TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

We had a great time. The room was clean but a bit small. Very convenient access to the parks (water-taxis) and good choice of restaurant. The outdoor really is beautiful. The kids enjoyed it a lot, plenty of activities to do for them. The staff was nice.

We stayed from June 21st through the 27th. We had a great time and the hotel was clean and nice we. Yes they are going through major renovations but the construction didn’t affect our stay. The food was amazing at every restaurant we ate at. The boat ride to the parks was easy and convenient. I would definitely recommend staying.

We just returned from the Portofino bay hotel for my daughter’s wedding. WOW!! What a great experience!! The hotel is immaculate and the staff members are amazing. David M & Lauren were OUTSTANDING in the food and beverage department. Carmen and Alexandra were awesome in helping with the selection of our rooms. Seth, the manager at the front desk, was extremely helpful. Kaitlin was incredible! She stayed in contact with us throughout the week to ensure our family had the best vacation and wedding experience. Robert, general manager, went ABOVE AND BEYOND throughout the week, taking care of all our needs. His communication was second to none which makes Portofino Bay the BEST hotel we have ever stayed at. My daughter, Erica and son in law, Jimmy will never forget this experience and the Portofino staff made this a once in a lifetime experience. Thank you for the experience and we can’t wait to return to Portofino Bay for another vacation.

This was our second time staying at the Portofino and we are overall disappointed with this visit. In general, this is a very nice hotel, the service is above average, and staying at any of the Universal Resort is a definitely plus with the ease of access to the parks and the Express Pass added in. We thoroughly enjoyed our first stay at Portofino prior to COVID, so we decided a return trip to the hotel was in order. Unfortunately, the second trip did not live up the expectations and we will almost certainly shy away from Portofino in the future. The biggest and most glaring problem we had was all the construction. When we first booked, we were not made aware of construction efforts up front. Either there was no formal warnings or it was not apparent when we booked the stay. When I did speak with an agent later on about the stay, the agent did mention that there would be some construction, but the resort would be fully open. From the conversations, i did not get a sense that it would be impactful -- many places have on-going construction, but it often is hidden or isolated. However, the Portofino construction during our stay was incredibly obstructive. The entire main courtyard on the water was completely shut down. Access to any of the restaurants, amenities, taxi services, and even the pools, was hinders with limited walk-ways under all the construction scaffolding. Thankfully, we did not get a room obstructed by the exterior construction blocking windows, but a significant portion of the exterior was covered, blocking any views out windows for many guests. Some insights: in speaking with some of the workers, they seemed to think this would go thru most of 2024 but hoped some parts would begin opening in later Summer. There were even shocked at the amount of construction and the impact it was having. In addition, we were not impressed with the Club Lounge. It was OK, but Disney has it much better. First, the staff was tremendous. However, everything else just OK. Breakfast was breakfast -- nothing flashy but just your typical hotel-style full service breakfast. Snacks were underwhelming and very limited in time, and evening meals were OK. Alcohol was very strictly limited to a 2 hour dinner window, which was a bummer. Desserts were good. Again, we had higher hopes and had read reviews that this was the best Club lounge Universal had to offer. Decent, but if it's the best, Universal is lacking. Hindsight: don't pay the extra for club level. There were other little things that didn't help, such as not having enough water taxis on the one early-open morning to shuttle people to the parks early. The end result was a 45 minute wait for a boat and then an extended wait in the line for that Hagrid ride forcing us to wait in line for an additional 2 hours just to get on. Probably not going back. Wish I stayed at Hard Rock.

Everything was great! A phone call or text to staff got quick results. From extra towels to laundry facilities to room service. Everything was responded to in a few minutes! This was our 3rd time at this resort. Everything we asked for was addressed almost immediately. We have traveled the world and who gets this kind of service!