Loews Portofino Bay Hotel at Universal Orlando™ reviews
8623 TripAdvisor reviews
Great hotel for families!
Fearless56177003810 on Feb 05, 2025
We almost switched hotels after reading all the bad reviews but I'm soooooo glad we didn't! We had a great time at this place! We had excellent, polite service from the front desk which was much appreciated since we arrived at 3am and just needed to get our kids to bed. They directed us to the Universal desk the next day to get our park passes set up which was quick and easy. Side note, get an Express pass- we have done this park both ways and Express is the way to go, hands down. We used the hotel pool one night and the hot tub a couple of times, kids loved the slide and that they show movies outside nightly. We did not eat in any of the restaurants so I cannot comment on those but used the coffee shop (basically Starbucks) daily and no complaints. Water taxi to the park each day was quick and easy, arrived every ten minutes. We also used the shuttle to Volcano Bay which was also a quick ride, I think we stopped at maybe two other resorts on the way so it was less than 20 minutes. There was construction but we didn't hear any noise or experience any inconvenience because of it. I also saw comments about the length of the hallways which, yes it was a fair walk from the elevator to the room but my kids loved that part and we don't have any mobility concerns so it was a non-issue for us. I agree with some other reviewers who said the walls were a little thin but I was not kept awake or wakened by noise, I could just hear people through the walls occasionally. All in all, we had a great time here, beds were a little soft for me but the room was clean and refreshed with towels and beds made daily. Atmosphere outside at night was fun with the harbour and live music on the weekends. Definitely recommend this hotel for your family!!
Went for a Conference, Stayed for the Parks
vjma_jr on Feb 03, 2025
Was in town with my family to attend a conference being held at the property and was able to take full advantage of all the amenities (pool, restaurants) and its perks (boat ride to Universal City Walk and Express Pass access). With the conference being held over the weekend, we arrived on a Friday around 7:30AM with hopes of getting checked in and, most importantly, receiving our complimentary Express Pass, which helps in bypassing what can be some pretty long lines at the park. We were pleasantly surprised to have a room available at the time. However, we were initially given a King room and we needed a double, but thankfully Jonathan came through including putting us in the West Wing of the resort vs. the East Wing. Tip: if you plan on using the boat to Universal City Walk and the Parks, the West Wing is closer to the dock which is very helpful considering the size of the property. After dropping off our bags, we took the boat to the parks, which was about a 5-10 minute ride. You can also walk to the park and the time taken I guess would depend on who is walking. If you miss a boat either from the hotel or City Walk, they usually come in every 10-15 minutes or so. There are a handful of dining options available on property, which was rather convenient for us as we ate at one of the restaurants after the park with the conference starting Saturday morning. We ate at Mama Della's Ristorante, a nice spot that also had a trio of singers come by every table to serenade a song of your choice. You can also choose to dine at City Walk with far more diversity of dining options. The property is well maintained and you do get the feeling of staying in Portofino, Italy. It is a very charming property. The one pool we visited (by the West Wing) was large enough with a small beach/sand area for the little ones. This beach area became more of a hit throughout the day with our group of kids being joined by others who wanted to play. The pool also has a slide which the kiddos took full advantage of. I’d say the pool was heated, but not hot by any stretch of the imagination. There were also two hot tubes (one was closed however) and a smaller pool with play area for the littlest of children. The property also had two other pool areas, however, we did not visit those. The lobby was large and very clean with an area that included shops. They also had a red room where one could relax, read a book or even play chess. There are two options for parking: valet or self (we did self for what I believe was $33/day). The self-parking lot was a short-ish walk from the main lobby, but can be a trek to your room so plan accordingly. You are not able to use the hotel luggage cart so keep that in mind. The rooms were fine, though did find the bathroom to be rather large with a two-sink vanity. Basic TV with channels you’d expect, though was hoping for either a Universal channel show movies with no commercials or even an HBO. I would recommend the hotel to anyone visiting Universal or simply in town for a conference. The perks (boat ride, Express Pass, dining, amenities) make all the pluses exceed any negatives (pricing). It should be noted that our rooms were complimentary due to the conference attended. With that said, if I were doing a trip to Universal, I would certainly consider this hotel (or any other Universal Loews Hotel property).
Fantastic stay
C3196TJkevinm (Petworth, United Kingdom) on Jan 29, 2025
Prompt check-in friendly staff behind the desk was surprised with a birthday treat on my birthday and with welcome drinks in the room and chocolate the unlimited express pass is well worth it. Club level room is also good. Would recommend staying here if you’re able to great hotel great staff and great views.
Level of service
Michelle S on Jan 24, 2025
I regret to say that our overall experience fell short of expectations, especially for the price of the presidential suite. We chose your hotel to celebrate my twins' birthday, and I had reached out to the concierge via text and phone to request candles and a cupcake for the occasion. Unfortunately, I never received a response. This lack of communication was disappointing, especially given the significance of the celebration. Additionally, there were several other issues during our stay: - The towels in our bathroom were not restocked. - As a family of five, we were only provided with four pods of coffee per day despite repeatedly requesting more. - Multiple attempts to contact the staff regarding these issues went unanswered. On the morning of our departure, we encountered further disappointment. While grabbing a quick cup of coffee from the club level, my daughter, who had a cereal box and a cup, was rudely addressed by a staff member. The employee loudly said "excuse me" and, while restocking the cups, picked up my daughter's cereal box, declared it trash, and directed her to the trashcan in an inappropriate manner. My daughter was still eating her cereal and found the interaction unnecessarily rude. I also would like to add that it only technically slept four people we called for a explanation why there was no pull out bed and they said will comp you a rollaway car for a 6 foot two male Overall, our stay was marred by a series of service shortcomings that left us feeling undervalued as guests. Considering the array of beautiful hotels in the area and the premium price we paid, we had anticipated a higher level of customer service.
Great weekend stay
katelyngarner (West Palm Beach, Florida) on Jan 19, 2025
We stayed at Portofino Bay for our trip to Universal and Islands of Adventure. We chose this hotel for the unlimited express passes and were pleasantly surprised by how much we loved the hotel. The hotel staff was very friendly from check in to housekeeping, everyone was smiling and kind. The front desk ladies were very helpful in recommendations at CityWalk and best areas to start in at the theme parks. The hotel has a beautiful atmosphere, the piazza is perfect for kids to run and play safely, looking at the boats and ducks was fun for them as well. The opera singer on the balcony at night was a fun experience, and we enjoyed the drinks at the Thirsty Fish, especially the espresso martini. We loved the family pool area with the slide, hot tub, cornhole and ping pong. The beach entrance was great and the whole pool area felt safe for my 7 and 6 year old boys to freely walk about while we watched from the chairs. The poolside bar was very good and the DJ was fun and engaging. Our room was spacious, clean and comfortable. They were renovating areas of the outside of the hotel but it was not messy or distracting. We loved the water taxi option at night to go to city walk, and chose to walk the pathway in the morning for early entrance. The path was beautiful! We will definitely stay again.