Why Universal Studios Hotels Are a Great Choice in Orlando
Staying in the Universal Studios area is a different experience, which facilitates many things that you miss in other areas. Our experience.
When one begins to find out where to stay in Orlando, the first recommendations have to do with Disney: the question is being close to the Mickey Mouse parks. However, exploring other alternatives can radically change your experience in this fantastic American city. We tell you why our stay at the Universal Studios hotels gave us a different trip on several levels.
As a family, with three children ages 9, 13 and 17, we decided to stop for the first time in the Universal Studios park area. At our children's ages, everything related to Harry Potter, Jurassic Park, The Simpsons and new rides and roller coasters generates enormous enthusiasm and we decided it was time to try staying in the area. We stopped at Universal's Endless Summer Resort – Dockside Inn and Suites and discovered a different Orlando.
Stay at Universal Studios hotels
First of all, the Universal Studios hotels are not only close to the three company parks (Universal Studios, Island of Adventure and Volcano Bay) but they are in an area where you can even walk to places as varied as a Wallgreens pharmacy, a market to buy food or one of the largest outlets in Orlando. That is, you are at the heart of many things. It is not something minor in a place where the distances are great and you need a car for everything.
All hotels offer complimentary (free) transportation to and from the Resort's main theme parks and Citiwalk
Then, staying at Universal Studios hotels allows you to arrive very early to its parks (while avoiding parking delays), enjoy several attractions an hour before the general public enters, and take advantage of every minute of the day to taste everything that Universal Orlando Resort has to offer.
In fact, sleeping in the Universal Studios hotels you have a free transfer to the City Walk throughout the day, with which you can go and come back and even go to dinner after a comforting bath.
Universal's Endless Summer Resort
The menu of lodging options offered by Universal Orlando Resort is extensive. They have eight hotels of their own. They are more concentrated than those of Disney and there are different categories but they all have a high quality service and are designed to promote greater enjoyment of their parks.
We stayed at Universal's Endless Summer Resort. It has two hotels that make up Universal's cheapest category, Endless Summer Resort – Surfside Inn & Suites and Endless Summer Resort – Dockside Inn and Suites. They are slightly further away than the rest of the hotels. It's on Interstate 4 and the walk to the parks is a bit longer than the others.
The setting of the hotel is not focused on movies or attractions: summer, surfing, the beach and water sports make up the decoration of the two Endless Summer Resort hotels. Its design shows large towers that emerge next to a large artificial lake with beaches surrounding its pools, very colorful and with lush vegetation.
We slept in a suite for five people with a small kitchenette (they don't have a stove, but they do have a microwave and a sink to wash the dishes). It has a table and chairs for four people and an ice cream maker. That allows you to solve breakfast, lunch and dinner well if you want to avoid restaurants. Of course: it does not have kitchen utensils. Not even cutlery or glass glasses. It only has a small coffee pot.
The suite had a room with a double bed, a bathroom and a main space with two double beds, where 3 or 4 children can sleep comfortably.
The hotel has a fantastic buffet style restaurant, where you can eat a huge variety of foods, and a Starbucks. It also has a shop, a bar and a huge pool designed as a beach.
The hotels are so close to the parks and the bus is so fast and easy that, on hot days, it is possible to start the day at Universal and then return to the hotel pool and later walk back to enjoy an attraction in Islands of Adventure in a matter of minutes. It's also great if you're traveling with small children who need a break.
All hotels offer at least one mini-refrigerator, flat screen TV, coffeemaker, wi-fi, iron, and safe. In all cases, the standard rooms have at least two queen beds that accommodate two people. There are also rooms with King beds
Some of the advantages of stopping at Universal Studios hotels:
Universal Express Pass (only in the 3 highest category hotels). Allows you to avoid the queues at the attractions and enjoy every minute without wasting time queuing.
Universal guarantees guests at all its hotels one hour early access to at least one of its parks to enjoy its most popular attractions. The benefit is called "Early Park Admission."
Proximity to the parks: possibility of access on foot.
Free and excellent shuttle between the hotel, theme parks and Citiwalk.
Priority seats in the Restaurants of Parks, Hotels and Citiwalk (only the 3 highest category hotels).
Purchases charged to the room with the same "room key".
Three details to keep in mind:
The hotel charges separately for parking. It is not cheap and it is something unusual in a hotel of that category. Maybe the car should be avoided. You can get around with the Universal Studios buses.
The rooms do not have good storage spaces for clothes. Being small spaces, if you are not ordered quickly everything becomes chaos.
While the hotel promises a "kitchenette", it falls short of that. It is difficult to solve meals there because they do not have utensils of any kind. You can get plastic plates, glasses and cutlery at the buffet downstairs, but that's about it.
In short, the price-quality ratio has some things to improve, especially in the "economic" line of Universal Studios hotels. But, definitely, staying in them is an experience with guaranteed satisfaction. Super recommended.
More information on the official site.
