Loews Royal Pacific Resort at Universal Orlando™

This is a great hotel with a tropical atmosphere. Hotel is located very close to the Universal parks and has great transportation to the parks. You can take a boat ride to the park, a shuttle bus ride or a nice 8 minute walk . When you stay at this hotel they include the “universal express pass” for every guest staying in the room which lets you bypass regular lines and go straight to the ride attraction. This alone makes it worth staying at the hotel. Great restaurants are located at this hotel plus you can go to the Universal City Walk and enjoy more restaurants.

We arrived a little early, a couple of hours before the check-in time at 4pm. We were warmly greeted and “pre-checked” in, but told our room is not available yet at 2pm. No problem, I understand and I didn’t expect an early check-in. I asked when our room would be ready and was told to expect a text saying our room is ready BY CHECK IN TIME OF 4PM. We ate a late lunch and went to the pool for a few minutes before it closed due to lightning. So my family of 5 sits dripping in our swimsuits with no hotel room as 4PM rolls around, and no text. I text the front desk, but received a dismissive answer back of “we’ll let you know”. I went to the front desk and am again told the room isn’t ready and “the check in process starts at 4PM, so getting here early didn’t matter.” And, “Oh, you requested a bathtub so that might not be available.” I told them that at this point the bathtub was not important, we just wanted our room. Basically I just kept getting excuses. I actually had to argue with the clerk in order to get into the room which I PRE-PAID for, by now over 30min late. No, front desk lady - that’s not how it works. The room should be ready AT check-in time. To not have the room ready on time should be an exception not the norm. It is a mistake by the hotel and the hotel staff should at least apologize instead of acting like the customer is wrong. Customer Service was completely lacking, which is very sad considering how much it cost to stay here. I would not have stayed here except we wanted the early park entry and Universal express pass. To me, that price was worth it, but the customer service was just dreadful. Also, the cement at the pool was so hot that it gave my husband and I painful blisters on the bottom of our feet. That is not a good way to start a theme park vacation. If you go to the pool, wear your flip flops to the water, don’t leave them by your chair as normal. One positive is the proximity to the parks, and the ease of walking. Also the grounds are pretty, but it is very sad that the lovely elephant fountains (viewed front and center as you enter the hotel) are a smokers garden. Children would love to see those up close, but not in a nicotine cloud. It’s like the smokers are on a proud display or something. It’s just gross.