Loews Portofino - Universal Studios Florida

The Loews Portofino is supposedly the "nicest" on-property hotel for Universal Studios Orlando.  We have stayed there twice and enjoyed both of our stays.  It is an Italian-themed hotel built with a central plaza that has the boat (ferry) to Univeral Studios.  We enjoyed the restaurants and pools and convenience.

ROOMS: 4/5 The rooms are spacious and feature balconies overlooking the plaza or pool. We were able to get adjoining rooms.  The Italian theming extends to rooms and bathrooms as well.  There are different buildings - the main villa, and east and west wings.  The east wing is closest to the ferry and Bice restaurant and the main villa is closest to the gym/spa/ pool areas & main restaurants.

FOOD: 4/5 We enjoyed the daily breakfast buffet.  This was excellent with omlet station, fresh pastries, and hot food items.  We were able to get free breakfast every day through American Express Platinum benefits (see additional post later).  We also had dinner at Mama Della's and Tratorria del Porto which had a pasta bar where you can add toppings/ sauce/ etc.  They also have a Starbucks, a bar (the thirsty fish) and excellent room service and gelato.

POOL: 4/5: The pools are great! There is one with a small water slide, sandy beach, zero entry pool, hot tubs.  It was too cold on our last trip to enjoy them in January.

TRANSPORTATION 5/5: The ferry system starts at 6AM until 2AM and transports you to Citywalk and you can walk to Universal Studios or Islands of Adventure.  It takes about 15 minutes so if you are in a hurry it is sometimes faster to walk the 15 minutes on the pedestrian path.








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