Pros & Cons - Sapphire Falls vs. Royal Pacific

[nkereina]

DH and I are traveling with my parents - their first trip to Universal - in late March. DH & I have always stayed at RPR and love it, but Sapphire Falls has piqued our interest.

Express Pass is not a factor for us - the price of RPR with regular 3 day park to park tickets compared to Sapphire Falls with 3 day park to park tickets with unlimited express pass bundled is about the same. So, the price is the same and we will have express pass either way.

So I guess it comes down to amenities and convenience - we like the water taxi or having the option to walk to City Walk, I believe we'd still have both options at Sapphire Falls? Any pros or cons for one resort over the other?

Thanks!

 

[pcstang]

Although SF is a very nice resort I would definitely choose RPR. We stayed there for 4 nights to check it out. It felt very sterile to us and nowhere near as nice as RPR. Pool is great, water taxi is frequent etc. at SF but, my family and my friends family that came with us were not blown away. I don't think you can go wrong either way, just my .02

 

[nkereina]

Thanks for the response. How did the bars at Sapphire Falls compare to RPR? We love how casual and laid back Jake's and Bula Bar at RPR are, and also how they are rarely crowded. We always end our nights with a drink at one of them.

 

[lynnfitz]

Hi, we've stayed at RP a few times, this past summer we stayed at SF in a suite. I did really like the suite we had (2 bathrooms), but this summer we're going to back to RP. The bar off the lobby at SF was nice (just had drinks there), and there is an outside deck where you can drink (overlooks the water area). Just something about RP we like better- a little more tropical, love Jakes food. The restaurant at SF I thought was overpriced. SF was very nice, nice CM's, but RP I think gets the edge for a little more of a tropical feel. We've been going to RP since our son (now 24) was young, so there is some memories made there but my husband and son feel the same way, giving RP the edge. I do think RP lobby is much nicer than SF. I do wish RP had a better room choice, the standard rooms are small, the king suite has only 1 bathroom, but the suite at SF did have the 2 bathrooms. The suite at RP that has the 2 bathrooms, is a quite a bit of $. But I do agree with the PP, can't go wrong with either-(unless you need the express pass)

 

[schumigirl]

We adore RPR, it has everything we need. Love every restaurant and bar they offer!

But we really enjoyed visiting Sapphire Falls. Rooms are nicely done. It feels very spacious too.

Strongwater Tavern has fabulous drinks and food. Almost like tapas selection, but a good variety. Drinks were strong and well worth a visit. One night we visited it was quiet, the other night it was busy. It was very laid back when we went.

We enjoyed Amatista for dinner. Food was good and service was excellent. We didn't visit the pool bar for food or drinks.

There is a new Sapphire Falls thread in the stickies above........it has pictures and info on what is there.

I don't think there's a wrong choice there........

 

[pcstang]

We had 5 kids total with us so we did not get to hit the bars. Bula bar service was way better than the service at SF. That's also my one fault with PBR, pool side service always seems to be lacking.

 

[gatordoc]

We like the food much better at the RPR restaurants. But we like the rooms, the pool, and the common areas of SF much better. Can't really go wrong with either - just depends what's more important to you.

 

[macraven]

Thanks for the response. How did the bars at Sapphire Falls compare to RPR? We love how casual and laid back Jake's and Bula Bar at RPR are, and also how they are rarely crowded. We always end our nights with a drink at one of them.

I did 3 visits to SFalls during my stay at rpr
Returned home last Thursday night

Visited twice with others and made one visit during the week day solo

Did eat at the buffet with pcstang and son one night after Matthew was out of the area

Well.....will not switch hotels and will continue to stay at rpr

 

[pcstang]

I did 3 visits to SFalls during my stay at rpr
Returned home last Thursday night

Visited twice with others and made one visit during the week day solo

Did eat at the buffet with pcstang and son one night after Matthew was out of the area

Well.....will not switch hotels and will continue to stay at rpr

They tried with the buffet...

 

[macraven]

They tried with the buffet...

Well they could not do a charge back to the room or take credit cards but could take cash only for the buffet

Made it an easy decision on how to prepay the bill before we sat down

And no service as we bussed our own table and got our own plastic ware



And had to go to another table to get drinks
Glad I did not spill the 3 glasses of water trying to get them back to the table
Self service while 5 staffers read their emails I guess

And was the tip automatically on our bill?

The last zinger was that it was opened another two hours when we got there and none of the food was replenished

But the heat lamps kept the hot dogs warm but the soup they had out was not that hot to melt our plastic spoons

The added touch was when they scrunched all the desserts to a few plates and all were kind of combined
You could take a little of this and that and I thought it all tasted alike

I can say I have never had a $24 hot dog without pickle relish

But the good thing was there were no crowds or loud chatter with the guests at their table during dinner

Loud chattering always bugs me and was thrilled we did not deal with that

 

[pcstang]

Well they could not do a charge back to the room or take credit cards but could take cash only for the buffet

Made it an easy decision on how to prepay the bill before we sat down

And no service as we bussed our own table and got our own plastic ware



And had to go to another table to get drinks
Glad I did not spill the 3 glasses of water trying to get them back to the table
Self service while 5 staffers read their emails I guess

And was the tip automatically on our bill?

The last zinger was that it was opened another two hours when we got there and none of the food was replenished

But the heat lamps kept the hot dogs warm but the soup they had out was not that hot to melt our plastic spoons

The added touch was when they scrunched all the desserts to a few plates and all were kind of combined
You could take a little of this and that and I thought it all tasted alike

I can say I have never had a $24 hot dog without pickle relish

But the good thing was there were no crowds or loud chatter with the guests at their table during dinner

Loud chattering always bugs me and was thrilled we did not deal with that

I was trying to be nice about our experience....it did suck and the dessert issue was ridiculous. The 5 employees doing nothing also didn't know what s couple of the food choices were. Lesson learned! Should have gone to Jakes....again.

ETA: the 18% tip was added to the bill.

 

[nkereina]

Yikes about the buffet! Aside from that horrible experience, how did you feel about Sapphire Falls? No comparison to RPR?

 

[pcstang]

Yikes about the buffet! Aside from that horrible experience, how did you feel about Sapphire Falls? No comparison to RPR?

This did happen during Matthew so it was an odd experience. We were stuck at the hotels so we ventured over to try Amitista. SF had moved that food option to one of the ballrooms, I'm guessing to handle the crowds the were expecting. I still say RPR over SF.

 

[macraven]

We went on Saturday night

Parks and city walk were open and the ban was lifted at 7 that Saturday morning

Did the dinner buffet that night

I will stay with rpr

I will send you a pm to answer your questions later tonight

 

[macraven]

Yikes about the buffet! Aside from that horrible experience, how did you feel about Sapphire Falls? No comparison to RPR?

I prefer the set up at rpr with having the large lobby and 3 tower elevators in the lobby
Easy to figure out and very simple set up

I like the 4 eateries at rpr of various menus and having the grab and go orchid lounge for breakfast with early hours

I prefer the boat dock and two walking paths from rpr to city walk

At SFalls, too many hallways to get to the three room sections
There are marked signs in the hallways but it can be miss read if you do not know how the hotel is laid out
Made it twice and still got turned around there when trying to head back to the lobby

Found very few hotel employees to help with directions
One TM did guide us buf he was confused also at one portion in the hallways

It is still a work in process
More training needed for staff
I'm sure they will learn more about hotel policies the longer they are there

After the hurricane passed, there was conflicting info given out at the front desk
I needed to know which rooms were closer to the pools or the boat dock

TM at lobby counter had to call two people on the phone to answer me
Place has been opened almost if not, 3 months now
Would have thought basic info guests asked would be known by staff now

There are those that have stayed there that were satisfied with SF
And have read posts of those that did not feel there were enough staff at the hotel and many had lack of knowledge of hotel questions guests asked


I will stay at rpr as I prefer the set up at the hotel
The staff are always available for the guests

Just my personal choice

Have stayed at pbh but not interested in returning as most eateries there are Italian based
Mushroom allergy means i have a limited choice of food

Hotel set up, pools, ambiance is great there

Stayed many times at hrh and enjoyed it while I did make it my home place

But smallest hotel onsite and reservations could not be done two months out in some time periods
Great King suites there but prices have climbed

With no lLoews connection with youfirst at hrh. I moved onto rpr where I stay exclusively now

For me SF is no comparison to rpr

The sheet thread count is a higher quality at rpr which is something I prefer
In my house have higher thread count on all my beds

Staying two weeks at a hotel onsite makes me want the same standards I have in my home when it comes to linens, towels, curtains etc

 

[keishashadow]

OP Depends on the vibe. If the price were less and FOTL not a factor, I'd book there for future travel. I liked the modern, Caribbean vibe of SF and the overall decor. Shower pressure was lacking. We enjoy RoyalP, I did like the older more 'bali' themed decor. PBH is our fav, we've been priced out last few trips.

 

[Grumpy92]

Have stayed at RPR and CBBR previously. We were so excited to stay at SFR in Sept. We pretty much paid the same price as we would have at CBBR

Pros: its new, theming is understaed, Loved the boat launch to City Walk beautiful colors in the design, wonderful housekeeping

Cons: Rooms are small, barn door on the bathroom. I have noticed many guests do not like it but we did not have a problem with it. The food options are limited. Hi price for limited menu, spicy and just did not fit our taste. We ate at Jakes and the Bayliner Diner during our stay and we were much happier. The pool was nice but I missed the lazy river. Self parking is a walk from most of the rooms.
SFR was geared for conferences. Nice hotel with conference center.

Needless to say a month later I was to stay at SFR for business and I switched it to CBBR. So many more amenities at CBBR and felt the rooms were larger for the same or lesser room rate. The food is also much better at CBBR. I loved RPR, nice restaurants, nice pool, boat launch, but do not like the new room decor.