The Truth About Hotels?

[BrightMorningStar]

We are looking to visit both Universal parks in August. (ugh, that heat ) I got online last night and looked at availability. I like Portofino and the Loews hotels, but it is out of my budget for this particular stay. We really prefer a room with a king bed. That left us with Aventura. I read reviews from various websites and there were many complaints about it being dirty, looking and feeling "old" and bad smells.

Wondering if any of you have stayed there recently can share your experience?

Side note: We also looked at getting a house for a week, but their cancellation policy is too long and with so much uncertainty we want to be able to cancel without losing money. Really looking for something a week or less, so we considered Universal. We do not want to stay on Disney property. Also, a friend who lives there told me to stay away from rentals in the Orlando Kissimmee area and to go to Davenport. She said crime and break-ins have ramped up. We also plan to go to the beach a few times, so that is why a rental house would have been fine.

 

[lisam70]

I stayed last week just for one night before moving to PB. It’s a newer hotel and I didn’t think it looked dirty at all or smelled anything bad. The rooms are not large but if it’s just two of you should be fine.

 

[BrightMorningStar]

I stayed last week just for one night before moving to PB. It’s a newer hotel and I didn’t think it looked dirty at all or smelled anything bad. The rooms are not large but if it’s just two of you should be fine.

Would it be comfortable for a whole week?

 

[lisam70]

Would it be comfortable for a whole week?

Guess it depends how much you’re in the room and how much stuff you have. It’s very basic but doable I think. Maybe post this question under the Aventura board see if you get some more opinions from folks who have had longer stays.

 

[wdwrule]

We stayed at Aventura a few months ago and had no complaints about the room. It was a 2 Queen bed room. Everything was clean and staff was friendly and helpful. Not sure if it’s in the budget, but we stayed in a king bed room at Sapphire Falls last weekend right across from Aventura and it was lovely! In case you haven’t pondered it yet, if at least one of you has an AP, you can get some very decent rates especially for those two hotels in particular.

 

[georgina]

Staying a week the savvy traveler rate would probably be as good as or better than the AP rate. I have never stayed at Aventura or SF, but there were plenty of bad reviews of Cabana Bay during the pandemic when staffing and housekeeping were decreased. I wonder when those reviews were written.

 

[Skywalker3]

We stayed 1 night Aventura last Oct, and 2 nights this past March. We all liked it. No issues at all, no problem with anything mentioned in those reviews. very clean rooms and hotel. Rooms are smallish, for 4, but a good amount of storage. How many are going? I don't mind split stays, so if we were staying 1 week, we'd probably do 2 or 3 nights at Aventura, then move to something closer/bigger if that is an option. Not sure I'd want to be there for a whole week, especially w 4, but no issues at all with the hotel/rooms. Very nice stay.

 

[BrightMorningStar]

We stayed 1 night Aventura last Oct, and 2 nights this past March. We all liked it. No issues at all, no problem with anything mentioned in those reviews. very clean rooms and hotel. Rooms are smallish, for 4, but a good amount of storage. How many are going? I don't mind split stays, so if we were staying 1 week, we'd probably do 2 or 3 nights at Aventura, then move to something closer/bigger if that is an option. Not sure I'd want to be there for a whole week, especially w 4, but no issues at all with the hotel/rooms. Very nice stay.

It will just be me and my husband.

 

[DizneyFamof4]

It will just be me and my husband.

To compare room size by SqFt, if you have stayed at POR, POFQ or CSR those room sizes are 315 and Aventura is 314.

 

[Mabel67]

We stayed 9 nights the beginning of April. Had a King Deluxe, which was a fabulous room. It seemed like plenty of space for us two adults. It was quiet, though we did hear some road noise from time to time; the bed was good, it was clean. It has all hard floors (no carpet) in the room. Floor to ceiling windows were very nice. Bus from hotel, walk to Sapphire for water taxi (or Royal Pacific) or walk the entire way to park (our preferred method!).

The food court was decent. The pizza was good, as was the noodle bowl and breakfast. Bar 17 was nice, though it was raining the night we went, so didn't stay long.

Only negative comment would be that it is a very nice hotel - but it doesn't feel as resort-y as the others at tiers above. I would stay there again, but next stay will be Sapphire Falls.