Loews Royal Pacific Resort at Universal Orlando

My wife and I did a three-night stay in a room with a king bed on Club Level of Royal Pacific. It was an excellent experience overall and I would recommend it if you can splurge on this level. Advantages were: - easy boat ride or walk to the entrance of Islands of Adventure. 10-15 minutes - an easy shuttle bus ride to Epic Universe - 20 minutes, busses are nice, city transit style ones - we did this with a taxi back and forth to the airport and did not have a rental car. With car you would pay an overnight parking fee - We did the pool in the afternoon of two of the days, very shallow, rarely gets over 3 feet in depth, no trouble with getting a lounger, lots of families and kids playing pool volleyball and bouncing around but plenty of room in the pool, lots of attentive lifeguards - gym was fairly large, off the pool area, plenty of cardio options. No Peloton bikes at this hotel. - We did not eat in the main restaurant or bar as we had the Club access for breakfast, snacks, and supper. Bfast was 7am-10am, supper 5pm-7pm, and as a nice touch, desserts were served 8pm-9pm. - Food quality exceeded my expectations and was comparable to a high-quality airport lounge. Menu theme rotated each day with kids' options (chicken tenders) and adult options (Asian chopped salads, beef ragu) available. Soups such as coconut curry veggie and lentil were fantastic. Beer/wine included with lovely wine selections. Bottled water was available as self-serve. - Lounge was never overcrowded, board and other games are available if you would like to hang out - getting your food in the lounge both going out and coming in from our park day made things so much easier for us - Staff was also fantastic, eager to help, chatty with the guests. Sydney and Tori were very helpful. - Early park access is included on your room key card for this hotel. Only disadvantage was IOA opening time was moved up to 7am for our day there but we wanted breakfast, also starting at 7am, so we did not use our early entry privilege that day. We were able to use early access at Epic. IOA/USF priority line access was also included on the hotel key card, but we rarely had a line at these two parks. You can keep the cards after your stay so a nice souvenir.

Stayed 2 nights while visiting universal studios Great transport between hotel and parks the boat especially was a favourite My only grumble is when you see people have travelled a far way could extra effort be made to have room ready if they visit reception earlier but that's all hotels Good food choice in shop Rooms clean and comfortable

Me: Can you recycle this for me? Staff: sorry I don't think we have recycling

The hotel inside and outside looks impressive. The staff were good but not 5* great. The room itself is a standard room with 2 small queen size beds, a wardrobe, and a WC bath/shower room with seperate sink area, which means that for 1 night it was bearable because you get 2 days of express passes and are within a short walking distance of Universal City Walk and the 2 parks. Its the unlimited express passes for the parks, with a short walk that you are paying for, and it was a good deal as my wife had found that it was cheaper to do it this way for a mid-week 1 night break then to buy 2 days of express passes. We arrived early, around 0645/7am and checked in, received our express passes, left our luggage with luggage services and went to the parks. We got early entry so was in the queue before 8am and on the first ride by 8am - straight on. The hotel is walking distance, a nice quiet walk before hitting the crowds so you dont need the water shuttle. We actually needed a break from using the express passes so went back to the hotel and had a few hours at the swimming pool in the afternoon, before going back to the parks. The hotel itself was ok, but nothing great. In summary its the location and express passes that you are paying for.

We have stayed here multiple times over the last 10 years and although it’s obviously still a nice hotel it doesn’t have the same magic feeling that it used to have. The highs are the lovely entrance, unlimited express passes, the location, the ease of the water taxi, the pool nighttime entertainment after the parks and these are the reasons we return year after year. However it’s the small details that have changed my opinion on it… the warm welcome with the Hawaiian leis we used to get has definitely dampened over the years. The rooms need soundproofing. We were awoken with multiple screaming children up and down the corridors from 7am, knocking and banging in the middle of the night… The beds are comfortable but could do with more than a blanket and comforter. Our blackout curtains wouldn’t properly close. An $8 tag on the water in the room. The toilet isn’t very private - sliding door no lock. It would also be useful to have the toilet separate from the shower so both could be used separately for a family. For a price tag of £818 for the night, a good nights sleep and a free water should be included :)