Which Universal Partner hotel do you like?

[Disney Padawan]

Hello all. I was wondering which Universal Partner hotels are considered the best, besides the obvious 3 that are located on property. I think some of these hotels are being offered on their website with a promotion which gives you the same perks as staying on site. Just wondering what your favorites are and why? Any to stay away from? Even if it's not a partner hotel, I'm curious which hotels near Universal are considered the best. Thanks. So, which one do you like?

 

[ky07]

Hello all. I was wondering which Universal Partner hotels are considered the best, besides the obvious 3 that are located on property. I think some of these hotels are being offered on their website with a promotion which gives you the same perks as staying on site. Just wondering what your favorites are and why? Any to stay away from? Even if it's not a partner hotel, I'm curious which hotels near Universal are considered the best. Thanks. So, which one do you like?

I have only stayed at only one Universal partner hotel and that was The Doubletree on Major Blvd and it was a nice clean hotel and only a ten min walk to universal but that is the only one I have stayed at

 

[Procrastinate]

I am curious about what perks you are referring to. Do any of these offer FOTL like the on-sites?

 

[patster734]

I am curious about what perks you are referring to. Do any of these offer FOTL like the on-sites?

These would be the main perks:

When you stay at an approved Universal Partner Hotel you will enjoy special benefits including:


FREE scheduled transportation to Universal theme parks daily and to CityWalk nightly
Discounts on shopping & dining throughout Universal Orlando
Golf reservations and complimentary scheduled transportation to select area courses

FOTL is only available to guests staying at Universal's 3 on-site hotels.


You can compare the different benefits for each hotel by going to this webpage and selecting one of the "Compare Area Hotel" links.
http://www.universalorlando.com/florida-vacation-packages/partner-hotels-nf.html

 

[Procrastinate]

"FOTL is only available to guests staying at Universal's 3 on-site hotels."

That's what I thought, but the OP said there was a special promotion where the perks are the same?

 

[marioeliz]

If we don't stay at the HR we usually preffer the Doubetree Universal, the Crowne Plaza on Universal Blvd., or the Hyatt Place.

 

[brooker]

I just booked the Fiarfield Inn and suites on I Drive. It gets really high ratings on trip advisor or any other travel site. It is rated as #3 in Orlando, believe it or not. Anyone who has stayed here can chip in.

 

[connab]

We've stayed at the Royal Pacific 3 times and Hard Rock once. We loved both of them. They are both great. Hard Rock is the closest to the parks and they have a cool water slide at the pool and the Royal Pacific has a cool pool too, but no slide. We are staying at the Royal Pacific in Sept. We usually stay at which ever one we get the best deal at and we've almost always get a better rate at Royal Pacific.

 

[Disney Padawan]

"FOTL is only available to guests staying at Universal's 3 on-site hotels."

That's what I thought, but the OP said there was a special promotion where the perks are the same?

Yes, both of you are right. The perks are the same except for probably the best one: the FOTL pass. Too bad some of the partner hotels don't offer that.

 

[Disney Padawan]

I just booked the Fiarfield Inn and suites on I Drive. It gets really high ratings on trip advisor or any other travel site. It is rated as #3 in Orlando, believe it or not. Anyone who has stayed here can chip in.

#3 in Orlando? Wow that's pretty good.

If anyone has pics of partner hotels they want to share also, please do.

 

[macraven]

Yes, both of you are right. The perks are the same except for probably the best one: the FOTL pass. Too bad some of the partner hotels don't offer that.

i'm glad the partner hotels don't offer the fotl perk.

i could see too many restrictions if that many guests had that perk.

 

[patster734]

i'm glad the partner hotels don't offer the fotl perk.

i could see too many restrictions if that many guests had that perk.

I'm sure there's an agreement between Universal and Loews Hotels which prevents the FOTL perk from being available for the partner hotels. Its too beneficial for both if the partner hotels don't have FOTL in my opinion.

I believe that many tourists stay at the Loews Hotels because of the FOTL perk. I also believe that Loews Hotel guests are less likely to leave on-site because of the convenience, increasing dining and souvenier sales at the Universal complex.

If they offered FOTL to the partner hotels, I suspect that vacancy at the Loews Hotels would drop, as many would opt to stay at the cheaper partner hotels. Of course the partner hotels would probably raise their rates too. I also suspect that guests staying at the partner hotels are more likely to dine and shop away from Universal.

 

[Disney Padawan]

Thanks for all the info so far. Anyone else have other opinions, maybe a pic or two.

 

[Miniefan]

I was wondering this as well. We are taking a short trip to visit Uni and SW. I have always stayed at a wdw resort when we are in Orlando but since we will not be visiting wdw this time I didn't want to stay at wdw resort. Are there any places you would definitely not be visiting again?

Thanks,
Kim

 

[ky07]

Can't remeber if the Doubletree still offers it or not but they use to have a card sleve that you put your room key in that if you showed at Universal shops or citywalk restaurants that gave you 10% off but agian I don't know if they still do that

 

[eeyoregon]

I have only stayed at only one Universal partner hotel and that was The Doubletree on Major Blvd and it was a nice clean hotel and only a ten min walk to universal but that is the only one I have stayed at

Thanks for the info. I started to book that hotel but the $12 a day hotel parking fee turned me away. We will have a rental car and I don't want to pay $12 to park our car at the hotel. If parking abuse is a problem why don't they just issue parking cards to put on your dash board that show you are a hotel guest? Weird.

 

[geffric]

We are going to be staying at OneHyattPlace.. It was cheaper than Doubletree and has free parking.. plus a free breakfast. Not sure what it is like but ..

 

[cuddlykp]

We are going in September and staying at the Doubletree Universal. We stayed there in 2001 when it was know as the Twin Towers and loved it!

We were going to stay at RPR but changed our mind because we figured the money we save staying off site means more spending money.