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I’ve been wanting to stay at Universal’s Royal Pacific Hotel for a long time now. It seemed like such an appealing hotel. I love the theming. After recently staying at Universal’s Dockside Inn (which I did love, you can see the review here), it seemed like it would be great to stay in a hotel that was a bit closer to the theme parks. And I love that you can get the Express Pass just by staying at the hotel.
So I just finished my first stay at Loews Royal Pacific Hotel. But did the stay live up to my high expectations? Luckily, it actually exceeded my expectations!
I’ll explain in further detail why I loved this hotel in my review. And then I will give you a tip on how to save money on a stay here.
Proximity to the Parks
One of the things I love best about this hotel is just how close you are to the theme parks. You are especially close to Islands of Adventure. It is a pretty short walk, most likely less than ten minutes unless you like taking a leisurely slower stroll (which is really great, by the way).
They also provide boat transportation, which I really like.
It really is a lovely boat ride. It is pretty quick most of the time. But if the lines get long (like when you are trying to leave the parks after they close), you can always walk back.
Now, if you are visiting Islands of Adventure, I would recommend walking. Because if you take a boat, you then have to walk through CityWalk to get to Islands of Adventure since the boat drops you off closer to Universal Studios. So you end up having to walk anyway, and not that much less than if you just walked to Islands of Adventure. Therefore, I would recommend just bypassing the boat and walking to the park.
But if you are visiting Universal Studios, you might want to take the boat. Because the boat really is convenient to that park. It drops you off right in front of the NBC Sports Grill & Brew. It is just a very short walk to Universal Studios.
Taking the boat is also good, then, if you want to eat at NBC Sports Grill & Brew or try one of the restaurants or stores close by (like Voodoo Doughnut or Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt).
Express Pass
Another main reason to use the Universal Express Unlimited Pass. If you stay at Royal Pacific, it is included in the price of your hotel stay!
The Universal Express Pass Unlimited is awesome. It gives you way shorter lines to top Universal Studios & Islands of Adventure attractions. We talk about our experience using it and the advantages of the pass here.
Getting the Universal Express Unlimited Pass as part of your hotel stay is a huge perk. If there are popular attractions you want to ride, you’ll want to buy it anyway. But it costs over $100 a day per person. So it’s kind of a steal to get it included in the cost of a really nice hotel that is extremely convenient to the theme parks.
Hotel Layout
In addition to it being convenient to get to the theme parks, the hotel is also convenient to just get around in. That is because I really love the layout of the hotel. At the center of all the hotel towers is the lobby. This makes it really convenient when you are trying to get around the hotel. And the hotel isn’t too large. So you don’t have to worry about your room being really far out and therefore a long walk to everything.
Service
One of the things I really loved about staying here was the great service. You can see the attention to service right away when we checked in.
On the day of our check-in, we did online check-in beforehand. We got to the hotel around 11:00 AM.
We had previously indicated that we did not want a room in the pet-friendly section. That is because we have family members with significant dog allergies.
They remembered and said there were rooms available but only in that section of the hotel. But we really wanted a room because it would be a lot easier to go ahead and check-in then. The employee helping us was so nice and gave us a room that had literally become available as we were talking. She explained that even though it was in the pet section, it was on the same floor as the lobby so we could avoid using the elevator a lot. And when we did want to use the elevator, we could take an elevator in one of the other towers.
I really loved how thoroughly she explained everything and how accommodating she was. Sometimes when you make requests at hotels, they can seem put out, but it was like the opposite reaction here.
Theming
I really like hotels that are themed, and Royal Pacific has wonderful theming. I really love the South Seas theming throughout the whole resort. You get a great sense for the theming right away as you walk up to the hotel. I love the frogs on top of the fence. I love the decorations. And the landscaping is amazing. The plants, flowers, and lily pads are so pretty.
I love the carved statues around the resort. I really love the imperial-style elephants at the reflection pool. Not only does it help add to the theming, it is a very peaceful place to sit. If you want a bit of quiet time during your more fast-paced theme park vacation, this is a good place to go.
All the other artwork and carved statues are great here, too.
The theming of this hotel is just really great and made my vacation more memorable. You really felt like you were in Bali, Indonesia or anywhere in the South Seas.
Rooms
The theming of the hotel did not stop with just the lobby or outside the hotel. The theming is very apparent in the rooms. And so it is no surprise that I absolutely fell in love with the rooms at Royal Pacific.
I loved all the artwork up and the designs of the wallpaper. Everything in the room helped create an island mood.
I really like the desk area. It’s a nice desk area if you have to do work on your vacation. And I absolutely adore the beach picture in my room that was on the wall by the desk.
We also had the most wonderful view from our hotel room.
It really helped us feel like we were staying at a South Seas island.
Dining
The Loews Royal Pacific Hotel has a lot of great dining options, too.
Islands Dining Room
The Islands Dining Room is a signature restaurant at Royal Pacific Resort. It does a great job keeping up with the theme of the hotel.
They offer modern Pan-Asian cuisine and some other favorite foods for dinner. Some of these dishes currently include Mongolian beef, Shrimp Pad Thai, General Tso’s Chicken, and Red Curry Chicken. They also have the Wok Experience, where you can create your own Pan-Asian stir-fry bowl.
They also have a great breakfast. You can get a breakfast buffet or order an item a la carte, like their signature Hawaiian pancakes.
Jake’s American Bar
My favorite restaurant at Royal Pacific would have to be Jake’s American Bar.
It is both a bar and a full-service restaurant. You can get lunch or dinner here. As the name might imply, you can get a lot of standard American food here, like cheeseburgers and sandwiches. My family really loved the food.
I love the theming, too. It has this whole backstory of Jake McNally, a fabled South Seas explorer whose seaplane disappeared in a mysterious fashion. You can see letters written to him and items belonging to him all over the hotel. It really creates a fun atmosphere.
You can read a full review of our experience at Jake’s American Bar here.
Bula Bar & Grille
Bula is a word that means “welcome” in Fijian. So it is fitting that Bula Bar & Grille has a welcoming atmosphere to it. It is a poolside restaurant and bar.
It is a great place to eat or drink and get a wonderful view of the pool. You can get tropical drinks, wraps, sandwiches, or the Big Bula Burger. At night, you can even enjoy seeing a movie by the pool while you eat, too (as I mentioned before, I saw The Mummy here when we stayed here last).
You can also check out the Bula Ice Cream Shop, which offers (what else?) ice cream seasonally.
Orchid Court Lounge & Sushi Bar
The brand new Orchid Court Lounge & Sushi Bar promises delicious views along with breathtaking views.
Orchid Court serves sushi, of course, along with sashimi, salads, and appetizers. You can also get great drinks here. You can drink sake, Japanese whiskeys, and beer.
Tuk Tuk Market
The Tuk Tuk Market is a new dining option at the Royal Pacific Resort. It is a quick-service restaurant, so it is a good option if you are in a hurry. You order at the front and then there is some seating available, with some beautiful views during the day (you can even see some parts of Islands of Adventure). There are also tables outside.
Tuk Tuk Market is a great choice in the morning if you want to get some quick breakfast items and pastries. You can also get coffee here.
But they also have food available for lunch and dinner. This includes hot and cold sandwiches, to-go salads, pizza, Wok bowls, sushi, and more. We had dinner here once and enjoyed our food.
They also have great dessert items, like ice cream and gelato.
To read about our entire experience, check out our Tuk Tuk Market Review.
Other Hotel Amenities
There are a lot of other hotel amenities.
Pool
They have a wonderful pool complex.
It is a palm tree-lined lagoon-styled pool.
There is more than one hot tub.
You can also rent a private cabana complete with amenities like a TV, phone, and my favorite in the summer. Oh, and it also has a refrigerator with soda, water, soda, and a fruit bowl.
They also have fun things at the hotel, like you can watch a movie at night while you are in the pool. When I was there they showed “The Mummy”, and I love that movie so I loved that they were showing the movie.
There are also a lot of other poolside activities.
You can play fun games like pool or huge Connect Four.
You can check with a concierge on what’s going on when you are there. This could include arts and crafts, hula hoop contests, water balloon tosses, and more.
Fitness Center
If you want to exercise during your Orlando trip, you are in the right place. Because they have a fitness center that is over 5,000 square feet.
The fitness facility has:
- Steam/sauna
- Treadmills
- Exercise bikes
- 2-piece strength training equipment
- StairMaster
- Elliptical machines
- Smith Press Machine
- Cardio Fitness & circuit training equipment featuring Cardio Theatre
- Co-ed whirlpool
- Separate women & men’s lockers
- Lounges
- And more
Game Room
The Royal Pacific Resort also has a great game room.
If you or your family loves arcades, then you’ll enjoy the game room at Royal Pacific. It’s located next to the pool, so you can take an elevator to the first floor to get there.
Conclusion
My family had an absolutely wonderful time at this resort. We highly recommend staying here.
There are just so many reasons to stay there. You can walk to Universal theme parks, and the resort is easy to walk around in. They offer great service. They have great rooms with comfortable beds. The theming is amazing, with wonderful South Seas decorations and landscaping. And they have wonderful amentiies, like a great pool.
And perhaps the best part of all, you get express pass unlimited included in the price of your stay, which gets you short lines to rides. This saves you money.
And if you want to save more money on your stay at Royal Pacific, click here.
