TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

Wow what a lovely hotel. We have stayed here for 2 weeks and nothing is too much trouble for the staff. From check-in to check out everything ran pretty smoothly. Apart from that I had already paid for the hotel prior to arriving and they tried to take the room payment again during our stay. This was quickly rectified at reception and we had no other issues during our stay. We stayed in a King Suite which was great as it meant we had a lounge area to chill out in when we came back from exploring Orlando. The room was nicely decorated and kept very clean everyday by the housekeepers. The food in the restaurant at the hotel was fresh, you could eat buffet style or a la carte for breakfast. But expect to pay Universal prices plus tipping it's not a cheap meal but then if you are hungry it is all you can eat buffet so swings and roundabouts. There is a water taxi from the hitel in to city walk where there are shops and dining places , you can also walk in to the parks from here. We walked from the hotel a couple of times to city walk which is a pleasant 20min walk away. We didn't use the pool whilst we were here but it looked really good. Also onsite is a gym, a games room, a bar that opens at 4pm in the afternoon that also serves tapas style cuisine. There is a Universal shop and takeaway coffee shop. On each level of the hitel there is an ice room where you can go and fill a bucket of ice and take it back to your room for your drinks. Todd in the Strong Water bar was especially helpful and so were the guys that helped us with our luggage. I am sorry I forgot their names. The housekeepers were very polite each day and did such a great job of keeping our room clean it would be rude not to mention them here too. We used the laundry service at the hotel, although it is pricey it took the hassle out of trying to find somewhere to get laundry done or buying more clothes lol. All in all we had a very busy but wonderful holiday at this resort. I would highly recommend it if you are planning to visit Universal Studios especially. To get to Disney it cost anywhere between $20 and $60 each way using Uber depending on the time of day we were travelling. We will definitely be back Sapphire Falls! Thank you.

Know if you are staying for business, business travels "placed far from the elevators" means you might be walking extra steps to get to the convention center. Definitely ask to be as close to the convention center as possible - Tower 3 is recommended. The gym does not open until 5am and in Tower 3 is easiest to get to. What does work out great is the service - Jose in Housekeeping working Tower 2 was beyond service and expectations. He helped out without asking and made sure I was having a good time.

Nice hotel but I didn't get to enjoy the amenities of it as this was a business trip, so I can't comment on that. For those who don't ever check their bill, I encourage you to do so, as I got charged for the in-room bottle of water, which I never opened/used. I had to call just now to get the charge refunded to my card. Also, daily housekeeping is a thing of the past. My room was never services even though I had a three night stay.

RUN don't walk the heck away from this hotel. I have stayed at other Universal Hotels in the past over the years. This one is just completely over priced and you will be overcharged for what it is actually worth. Good luck getting hot water and pressure in the shower. Room was clean there is a plus. The water taxi is nice to go to Universal. Oh and it smells nice in the entrance way! Other than that; Hike to get coffee(starbucks is at another hotel). Cannot order to go food from the restaurant down stairs must dine in. I will say the meal I ordered at the pool and the service was very nice but had extra fees. I received a receipt emailed that was not a total bill upon check out with completely different charges then the final bill two days later. Over-all poor management completely. I would not stay here again.

The hotel is lovely. It is spotless , beds comfortable ( pillow could do with upgrade , they are rather soft ). Boat rides to city walk take the stress out of gate security as you do it before you get on the boat ( way less queues).staff really friendly . Pool kid friendly with a fab slide , and open til 10pm. Nice little take away in lobby selling pizza etc. Parks were busy this time of year but universal app made planning easy . International drive a short Uber trip - only down side it’s not really walkable , but Uber or Lyft easy to arrange . Have done trip previously in non universal hotel and this was easier. However just to be transparent we only did one trip to Disney via Uber, so if your planning more than one trip perhaps another hotel on ID would be more appropriate as no shuttle to Disney from hotel. They do do one to seaworld though. From my expirience if Disney I wished I’d given it a miss and used the money for express passes instead.