Hotel near Universal Studios

[Mimi Q]

Can anyone recommend a good hotel near Universal? We are going there a couple of days before heading to WDW. I have booked 3 nights at the Doubletree Universal, but I have read many bad reviews. Thanks.

 

[dgaston]

You could check out the Universal Board here on the DIS. Also do a search for posts by Robvia. I think he even has a website with pictures of offsite hotels for Universal.

HTH

 

[Elfstar]

In March my daughter and I stayed at the Clarion Universal for three nights - it needs some refurbishment but the room was spotlessly clean and larger than average. It's nothing to rave about but was reasonably priced and, again, clean!

 

[travelin' tigger]

Can anyone recommend a good hotel near Universal? We are going there a couple of days before heading to WDW. I have booked 3 nights at the Doubletree Universal, but I have read many bad reviews. Thanks.

If you have a car, I recommend Microtel. They are a budget hotel chain. Found the rooms to be fairly new and CLEAN - liked it so much I'm staying there again in Dec. before checking into the HR.

HTH!!!

 

[Goofy4WDW1964]

We just got back from a trip to Orlando where we did both Universal and Disney. We always stay onsight at Disney because we love the themed resorts. For the week while we were at Universal, we stayed at the Sheraton Studio City. It is the tower hotel not far from Universal Studios with the globe on the top. It was the first time that we stayed there. We were very pleased. The hotel has a 1940's Hollywood feel to it. It only took us 5 minutes to drive from our hotel to the parking garage of Universal Studios. It is also on the north end of International Drive. It is far enough north that you don't have to get into the mess of traffic on International Drive, but it is close enough to International Drive if you want to go to any of the attractions along there.

The rooms are a little bit bigger than a standard hotel room because of the shape of the hotel. We also had two queen beds instead of double beds. The hotel has recently been referbished, so nothing was showing any wear and tear. The staff was excellent and we even had a view of Islands of Adventure out our window. We could see the Hulk roller coaster and Dr. Doom ride going.

We paid $99.00 a night with the AAA discount. There is a minature golf right next door with a Denny's next to that. There was a Red Lobster and 7-11 right across the street. We had anything we needed within a short walk. The pool is not huge, but it was adequate. We did not use the shuttle so can't comment on that. We also did not eat at the hotel resteraunt, so can't tell you how that was. When we checked out, I had mentioned to the desk clerk that they might want to have someone check out the sink in our room because it drained very slowly. She automatically took $15 off the bill without any discussion.

We would consider this hotel again when we go back to Universal Studios.

 

[Mimi Q]

Thanks so much for the info.

 

[janine]

For the first week of our 3 week trip, we stayed the first 2 nights at the doubletree universal, paid $229 a night, and was a nice hotel.
for the next 5 nights we stayed at the larion Universal, paid $59 a night, and was as good as if not a nicer room.
The doubletree area was nicer than the area at Clarion.