Portofino Bay questions

[BlackCauldron]

Planning a trip here next May and was hoping some experts could answer a few questions:

1. Does anyone have any experience with club level? Are the food offerings decent? I've seen reviews across the web, but most are several years old. Generally would not book a club level room, but I have the option to stay there for the cost of a regular room.

2. Do the Despicable Me suites offer a tub and a shower? I know some of the hotels have moved to shower only.

3. It looks like the character dinner here is only offered on Friday. Can anyone tell me what characters usually appear? The Universal website doesn't go into much detail. Also, are all of the character dinners generally the same (apart from food), or do different characters appear at different locations?

 

[MJC]

I've stayed at Portofino many times, and always choose Club level, so I'll tackle question 1. My last stay was early June.

For my family needs, Club level is perfect. Both the breakfast and the happy hour serve as meals for the day. The breakfast was recently updated to include scrambled eggs, a potato-based dish, and either bacon, sausage, or ham. Along with fruit, oatmeal, yogurt, cereal, there are plenty of options to start the day. The happy hour 'meal' usually offers two or three items. Some, like the pasta or asian-themed food, are quite good, others, I'm looking at you jerk chicken, are just adequate.....but either way, we don't find the need to eat elsewhere for dinner. Also, the happy hour includes wine or beer, and for those that enjoy adult beverages, the service is generous....and the beverage portion continues an extra hour until 8pm, to keep the adults entertained while the kids go back to the park.

The Club itself is a nice, clean, and comfortable lounge that serves as a good home base away from your room, while at the hotel; always stocked with drinks and snacks throughout the day. I also find the Club happy hour is the perfect time to break up the day; go to the park early in the day, back to the hotel for a few hours, and then back to the park if us adults so choose (many times the person-related-to-me-by-marriage and I have opted to stay in the lounge for the evening, playing cards, or just flat-out relaxing).

Finally, the staff at the Club are highly attentive, provide wonderful service, and are actually just plain friendly. If you can get a Club room, especially at no added cost, do it.

 

[iubigman]

I've stayed at Portofino many times, and always choose Club level, so I'll tackle question 1. My last stay was early June.

For my family needs, Club level is perfect. Both the breakfast and the happy hour serve as meals for the day. The breakfast was recently updated to include scrambled eggs, a potato-based dish, and either bacon, sausage, or ham. Along with fruit, oatmeal, yogurt, cereal, there are plenty of options to start the day. The happy hour 'meal' usually offers two or three items. Some, like the pasta or asian-themed food, are quite good, others, I'm looking at you jerk chicken, are just adequate.....but either way, we don't find the need to eat elsewhere for dinner. Also, the happy hour includes wine or beer, and for those that enjoy adult beverages, the service is generous....and the beverage portion continues an extra hour until 8pm, to keep the adults entertained while the kids go back to the park.

The Club itself is a nice, clean, and comfortable lounge that serves as a good home base away from your room, while at the hotel; always stocked with drinks and snacks throughout the day. I also find the Club happy hour is the perfect time to break up the day; go to the park early in the day, back to the hotel for a few hours, and then back to the park if us adults so choose (many times the person-related-to-me-by-marriage and I have opted to stay in the lounge for the evening, playing cards, or just flat-out relaxing).

Finally, the staff at the Club are highly attentive, provide wonderful service, and are actually just plain friendly. If you can get a Club room, especially at no added cost, do it.

Jumping in here to ask if you have used, or know much about, the Campo Portofino kids club? I'm taking my boys next spring, who will be 6 and 9, staying at Portofini Bay. My wife will be taking her high school students to Europe, so we will be flying solo. My big guy wants to ride Hulk and a few other rides that the little guy won't be tall enough for, and so do I! (This is our first trip ever to Univ). The only way we can do this is to have the little guy in the kids club for a few hours. Is the club staffed well? Is it generally on par with Sandcastle Club at WDW Beach Club, which we've used before and of course love. I don't expect Disney standards, but want to make sure he has a good time for a couple hours and won't be miserable.

Thanks in advance