Is Club Level Really Worth the Money at Universal?

Some Universal Orlando hotels offer Club Level options for your hotel stays. Here, we will specifically explore what is included in a Club Level Stay at Loews Portofino Bay Hotel at Universal Orlando and whether it is worth the money.

Portofino Bay

Loews Portofino Bay Hotel is a Premier Resort at Universal Orlando. It is a 4-diamond property offering upscale amenities for guests wishing to stay in the Universal Bubble.

Like other Premier resorts, it comes with a host of benefits. This includes free Universal Express Pass Unlimited.

Guests at Portofino Bay are immersed in Italian theming. You may even be able to catch the nightly opera on the balcony overlooking the Piazza.

While Portofino Bay has long been considered the top of the line when it comes to Universal Resorts, the recent construction put a bit of a damper on the experience when I (Kate) traveled in the spring. However, the construction has come a long way since then, and the hotel’s management team went out of the way to make it right for us.

After receiving such responsive customer care, we happily gave it another try on a return trip! And, we were fortunate to get to try Club Level.

Club Level at Portofino Bay

There are a variety of Club Level rooms available for booking at Portofino Bay. Interestingly, you do not have to stay in a room designated as “Club Level” to have access to the Portofino Bay Club Lounge.

Club-level access can be added to any room for roughly $100 per night. So, depending on how many people are traveling with you and how much you would utilize the benefits, it could be a GREAT value for you.

What’s Inside

It is important to know that not every club-level lounge is the same across all Universal Premier Resorts. Your experience will differ depending on where you stay.

The Portofino Bay Club Lounge is typically lauded as the best of the Universal club-level experiences, and for good reason. It has a LOT to offer Guests.

The Portofino Bay Club Lounge is widely considered the best at Universal.

The club lounge is available daily for breakfast, snacks, an evening reception (with a meal and alcohol), and dessert! Beverages are always available.

When you enter, there is a host stand for check-in. There is also a daily menu posted.

You will also immediately notice that it is a huge, well-appointed space broken up across several rooms. There is certainly never a shortage of tables.

The seating areas in the two rooms where the food stations are can feel a little busy at times. However, there are plenty of quiet spaces if you prefer.

You will find spaces with televisions that play cartoons like SpongeBob Square Pants. Or you might find a quiet spot in one of the rooms overlooking the lake.

There are dedicated restrooms as well. And, if you need to park a stroller, there is space right off the entrance.

You will also find a well-stocked drink cooler full of bottled water and soda. Also, you can fill up a cup or a reusable bottle with infused water, lemonade, or iced tea.

Best of all, there is a fun coffee machine that is relatively famous among those who have experienced the club. It has lots of coffee options and hot chocolate for the kids!

Club Schedule

Sometimes people are surprised that the club isn’t available to guests until their room is ready and their key is active. Unlike your complimentary Express Pass, which is ready to go the moment you receive your key, you must wait for club access.

Your key will not open the Club Lounge doors until you get your room text. Therefore, you should NOT plan on having breakfast in the Club on arrival day. It COULD happen IF your room is ready early, but it isn’t guaranteed.

The same is true for checkout day. Your key to the Club Lounge is active until your checkout time. So, even if you stay to enjoy the parks all day, access turns off at 11 am.

The Portofino Bay Club Lounge hours might vary depending on your vacation dates. However, the desk will provide you with a schedule at check-in so you know when to visit. Just to give you an idea, during our visit hours were:

• Daily Hours: 7:00 am to 10:00 pm
• Prima Colazione (Breakfast): 7:00 am-10:00 am
• Pausa Serale (Afternoon Snack): 12:00 pm-3:00 pm
• Recivimento (Evening Reception): 5:00 pm- 7:00 pm
• Bevande Alcoilche (Alcoholic Beverages): 5:00 pm- 7:00 pm
• Dolce Finale (Sweet Finish): 8:00 pm-9:00 pm

Breakfast

This a good time to reiterate not all Premier Resort club-level breakfast offerings are the same. Portofino Bay is currently the only club-level resort that currently serves hot menu items at breakfast. Hard Rock and Royal Pacific both currently have continental breakfasts.

The Portofino Bay Club Lounge offers bagels, toast, pastries, and cereals daily. You will also find cold cuts and cheeses.

We always found eggs of some sort: boiled eggs, scrambled eggs, egg bites, etc. The selection changes daily.

We also found yogurt jars with fresh berries or French toast casserole. Some sort of potato was typically avaliable as well.

Here is one of the breakfast menus we had: Fresh Berries, Sliced Ham and Turkey, Sliced Cheddar Cheese & Provolone Cheese, Yogurt Jars (Variety of Toppings), Hard Boiled Eggs, Breakfast Potato, Cinnamon Toast Casserole, Chocolate Croissant, Danish, Muffins

Another day, it was this: Fresh Oatmeal (Variety of toppings), Fresh Berries, Sliced Cheese and Cold Cuts, Diced Mixed Fruit (Cantaloupe, Honey Dew, Pineapple, Watermelon), Hard Boiled Eggs, Breakfast Potatoes, Scrambled Eggs, Croissants, Chocolate Croissants, Danishes, Muffins

Afternoon Snack

The afternoon snack is more than just prepackaged options. There are a number of bagged snack products available daily such as Smart Food Popcorn, Doritos, Rolled Gold Pretzels, Pop Tarts, Veggie Straws, Chewy Granola Bars, and Gold Fish Crackers.

However, you will also a rotation of fresh foods like apples and bananas. You will also find sweets like sugar cookies or chocolate chip cookies.

We even found breadsticks and marinara one day and Soft pretzels and house chips with dips another day. There were often healthier options like carrots, celery, broccoli, and cherry tomatoes with ranch dressing or hummus as well.

You can enjoy these in the lounge. Or, you can take them back to the room or on the go if you like!

Evening Reception/Dinner

The evening reception is plentiful enough to serve as dinner. And often it is good! There are typically dinner rolls and breads with cold cuts and cheeses for sandwiches. You might also notice peanut butter and miniature jarred jellies.

And there is a nightly salad bar. The salad offerings rotate, but there is always something fresh and green.

You will also find a nightly soup offering! We found tomato soup, lentil soup, etc. There were always children’s offerings available such as mini pizzas, mac n cheese, or pigs in blankets. Adults could have these too, of course.

On some evenings, the kids were delighted to find crayons and coloring sheets featuring characters from Scooby Doo, How to Train Your Dragon, Trolls, and Hello Kitty. It was a nice touch.

There were also always one or two entrees and side dishes. They are typically Italian-inspired dishes.

These included Beef Bolognese, Rigatoni, and carrots. On another night we had Chicken Picatta, Vegetable Rice Pilaf, and Mediterranean Vegetables. On a different day, it was Chicken Bruschetta, Spaghetti, and roasted Cauliflower.

The foods ranged from decent to good. Will it be the best meal you have ever eaten? No. If you are looking for something to fill you up after your adventure in the parks or before an evening at the parks, it will get the job done.

The bar is also open during the evening reception. It serves a complimentary selection of beer and wine.

Sweet Finish/Dessert

The dessert offerings were also typically something Italian-themed and some cookies. We found mini cannolis and tiramisu squares.

The lounge also considered children and for dessert, the kids loved that there was a make-your-own chocolate milk station.

Is it Worth It?

This question largely depends on 2 factors. 1. How many people are in your room? 2. Will your touring schedule and culinary preferences allow you to utilize the benefit?

For us, the lounge was completely worth it! The add-on rate roughly equates to $25 per person per day for a family of 4.

Arriving right at the Club Level Lounge’s opening to eat breakfast and have coffee/tea (and maybe even take a cup to go) daily before heading to the parks helped maximize the benefit. We also either refilled our reusable bottles or grabbed some bottled water to take to the parks.

We are mid-day break people, and it was so quick and easy to hop on a boat back to the resort for snacks and/or to grab an early dinner/happy hour every day.

After dinner, we had just enough time to go back to the parks for a few hours to shut them down and enjoy CityWalk afterward. Weather permitting, it was perfectly feasible to leave the parks by 4 or 4:30, eat right at 5, and be back by 6:00 or 6:30 if we wanted.

Using this schedule, we did not make it to dessert in the club often. But, that was fine since we prefer the unique dessert offerings at the parks such as Butterbeer soft serve.

Overall, we would be hard-pressed to budget all of these offerings for $25 per person per day in the parks. Coffee is easily $6+ per cup. Quick service meals in the parks for breakfast and dinner are conservatively $9+ for children and $15+ for adults. Bottled water is $4+. Pre-packaged snacks are around $4. It all really adds up!

When is it NOT Worth It?

If you are on a solo trip or there are only 2 in your party, Club Level will be less of a value for you. It is priced per room rather than per occupant.

Also, if you don’t want to have to schedule park time around meals at the hotel to maximize the benefit, club access may not be a good plan for you. If you prefer a more relaxed schedule or if you would rather go to the parks and stay all day, you may find that you never have real occasion to use the club.

Moreover, if you really want to try a lot of food at the parks and CityWalk, club access may not be worth it for you either. You won’t want to limit yourself.

Overall

It is possible to make Club Level turn into a great savings for you and your family. If you are able to enjoy the benefits, it is certainly worth it at Portofino Bay.

The Portofino Bay Club Lounge is lovely, and the offerings are typically solid, ranging from fine to pretty good! Does it rival the culinary experience you can enjoy at some of the restaurants at the resort hotels, theme parks, and CityWalk? In many cases, no. However, it’s easy and more than adequate.

Have you enjoyed Club Level offerings in Universal? What did you think of them? Let us know. And be sure to share the review with your friends and family members who are considering Universal vacations.