TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

Spent 2 nights over Spring Break with husband and 12-year-old son. Also spent 4 nights at Stella Nova, reviewed separately. I splurged on this leg of the trip to get the free express passes for Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. This is a benefit of Portofino Bay, Hard Rock and Royal Pacific and is good from check-in day to check-out day. Platinum Amex Fine Hotels benefits: I booked through this program and am detailing this part of my experience here because good info on this is hard to come by and I want to help the community. Upon check-in I recieved a one-pager detailing benefits. A special concierge went over it with me. Included: Room Upgrade (where available). 12pm check-in (where available). Daily breakfast credit (it specifies for 2 people to get breakfast buffet but in reality you can get whatever you want and credit is up to $85 per day). $100 dining credit. Guaranteed 4PM checkout. We did not attempt to take advantage of early check-in because as soon as we checked in we got our express passes and headed to the parks. Also the room upgrade was much more important to us because I booked a standard room and we wanted a better view and most importantly wanted a room that was NOT pet-friendly as I have a severe allergy to dogs. We used 100% of our breakfast and dining credit. And took advantage of late check-out as we had a late flight and wanted a pool day. Service: Best I have ever experienced. And consistent across all staff we encountered. For context on my perspective, I am pretty well traveled and have stayed in a lot of nice hotels. But I am not wealthy and don't have extensive experience with luxury travel. Room: Upgrade came through. Beautiful view (pic attached). May be the nicest room I have ever stayed in. Certainly nicest non-suite room I have stayed in. Beds were so comfortable and thick fluffy down comforters and turn-down service such a nice contrast to what I feel like you get in even fairly nice hotels nowadays. Fluffy towels and bathmat. Robes. Nice armchair with footrest. Spacious desk/dining space. Welcome gift of chocolate from Amex (pic attached). Luxurious large tub. This was very welcomed after 4 nights at Stella Nova which had no tub. I took advantage to soothe my aching muscles (particularly feet and legs) after what at that point had been 4 days in the parks. Food: Excellent. Breakfast at Trattoria was all excellent. Ate both nights from quickservice-Sal's- excellent also. Pool: There are 3 pools. If you are familiar with Disney DVC and deluxe hotels it is a similar concept. A large main pool-The Beach Pool-with slide, kids activities, etc...and 2 quiet pools. We only experienced the beach pool and it was excellent. As the name suggests it does have sand and zero-entry. Nice, thick, cushioned lounge chairs... Location: Perfect for Universal and Islands of Adventure. Boat leaves from hotel and you go through security there so you can bypass the masses at Citywalk. 15-20 minute shuttle to Epic Universe. Overall, if money were no object I would just stay at this place the whole time, no question for any future Universal trip. So if that's your situation this is what I recommend. But if you are in a similar boat to us and not wealthy but interested in splurging on a night or 2 for one of the premier resorts for some luxury and the express passes this is the one I recommend. In any event if you are visiting Universal and are even considering getting express pass you really should look into it just for the math itself because it may work out even if cheaper than booking a cheaper hotel plus express passes.

Arrived late last evening from the UK, The children woke up at 6 am US time, which is 12 pm in the UK, Obviously they woke up excited. We were ready for the park but unfortunately there was no bath in the room. It was our toddler who is two years old first shower she was crying and screaming at 6:30 am for around 15 minutes. There was there a knock on the door that Numerous people were complaining about the noise which we are in a villa So I’m not sure how many people could actually hear, but I accept Being a woke in at 6:30 may not be ideal Even if you have early access to the Park which opens at 8 am but you have four security guards knocking on the door is ridiculous. The children are now terrified. Can’t wait to get to Disneyland. Don’t waste your time here.

Booked a “Bay View” room at Loews Portofino Bay Hotel, but the assigned room (1408) had essentially no visible bay from a normal standing position—only the courtyard and buildings. The water was visible only if you stood right against the window and leaned at a specific angle. The hotel acknowledged that my room should have been classified as a Garden View rather than a Bay View and provided a $100 refund after follow-up. However, during March Break (peak season), the actual price difference between Bay View and Garden View rooms is $137 per night before tax, so the adjustment did not fully reflect the upgrade cost for a two-night stay. Nice property overall, but be aware that “Bay View” can vary significantly—and may not include a meaningful view of the bay at all. This was a very disappointing experience. We chose a luxury hotel for a family vacation, but ended up overpaying for a room that was not worth the price.

Lovely hotel. But we requested a room by the front desk. My girlfriend can’t walk very far easily. The hotel is HUGE and the room was no where the front desk. Lovely place though. Great breakfast buffet too.

Stayed here in March 2026. Nice grounds but it ends there. Having stayed at several other resorts in the area, I feel that that $3k extra I spent to stay here was a bad decision. Food was just ok, but overpriced. Room service was painfully slow (after it took some tome for them to pick up the phone to place the order). Pools were smaller than expected and activity programming was disappointing for a resort of this size. Overall, I thought it was just fine, nowhere near the experience I was expecting for the cost. Thought Sapphire Falls was much better and off resort, thought Gaylord Palms was far superior. Enjoy your time in Orlando!