Need NICE hotel off-site by Universal Studios

[twinmommyks]

We are a family of 5 traveling to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure in May and need a NICE hotel off-site by US. We had wanted to stay at the RRH but the $375+ per night price tag is abit steep, so I am needing to know if there are some good resorts in the area for less than that (around $200 per night).

We are not wanting a Super 8 type of hotel, but something more. For those who are familiar with the area, what hotel do you recommend?

 

[Pokemom]

My niece's family just returned from WDW and they spent a few nights at Floridays Resort near Universal. They thought it was very nice and highly recommend it.

 

[stwyatt]

the crowne plaza universal is the #1 rated hotel on tripadvisor right now. it is 1 mile from univ. we stayed there last week for 59/nt. got the rate on hotwire. look for a 3.5* hotel on i-drive north. we've stayed there 2x and thought it was excellent both times

 

[4Seasons]

I have seen very good rates at the Springhill Suites on Universal Blvd, and they have a free continental breakfast.

 

[wdwmouse]

You could try this: www.laughingplacevilla.com

It's a house with pool and has four bedrooms. Cheaper than two hotel rooms or a suite, too!

Good luck!

 

[mickeyluv'r]

In the center of Orlando the Peabody is supposed to be quite nice. We stayed at the Doubletree Castle a few years ago. IT was quite nice, perhaps a touch past it's prime, but the convenience of it worked really well for us. There are quite a few places to eat right there - you can get a good breakfast inside the resort, the steak place in front of the resort was really great, there's Pirates mini-golf next door. The pool isn't huge, but it has a fountain in the middle, and I liked the theming of the resort. It was also quite close to Universal and other attractions. We also had good luck parking there.

WE stayed at a dive up that end one year.

 

[MattM]

I'll echo what two posters have said already. I am a local, but we take the kids to the attractions a lot and stay at hotels to make it a real getaway.

Book the Crowne Plaza or the SpringHill Suites the above posters mentioned and dont think twice about it. They are both very nice hotels and very convenient to Universal and everything on Internationa Drive, but are a block off of International Drive which you will enjoy more than being on it, trust me.

Hope that helps!

 

[twinmommyks]

the crowne plaza universal is the #1 rated hotel on tripadvisor right now. it is 1 mile from univ. we stayed there last week for 59/nt. got the rate on hotwire. look for a 3.5* hotel on i-drive north. we've stayed there 2x and thought it was excellent both times

I looked on hotwire, but when I narrowed the search to hotels by Universal, there was not any 3.5*, but there was one that was 3* on I-drive North for $79. I'm assuming that these would be different hotels. I have not used hotwire before so any help would be great. Thanks.

 

[twinmommyks]

Thanks everyone for your input. I appreciate your help and am looking at the hotels that everyone suggested. This will help me alot in planning our trip.

 

[stwyatt]

you might try biddingfortravel.com, and betterbidding.com to get a list of hotels that hotwire is using. the way we booked the crowne plaza is that i checked hotwire each day starting a month before our trip--and one day it went down to 59. i knew it was the crowne plaza based upon the infor i received from the above sites. you can also click on "vacations" instead of "hotels" on hotwire. choose "hotel + car" and hotwire will actually show the hotel name. then you can go back to booking a hotel, match the stars, location, and amenities and you'll be pretty certain of the hotel. one last thing, we reserved a hotel many months before, and cancelled it once i got the crowne plaza. one of the posters also mentioned about having a hotel on univ. blvd instead of i-drive, and i agree, it is much less busy and just a block away from i-drive.being 1-3mi from the parks shouldn't make much difference if you're on univ. blvd as far as time to parks

 

[Darcy03231]

I stayed at the Sheraton Studio City in August and was very happy with it. I got it on Hotwire for $52/night. I put in a 3* in the Universal Studios area. Its about half a mile from US/IOA.