Universal's Loews Royal Pacific Resort

Loews Royal Pacific Resort replays the golden age of Pacific crossings, the 1930s version, with bamboo gardens, still water basins and stairways descending toward a lagoon. It opened in June 2002 and is the largest of Universal Orlando's original hotels, with around a thousand rooms, and the one that best holds the feeling of being somewhere else once you pass the gate.

Universal Express Unlimited, and what it actually covers

Your room key works as a skip-the-line pass for every guest in the room, for the length of the stay, at no extra charge and with no daily limit. You show it at the dedicated entrance of participating attractions and step past the standard queue.

Read the scope of the benefit carefully before building an itinerary. It applies at Universal Studios Florida and Universal Islands of Adventure. Loews and Universal explicitly exclude Epic Universe and Volcano Bay from it in their official terms. Express access at Epic Universe, open since 22 May 2025, is purchased separately. Three hotels carry the benefit for free: Royal Pacific, Hard Rock and Portofino Bay. Loews Sapphire Falls belongs to the same Signature Collection without qualifying, a distinction that costs money when travellers discover it on arrival.

The rooms

A standard room runs about 31 m². That is the smallest format of the three hotels in this tier, and it is worth knowing before booking for a family of five with luggage. Categories range from standard view to water view, some looking out over the lagoon and pool.

Eight kids' suites draw on Jurassic World, with the children's beds behind their own door. King suites, hospitality suites and two presidential suites cover larger groups. The Club Level sits on the seventh floor of tower three, with a private lounge of roughly 186 m², breakfast and evening bites.

Eating and drinking on site

Islands Dining Room serves a morning buffet and pan-Asian cooking at lunch and dinner in the hotel's large family room. Orchid Court splits between a sushi counter and a lounge bar. Jake's American Bar is the easygoing late-evening address, with an American menu and themed beer dinners. Bula Bar & Grille feeds swimmers at the lagoon, and Tuk Tuk Market covers coffee and quick counter service. Room service runs around the clock.

The hotel also stages the Wantilan Luau, a Polynesian dinner show with buffet, hula dancing and fire performers. It runs on a published schedule, by reservation and with separate ticketing, so confirm dates and times for your stay.

The pool and the grounds

The lagoon pool is heated and slopes gently down from a white sand beach, with interactive water play for small children, a hot tub and cabanas for rent. You will also find table tennis, basketball, outdoor movie nights and a croquet lawn, which is rarer in Orlando than it sounds.

The Mariner's Club takes children for supervised activities, for a fee. The fitness centre, at roughly 465 m², is the largest at the resort. Self-service laundry is available on site, a detail that matters on a ten-day stay.

Getting to the parks

The garden path reaches CityWalk in ten to twelve minutes on foot, with its own security checkpoint. The water taxi covers the same trip in about five minutes, from an hour before early entry until the middle of the night. Volcano Bay borders the property, though access is by shuttle bus, as it is for Epic Universe.

Like every on-site hotel guest, you get Early Park Admission, up to one hour before opening. Universal designates which park applies on a given date, one park at a time, so check your dates.

Who this hotel suits

It suits travellers who want the included express access without Portofino's formality or Hard Rock's volume. The tropical grounds, the lagoon and the quiet gardens work as well for couples as for families, and the self-service laundry settles the question of clothes on a long stay.

It suits you less if Epic Universe is the main reason for the trip, since the benefit does not reach it. The rooms are the smallest in this tier and were last refurbished in 2016, with the lobby reworked in 2019. There is no spa here; the resort's spa is at Portofino Bay. Parking is charged and pets are welcome for a fee. Your Voyages AquaTerra advisor will compare all three with you at 1-866-628-6241.