Loews Royal Pacific Resort at Universal Orlando

If I’m being honest. The only reason it isn’t 1 star is because the workers were extremely friendly and kind, as well as the pool and atmosphere were beautiful. However for an expensive location you would think all amenities would be included. But instead they are hidden and leave providers very unpleased like driving all the way out there only to be hit with $80 parking fees, $25 minimum to play 6 games in their arcade, no where to drink but charged $8 for a bottle of water inside your room with no refrigeration. Not even a water fountain? It just seems like they are trying to number crunch your wallet on everything that they offer aside from the pool which is in most hotels anyway. I’m not saying the prices are high. I’m saying not everything needs a price tag and called a luxury commodity that you can get from any kind of hotel.

We were genuinely excited about staying here — this was a trip we planned 10 months in advance, and after watching videos and researching the property, our expectations were high. Unfortunately, the experience didn’t match what we were expecting, especially at this price point. 👍 What We Liked Location is excellent You’re very close to the Islands of Adventure, Universal Studios and Universal CityWalk Orlando — super convenient. Shuttles take you to the other two parks. Express Passes are a major perk Included for Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure (note: not Epic Universe). Room size and layout We booked a larger room, which worked well for our family: Full-size fridge + microwave Large table (great for games or meals) Glassware was a nice touch 👎 What Fell Short 💳 Check-In / Deposits (Important for Families) We were traveling as a family of 6 and were recommended a Hospitality Suite. What was not clearly communicated in advance is that this suite is treated as three separate rooms (king room, double queen room, and living area). At check-in, we were charged $1,000 per room for incidentals — totaling a $3,000 deposit on top of an already ~$12,000 reservation. 👉 This felt excessive and unexpected. A single deposit for the suite would have been much more reasonable. 🍽️ Dining & Value The biggest surprise: all of the main restaurants are essentially in the basement — no views, no connection to the lagoon. For example, we expected Jake’s to overlook the water (given the theme), but it does not. Prices are very high: Meals: $30–$50 per person Drinks: $15–$20 Soda water: $6 each (yes, water) 👉 We quickly felt nickel-and-dimed, and ended up avoiding eating at the hotel altogether — which was not our plan. 🍳 Kitchen Setup (Very Incomplete) The room looks like it supports families… but the setup doesn’t follow through: Only 4 place settings in a suite designed to accommodate 11 When we requested more, we received four dinner plates and four sets of silverware No paper towels, dish soap, or dish towels No toaster or basic kitchen tools Coffee maker is a low-end single-serve unit Housekeeping removed dirty dishes but did not replace them during our stay. For example, we started with four coffee cups at the beginning of the week and ended with two. 🏊 Pool Area Pool itself is nice, but: Hot tubs were consistently overcrowded One hot tub was noticeably low on water 🛒 Market / Onsite Convenience The Tuk Tuk lobby market is limited: No cleaning supplies (odd given the kitchenette setup) Basics were expensive - $6 for a small bottle of orange juice, etc. 🔊 Room Noise (Big Issue) This was one of the most frustrating parts of our stay: We could hear elevators down the hall Noise from rooms above and below Conversations from people walking by Loud plumbing, including a high-pitched ringing noise each evening 👉 Overall, the room was far from quiet 💭 Final Take For the price, we expected a much more complete and polished experience. The location and Express Pass benefit are strong, but between: the unexpected $3,000 deposit structure the cost of food & drinks lack of basic kitchen functionality and noise issues …it didn’t deliver the value we were hoping for. 👉 Would we stay here again? No — we would look at other Universal-area options next time.

Please pardon the length of my review but when this much goes wrong it's hard to be concise. When we first arrived at Lowes Royal Pacific Hotel we decided to park our car ourselves to save the $45 a day valet parking charge. We were surprised to be told that there was a $35 charge per day if you self parked. I guess I'm used to Disney where you can self park for free. Anyway, I had just spent $9000 on the three day vacation for my wife my daughter and myself so I wasn't gonna let that upset me. We checked in, it took an extraordinary amount of time but once we were finished we were told our room wasn't ready and they took our phone number to text us. We then had to go to a separate desk to get our universal tickets that took several more minutes. I had spent some extra money and booked the concierge level. When I checked back to see why our room wasn't ready at 6 o'clock they told me it was ready but for some reason nobody texted us to let us know that. We got to our room I called downstairs and asked where the concierge lounge was and they told me it was not on the floor with our room it was on the seventh floor. There were a number of people on our floor who had to constantly shuttle back-and-forth between the concierge's level and the sixth floor even though they had booked the concierge's level. Our room was nice. Rather small and the furniture had obviously seen better days. The desk was pretty beat up and the fabric on the couch was ripped in several places. The room was clean but in serious need of repair. During our stay our room keys failed to work three times. Each time we had to return to the lobby to have them reset our keys. I've stayed at hundreds of hotels in the 40 years I traveled on business and I've never had to have my keys reset more than once. Kind of unbelievable. The concierge level was OK but really not as nice as the concierge's levels at the Disney resorts. Another thing is when you stay at a Lowes hotel and go to Universal you book it as a package but everything you do requires a separate piece of paper or ticket. Disney manages to give you hotel access, park admission and reservations on one card. Not so with universal or Lowe's. Everything requires separate tickets and keys. Not very convenient. Probably the biggest upside to the hotel was the lady who ran the concierge level. Her name was Alanys. She was both helpful and friendly. One final problem. When I booked my universal package I got park to park passes for three days along with express pass front of the line passes. When I visited the new universal park I was told that even though I had express passes they would not work in that park even though I had bought admission to that park. You're pretty quickly start to get the feeling that you get nickel and dimed at the hotel and the park. The final insult came when we tried to get our car out of the parking lot and after we put our ticket in the device at the gate it said we owed $228. You really can't make this stuff up. Universal parks have great rides but my advice is stay at a hotel outside the park and buy your universal tickets separately and make sure you read the fine print because they're pretty good at squeezing every nickel they can out of you. This is why they will never really reach the level of customer service that Disney sets as a standard.

A fantastic resort within the universal complex from the minute you arrive there are helpful employees to assist with your arrival and stay from luggage to resort planning they really go out of their way to help. The room had ample space for the 3 of us with 2 large comfortable beds along with a good shower which was over a small bath tub, we only stayed 1 night as to take full advantage of the express passes you each receive. We ate at the American bar downstairs for lunch which was disappointing, arrived at 12ish to an empty restaurant with staff that really were not on top form that day very glum expressions on their faces, when other guests arrived they sat them right beside us instead of staggered to give diners some privacy. The pool outside was large with plenty of chairs and not too busy also you will find the free boat to ferry you to the theme park which takes around 5 minutes or you can take a walking trail to the park instead. Be mindful of the aircon as the following day I started sneezing and coughing with a sore throat that lasted a couple of days

I had a death in the family after checking in. This hotel refunded the other nights of my reservation. I appreciate them doing the right thing. Many thanks to Management and highly recommend