It's the ME, ME I've been to all THREE thread!!

[Figment22]

As a member of the Me, Me I've Been to All Three Club, I've been intrigued by this thread since Robin started it over a year ago. It's great to read everyone's comments but I wanted to try to quantify the input a bit. (OK, maybe this is a bit compulsive ) Here's what I did: Most posters expressed a 1,2,3 preference so for a #1 rating, I gave the hotel 5 points; for a #2 rating, I gave the hotel 3 points and for a #3 rating, I gave the hotel 1 point. Between the three hotels there would be a total of 9 points per poster. If a tie was indicated, I split the points between the two hotels. For example, the poster indicated a #1 choice which was awarded 5 points but considered the other two hotels equal so I took the remaining 4 points and split them evenly between the two remaining hotels at 2 points each. OK, here goes:

Grand Totals To Date:

At #3 with 35 points: Hard Rock Hotel
At #2 with 39 points: Portofino Bay Hotel and
At #1 with 43 points: Royal Pacific Resort

You'll note I'm being impartial here because if you go back and read my post, you'll see that I have HRH in first place!

So, you can all resume laughing at my statistical analysis now that you've read my data (Or maybe you're doing this )

 

[Motherfletcher]

Good job! They will probably not tear you up as bad as they did me for taping all of the aerial maps together to calculate the distances though.

 

[lovetheparks]

Favorite: HRH
2nd: PBH
Least: RPR

I love the room sizes at the Portofino but the price is usually just a little more than I like to spend for two of us so with the atmosphere at the Hard Rock, distance to the parks, the Velvet Lounge we just adore for a late night cap and yummy breakfast at the Kitchen, it wins for us hands down.

I was not impressed at all with my recent stay at the Royal Pacific and will not be returning.

 

[wintermom]

lovetheparks

Thanks for your post but could you give us a little more info
on the down side of RPR?

Thanks
Wintermom

 

[lovetheparks]

Originally posted by wintermom

Thanks for your post but could you give us a little more info
on the down side of RPR?

The service (that I had anyway) was no where near that of the HRH (even their bad service) or PBH. I'll paste the bulk of the letter I wrote them:

This was my first stay at the Royal Pacific and I'm afraid it will be my last. I have stayed at the Portofino and several times at the Hard Rock and have become accustomed to a certain level of service that the Royal Pacific was sorely lacking. I'll start with my first impression, the service drive/front entrance. I pulled up and was waved over to the left to park. There were 3 men standing around that were not helping guests. I waited a moment in the car and then when noone came over I got out grabbed my bags from the trunk and had to leave my things to walk across to get someone's attention and ask them to check my bags. I know at the Hard Rock they practically swarm you to help. Not here.

Enter the lobby and approach the Loews First express check in line. I was greeted with "you're a Lowe's first member?" Well yeah, I am. When she pulled up the reservation was rather rude about telling me I'd not be getting the welcome gift. Not a big deal, I knew that anyway and I just recently learned of Lowes first so I'm not accustomed to it. The service I found was just not friendly at all and put a very sour taste in my mouth the first 10 minutes on property.

The room was OK- the bathroom could have been a little cleaner (grout either missing or discolored in the tub/shower) and the windows were very dirty but my big problem was with the marked bed sheets. The bottom sheets- that you actually lay on- were not clean. It looked as if someone with black-soled shoes had walked on them. I called star service and asked that someone come up and change them. After almost 2 hours, I went down to the lobby and asked again. This time 2 people came in asked what I needed and when I explained my probelm (for now the 3rd time) they went and got new sheets to change.

I had made reservations for our 10 year wedding anniversary Jan 28-30 but promptly cancelled them the day I checked out. The customer service was severely lacking at this property and I hope that future guests have better experiences than I.

**That's the bulk of my issues. With all that and the room being smaller than both the other hotels, I'd rather pay the little extra to have more room.

 

[wintermom]

Thanks for the information.

We are staying at the Portofino this time but I keep thinking
I should switch to the RPR . The Portofino's $100.00 a night more than the RPR, but I am the type of person who really enjoys delux hotels so hopefully
it will be worth the money.

Wintermom

 

[stlrod]

Just got back from the PBH so I am now officially a member of the club. Our favorite is HRH, then RPR amd finally Portofino. Portofino seems dirty-looking to me. The pool was very cold. We had just checked out of the Ritz Carlton before our Portofino stay and there is no comparison in the level of service or the amenities (other than the front of the line access.)

 

[manhattan]

Been gone from these boards so long...didn't know this thread existed! OK my preferences:

1.PBH
2.HRH
3.RPR

Let me say that all three are great hotels and money being no object I picked the Portofino for first place because it is just so beautiful, the bed is so comfy, the tub and separate shower is wonderful - everything about this resort is just fabulous.

Hard Rock goes second for the pool! Kids just love the slide and even the food is descent.

RPR is beautiful to look at and walk around and I even liked the fact that we were able to walk to Intl drive, but the rooms were a little dark in my opinion, so that is why it is the last of my choice.

 

[All Aboard]

Count me in. Checked into PBH today and that completes the circuit.

 

[JessicaR]

Count me in. Checked into PBH today and that completes the circuit.

Ohhh are you gonna check out Bice? What room type did you get? Have a wonderful time, PBH is my favorite!

 

[Motherfletcher]

Count me in. Checked into PBH today and that completes the circuit.

Congrats on the Trifecta!

 

[WDW LifeLong Fan]

1) HRH - Decor/Pool/Location/love the lobby
2) RPR - Love the tropical decor/lobby
3) PB - Beautiful...but for us the location is poor.

 

[Valentine]

As of now I have booked 2 weekends in August one at HRH and the other at PBH.. soooo as of that point I will be joining the "I have stayed at all 3 club!" I will report back when I return!

kathy

 

[theterms]

We did it! We've stayed at all 3 resorts now! Just got back this morning.

I think our order is...
1. RPR
2. HRH
3. PBR

Although, we decided that the next trip we'll stay at whichever has the best APH rate, since we've stayed at all 3. We definately don't HATE any of them!

 

[DVC California]

Earned our brag rights this summer with a stay at PBH. However, our favorite has to be RPR, with HRH 2nd (liked the pool with piped in music and the kids loved the purple float mats).

Best thing about the PBH was the parking garage. It was nice to keep the car out of the sun all day.

 

[Valentine]

Okay... so now I have also joined the ranks.. I have now completed my 3 stays... my ranking is in this order:

1 - PBH
2 - HRH
3 - RPR

Can I just say I LOVE LOVE LOVE PBH!!!! The Villa pool is exquisite!!! Now, remember, I am a solo adult traveler.. so my review is adult biased. If I was staying with kids, my order would completely switch to HRH as First. But with that being said, I can't wait to go back to PBH and I want to stay a few nights next time. I could spend an entire day just strolling around the resort and hanging out by the pools!!! and did I mention how incredible the villa pool is? Oh.. I did?? Well.. let me say it again!! it is GREAT!! So elegant and grown up!! LOL!! I will post a full trip report later.. but just wanted to add my "stayed at all three" report!!

Kathy

 

[Candice30]

hey...wait for me...i just joined this club too! i just returned from PBH and loved it. i went to RPR and HRH with kids and this last trip to PBH was with my sister only - adult only trip so the experience was different. i like each of them for something different but all in all, for me, HRH had the most to offer. i am planning my first solo trip there next year.

 

[bjakmom]

After 4 stays each at RPR and HRH, I just returned from my first stay at PBH - now I love all 3 for different reasons !!

PBH - I will definitely return to this resort - especially if DH is along (which he wasn't this trip) - the rooms are beautiful (we had 2 stds overlooking beach pool and 1 std upgraded to deluxe overlooking the villa pool). This resort felt more like I was staying in a small city than in a hotel - the hotel was sold out but it never felt crowded or 'busy' - we had a delicious lunch at Tratorria (kids also reported that their breakfast buffet was the best they had the whole trip - I was in the parks that morning) - great pizza at Sal's for lunch - some of the kids took theirs back to the room to relax - DD and her BF loved their dinner at Mama Della's. Everyone loved the atmosphere of the Beach pool and dive-in movie night was a hit. The only problems we had here were the inconvenience of some rehabbing requiring guests to change elevators to get around (you couldn't get out on the lobby floor from our elevator ) - but those things happen and upkeep is unavoidable - and we also had a few long waits for boats in the early evenings - one driver even advised people to take the pathway walk when he filled up the 2nd boat and still had to leave people waiting on the pier. I did walk back one afternoon with the little kids and it was a pleasant walk that we did in under 20 mins - IMHO it's about the same distance as the walk from BWV to MGM. The lush, elegant, quiet atmosphere of this beautiful resort far outweighed our inconveniences - every single staff member we encountered was friendly and delightful from check-in to bell service to room service to spa - wish we had a resort like this closer to home - I would spend the weekend without a theme park ! We will definitely be back (oops, did I already say that? )!

HRH - We are a music-loving/oriented family- so we have loved staying at this hotel - but found it to feel 'busier' and noisier than the other two. The noise from the hallways seems to carry into the rooms, especially rooms with a tiled entry. We love the pool here the best and renting a cabana for the day can't be beat for a relaxing way to hang out both day and night. This hotel is a must-stay for us when with the 'teens'. We love the staff here - they are definitely 'cool', but we are partial to cool, quirky kids ! You can't beat the 5 min walk to/from the parks!

RPR - Another great option - rooms are smaller and I would never spend the $$ to rent one of these tiny cabanas that are located right on top of the hot tubs, but the pool area is great for the little ones and pre-teens (but my least favorite for lounging). We have gotten great room rates here - the theming is awesome and lush - dinner at tchoup-chop is an experience in itself - staff has always been polite and friendly. I love staying here when travelling with just one of the younger kids.

Since I don't usually spend more than a few hours at a time in the USF parks, having these wonderful resorts to enjoy is a HUGE part of my experience there - and FOTL gives me lots of extra time to spend at the resort! - I'm very happy to have 3 wonderful options !

 

[Disbug]

We just returned from a GREAT week in Orlando, and by staying at the HRH, we can now say we have JOINED THE CLUB!

When we went in May, I wrote a long and detailed trip report based on our stay at the RPR in the Singapore Suite. This trip we actually stayed in a STD Garden View Room at the HRH with all FIVE of us (including our 4 yr old who has CP). I have to say we simply LOVED it! The atmosphere was AWESOME! The Staff all were superb despite that reputation for a "laid back" attitude. The only issues we had were with the lack of hot water. I finally just let the tap run for about 40 minutes and got it hot enough to be comfortable. I reported the problem but it was never resolved in the 3 nights we were there. I hope they figure it out, because their water bill is going to be HUGE if everyone does this!

The reason we loved the HRH is the LOCATION, the DECOR, the MUSIC, the POOL, the STAFF! (Kudos to Jason in the Hard Rock Store... he was a gem!) I hope in the future we will be able to try one of the Deluxe rooms we've heard so much about. We did eat at the KITCHEN for dinner... I cannot recommend it. Very expensive for very average food.

Our second favorite (in fact so close, it might be a tie): is the RPR. Why? The LANDSCAPING, the DECOR, Emeril's TCHOUP CHOP on site, THE STAFF (absolutely awesome!), the Room Upgrades...

And last but not least, is PBH. The only reason it is last is that we have only stayed there one night (last Christmas). We received a wonderful upgraded suite and the Staff was marvelous. We loved the grounds and the room... but it is very far to walk to EVERYTHING. We have yet to try any of the restaurants here. So maybe on a future visit it will move up in the rankings!

 

[Valentine]

Just back Disbug??? So does that mean we have a trip report to look forward to from you?? I LOVE LOVE your trip reports!!!!

Kathy