Need Help With a Hotel Within Walking Distance to Universal Studios

[karenkerr]

Hi to everyone on these boards and a great big thank you for all the information your provide. It is so very useful.

Myself, my son (age 6), my nephew (age 8) and my mom are travelling to Orlando from March 17, 2002 to March 24, 2002. We are staying at Disney (All Star Movies) from the 19th to the 24th, but wanted to stay close to Universal Studios for the first couple of nights.

I have been looking at all sorts of hotels near Universal (less than 1 mile away or preferably at the entrance, as I am not renting a vehicle).

I am not sure which one to book.

I was wondering if anyone could make recommendations regarding a good hotel very close to Universal...preferably at entrance. Since we are taking the two boys, I would like something good for them.

Any information regarding the above would be very much appreciated.

Thanks

 

[Robinrs]

Welcome, Karen, without a doubt you've come to the right place.

Universal has two onsite hotels right now, three as of July 2002. The Hard Rock and the Portofino Bay. For location I like the Hard Rock better. It's a short 5 min walk to Universal. You can't beat that! I had rented a car for my stay and never used it till I left!

You can get good deals on the rates via AAA, the Entertainment card or the Loews First card. You can acquire an Entertainment card by buying the book at www.entertainment.com and the Loews card at www.loewshotels.com.

None of the offsite hotels are "walking" distance, per se, but most offer shuttles to the parks. The closest offsites are the Radisson Universal and the Holiday Inn on Kirkman Rd. Others include the Red Roof Inn, Suburban Lodge and Days Inn, all on Major Blvd.

Hope that helps and again, welcome!

 

[LJP]

Hi Karen - DH and I stayed at the Radisson Universal during our trip in 1999. It was probably the closest off-site hotel. There was a shuttle bus that ran free of charge and took about 5 mins to get there - we also walked but I wouldn't recommend this way as we had to cross a really busy road and despite the "green man" (sorry that's what we call these signals in the UK ) we had to run really fast to get even half way across!! The hotel is fine though and I believe that there is a new I Drive route that now goes past it, so makes it even handier for travel without a car.
Hope this helps.

 

[karenkerr]

Thanks everyone for your inforrmation.

I called the Hard Rock Hotel and they had no rooms left at the $125 rate (being the entertainment rate) and quoted me a AAA rate of $319 per night!!! That's a little over my price range!!

I have tentatively booked the Clarion Universal for $67.00 a night.

I am disappointed re the Hard Rock because it would have been fun to stay there for my "boys" and we could have taken advantage of the first in line offer.

Does anyone know any other specials to ask for at either the Hard Rock or Portofino hotels.

Again, thanks for any information anyone can offer!!!! It is truly appreciated!

 

[OrlandoInfo]

There are a lot of hotels in the Universal Studios area.

As previous messages have mentioned, there are two ideal hotels located on site. They are the Portofino Bay Hotel and the Hard Rock Hotel. Both are run by Loews hotels, so the quality is great. I have not been to the Hard Rock Hotel yet (it recently opened), but heard it is great. I have been on the grounds of the Portofino Bay and love it. Whats even better is the convenience of being so close to the theme parks. I think you get to enter at an earlier time as well. There may be some other perks too, but I am not sure. You can access info on these hotels off the main Universal Studios website.

Immediately across the main entrance of Universal Studios is a cluster of several hotels....

Radisson Hotel - This high rise hotel has awesome views of Universal Studios and has everything you need to make an memorable vacation. They do have a site with more info: http://www.radissonuniversal.com

Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites - A typical Holiday Inn, but in a great location. They too have a site with more info: http://www.hiuniversal.com

Delta Resort Hotel - This place has had mixed reviews. It is a resort style hotel with extensive grounds. Their site is: http://www.deltaorlandoresort.com

Red Roof Inn - If you are looking for a comfortable place to stay at a great place, this is a nice place to look into: http://www.stayorlando.com/redroof

Fairfield Inn - An economy hotel by Marriott. This is a brand new location and usually has decent rates. Their site is http://www.universaldiscountrooms.com

And as always, there are discounts on hotels through the sponsors of this messageboard. Click on the discount hotel links on top and you should find several properties near Universal Studios.

Cheers!

 

[msr709]

You might also want to try joining the loews hotel membership, I got a $129 per night stay rate through them this past December, and let me tell you that the express line access you get with your room key is worth it alone! And its literally a 5 minute walk to the parks, I timed myself and my 70yo Mom. Its a wonderful hotel and your boys will love the pool and the slide. The link to the the Loews Hotels site is loewshotels.com

Hope this helps, and memberships are free and you have a chance at getting an upgrade! Another piece of advice is if you do get a reasonable rate and stay there call the hotel and see if they have any specials on the park tickets. I waited and it was worth my while because I got a 2-day passes for the price of 1! For $100 we got to go to the parks for 2 days, it was great. Make the call, its worth it, the no. is 800-877-2273

Good Luck!

 

[bigs1923t]

Hi , we stayed at the Radisson twin tower right at the main entrance to Universal. It is about the closest off site hotel. They have decent rates and we were on the 15th floor as I remember. I told them I wanted to be up high & facing Universal. The rooms outer wall is glass from floor to ceiling so the view was great. The glass is all tinted so at night you dont even have to close your curtians up that high. The kids had their binoculars and had a great time watching people come & go. They too offer a shuttle as do most of the hotels in the area but the wait can be awhile because many hotles use the same shuttle and they make thier rounds to other hotels before you go to Universal. We just drove over in our car but you could walk .

 

[jdm]

When you checked the Hard Rock rate, did you check Portifino? I called last week and the Hard Rock was $425 and the Portifino was $129 (fan club) for Thurs and $150 for a Friday with Entertainment. They also told me that staying at the Portifino we had full access to everything at the Hard Rock, so we will check out their pool. Good Luck.
Jenn