No requests?

[KyGirl]

We have a split stay booked next week between Cabana Bay and Portofino Bay. I did not make any requests when I booked the rooms because I don’t really know what to ask for! There’s not really one thing that will make or break a room for us.

That said, I don’t want to end up with the leftover worst room just because we aren’t asking for anything! But it seems dumb to just ask for a “nice room” or a nice view. When we stayed at RPH a few years ago I thought this happened to us. I didn’t make requests and our room seemed like it was a mile from everything and it featured a broken side table and a view that was totally blocked by a tree. All you could see out the window was leaves and a grocery sack that was stuck in the tree. Even though I hadn’t had my heart set on one thing, we were disappointed.

Should I make up a request just to make it seem like I actually care? I asked for recommendations on the stickies for each hotel and didn’t really get any answers that applied to our room types. At CB we are booked with an interior entry family suite and at PBH we have a Deluxe Queen- not club level.

I’m probably just overthinking this but now we’re in that last minute countdown so I’m worrying about it all. Thanks for any advice!

 

[MinnieMSue]

I never make requests and have always had a good room. In fact our last room at Sapphire Falls was absolutely perfect. Close to elevator and could see the boat dock from our room.

 

[christophfam]

At PBH I would ask for a room that is not too far from the boat dock. That is the exact wording I use as you could end up with a very long walk if you don’t specify that and that does seem to matter to you as you weren’t happy being far away at RP. Some will ask for the west wing as it is the closest, but I do like some of the other areas around the bay as well. I also really like high floors (trees don’t tend to block your view) so I tend to ask for that although pbh does also have nice ground floor patio rooms. It would depend on what you like there. As far as cb goes, I would ask for near the lobby or buses because again you can end up with a very long walk if you don’t. When I travel most places, I ask for rooms away from the elevators. At Uni I do the opposite because away from the elevators will usually have you walking a mile or two to the end of the hall!

 

[CAPSLOCK]

I don't make room requests generally. I suspect lots of people request "close to the lobby" at CB, so I specifically didn't - we're able bodied & don't actually need to be close to anywhere.

Our last time at CB, I made no requests and we were literally 2 rooms from the closest elevator in the lobby, looking out at the bus stop. It was such a short walk! Our prior visit we were 3/4 of the way down the halls, so this was a nice change (also no requests, we ended up looking out over the lazy river IIRC).

Made no requests at PBH, we were in a room reasonably close to the boats, looking out at trees (though this was Club level during renovations, so not sure what all options they had - we were relatively far from the temp Club lounge but not sure where other Club rooms were at that time).

At Aventura, they asked what kind of view we wanted when we checked in, so we got a theme park view. And we were booked for a high floor (because it was the same price anyways), so it was a nice view out towards IoA.

No requests at Sapphire Falls, ended up fairly close to the lobby.

 

[lisam70]

If I'm not mistaken the deluxe queen rooms at PB are in the villa wing which is kind of in the middle-not a bad location imo we stayed in one of these rooms last time and I asked for a lagoon view room if available because it was our anniversary and we got it. Or you could be over looking the villa pool which isn't bad either.
CB is a large resort the interior suites are in Americana and Continental. If you want to be closer to food court and shuttle buses ask for a room closer to the lobby.

 

[dez1978]

I really need Touring plans to have the room finder for Universal hotels like they do for Disney lol

 

[lisam70]

I really need Touring plans to have the room finder for Universal hotels like they do for Disney lol

Do you have to pay for that?
I think if you look at the resort maps and ask questions here you'll be able to figure out what fits your needs

 

[dez1978]

Do you have to pay for that?
I think if you look at the resort maps and ask questions here you'll be able to figure out what fits your needs

You don't have to have a subscription to use the room finder.

I just like to see the layouts and what type of rooms are where. Like at dockside, are the 2 bdrm suites in a specific area, or are they spread out all over? Just random stuff lol

 

[lisam70]

You don't have to have a subscription to use the room finder.

I just like to see the layouts and what type of rooms are where. Like at dockside, are the 2 bdrm suites in a specific area, or are they spread out all over? Just random stuff lol

Good to know !

 

[LadybugsMum]

How do you make room requests prior to arrival?

 

[mamapenguin]

How do you make room requests prior to arrival?

I usually call about 2 weeks in advance.

 

[lisam70]

How do you make room requests prior to arrival?

You can also email them
it’s the name of the hotel then customerservice@ loweshotels.com
for example portofinocustomerservice@loweshotels.com

 

[KyGirl]

I wanted to follow up on this and share our experience. I decided not to make any requests at Cabana Bay and to make a request of close to the boat dock at Portofino Bay.

Our room at Cabana Bay was horrible, like as bad as it could get. It was literally the last room on our floor in the Continental section so as far from everything as you could get. Even worse though was that one of my big reasons for choosing the room type was the “compartmentalized bathroom” so we could all be in there getting ready at the same time. Our room was handicap accessible though so it was one large bathroom. I understand the need for these rooms and appreciate that they’re available but it wasn’t what we had booked for. Also the shower drained into a drain in the middle of the floor of the room so everything in there was wet all the time. I mean like the toilet paper and tissues were damp the whole time. Something in the room made my daughter’s nose run and she said the tissues in the box “smelled like hot dogs” which is just gross. Also the drapes worked with buttons. I’m not sure if that’s all the rooms or just accessible ones but they were broken so we could not open them to our beautiful parking garage view. They did come fix these after I complained. When we checked in they did not mention any of this and after we dragged our stuff miles to the room I didn’t want to go back and ask to move. I did ask the next morning after I realized it was making my daughter sick and the manager was pretty rude on the phone. He said we’d have to take all our stuff out of the room, put it in our car, and see if something opened up. We were trying to get to the parks so I declined. I went to the front desk and asked in the afternoon and that girl was very sweet and tried but said she couldn’t help us. It was overall a very disappointing experience. Also, if we had needed the room for the accessible bathroom I would have been very upset that it was so far from everything!! Why would that be the farthest room in the entire place from all the amenities?!?

We were so so glad to get out of there and head to Portofino Bay. That room was fine. It overlooked the Villa Pool and was pretty close to the boat, as requested. It does seem like that place is showing a little wear and tear but it’s fine. The staff was wonderful and helpful.

So long story short, I will never not make a room request again. I consider myself to be pretty easy to please, even though this may not sound like it. But in the future I guess I’ll need to think of something just so we don’t get shuffled to the absolute bottom of the pile! I don’t think I can ever go back to CB again which is too bad because my daughter loves the pools and the atmosphere. I can’t stop thinking of the hot dog smell.