universal resorts

[castlehappy]

Hi all,
For our family vacation this year. it has been decided to stay at the universal resorts, we always do Disney and love it but we are looking for a nice change.
Does anyone have any info on which resort is the best for myself,
DH, DD, and her friend. (dd and friend are both 17)
If anyone has any advice or links to the resorts other than the universal site, I look forward to hearing from you.
Thanks!

 

[Peterd]

We have stayed at Portofino twice and the Hard Rock 4 times now. We take our five kids, 6,10,13,15, and 20 year old, sometimes nephew 27 year old, and an assortment of the kids friends with us. We usually get two to three rooms a night using an AP, AAA,Loews hotel club or Fan club rate.
A year ago Feb, we took the 18 year olds three friends with us, and they had a ball at the hard rock. Some people prefer Portofino, but our family prefers the Hard Rock. The kids love the things to see and do at the resort. The walk to Citiwalk and the parks is much shorter than the Portofino. Yes, you can take the boat from both of the resorts, but it's nice to know, you can just walk if there isn't a boat there when you walk up to the boat ramp. We do like the Portofino a lot, but there just seems to be more going on at the Hard Rock. This past Nov. we had a nice stay at the Hard Rock before moving over to the Boardwalk later on in our trip. The Portofino is a more upscale Hotel, if that's what you're looking for, and they have a lot to offer. We stayed at the Portofino this past Feb., and had a very good time, but kind of missed the Hard Rock each time we walked by. You should join the Loews hotel club before you go, if you haven't yet. You get discounts on rooms, have a free bottle of wine, basket of fruit, or cookies and milk waiting for when you when you check in, Free paper every day, free use of the health club, and we recently got a free jet blue ticket for staying in Feb. The cost to join ..Nothing.
You won't regret either hotel at Universal. We like them both. I'm not sure about when the new opens though. Good Luck!

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Peterd,

Sorry to get off topic, but do you still get the Loews perks if you book through any other source other than Loews? I'm planning on booking with the best rate available, and right now it doesn't look like the Loews site has the best price. By the way, I'm looking for club level in Oct. and it didn't appear that the Loews site had a good rate for this. I have joined the ent. club, am purchasing AP's, thanks to Tinkerbarb am expecting a fan club card any day, we have AAA and are FL. res. I'm going to inquire about all of them before I book my ressie.

Also, if they will give me the perks with another discounted rate, I have another question. I joined the Loews club when we planned a trip 1 1/2 yrs. ago, but had to cancel. Will my membership still be good or will I have to rejoin.

 

[Peterd]

We usually call the central resv. number for Fan club, AAA, AP, or Loews rates, and while doing this ask if they could put my loews number on the resv. also. I've also called Loews afterwards to check if they had better rates, then asked to make sure the number was on the ressies. When I check in, I also check to make sure the number was on the ressies, and that's it. You get the perks, just for staying there, you don't have to use their discounts.. With this last trip getting the free jetblue ticket, I realized I should have had my wife get her own card a long time ago. We usually get two to three rooms, and she probably could have gotten a free ticket if I would have had her name on one of the other rooms. Live and learn, I guess, maybe we'll get lucky next year, and they'll offer it again. Hope I could help. Universal is great.

 

[Humpbacks1962]

Online application here:

http://www.loewshotels.com/loewsfirst_application.asp

Wanda

 

[castlehappy]

Thanks Peterd for your information. I believe with the 2 17 year olds, we are going the HR. I did join the Loews hotel club. I am very excited about that. I can't find a lot of info on the rooms and prices though. I would like see more pics if anyone has any from a trip.
thanks again for all the help and we are really looking forward to staying at HR. The pics I have seen look absolutely beautiful.