Split Stay or Just Resort Hop -WWYD?

[eliezra]

We stayed at RPR this spring, and loved it, but was a little surprised by how loud and crowded the pool area was. We would like to try a new resort, just for variety sake! Can't decide what to do, so just looking for some second opinions about splitting a stay between 2 resorts OR staying at one and then resort hop.....

We are a family of 4 with 12 & 13 year old boys - currently booked at PBR for 5 nights end of October. We are considering splitting stay and going to HRH the last 2 nights (Sun - Tue).

We are really excited about Portofino's pools and quietness of the resort. But, we would also love to experience the cool vibe of HRH, breakfast at the Kitchen, and short walk to parks.

We live out of our suitcase, so not concerned about effort of swapping resorts. We are also not concerned about the shallow HRH pool. A few questions I have:

• Are the HRH public areas and pool really loud and crowded in comparison to PBH?
• Is it worth switching resorts OR should we just stay at Portofino and spend some time at HRH? It would cost about $250 more, which is not a deal breaker as I am using travel points.
• Does either PBH or HRH have the nice locker room with showers near the pool that we would have access to similar to RPR?

Thanks all for sharing your opinions or experiences! Much appreciated!!

 

[schumigirl]

Any of the pools can get busy at anytime.

When we went to HRH pool one afternoon in October we couldn’t move. We always find it too loud for us, but that’s personal choice.

PB pools are lovely, we much prefer that pool over Hard Rock pool.

With pool hopping encouraged at Universal I wouldn’t choose a hotel because of the pool........and you can easily walk between them, they’re not that far apart.

All the hotels have shower facilities you can use like RP.

If that was my choice I’d stay the whole trip at PBH........not a bad choice to be made though

 

[gotomu212]

We find the noise and vibe at HRH loud...that may just be us. PBH is so nice and relaxing that it’s more our speed. The big plus for us at HRH is the short walk, but I like doing security at the PBH boat dock instead of the Citywalk entrance so that’s kind of a wash for us.

Both are fantastic though! You really can’t make a big choice.

 

[nkereina]

If you thought the pool at RPR was loud, you'd be appalled at the pool at HRH. It's very much the party pool, and being HRH, loud music is played most of the day. We love it, but its not for everyone - especially those who don't like the party/game atmosphere at a resort pool.

HRH is our favorite resort. The short walk to the parks can't be beat and the Kitchen is one of our favorite restaurants on property. The staff at HRH has always been top notch - professional, but very laid-back giving that "cool" vibe that Hard Rocks are known for. Its unique and very different from the more upscale atmosphere you'd find at PBH. Being that its only 2 nights you'd be staying there, I think its worth a try.

 

[bobbie68]

Hi we have stayed at both and enjoy both for different reasons. I find the HRH is a little busier and more active. It has a more party type feel to it. It is a pretty area with a nice slide. We just stayed at Portofino and loved it there. The pool vibe was different. It was busy but not like a party busy. I think you can't go wrong with either. However, Portofino does not have showers in the pool area. They have some in the spa but you have to be 18 to use them .We ran into that issue on our check out day. We ended up only using the pool a bit then using our room before we checked out. I believe Hard Rock has the showers in the pool area.

We have also done split stays usually every vacation and enjoy it. However, as I am older now I kind of like staying put a little more. I think I will do less split stays.

 

[bumbershoot]

I wouldn’t move rooms just to experience the resort-guest areas of the other resorts. Universal makes it so easy to enjoy those spaces!

 

[heidijanesmith]

We love HRH; the vibe, the music, the activities and the cabana's. The close walk is so nice, it's doable even at the end of a long day We have even seen Dee Snider (Twisted Sister) there a couple of times. We love the rock-in-roll vibe!

PBH was lovely, but quiet, way to quiet. The long walk was tough at the end of the day.

You can always check out the HRH pool, as previous posters mentioned, pool hopping is allowed at US.

 

[TommyJK]

Also not mentioned, if you split it between 2 resorts, it will likely cost a lot more because you'll loose/get a lower "Stay More, Save Move" discount. The longer you stay at one place the larger the discount.

So IMO definitely not worth it to do a split stay, and you're better off just to pool hop if that's something you'd like to try