Universal-which hotel for kids?

I am thinking of doing Universal for 2 to 4 nights before heading to WDW for the rest of the trip. I wonder which on site hotel would be most fun for our family which includes two boys who will be 6 and 12 at the time. I am wondering about the Hard rock hotel. The oldest is just beginning to learn to play guitar and the youngest is beginning piano lessons. I think the Hard Rock is also the only one with a water slide? I personally would prefer one of the other two choices, but wonder what you all think?

I ask this question a few months ago since I am starting to plan for next year and the answer I got was the Hard Rock for the kids. My son will be 12 and my nephew we are taking this time will be 13. I know it has music pipped in underwater at the pool and just knowing how much cool stuff the cafes have I'm sure the hotels are along the same lines.

IMO I want to stay in the Portofino Hotel. I have stayed in a few Lowe's hotels and they are top notch and it seems the people on intercot who have stayed at all three seem to like the Portofino the best but they say all 3 are wonderful.

Haven't stayed at Hard Rock even though the pool looks awesome. We've stayed at Royal Pacific everytime we go (with or without kids) and really love it. It also has a nice pool- although no waterslide I think but a kids interactive "boat". We really like the tropical decor. Our kids always enjoy it too. I don't think you can go wrong with any of thier 3 resorts- it's not Disney of course but they are still very nice. Portofino does have a waterslide that I saw online.

I've stayed at the Hard Rock a bunch of times. I think it's the best choice because it's walking distance to both parks. It's very close to the studios, an a bit further to IOA. And the boats at Portofino or Royal Pacific drop you off in a central part of citywalk, so you still have a bit of a walk once you're off the boat. At the HRH, you can skip this step and only have 3-5 minutes more of walking than if you had taken the boat.

Portofino has a waterslide. Not sure of the vibe there, but the HRH pool is the center of lots of activities and is very fun for kids and adults.

I was at the HR with teens so it was perfect but
think younger ones would also appreciate the energy. I really preferred the RP theme/decor and it has always been the least costly so that was a mark in its favor. Portofino looks wonderful but has always been considerably more expensive when we were trying to book so that's still in our future. Have fun!

We have stayed at Hard Rock Hotel and Royal Pacific. The kids were teens at the time. Both were nice. I prefer Hard Rock. Very close walking distance to the park. The pool had music piped in. My son also plays guitar and drums, so he really enjoyed all the musical paraphenalia displayed. Beds were very comfortable. :mickey:

Thanks for all your feedback...not that it is making my decision that much easier! I think my 12 year old who is beginning to learn guitar would like HR, but the RP sounds nice for my 5 year old. Is the water boat fun for little kids? Anything like that at HR? I like the idea of closer walking distance. Hmm....thanks for all the food for thought!

We haven't tried any yet but we are staying at RP this Dec because it was least expensive.
I think Hard Rock looks like more Fun.

Otoh, my girls (12 & 8) will have lots of stimulation at the parks I think so they will appreciate the relaxation and just the feeling of being pampered a bit after the pace of wdw.

aj

Portifino Bay DOES have a water slide just to let you know!

we have always stayed at hard rock, and love it. but than again i am a little bit more rock and roll anyway.

i have visited friends who were staying at other hotels and they were all nice and quite, but hard rock has rock and pop music playing in the background in the lobby and general guest areas. so if the like eating at the hard rock and looking at tall the stuff and the atmosphere they'll like hard rock.

but thats just my opinion.

my aunt and uncle with their 3 yo and 2 yo both love the royal Pacific, when we went there the pool area wasn't too crowded so you weren't having to fight with any body for a spot. and the place was cool to walk around with a more of a jungle theme. jacks, one of the restaurants, has a plan and travel theme which my little cousin enjoyed.

so its more of a matter of what type of theme your looking for.

LAst trip to Disney, we went to the Nick hotel for 2 nights, and honestly, my girls talk about that more than anything. The pool area is phenomenal (sp?)! We are going back in June and we are doing the same thing. We are staying at Disney for 5 nights and the Nick hotel for 3. They love it. :mickey:

the nick hotel is not onsite at universal, in fact its closer to disney property than it is to universal. that being said, i have not stayed there, but friends have, and hey said that with little kids its great, with lots to do. i never inquired about transportation, but there website says they have "Scheduled Shuttle Service to Orlando Theme Parks"

I missed the "onsite" part of the first post. Sorry, anyway, its a great hotel and I do think they have the shuttle service to some of the parks. We didn't do any parks the days we stayed there, but thinking about doing Sea World this time.:mickey:

We stayed at the Portofino a couple years ago with 2 kids, then 2.5 and 10.

The pool is beautiful, nice slide, cool "cave" you can float through. The best "baby pool" I have ever seen.
Fenced off from the main pool and the entire surface inside the pool and outside was some type of foam, he could run and fall to his little hearts content.

Anyway, I did not find this hotel kid friendly at all. Especially the restaurant. Yes, they have a nice little child size buffet set up, but we still felt very unwelcome with a loud, can't sit still child.

If my husband and I ever went alone, or with older children I would not hesitate to stay here again, the hotel was beautiful, with my son, will will try something else.