Downgrade @ Portofino Bay August 1 and 2

[osugrad148]

We booked our two nights at the PBH about two months ago on the Lowes website. We are Lowes members. We paid $239 a night for the bed and breakfast package which includes a buffet for 2 people each morning at the Trattoria. Our room was supposed to be a deluxe, 2 queens, pool view. I had the print out confirming this and called a week before we left to double check. The reservationist said all was well and then went on to tell us how nice our deluxe room was, how great the bathroom is, how wonderful the pool view is. I was so excited.

Flash forward to check in. They were "out" of deluxe rooms and in fact they only have one room in the entire hotel left with two queen beds (we are a family of 5). She basically informed me that I never booked a deluxe room and I should be happy with our garden view as we are so lucky to get two beds and she is putting families of six in king rooms. I pull out my paper and hand it to her with the deluxe room booking on it and she just says oh, I'll go get the manager. So the manager said she could discount the room for me to $179. I was in a state of disbelief, I had been really excited about my stay here and was secretly hoping for an upgrade not a downgrade, not one or two bumps, but all the way to the bottom! She said she's sorry but there is nothing they could do. So then she offered $159 (tax included) a night and threw in buffets for the whole family. I took it and we ended up loving the room, I just came into the situation with other expectations. Had we not known about the deluxe room, I would have been thrilled with our garden room.

Our stay at Universal was wonderful and the front of the line was worth the hotel rate itself. The breakfast buffet was great and had a wide variety of foods to choose from. The check in lady made a big deal about our welcome amenity, but we never received it despite calling three times, nor did we receive our Kids Love Lowes amenity.

Check out was kind of a pain since they never changed the rate and I was charged the full amount, after 20 minutes or so they adjusted it.

They told me to avoid this in the future that I needed to check in earlier in the day, we got there about 5 pm after driving in from Ohio. She also offered me a new room for the next day, but for just one night it didn't seem worth it to change.

 

[Muffy]

Sorry about the downgrade. I would of been upset too! We are staying at PBH for 2 nights at the end of Dec. We are Plat Lowes and hope to get an upgrade. I know I have to make the reservation through Lowes to get an upgrade. I'm glad it didn't effect your stay. It sounds like you had a nice time.

 

[>>^..^<<]

yikes... what a pain but it all turned out right in the end.... did you consider trying to make them move you to Hard Rock or the Royal Pacific?

Gald you had a good time.... eat anywhere really good at Citywalk?

>>^..^<<

 

[Patch'sD]

How many time do you look out towards the pool when your in the parks or sleeping. Rooms are spectacular and the Garden View Rooms provide a nice view of the landscaping versus Disney's Parking lot view. I think that you got some deal and is a pool view really worth $80 per night. We stayed at the RPH with a water view $ 15 more per night and had a view of IOA and fireworks.

 

[osugrad148]

I totally agree about the view. We have paid more than that at the Beach Club only to look out over the enterance and parking lot. Even the garden view was nice and after I had time to think about it a little I was thrilled with the rate. The breakfast buffet alone was worth about $60 a day. I think they charge $14.99 per adult and $5 for kids, plus it included tax and tip. We were never charged for parking and the front of line for our family would have been $100, ($20 a piece).

I just went in with different expectations, I was envisioning a deluxe room with a patio out to the pool, after we saw the pool area I realized none of the rooms were really like that anyway.
Our garden room was very large and the bathroom was also, I can't imagine the larger deluxe bathroom!!

They didn't offer another hotel, I think they were all booked up. Everyone at the check in was having the same problems though. The girl checking in next to me was really upset and I heard them just discount her room to $229. Maybe that was from full rack rate. I don't know what exactly she got for that, but after hearing my $159 tax included I was happy. When they offered $179 plus tax I said that's the entertainment rate for the deluxe room and I am in the garden view. I would like something lower. They did offer me a king room with a bay view, but we needed the two beds.

I didn't really complain, I just said after reading how wonderful this hotel was on the internet and I just set my expectations too high and I shouldn't have. I think that made the manager feel bad because she said we should be really excited about the hotel and they hope to exceed everyone's expectations.