This time I am here to tell you all about the Universal Resort, so grab a drink and have a read.
Universal Orlando have fast become a big resort and now have a hotel for every style and budget. I love staying onsite at Universal when travelling with friends and family. It has such a great mix for all. The three Universal parks; Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure and Volcano Bay are on your doorstep, as well as CityWalk™ the shopping, dining and entertainment complex.
Staying onsite means that every morning you can access the theme parks an hour before other guests (there is a schedule for this as not all parks are open early every day). All hotels also offer free transportation to get you to and from the parks. They do charge parking at all hotels though, this will added to your bill locally.
And they now have 4 different hotel categories to suit absolutely everybody. Let’s break those down:
The Value Hotels are:
Universal's Endless Summer Resort - Dockside Inn and Suites
Universal's Endless Summer Resort – Surfside Inn and Suites
I have not had the chance to stay in or see these hotels just yet. They are the newest hotels to the collection. They are located right next to each other as within the same resort. Dockside Inn and Suites opened its doors just 2 days ago on 15th December 2020 and Surfside Inn and Suites opened in June 2019. They are already proving extremely popular as their price point is very much similar to other hotels along International Drive, but of course with the added advantage of being within the Universal Resort itself. They offer two rooms types, the standard queen room (with or without view) but they also offer 2 bedroom apartments sleeping 6 which is brilliant! This means, if you would like to sleep in a separate room from your children but not be too far away, then this is just perfect. When we go back to Florida, we will be staying here. Not only as we are big Universal fans, and that I have two surfer dudes in the family, but I love the fact we can pop the kids to sleep and we can stay up to watch TV without disturbing them.
Surfside Inn and Suites has a relaxed and easy vibe, with a fun surf and beach theme woven throughout. It has a surfboard shaped pool, games room and poolside activities to do. Plus a choice of dining from Starbucks, Beach Break Café and a Sand Bar too.
Dockside Inn and Suites is inspired by sand, sea and breath-taking sunsets with a coastal vibe too. There are 2 pools here and a splash pad, plus a games room and poolside activities to keep you entertained. They too have a Starbucks, Pier 8 Market, Oasis Beach Bar and Sunset Lounge.
The Prime Value Hotels are:
Universal’s Aventura Hotel – this is a super modern, stylish and very ‘cool’ hotel to stay in. I would say its brilliant for couples and friends that are looking for a place to stay. With its rooftop bar, stylish, open lobby, market-style dining space and a striking pool area it’s a great place to hang out at any time. It’s the smallest of the hotels but its probably also their most ‘techy’ hotel with Smart Room technology used in their contemporary bedrooms. Plus, if you do stay here, I would highly recommend the rooms with a view – as you will get to see some of the Universal Resort which is pretty fab!
Universal’s Cabana Bay Beach Resort – I love staying here! It’s a winner for families in so many ways. It is very ‘retro’ and has 2 swimming pools, a lazy river, a bowling alley and movie at the lawn on Saturday nights, a games room and for those into fitness a jogging/walking path too. (Plus of course the fitness centre). This list alone just shows that the hotel will provide hours of entertainment without having to go anywhere. Great for days off from the parks, or evenings to fill with more fun. They also have a wide selection of food suitable for all tastebuds! We often would use the Bayside Diner as we can all go off and get whatever we want. The standard rooms come with 2 queen sized beds but the family rooms are brilliant and worth the upgrade cost. They allow for 6 with 2 queen beds and pull out sofa, but the best part is the sliding partition door. You can separate yourself from the kids when they go to sleep, to stay up and watch TV. Plus it has a kitchenette so you can keep drinks in the fridge or use the microwave (great for warming baby food). We get ourselves some bits in for breakfast to eat in our room before heading out for the day (as well as snacks and drinks too). This alone saves heaps on spending money. You will notice it says Interior or Exterior entry. There are two buildings, one is like a hotel in that you access your room via an internal corridor. The other building is like a motel in that you access your rooms via the walkways on the outside of the building. We have done exterior and I much prefer it as can step outside to check out the temperature etc. The Volcano Bay view rooms provide an awesome view of the park too!
The Preferred hotel is:
Loews Sapphire Falls Resort – This hotel has the largest swimming pool that is beautifully landscaped with a water slide surrounded by cascading waterfalls, and in the distance, the calming sounds of steel drums giving it that ‘island life’ vibe. With palm trees around and Caribbean style dining too, its theming is found throughout. With a sandy beach, hot tub, fire pits, interactive children’s play area, games room, kids camps and even a contemporary watering hole offering rare vintage rums for the grown ups, once again Universal prove why staying on-site is so worth it. Their rooms sleep 4/5 with a bright tropic feel, and some even have a lagoon or pool view too. The mix of the theme parks but coming home to the Caribbean vibe it has, instantly calms you after a busy day you may have had.
And last but by no means least the Premier hotels. Guests staying at these hotels can skip the regular lines at the most popular attractions with FREE Universal Express Unlimited™ to Universal Studios Florida™ and Universal's Islands of Adventure™. These are valid on the day you check in, up to and including the day you check out. I have been fortunate enough to have stayed in all three. They are:
Loews Royal Pacific Resort – this tends to be the cheapest of the premier hotels. Based on a South Seas retreat, it has a lagoon-style pool surrounded by a white sand beach and palms, exotic food and on select nights they even have a classic luau celebration of aloha. Plus two hot tubs, a beach volleyball court and the impressive Royal Bali Sea interactive water play area for children, the list really does go on. The iconic seaplane floating in the lagoon belonged to Jake McNaly and if you ask any server in Jakes bar about the story, they will have amazing adventurous tales to tell you. It does feel like one minute you are in Orlando and then next you have entered a Polynesian luxury hotel resort. I also love getting the water taxi to and from the parks – it just feels that little bit more special.
They have a few room types here too. Of course the standard and water view rooms, but they do also have club level in this hotel. If you upgrade to a Club Level room or suite, you'll get personalised concierge service, plus access to the private Royal Club Lounge, where you will be able to help yourselves to complimentary continental breakfast, evening beer/wine, and more. Plus they have a ‘Jurassic World™ themed family suite! My husband and eldest would be in their element here as they are huge Jurassic fans!!
Hard Rock Hotel® - this is the place to go to live your Rockstar life! Designed to be a rock star mansion it has a palm-lined swimming pool featuring underwater music, which is a very cool experience. There is rock memorabilia throughout the hotel and sometimes there is live music from some famous names. It also has a unique smell, I know that sounds weird! From the moment you walk in, you smell it, and will forever associate that smell with the hotel. I asked about it once and they said it’s a quirky Hard Rock feature in all hotels and its actually in the air con. So it is a ‘thing’ and another reason it really is such a cool place to stay. You can even hire guitars and record players to have in your room and speaking of rooms, the mirror features a height chart so you can see which celeb you are the same height as! They have standard rooms, club level and even suites that feature, wait for it, a baby grand piano!!! I have to mention the dining here too, as its DELICIOUS!! They have ‘The Kitchen’ for American classics, The Palm for the best steak and Velvet Bar for some VIP cocktails. The whole place oozes trendy, cool, fun and its why it is my favourite of the Premier hotels. If you cannot afford a whole holiday here, then why not mix it up. Something like 2 nights here to get 3 days’ worth of express passes and then the rest of your time in one of the other hotels like Cabana Bay makes the perfect holiday combo!
Loews Portofino Bay Hotel – this hotel is simply breath-taking. Inspired by the beauty, romance and charm of the picturesque seaside village of Portofino, Italy. It is the only Universal hotel to have a spa and also has 3 swimming pools, one with a slide so the other two often feel quieter. Each evening there is a performance of classic opera sung on a balcony for all to see and on ‘harbor nights’ they also have live music too. There is a whole piazza full of shopping to do, with sidewalk cafes and even Italian sports cars to see. I am a huge sucker for Italian food and here it does not disappoint. Mama Della's Ristorante℠ has delicious authentic Italian food with musicians wandering around you as you eat, and Gelateria for the yummiest gelato and smoothies to name just a few. Again you can access the parks via the water taxi or they are just a short stroll away. The rooms have standard, or club level rooms as before. The ground floor rooms have terraces or you could request a room with a balcony too. They also have a brilliant family suite which has a Despicable Me themed room adjacent for the little ones. A lot of people think that Portofino Bay is very much for adults, but as you can see with the themed room, pools, games rooms, kids clubs and even Trattoria Del Porto™ where you can dine whilst the kids can hang out in the play area with smaller tables and chairs, beanbags and a large TV showing cartoons. It is luxury for all to enjoy!
Plus I must mention that with all premier hotels, you get priority seating at select restaurants in CityWalk which is a welcome bonus when the restaurants are quite busy. The express passes included really are a bonus though. They cost around $130 per person per day, so it makes these hotels amazing value for money if that is a facility you would like to use anyway.
Staying onsite at Universal means you don’t really need a car and can avoid those hotel parking fees. Disney can be reached via a taxi/Uber costing around $17 each way. And there is an i-ride trolley that takes you to shops and restaurants along International Drive, as well as mini golf, Premium Outlets, i360 area and even SeaWorld too. At £13pp for a 14 day pass it is a bargain. The Universal Resort is also just 20 minutes away from Orlando International Airport and a short taxi ride from the Florida mall.
To check out prices and learn more about these hotels, do visit
I would highly recommend booking with AttractionTickets.com for quite a few and important reasons.
1 – They are the UKs number 1 ticket reseller.
2 – They are bound by ABTA which is always good to know, especially when booking hotels and tickets together.
3 – They have won multiple awards in the travel industry such as Travolution Awards and British Travel Awards numerous times. This year they also won Travolution’s Brand of the Year for 2020.
4 – Founded in 2002 and served well over 4 million customers, with a high repeat business rate that is always reassuring.
5 – Can pay with a deposit to secure your tickets and then pay off your balance online as you wish up until the balance due date – great for spreading out the cost of those tickets!
6 – Real tickets are sent to you. Not vouchers that you will need to queue up and exchange at the park gates on arrival (this can be anywhere up to an hour to do so).
7 – Always cheaper to pre buy one of the UK multi park tickets vs single day tickets when in Florida.
8 – The team are very friendly and full of so much knowledge, you will feel rest assured you are booking the right tickets and in safe hands!
But of course, any questions please do shout!
Keep an eye out for a future blog telling you all about the Universal Orlando resort theme parks and CityWalk too 😊
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