Universal Portofino Bay Hotel, A Loews Hotel

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gsroberts

Joined 5 years ago

Best resort hotel in the area. Our weekend stay was exceptional. The unique location allows for a broad range of activities both within the resort proper and the adjoining theme park. A touch of Europe without the air and travel expense. The Portofino theme is prevalent throughout; including the harbor vista. Easy access to Universal with a good selection of restaurants on-site. Emeril's is just a short complementary boat ride away, as well. The Loew's emphasis on personal guest attention was evident; from the front desk to room services and roaming ambassadors, too. Highly recommended and deserving of a 5-star rating. GRoberts

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needsmoretravel

Joined 5 years ago

romantic and beautiful. my boyfriend and i have been several times. it is a wonderful experience every time! the staff is always friendly and helpful. the rooms are beautiful. although i do recommend the deluxe bathroom if you can afford it. the view is gorgeous. mama bella's food was excellant. i do wish there were more bars and restraunts open during the day. the only place opened was the pool bar and last time was awfully cold. however the bartender was wonderfully entertaining. i would recommend portofino over the other two hotels as we have stayed there as well.

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luvs2travel

Joined 7 years ago

Very nicely done. We stayed here on our last day in Orlando. What a great resort. We tried to stay another night but could not get our airfare changed. We really wanted to stay another day to explore the resort. Our room was really cute and the bathroom was very luxurious. We definitely want to stay here our next trip out.

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sancho415

Joined 7 years ago

Nice and clean and worth the money. We stayed 4 nights here during October and had a great experience. The hotel is modeled after Portofino Bay in Italy and it has all the details you'd expect including a sunset serenade by two opera singers plus a great guitarist at the hotel bar. The hotel surrounds a big lake complete with abandoned rowboats. It's all very camp, but done tastefully. Also, they provide a free water taxi from the hotel dock right to the entrance of Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. Very convenient. You don't have to rent a car or hire taxis. Everything is right there for you. The 3 pools were all nice. The clientee was more upper-class that the other two on-site hotels. We paid a visit to the Hard Rock Hotel, but it was noisy and filled with kids and rock music blared insistently throughout. The Portofino Bay is much more romantic and quiet - and the service was perfect. I can't wait to go back again and this time I'll check out the spa everyone raves about.

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cheryl plazio

Joined 8 years ago

portofino bay. without a doubt this was the best hotel experance of my life. they have a spa that is absoutly wonderful and an employee, Lewis, who I will never forget. His customer service skills and his professionalism, well is was great to see in such a young man. My husband and I, in fact our entire group, still talk about our stay almost a year ago. We find ourselves talking about the young man and how more hotels could use a nice young man like him.

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Contributor

Joined 10 years ago

Allows guests to lose themselves in this Italian-themed resort that specializes in food.. The Scene
Portofino Bay Hotel re-creates the picturesque coastline village of Portofino, Italy--one of Italy's most-photographed Mediterranean harbors--in the form of a 750-room luxury hotel. Universal's first luxury resort has a bevy of restaurants running the gamut from fine dining to juice bars, not to mention 24-hour room service. The resort's amenities include two swimming pools, world-class spa, butler service, a business center, babysitting service and a children's activity center.

The Details
You would expect an Italian-themed resort to focus on that country's beloved food and Portofino Bay certainly delivers. The resort's eight restaurants offer everything from brick-oven pizza at Splendido Pizzeria to high-end fare at Delfino Riviera. There are several family-style and causal eateries for the kids, while Gelateria/Caffee Espresso offers traditional Italian baked goods, coffee and espresso, bread and sweets.

Doesn't Recommend

flo_curits

Joined 10 years ago

mixed reaction-PRICEY!!!. The room was great and met my expectations, the grounds were beautiful and the heated pools were marvelous. The rest of it comes with quite a price tag. DO NOT ORDER ROOM SERVICE unless $$ is not an issue, paying $4.25 for a 10oz soda was unrealistic and then to find a delivery charge and 20%gratuity charge added with an space for tipping was a bit much. I would only go back for the room and the scenery and dine over at Citywalk.

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RLUV19

Joined 10 years ago

A day near Heaven. The Spa at the portofino bay hotel is what caught my eye. Although the hotel is great making me feel as if i was in a small city away from my hometown. It was great. The spa was amazing and the best place to "hide out" from all the worries in ones life.

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goofy_froggy

Joined 11 years ago

service with a smile. no matter how busy those house keepers are the are always smiling and provide a great service