06/23/08

Best resort hotel in the area

by gsroberts

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

01/15/08

romantic and beautiful

by needsmoretravel

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.

11/22/06

Very nicely done

by luvs2travel

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.

• Pros: Beautiful rooms

10/05/06

Nice and clean and worth the money

by sancho415

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.

• Pros: Nice property, excellent service and free water taxi to the parks.
• Cons: Nothing I can think of.

01/07/06

The Italian theme of this romantic resort reaches into its rooms, restaurants and transportation options with fantastic results.

by Contributor

The Scene
Portofino Bay Hotel recreates 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 that run the gamut from fine dining to juice bars. There's also 24-hour room service. Additional amenities include two swimming pools, a world-class spa, a business center, a children's activity center, and butler and baby-sitting services.

The Details
All resort guests receive early theme-park admission, priority reservations and seating, and access to attractions with no waiting in line. The resort's eight restaurants offer everything from poolside brick-oven pizza at Splendido Pizzeria to authentic Italian food at Mama Della's Ristorante. There are several family-style and causal eateries for the kids, while Gelateria Caffe Espresso offers traditional Italian baked goods, coffee and espresso, ice cream and sweets.

01/11/05

portofino bay

by cheryl plazio

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.

Allows guests to lose themselves in this Italian-themed resort that specializes in food.

by Contributor

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.

12/27/03

mixed reaction-PRICEY!!!

by flo_curits

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.

• Pros: beautiful grounds, friendly staff, spacious room
• Cons: food/services pricey, service poor, rm tax, rm svc

01/22/03

A day near Heaven

by RLUV19

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.

• Pros: customer service, the spa, not crowded
• Cons: missed details, needs FL discounts

07/23/02

service with a smile

by goofy_froggy

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

• Pros: guest atendants, restaurants, fast service