino in Oct, 2021, and we really enjoyed it. Great resort. But it is a longer walk, not extreme, but we ended up taking the boat almost every chance we could and had no issues, except one night w weather.
We had a basic room, East wing, which is a bit farther of a walk. I didn't love our bathroom set up. Not sure they are all like this, but the bathroom was all in one: tub, sink, toilet. Would've preferred to have sink in separated area, but it ended up being fine. It was also one of only times at Universal we didn't bring own bags up, just too long of a hike to the van in the garage. But bell services was wonderful, so no big deal. The pool was great. We very much enjoyed our stay there, and would definitely stay again if the price was better than the others.

 

[Pooh's World]

Appreciate any opinions on Portofino v. Royal Pacific? We stayed at RP last year and loved it and so assumed we would just go back there. But I can get Portofino right now similar room (entry level 2 Queens water or garden) for $400 cheaper (random 5 night stays, we don't have a set date or month yet).

Wondering a few things:

Walking time to Universal (we enjoy the walk, and RP walk felt "just right."). We were over at Portofino but I don't recall the walking time. It felt longer.

Pool. RP was great but we have no comparison.

Theme during Christmas. We're not sure when we're going back yet, but we thought RPs decorations were " okay". When we visited portofino we only saw the outside.

Restaurants on site.

Basic room (2 Queens) comparisons.

Anything personal that tips it for you?

Thanks!

Portofino blows Royal away. No comparison.

Royal is closer walking but with the boat the difference is negligible.

 

[Pooh's World]

I haven’t stayed in either but picked Portofino for our upcoming trip. My kids love a pool slide and RP didn’t have one. Also, the Portofino rooms seem significantly bigger—my two kids don’t do well sharing a bed so I wanted to fit a rollaway bed comfortably. And finally, I was able to book Portofino through Amex fine hotels and resort option and RP wasn’t listed as a FHR. Hope this helps!

Sal's Market Deli in the port of Portofino Bay has really good pizzas, especially after coming back from the parks. You can order online and pick it up when you want.

 

[georgina]

I love PBR and would definitely choose it if it was less expensive. I usually take the boat; if walking I cut through the Hard Rock parking lot. Less scenic walk but shorter one!

 

[Dawn Peterson]

My family prefers PB. The walk is longer but so pretty and there is the boat option. My kids love the water slide at PB and not fans of the RP pool. I also found RP more confusing to walk around then PB. It’s why I am so hesitant to try Sapphire Falls. Same layout. I will say we have only stayed in the west wing at PB. We request it every time because it is close to walking path, boats and pool. If you can save the money I would definitely do it.

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

From em and my family’s personal experience we did not like RPR at all (minus the boats transport, pool and Bula Bula bar. Even tho we had to leave the pool for lightning it was still a very nice area).


I regret not staying at Portofino which was our other option. It might’ve been better for us.

Our experience at RPR has made my parents not want to stay on universal property again. I’d be willing to give others a try.

All in all? It’s up to you. You know your family the best.

 

[Pooh's World]

Plus in some ways Royal is just a watered down Grand Polynesian.
Porftofino Bay is very unique in the US theme park hotel world. (Maybe the Tokyo Disney Sea Italian Mira Costa hotel is comparable but that's in Asia. It's probably smaller due to land constraints/population density in Japan than Porto Fino Bay)

 

[disneyseniors]

We have only stayed at RPR, and love the tropical ambience there. It's just the 2 of us, so the rooms were big enough for us. We always used the boats for transportation as my husband has mobility issues and it was just easier. The staff at RPR are fantastic, everyone was friendly and helpful. We had no complaints about RPR at all. I have looked at PB but the resort footprint is too large for us. It looks kind of complicated to find your way around in some areas. The harbor is beautiful and we love Italian food so will try Mama Della's next time.

I guess it all comes down to personal preference.
For us, RPR fits what we want just fine. We love it there.

 

[Magical2017]

Walking time is a bit further from PB. If I had little ones I would want to be closer or use the taxis. We LOVED PB. I especially enjoyed the large rooms and the theming, as well as the pools. Our teens loved it, also. We are used to walking which is good because the water taxis were often busy during closing.