The hotel is very nice; more expansive than I expected. The theme is incredible, but it almost sits in that “uncanny valley” of being too well themed but not quite perfect enough to come across as intended. I think that actually speaks well to the designers, but comes across as more fake than it should given the obvious effort put into it.
We had a Minions suite which ended up being on the first floor in the far end of the East wing. Although it was quite a hike from anything, it was very nicely secluded and had an excellent view of the water. Hardly any foot traffic past our windows and nice patios separated from the path outside by wrought iron fencing and manicured hedges. Unfortunately this also appeared to be in the heart of the pet friendly rooms and I ran into people and their dogs in the hallways on a half dozen occasions or more, plus occasional dog barking at night. I’m not an animal hater, but I’m simply not a fan of sharing my resort with pets. So it goes.
Room was more impressive than I expected, mostly owing to the 14 foot or more ceiling height! I was really floored by how spacious they felt. I’ve been in some pretty lamely themed “kid suites” at various locations, but the Minion room was phenomenal. They went all in and it showed. More impressive than the pictures. My only complaint was there was barely any lighting in the Minion room of the suite - a large overhead or some can lights would have made a huge difference.
As you’ll hear, the bathroom is huge. That said, they definitely have enough room to make it a split bathroom with the toilet and one sink on one side and sink and bathtub on the other. Would be hugely more practical if they configured it this way.
Which leads me to my overall observation that the property looks like it could use a head to toe refurbishment. Seemed worn overall.
Room service was good. Food was about what you’d expect from a nicer hotel but nothing exceptional. Service was very good.
The pool was fantastic! Nicely laid out so you weren’t in a sea of chairs and a great slide. Large zero entry area really helped keeping the small kids and bigger kids separated.
Boat service was excellent - punctual and professional. I didn’t realize how popular they were so there was almost always a line of folks waiting to ride but we never waited for more than 2 boats, even during the obviously busy times when the park closed. It seemed like they did a good job of being flexible with routes to manage crowd throughput.
We didn’t explore all of the resort food options but the food at Sal’s was good, with the exception of a piece of aluminum foil being baked into my wife’s calzone. The manager was extremely apologetic and they refunded the cost of the item, but a sour experience nonetheless. We had plans to eat at Bice one evening but were overridden by the kids and ate at Toothsome instead (a fun experience but service was insanely slow and the food was mediocre).
I don’t think it’s fair to compare theme park hotels against non-theme park hotels, so I would say it compares favorably with the Grand Floridian. The GF feels a bit more “authentic” in style and theme but that’s likely because it’s a much easier style to replicate, whereas Portofino Bay is much more ambitious. Services and amenities are very similar. My wife found the spas at both to be relatively comparable. Portofino’s pool is definitely better than the GF, but I found the service at the GF pool to be slightly better.
I wouldn’t hesitate to stay at Portofino again. A rehab and a split bathroom configuration in the kid’s suites would knock it out of the park.
We had a Minions suite which ended up being on the first floor in the far end of the East wing. Although it was quite a hike from anything, it was very nicely secluded and had an excellent view of the water. Hardly any foot traffic past our windows and nice patios separated from the path outside by wrought iron fencing and manicured hedges. Unfortunately this also appeared to be in the heart of the pet friendly rooms and I ran into people and their dogs in the hallways on a half dozen occasions or more, plus occasional dog barking at night. I’m not an animal hater, but I’m simply not a fan of sharing my resort with pets. So it goes.
Room was more impressive than I expected, mostly owing to the 14 foot or more ceiling height! I was really floored by how spacious they felt. I’ve been in some pretty lamely themed “kid suites” at various locations, but the Minion room was phenomenal. They went all in and it showed. More impressive than the pictures. My only complaint was there was barely any lighting in the Minion room of the suite - a large overhead or some can lights would have made a huge difference.
As you’ll hear, the bathroom is huge. That said, they definitely have enough room to make it a split bathroom with the toilet and one sink on one side and sink and bathtub on the other. Would be hugely more practical if they configured it this way.
Which leads me to my overall observation that the property looks like it could use a head to toe refurbishment. Seemed worn overall.
Room service was good. Food was about what you’d expect from a nicer hotel but nothing exceptional. Service was very good.
The pool was fantastic! Nicely laid out so you weren’t in a sea of chairs and a great slide. Large zero entry area really helped keeping the small kids and bigger kids separated.
Boat service was excellent - punctual and professional. I didn’t realize how popular they were so there was almost always a line of folks waiting to ride but we never waited for more than 2 boats, even during the obviously busy times when the park closed. It seemed like they did a good job of being flexible with routes to manage crowd throughput.
We didn’t explore all of the resort food options but the food at Sal’s was good, with the exception of a piece of aluminum foil being baked into my wife’s calzone. The manager was extremely apologetic and they refunded the cost of the item, but a sour experience nonetheless. We had plans to eat at Bice one evening but were overridden by the kids and ate at Toothsome instead (a fun experience but service was insanely slow and the food was mediocre).
I don’t think it’s fair to compare theme park hotels against non-theme park hotels, so I would say it compares favorably with the Grand Floridian. The GF feels a bit more “authentic” in style and theme but that’s likely because it’s a much easier style to replicate, whereas Portofino Bay is much more ambitious. Services and amenities are very similar. My wife found the spas at both to be relatively comparable. Portofino’s pool is definitely better than the GF, but I found the service at the GF pool to be slightly better.
I wouldn’t hesitate to stay at Portofino again. A rehab and a split bathroom configuration in the kid’s suites would knock it out of the park.