Loews Royal Pacific Resort at Universal Orlando: All the park perks for a pretty penny

A stay at Loews Royal Pacific Resort can take much of the stress out of a Universal Orlando Resort theme park vacation — but it’s going to cost you.

The main reason my family booked this hotel is because of the valuable theme park perks that come with a stay here, such as an included express pass, early admission and a convenient location. These inclusions don’t come cheap, making the Loews Royal Pacific Resort one of the priciest park hotels in the area.

Are the benefits worth the expense? My family put the resort to the test on our first theme park vacation ever — here’s what we learned.

What is the Loews Royal Pacific Resort?

The Loews Royal Pacific Resort is an official Universal Resort hotel and part of Universal’s Signature Collection, offering the most amenities and upgraded dining of all the affiliated hotels. The resort has a South Seas theme — including a central courtyard with an elephant statue fountain, lots of carved wood furnishings and exposed beams, thatched roofs, bamboo railings and tropical foliage. You’re meant to feel like you have been transported to a generic Pacific island in the early 20th century at the dawn of the aviation era.

The resort houses guests in three interconnected accommodation towers and is located on the river that runs through Universal Orlando Resort. The hotel caters to theme park guests, so you’ll find many families with kids of all ages, but it also has an attached conference facility.

Loews is not affiliated with the major points-earning hotel brands (Hilton, Marriott, Hyatt, IHG), but it does have its own loyalty program, MVP Rewards. Unless you’re a devoted Loews hotel fan, you won’t be earning points for your stay here.

How to book Loews Royal Pacific Resort hotel

The hotel can be booked directly via the Universal Orlando Resort website or your favorite hotel booking site. I booked our family’s stay through the Chase Travel℠ portal, so I could earn points through my Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card and also use up the card’s $50 hotel credit. (Hey, any little bit counts!)

I would have preferred to apply my $300 Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card travel credit to the purchase, but the resort did not appear in the Capital One travel portal (nor is it part of Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts) — though other Signature Collection hotels do.

Rooms here start at $337 per night plus tax; with tax, our Saturday-to-Monday early November stay for four people sharing one room cost $601.88 per night.

Easy access to Universal Studios Resort Orlando parks

The location is one of the best perks of staying at this hotel. It took my family less than 10 minutes to walk the footpath along the river from the hotel, through the security checkpoint to the turnstiles of the nearest park, Universal Islands of Adventure. It’ll take you roughly the same amount of time to reach the shops and restaurants at Universal CityWalk, depending on your destination, and another five minutes or so from Islands of Adventure to the entrance to Universal Studios Florida.

You can also take the water taxi from the hotel to the docks at CityWalk, which is fun if you’re going to Universal Studios, but extra time in transit if your destination is Islands of Adventure. Royal Pacific also runs complimentary shuttle buses to the parks and the Volcano Bay water park.

Most people likely come straight from the airport, spend all their time within the Universal complex, and then head back to the airport, but the hotel is a quick drive from local restaurants, pharmacies and other services. I had no trouble getting groceries delivered from Publix through the Shipt app; while I was waiting, I saw folks getting pizza delivered.

Rooms are basic, given how much they cost

Given that this was likely the most expensive hotel I’ve ever booked, our lowest-tier Garden View Room was a standard 335-square-foot hotel room and not noticeably luxurious. The room, like the hotel, has a loose “Westerner goes exploring in the South Pacific” theme with a bench that resembles a travel trunk and Polynesian island-inspired decor.

We chose a two-queen room to sleep our family of four (guys in one bed, girls in the other — sorry, husband), and the beds were comfortable despite having to share one with a squirmy child.

The room’s large desk was convenient for eating in-room breakfast and charging electronics. (The nightstand had additional outlets, so we never had to fight over them.) Low-bandwidth Wi-Fi is complimentary, but you have to pay for streaming speeds.

An extra lounge chair was awkwardly tucked between the window, one bed and the desk; I was glad for the seating, but we were always moving it out of the way.

Storage was minimal, with narrow drawers in the central bureau and a tiny closet rack, but for two nights we lived out of suitcases. The room was large enough to tuck all the bags out of the way, so we weren’t constantly tripping on them.

I did appreciate — and use — the empty minifridge and Keurig coffee maker as we ate breakfast from our grocery haul in the room to avoid paying overpriced hotel or park fees for a morning meal. (Club Level rooms do get access to a club room with complimentary continental breakfast.)

The bathroom was spacious, and the shower-tub combo had great water pressure. I was thankful for two wall hooks and grab bars around the toilet so we could dry all our wet bathing suits.

Overall, the room didn’t have a modern or luxurious feel, but was perfectly fine for our needs.

If you want a suite or a room with more amenities, you can upgrade your accommodations to a Club Level room with access to a concierge, club room, breakfast and happy hour or a suite (some are themed to Jurassic World) ranging from 670 to 2,010 square feet.

On-site restaurants are overpriced but good quality

You have a wealth of dining choices when you stay on-site at Universal — the restaurants inside the theme parks, the dining venues at CityWalk and the multiple options at your hotel alone. Loews Royal Pacific Resort has four restaurants and a grab-and-go market in the central building (with one out by the pool). As you might expect with theme park dining, you pay for the convenience.

We ate dinner at Jake’s American Bar, a casual restaurant with a tropical aviation theme that serves American comfort food like pizza, burgers, sandwiches and platters of brisket.

The food was surprisingly high quality. The kids split a pizza ($17) and side of fries ($8), and gave the meal rave reviews. My mahi mahi sandwich ($26) was tasty, but I kept sneaking pieces of the cornbread that came with my husband’s brisket platter ($32) so I could slather it with the brown sugar butter served on the side. My daughter kept taking his mac ‘n’ cheese.

Jake’s has a nice selection of local beers, which made my husband happy, while I ordered a Halloween cocktail that had mai tai vibes and was as tasty as it was bright blue. Our drinks were $11 and $13, respectively. With tax and tip, our meal came to under $150, which isn’t terrible for a family of four at a theme park hotel.

We did not dine at the other on-site restaurants, which include the Islands Dining Room (serving a la carte and buffet breakfast in the morning and generic Asian food in the evening), the poolside Bula Bar and Grille, the main lobby’s Orchid Court Lounge and Sushi Bar (with a giant-screen TV and couch seating) and weekly Wantilun Luau dinner show.

The lobby’s Tuk Tuk Market sells coffee, baked desserts and a plethora of grab-and-go meals and snacks. Hot tip: The Coke Freestyle machine on the far left will fill any water bottle with water for free; otherwise, you need a special Universal refillable cup for soft drinks.

In-room dining is also available 24/7.

The resort-style pool is a popular place for downtime

The hotel’s greatest amenity is the theme park next door; the lagoon pool between towers one and three is likely the most popular on-site attraction. If you’ve got littles who can’t hack a long day at the park or if you need an afternoon break before returning to the theme park for the evening, the pool is the place to cool off and recharge.

The pool meets everyone’s needs with a zero-entry lagoon, pool volleyball net, splash area with dump buckets and sprayers, a tucked-away hot tub, cabanas for rent and outdoor games like table tennis and bean bag toss. It’s also quite the kid scene at night, with an outdoor movie screen showing family-friendly flicks.

By the pool, the fitness center was always empty when I looked in (but you can grab complimentary fruit and bottled water here). I purposely did not alert my son to the existence of the video game room so I didn’t have to refuse him money to play — but if you’re not a mean mom, you can direct your kids that way.

The hotel has a couple of gift and sundry shops and conference facilities.

The main reason to book this hotel is the Universal perks

Why book this pricy hotel if the rooms are basic and the setting is not overly luxurious? It’s the perks you get at Universal Studios Orlando Resort.

You do need to buy your theme park tickets separately, but once you have them, your room key entitles you to early park admission one hour before the park opening to that day’s designated park (more often than not, it’s Universal Islands of Adventure). If you want to ride Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure and the Jurassic World VelociCoaster with shorter lines, that extra hour is key.

The perk that is most valuable to all park-goers is the complimentary Universal Express Unlimited pass, valid at both Universal Studios Florida and Universal Islands of Adventure. Your keycard lets you go in the faster express lines for most rides (Hagrid’s is the main exception) and for as many times as you want, so you spend less time waiting and more time riding. Two-park Express Unlimited passes range in price from $135 to $360 per person, per day, if you purchase them separately, so this is a hugely valuable perk.

The hotel’s proximity to the park is another huge convenience. You have three options for free transportation (walking path, water taxi and shuttle bus). Transit time is quick, so it’s easy to leave the park for a midafternoon break and return without having to fuss with parking or Ubers or long treks to the park entrance.

Perks we did not use include priority restaurant seating at select park and CityWalk restaurants; the guest services staffer who checked us in didn’t mention it, but you might need to make a reservation with the hotel’s concierge in order to use it. You can also use your room key to charge purchases you make at Universal Orlando Resort to your hotel folio and have purchases delivered to the hotel, so you don’t need to carry shopping bags full of Gryffindor T-shirts and Minion stuffies through the park all day.

Reasons Loews Royal Pacific Resort Hotel might not be for you

If you want a more affordable hotel, including properties with suite accommodations and free breakfast, you have plenty to choose from in the area around Universal. Travelers who wish to prioritize their hotel elite status, pay with points or earn hotel points can find alternative accommodations from the major hotel brands. Also, if you prefer a true luxury hotel (a la the Ritz or Four Seasons), the Royal Pacific will not satisfy you.

It’s also not worth paying the high hotel rates if you will not use the early entrance, express pass or other hotel perks. And if you’re focusing your park time on Volcano Bay, other properties are closer.

Accessibility

Loews Royal Pacific Resort offers accessible rooms across various room layouts, bed configurations and views. Mobility accessible rooms come with grab bars by the toilet, a roll-in shower or shower with grab bars and 32-inch-wide door openings. Hearing accessible accommodations feature a doorbell, visual alarm and a phone with a flashing light and a nearby outlet for TTY (as well as TTYs to use).

In addition, guest room TVs feature captions, and service animals are permitted to stay at the hotel.

The main buildings feature wide hallways and elevators, as well as room numbers in Braille. Accessible guest transportation is available, including the water taxi, and the pool and hot tub have lifts.

Alternatives to Loews Royal Pacific Resort

The number of hotels near Universal Orlando Resort is overwhelming, and you have your choice of the major brands and a range of price points.

If you wish to stay at a Universal hotel with similar full-service amenities and elevated dining options, consider the Loews Portofino Bay Hotel and Hard Rock Hotel if you want the included Universal Express Unlimited and a Club level; try Loews Sapphire Falls Resort if you wish to be closest to Volcano Bay. A new property, Universal Helios Grand Hotel is scheduled to open in May 2025.

Or, take your pick of the many area hotels. We spent our third night at the Homewood Suites by Hilton Orlando Nearest Universal and paid far less for a two-room suite with two queen beds, a living area with a sofa bed and a kitchen that came with complimentary breakfast and a lovely pool and hot tub. (My daughter was pretty clear that she liked this hotel better, though we did not visit the theme park once we switched to this hotel.)

Checking out

The perks of staying at Loews Royal Pacific Resort can’t be beat. I can’t imagine taking my kids to Universal Orlando Resort theme parks without an express pass or having to explain to hot and cranky children that we have to trek a long way to our car or a shuttle back to our hotel.

Though our hotel room was nothing special and didn’t earn us any loyalty points, I would definitely recommend the Loews Royal Pacific Resort for theme park goers who will make good use of the perks and convenience of this property. But you’d be wise to do the math before you book; combining a points-earning or award stay at your preferred hotel brand with a ticket and express pass bundle might end up being the more affordable choice for your next Universal vacation.

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