Why do you/did you book club level at Royal Pacific Hotel and would you do it again?

MissMagnolia

DIS Veteran
Joined
Nov 17, 2003
Hi All,

We are considering club level and wondering what other people's experiences have been with the club level at the Royal Pacific Hotel. We have stayed club level at the Polynesian at WDW and enjoyed it, but this will be our first stay at Universal.

Thanks!
 
Just got back last weekend from our stay at RPR in a club level room. I booked club level because we had five people in the room and I wanted to be able to use the club for extra space and for the food. It was worth the added cost for us. Just not having to buy breakfast was worth the cost not to mention all the snacks and drinks. We were on floor 6 and the club room is on floor 7 and it would have been nicer to be on floor seven. For my next stay I am going to try one of the other deluxe hotels, we have stayed at RPR twice and both times something has been wrong with the water. :confused3 Must be us. But the club level benefits were great.
 
Agree with Poohbug. Most people equate value with food costs. We REALLY like the feeling of the club lounge as an extension of our room space. One of two of the teens can shower back in our room, while the adults kick back with a coffee in the club. Doesn't get any more relaxing for us.
 
We stayed Club the first time we went and have not done so since due to cost but we have missed it and will be staying club again in April for a 2 night stay after a cruise. In Florida my not get in a few days at Universal( my favorite park) before we jet home. I would stay every time if we could afford it.
 


We were there August 5-7th. I booked CL expecting the same level of service that we received at Disney Beach Club CL (we came straight from there), but it wasn't even close! Nobody greeted us when we arrived or seemed to care that we were there. Our room was on the floor below as well and we thought that was inconvenient. No, I wouldn't pay for it again at RPR but I will always pay for it at Disney! If we go again I will book a standard room and place an grocery delivery order for breakfast items.
 
funny you ask. We recently did royal Pacific (CL), Royal Pacific (non CL within the last year), Hard Rock CL, and WDW BC CL. We did a few nights at each.

It's been at least six since our Poly CL stay, but we've done other WWD CL's.

the rooms at US are generally a little smaller than the WDW deluxes. More comparable in size to a WDW moderate, I think. We didn't get balconies. The food is comparable though, and sometimes better. The appetizers are RP were more like a light dinner than WDW's offerings- which are often served with tight portion control.

WDW breakfasts didn't used to have cold cuts or boiled eggs, now they do.

On our non CL RP- we did grab and go breakfasts in the am, and ate mostly are dinner in the food court places in Citywalk.

I'd say the amount we spent on both visits was comparable. We really like CL, but either way RP has a very nice layout. The morning breakfast grab and go is nice area, and didn't slow us down at all.

If you stay CL- the RP lounge closes earlier than WDW's. I think 9pm, and appetizer hour starts at 4:30. Staff was great. Getting back before the lounge closes though was a bigger constraint on our time than hitting the food court after the parks closed.
 
We were there August 5-7th. I booked CL expecting the same level of service that we received at Disney Beach Club CL (we came straight from there), but it wasn't even close! Nobody greeted us when we arrived or seemed to care that we were there. Our room was on the floor below as well and we thought that was inconvenient. No, I wouldn't pay for it again at RPR but I will always pay for it at Disney! If we go again I will book a standard room and place an grocery delivery order for breakfast items.

We have the opposite experience.

We were welcomed every time we came into the room and had a good relationship with the staff in there, they were all so lovely!

We have a 5th floor room for most of our 18 night stays, our request, and was never an issue.....takes moments to get up there.....heck we even took the stairs one day!!! Not like us at all.........

We never use the club lounge for dinner as we prefer to eat around Orlando.....but we had one or three wines before heading out somewhere for dinner........they do give nice measures!!!!
 


I booked RPR CL because we enjoyed CL at the Wilderness Lodge at WDW and I wanted to compare.

RPR CL blew the WL CL out of the water for us, the staff was so much warmer and more attentive, but without being in your face or making you feel odd about taking a second cookie.

By the third night of our stay the staff at RPR knew our preferred type of beer and overall just seemed more interested in the guests than we experienced at WL.

I would do it again in a heartbeat, I would have this year but we wanted to check out the CL at Hard Rock, although of course I'm second guessing myself thinking I will miss RPR!
 
We stayed RPR CL last year for 3 nights. Our room was just down from the lounge. We have stayed previously at Disney BC CL twice and AKK CL once.

For us (myself and my husband) we really enjoy the CL experience regardless of where we are; the lounge space, breakfast/snacks and adult beverages make it a great value for us. There also always seems to be more attentive service.

As much as a disney fan as I am, I have to say that universal far outclasses them on their CL lounges. The quality of food isn't even on the same playing field. You could make a dinner from the evening selections at RPR if you felt inclined.
 
I responded the other day, but was typing quickly. Generally, we enjoy staying CL at resorts. The convenience, especially when it comes to getting coffee (with milk) in the morning, can't be beat.

We've non many non CL vacations, and will again, but it always amazes me how much of a hassle it often is to get a simple cup of halfway decent coffee.

Royal Pacific is one hotel where I could easily go either way. In the morning, there wasn't a huge difference between going to the lounge, and going to the lobby grab and go for coffee/breakfast items. The lounge is fairly nice, but the lobby seating is nicer. Of all the WDW lounges, Poly has the best view. The view at RP isn't great: part of IoA, but also a rooftops and highway. The lobby on the other hand, has lots of greenery, orchids and a courtyard fountain ( though it is a smoking area).

One last important thing...the fun of the Hard Rock is Rock music and memorabilia. Most of the day I love it. First thing in the morning though, loud music isn't my first choice. For that matter, most the lounges feel a need to broadcast semi-loud noise of some sort: GF had loud footage of protests last summer, BC had HGTV/Disney bulletin board/cartoons, RP had SpongeBob/infomercials/local news, most WDW are similar to BC but often play local news. The noise is often repetitive, disturbing/annoying and inescapable. We found it comical at RP: an infomercial on wrinkles and aging. Really?

I'd love a quiet corner in the morning before all the cacophony of the parks.
 
We just stayed RPR club level last week and it was great. We traveled as a party of 3 adults and stayed in Tower 1 7th floor with access to the club in Tower 3. The walk from our room to the club lounge was literally 3 minutes and access was easy. We never had to get in our car and leave the hotel for a grocery run - the club always had something to eat for us (even me, and I am picky)! Breakfasts were surprisingly quiet in the lounge with cereal, pastries, toast, hard boiled eggs, fresh fruit and oatmeal. Snacks during the day were chips, goldfish, uncrustables, and other small items. Dinners were themed nights and always had cheese and crackers, salad, a veggie tray and 1 hot dish. The nights we were there they had Asian, Californian, Italian, and Caribbean. Free alcohol was a plus if you drink. Desserts at night were delicious! Chocolate chip, double chocolate, peanut butter and sugar with M&M cookies were available every night with two other type of small desserts (chocolate banana torte and some sort of coffee flavored cake were a few). We didn't feel that we had to rush at all to get to the club at the times for food. The hosts were more than happy to let us gather plates to take back to the room which we did quite often. I was sick one day and they offered me ginger ale and toast all day if I wanted it. They also offered to call and see if a certain type of juice was available to be brought up for my mother. It was just an overall pleasant stay.

The only time we missed going to the club lounge were the snacks a few days because we were inside of the parks. If you don't go commando, you can definitely hit the breakfast, dinner and dessert with no problem.
 
What roughly is the upgrade cost per night at the Portofino? We are debating whether or not it will be worth it. Can kids go into the lounge?
 
What roughly is the upgrade cost per night at the Portofino? We are debating whether or not it will be worth it. Can kids go into the lounge?
1. Try plugging in your dates and pricing it out via the US website.

2. Yes, kids can enter the lounge, but they are supposed to be chaperoned.*

*I don't want to give misinformation. I can't recall exactly which lounge had that rule expressly POSTED, because I didn't pay attention. We've now stayed at all three S CL's. At least one of them had actual posted rules that said children under a certain age must be accompanied by an adult. I think the age cut off was 12 or 13.

Comparing our CL-stays to our non CL-stays isn't quite comparing apple to apples. Take beverages: Non-CL, we drink more plain tap water. If we are staying CL, beverages are prepaid, so we have some juice, tea, etc.

Conversely though, your choices are limited to the CL offerings. Very picky eaters might prefer choosing else where. Though I should add, all CL lounges I've seen greatly overlap QS offerings. (at both US and WDW!) At US, both have Tazo brand teas.
 
Last edited:
We've non many non CL vacations, and will again, but it always amazes me how much of a hassle it often is to get a simple cup of halfway decent coffee.

At UO, though, since they have the Keurig machines, that's not as frightening a proposition. I take my own kcups with me, just in case they don't have Emeril's (I like Emeril's). If we're not staying CL, I get half and half, and we have sugar as well. So I'm making my very own perfectly tasty coffee in the room (one cup to get ready with, one cup to take with me!). Ha, I've been known to make a cup while getting ready to go to the CL lounge...the time change going east is so hard on me, and I'm not a morning person, and I'm definitely addicted to caffeine...


We've only done RPR CL once, though! Can't get the price to work out otherwise. DH puts a higher value on the physical space, on the lounge itself, than I do. I want the food/drinks to hit the level of the price difference. It's a complicated value system of whether we can make the money work for any given trip. :)
 
At UO, though, since they have the Keurig machines, that's not as frightening a proposition. I take my own kcups with me, :)


Agreed.

DH drinks his black, so he's easy to please.

I'm crazy enough to prefer milk in my coffee. When I use the Keurig, I still end up having to buy milk, because US's PB and RP charge extra for a fridge.

I'm a bit like the Hulk's old tag line..."You wouldn't like me when I haven't had my coffee."

I also tend to wake up first, so I try to slip out quietly to go get coffee.

We do use the Keurig though.
 
RP's refurbished rooms now all have empty fridges at no extra charge. It was nice, since so many of the meals on CityWalk were way too big for me to finish (I'm looking at you...Margaritaville nachos!)
 
Good to know about new fridges. Last month, our room on CL at RP didn't have one. HR room did. Agreed, it is good for leftovers and nice to chill bottled water in summer.
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!






Top