ORLANDO— Even with the travel slump affecting the hotel industry here, Loews Hotels’ newly opened Royal Pacific Resort at Universal Orlando, its third hotel here, is running at about 95% occupancy and marks the end of the company’s phase one development plans on the 950-acre site. The $200 million Royal Pacific Resort, which opened last month, represents a continuation of a seven-year-long partnership between Loews, Universal, and The Rank Organisation (British-based parent company of Hard Rock). So far the three partners opened the 750-room Loews Orlando Portofino Bay Hotel in Sept. 1999 and the 650-room Hard Rock Hotel at Universal Orlando in January 2001. The new Royal Pacific property is by far the largest of the three Universal hotels, with 1,000 guestrooms and about 80,000 square feet of meeting space. The hotels are the only properties located directly on the grounds of the 950-acre Universal site, which also consists of two theme parks and the City Walk bars and restaurants. They also represent the end of the company’s phase one Orlando development. Phase two is expected to begin right after the hotels stabilize— in terms of ADR and occupancy. To date, no definite plans have been made for the next wave of construction; however Michael Sansbury, regional vp/Loews, noted that there are two remaining sites on Universal property zoned for about 5,500 rooms. Why such a focus on Universal hotels? Sansbury explained the series of hotels reap numerous benefits from their theme park addresses outside of high visibility. Among them: all three properties are accessible from the park’s water taxi; each offers its guests express access to rides and attractions; and each hotel provides a unique and elaborate theme. The Portofino hotel resembles an Italian village, the Hard Rock property features its rock & roll roots, and the new Royal Pacific hotel offers designs derived from the South Seas. The latest hotel features a live orchid garden in its entryway, hand carved wooden screens from Bali, and a $500,000 pool with interactive water attractions, said Sansbury. He noted that hotel has strong bookings all the way through the remainder of this year, with numerous groups booked for the fall. “Based on our demand, I think we timed the opening of this hotel perfectly,” he stated.
Royal Pacific Resort at Universal Orlando