Review: Royal Pacific Resort at Universal Orlando
Loews Royal Pacific Resort is a premier hotel within walking or boat distance of Universal Studios Florida & Islands of Adventure, with unlimited front-of-line Express Pass at rides in both theme parks. This review features room photos, amenities info, pros & cons, and how these luxury accommodations compare to Walt Disney World Deluxe Resorts.
Themed to the South Seas, Royal Pacific has a sense of adventure, and is another transportive resort at Universal Orlando. It evokes a bygone era, and feels like an luxurious resort you’d find in the South Pacific catering to affluent world travelers. Ironically enough, the kind of place where Lillian and Walt Disney might’ve stayed during their globe-trotting adventures.
Loews Royal Pacific Resort has a lot of selling points, but this grand and beautifully-executed theme is one thing that makes it particularly appealing to theme park fans. The hotel toes the line between rugged exploration and refined opulence, with lush and overgrown grounds fitting perfectly beside the sophisticated Orchid Court Lounge and its reflection pool lined with statues of imperial elephants.
This being a Disney blog, it makes sense to start with a comparison, and the obvious one is between Royal Pacific and Polynesian Village Resort at Walt Disney World. Fans often draw parallels between the two, which makes sense given that Royal Pacific’s own site calls it a “Polynesian paradise” and both offer takes on a tropical oasis that celebrate the spirit of the South Pacific.
Not to be contrarian, but I think the similarities are mostly marketing descriptions. At its core, Disney’s Polynesian Resort is a love letter to mid-century tiki culture, a tribute to Americana more than the locales listed on its longhouse signs. It might’ve been the type of flagship hotel an American company would’ve built in Waikiki in the 1950s. It’s a richly-themed and fun caricature, but it’s not striving for authenticity. It’s its own thing at this point.
Loews Royal Pacific Resort strikes a different tone. It takes itself more seriously, and comes across as more authentic. There are rich woods, ornate carvings, and art that would feel at home in Bali or Malaysia. There’s an inherent contrast between the sense of exploration and sophistication that provides tension and intrigue–how did this hotel acquire all of these priceless artifacts? Is there an ancient curse of which I should be aware before going on a late night stroll?
Consequently, Royal Pacific feels a bit like “S.E.A. The Resort.” When Disney acquires it in the inevitable deal for the Marvel rights (it is right behind Super Hero Island, which is obviously not a coincidence–I’m just connecting the dots), don’t be surprised if they add a portrait of Harrison Hightower to the lobby. Joking aside, the point is that Royal Pacific feels more exotic, adventurous, and luxurious than the Poly. It’s a similar idea, but executed in such a different way that it achieves a totally different vibe–like the contrast between Yacht Club and Beach Club at Walt Disney World.
Beyond different interpretations of the South Pacific, the Polynesian and Royal Pacific have a couple things in common. The first is that both have been modernized in recent years. Both have seen their themes diluted to varying degrees as their respective operators have attempted to make them more appealing to contemporary audiences.
In the case of Royal Pacific, this means a lot of timelessness has been replaced by on-trend carpet, wall coverings, light fixtures, and more. It all strikes me as unnecessary and counterproductive, but this is also happening at numerous Walt Disney World hotels, so clearly there’s a market for it. Personally, I think the execution of most of this is ham-fisted, sloppy, and at odds with the underlying theme. But hey, at least it looks more modern and fancier?
Both Royal Pacific and the Poly also have great locations. Loews Royal Pacific Resort is located within a short walk of Universal’s two theme parks. It’s essentially “across the street” from Islands of Adventure on one side and Sapphire Falls on the other, making for an easy walk to that resort and CityWalk.
Yet somehow, Loews Royal Pacific Resort feels fairly isolated from the rest of Universal Orlando (all three of the premier hotels accomplish this). This is despite it being surrounded by roads on all sides, and is accomplished via the layout and thick vegetation. This tranquility is quite impressive, as I can’t think of a hotel at Universal that’s more in the heart of the action.
Also unlike the Poly at Walt Disney World, Loews Royal Pacific Resort is a tower hotel complex, with several large wings flanked by the pool, lagoon, entrance, and convention space. Even though it’s technically smaller than Portofino Bay, the layout of Royal Pacific is less overwhelming. Everything aside from the event space is relatively compact and easily accessible regardless of your room location.
The walk from Royal Pacific to CityWalk is easy and pleasant. It helps that the path is lush and gorgeous–with mature trees, bamboo and palms–all along the waterfront. It’s pretty short–a tad longer than that between Hard Rock Hotel and Universal Studios Florida, but closer than any other hotel at Universal Orlando.
If you’d prefer not to walk, Universal Orlando also provides complimentary water taxis to CityWalk from Royal Pacific. The boats are abundant–you’ll rarely wait more than 10 minutes for one. Whether walking or the water taxi works out to be faster depends on timing and your walking speed.
There’s also free bus transportation that services Volcano Bay water park. In general, we’ve found the bus and boat service significantly better at Universal Orlando than Walt Disney World. Whether it’s by foot, boat, or bus, transportation is typically a breeze at Universal.
Another key perk of Loews Royal Pacific Resort is Unlimited Express Pass in Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios Florida with valid theme park admission. Express Pass is Universal’s front-of-line pass, and the unlimited version is exactly what the name suggests–infinite line skipping! This on-site perk is available every day of your stay, including on check-in and check-out days.
Unlimited Express Pass is included with your stay at Premier Hotels is an incredible deal that allows you to skip the lines at most popular Universal attractions. By contrast, Walt Disney World’s paid Genie+ and Lightning Lanes are not included with Deluxe Resorts–everyone has to pay extra for it.
Unlimited Express Pass has a value of over $100 per person each day, meaning its value could come close to “paying for” the cost of the upgrade. This is especially true at Royal Pacific, which is Universal’s least expensive premier hotel.
Even though Royal Pacific is more expensive than several other on-site hotels at Universal Orlando, it’s arguably the best value for money. If you’d otherwise stay at Sapphire Falls–a hotel we otherwise love–it might make sense to pay the ~$100/night and upgrade to Royal Pacific for the superior hotel, slightly better location, and unlimited Express Pass. If you would otherwise buy Express Pass during your stay, you’ll come out ahead with the upgrade–even before accounting for Royal Pacific’s other advantages.
The next major amenity at Royal Pacific is the pool. This has an array of features: bar & grill, two hot tubs, zero-entry white sand beach, Royal Bali Sea play area, cabanas for rent, poolside activities by day, and dive-in movies by night.
Of the pools at Universal’s premier hotels–Hard Rock Hotel, Portofino Bay, and here–Royal Pacific’s does the least for me. It’s lush and large, but it just strikes me as bland. Perhaps it’d be different if I could play in the Royal Bali Sea area without catching sid-eye from other guests, but I just don’t see anything special about this pool.
Royal Pacific also offers private cabanas for rental. These come completely equipped with a phone, ceiling fan, HD plasma TV, refrigerator with sodas and waters, wireless internet, and more.
On an unrelated note, guests of Royal Pacific also receive Early Park Admission. This is more beneficial at Volcano Bay given the Unlimited Express Pass in the theme parks, but we still took advantage. Getting a head start is nice if you’re up early anyway.
Loews Royal Pacific Resort boasts a formidable restaurant lineup. For table service, there’s Islands Dining Room, a large Indonesian-style dining room. Near that is Jake’s American Bar, which is a casual table service restaurant and bar; this feels like a cross between Indiana Jones and Casablanca. (That might be the best way to describe the resort as a whole–not just this bar.)
There’s also the Tuk Tuk Market in the lobby, which serves Starbucks coffee, sandwiches, sushi, and ice cream. Then there’s the new Orchid Court Lounge & Sushi Bar, serving sushi, sashimi, appetizers and drinks. Finally, the poolside Bula Bar & Grille, which means “Welcome [Bar & Grill]” in Fijian. (Who knew you’d learn something new when you clicked on this blog post?!)
Loews Royal Pacific Resort boasts that its guest rooms are “equal parts Pacific and terrific” with a style that’s island chic–as contemporary as it is laid back. The hotel has 1,000 stylish guestrooms and 51 spacious suites.
Rooms start at 335 square feet each, which is significantly smaller than the other premier hotels at Universal, and also most Deluxe Resorts at Walt Disney World. (It’s slightly larger than most Moderate Resorts, except for Gran Destino Tower.)
Guest rooms at Loews Royal Pacific Resort feature 100% cotton sheets and plenty of pillows. Comfort-wise, the bedding was plush and fantastic. Both Universal and Disney have improved their mattresses in the last several years, so absolutely no complaints there.
Other in-room amenities include a Keurig coffee maker, mini-fridge, free Wi-Fi, work space, dresser, flat screen television, and more.
That that missing from that list is “chair.”
Judging by the stock photos on the Loews website, our room was supposed to have a sitting chair in the corner. The presence of an orphaned side table that was appropriate chair height reinforces this.
Even if we weren’t denied a chair, our favorite feature of any hotel, this room review for Royal Pacific would be fairly middling. In terms of style and spaciousness, these rooms just didn’t do a ton for us. Despite being ~10 feet smaller, I prefer the rooms at Sapphire Falls.
To each their own, but the attempts at trendiness fall flat for me, and there are a lot of discordant elements in this room. The layout and use of space is pretty similar to Sapphire Falls (where our room DID have a side chair) and those newer rooms also feel fresher and have a more cohesive and comfortable style. As with anything, your mileage may vary.
The bathroom is serviceable, but nothing special.
I wrote something similar about Portofino Bay, which is sentiment I now retract after doing subsequent stays at every other Universal resort. Portofino Bay has the best bathrooms of the Universal hotels. It’s not even close.
Sarah shoot a video tour of the room to give you a better sense of its layout.
In short, the guest rooms at Loews Royal Pacific Resort aren’t going to win any awards for style or substance. In fact, they’re my least favorite of the premier hotel rooms at Universal Orlando and arguably not any better than lower tier resorts. Still, they are passable and perfectly comfortable. Your perspective may differ depending upon how much time you’ll spend in the room, your tastes, etc.
Ultimately, our perspective on Loews Royal Pacific Resort mostly comes down to numbers. If you’d take advantage of unlimited Express Pass, the math almost certainly works out in your favor to upgrade to one of the premier hotels from the lower tier hotels. Royal Pacific is typically the least expensive of the premier properties, making it a very attractive option for anyone wanting to focus on Universal’s parks while getting the most bang for their buck.
If you don’t really care about Express Pass or have determined you won’t need that line-skipping service, you can most likely book a stay at Sapphire Falls or Cabana Bay and enjoy amenities and a resort that’s almost on-par with Royal Pacific for significantly less money. I’d argue that the attention to detail and overall opulence is higher at Royal Pacific, but subjectively, I prefer both Sapphire Falls and Cabana Bay. They’re both a decade-plus newer, and Universal/Loews have refined and modernized their hotel product in the intervening years.
At the other end of the spectrum, a strong case can be made for upgrading from Royal Pacific if your budget allows and you’re planning on spending a decent amount of time at the resort. While I think Royal Pacific doesn’t get its due when considered a “Polynesian knock-off” (as discussed above, they’re totally different), I also don’t think it’s nearly as good of a hotel as Portofino Bay.
Loews Royal Pacific is a nice hotel where the Indiana Jones and Rick Blaine might meet up for drinks, but Portofino Bay is so much more. It’s our favorite resort at Universal Orlando and one of our top 10 theme park hotels anywhere in the world. While there are a handful of hotels we really like at Universal, Portofino Bay is far and away our favorite–nothing else comes close. Loews Royal Pacific Resort is a good-to-great hotel offering exceptional value for money, but it’s not elite tier.
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YOUR THOUGHTS
Have you stayed at Loews Royal Pacific Resort at Universal Orlando? What do you think of it? Interested in staying here? What do you think of Universal’s v. Walt Disney World’s Deluxe Resorts? What about on-site perks? Does Unlimited Express Pass alone make the Premier Hotels at Universal worth it? Do you agree or disagree with our hotel review? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
I have stayed at Caribbean Beach a number of times and Royal Pacific 1 time. Love both resorts! I would say this is CBR on steroids. Both have that tropical vibe and feel, My next stay in February will be Hard Rock. Looking forward to it and how it compares to RP.
@ruthann, I double your sentiment!!!!! We just came back from Universal this past weekend, stayed at Hard Rock, just us two adults and had a blast! Already thinking ahead to our next trip. We got the Seasonal Passes which are super affordable and qualify for hotel discounts making RPR an even better deal. This is the hotel I want to try next! I have to admit, I’m a convert for sure! Sorry Disney.
Thanks, Tom, for reviewing the RPR, our favorite resort!
We liked the laid back tropical feeling at RPR. We liked the rooms too, even the decor. Ours came with a chair, LOL. It’s just us 2 adults, so we don’t need a big room.
We felt the interior was beautiful, especially the elephant water feature. The outside was so lush and tropical. We never heard any road noise, or other noises for that matter. We took advantage of the boats and never had to wait.
One thing that stood out for us was the wonderful, welcoming, smiling TM’s at the resort. Everyone we met went out of their way to welcome us and make sure we were taken care of.
This kind of treatment is seriously lacking at WDW. I know they have hiring problems and things aren’t normal at their resorts, but the difference is noticable. We felt like we were really appreciated and wanted at Universal.
The parks were alot of fun. It was so nice and freeing and no stress while at the parks. We actually went where we wanted, rode rides several times back to back if we wanted, and ate where and when we wanted. It was a more adult, relaxing vacation, and I find I really missed touring like that at disney. We will be back to Universal and RPR as soon as we can for a no stress, relaxing, fun vacation.
It really comes down to two things. Economics and location. Closest hotel to the parks. In fact in the right wing (was in room 1142), you can exit to the path from a door 8 ft. And cheapest of the “express pass” hotels. Poly is super nice and also has great location. But your money if you are looking for nice play to stay is way better off site. Park guerrillas this is the place for universal.
Two typos? (“Sarah shoot” “That that missing”) Very uncharacteristic.
To me, not even a close comparison to Disney’s Polynesian Resort. First, it’s modeled after an Indonesian resort, NOT a Polynesian one–and That’s a BIG difference. Beyond that, the dining is meh, the pool is generally BEYOND crowded, and there is only one.
When Tchoup Chop was still in the mix, from a food AND beverage POV, RP at least had a couple of things going for it. But now? Yeah–for the FOLP, that’s a big thing. But apples to apples, resort-wise? It was one and done for me.
The serene nature of the far reaches of the Polynesian resort, the excellent placement, the small details….I like Universal for some things, and I enjoy going there occasionally. But, to me, it’s not even a close comparison.
It’s also not even a close comparison on pricing. Royal Pacific has rates starting at $262/night (we paid $182 with an AP discount). Polynesian’s rates start at $618/night and has been excluded from discounts since reopening.
I personally prefer the Poly–just pointing out that it not being a close comparison cuts both ways. 🙂
I so agree w/the lush vegetation tricking you into an island vibe. Can’t really swing that at Poly (gotta do Wilderness Lodge type area for a secluded “feel”). Yes, the EP is the best perk going for sure! Why, oh why, won’t Disney follow suit? I have never stayed at the Poly though-hopefully one day. But here’s the thing between the two (as I see it anyway), the RP isn’t a boat/walk away from a MAGICAL place. It’s fun-but just not magical.
“But here’s the thing between the two (as I see it anyway), the RP isn’t a boat/walk away from a MAGICAL place. It’s fun-but just not magical.”
This pretty much hits the nail on the head as to why Polynesian is more expensive and doesn’t “need” to offer more perks to entice bookings. Universal’s parks are great, but at the end of the day, they’re not Magic Kingdom.
We stayed there in a club room the weekend before Thanksgiving and LOVED IT. We honestly couldn’t care less about the theme (but from what we saw, it was nice). We 100% booked this room for the Express Passes. We stayed there 2 nights, so we got 3 days worth of EP (check in day – check out). We paid $480 per night for the room, but the EP a la carte pricing was $129, $229 and $199 pp person for our 3 park days. There were 4 of us. So $1000 for the room and $2228 worth of EP “included”. Total “no brainer”. The club rooms were also nice for breakfast and a mid-day snack. Makes things so much easier when traveling with kids.
I suspect people like you are Royal Pacific’s core demo–just want Express Passes in the most economical way possible. Thanks for breaking down the numbers for your party.
We just returned from a split stay between Royal Pacific and the Polynesian. We really liked the Royal Pacific, including the pool, and we had great customer service there as well. But once we got the Polynesian, the difference was obvious. Granted we stayed DVC so maybe those rooms are larger than the standard rooms plus they have the “two” bathrooms. But everything about the Polynesian seemed better. We also did not have a chair at RP but had that “table” which we weren’t sure was a table or chair because it was so small. It was nice to have an actual table with two chairs at the Polynesian rather than just the desk and one chair at RP with other adult left with no place to sit but the bed. The little things make a difference.
Polynesian hotel and DVC rooms are the exact same size (DVC used to be hotel rooms before being converted). They are significantly larger than Royal Pacific and also, I think, make better use of their space than Royal Pacific. Polynesian rooms also have balconies. Big differences!
We stayed here this summer and loved it! I have to disagree with your last paragraph as we much preferred it to Portofino Bay. We stayed in the “Jurassic World” rooms and the kids thought they were the best rooms ever. Had a very nice meal at Jakes. Easy walk to the parks and city walk. And the greenery around the resort was very lush and beautiful and provided welcome shade in the summer, whereas at Portofino the whole central courtyard just felt like a blazing hot concrete pit. To each his own I suppose.
I do think a pool slide would have been an improvement, but the kids surprisingly REALLY enjoyed the Bali play area. The grown ups enjoyed the tropical themed hot tubs though, so everyone was happy.
We still haven’t tried Hard Rock, so that will be our next stay, although I have to say I think Royal Pacific will be our favorite.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts–and fair point about Portofino’s central courtyard in the summer.
Hard Rock Hotel might surprise you–it surprised us!
No balconies.