The BEST Universal Orlando Hotels in 2026 (and Which to AVOID)

Which is the best hotel to stay at during christmas?

Hard Rock is our family's favorite because of its location. Literally just a few minutes walk to City Walk, and Universal Studios. Booking there includes free express passes and access to water taxi.

I wish they like every five days you have to at least pay five dollars to keep staying for another five days instead of being very expensive $20 $30 $40 man make it less kids can come, bro I’m a kid too by the way actually I’m a teenager

There's no way it takes 20-30 minutes to get from Terra Luna to Epic

CB food is underrated. The Bayliner Diner has pretty good food with a good variety. Is it fine dining? No. But it's really good.

Random question, at 20:58 what nail polish are you wearing?

Portofina can cost as low as the high $200s fyi depending on the time of year

Going to be visiting Terra Luna next month. I hope it'll be okay

@#@NORDO~@#@UNIVERSALORLANDORESORT'S THIS IS THE ENTRANCE FOR ALL OF MY FAMILY CREST ONLY INCLUDING SIRI~~•TIFFANYANNWILLIAMS AND OUR DESCENDANT'S AANG~~☆~~SIRIE RIU GREEN~~`• THIS LEAD'S TO MY PERSONAL OWNER SUITE 223 LEVEL'S BELOW BUT YOU HAVE TO HAVE FUN LOVE YA!

@#@DR.SIERRAROTHSBURN YOURS ALL INCLUDES UNDERGROUND ACCESS THAT THE EMPLOYEES USE BEYOND VIP IN TO ELITE

We always stay at Dockside. Our family are not big on more luxury hotels, as long as we have clean rooms and clean bathrooms, beacuse we only use the room(s) to shower, sleep and use the restroom as we spend all day and well into the evening at the parks. As far as the hotel restaurants, maybe for breakfast, but we mainly eat at he the parks as well as City Walk and Disney Springs. Dockside also has the free shuttle service and early entry. We did stay at the Cabana once, it was nice, but we were hardly there to take it all in. So I guess it depends and what you want and aht your budget its. But we go for the parks, not really the hotel.

Cabana Bay Tower facing Volcano Bay is amazing

If you’re staying at Aventura hotel, can you use sapphire Falls pool?

Hi, thank you so much for such a great video. I was planning a trip to Universal Studios in late August/early September, and I'm looking for the best hotel. We'll be a group of five adults, and we're looking for a hotel with connecting rooms (so two of us could be in one room and three in the other, since we understand there won't be rooms for five adults). Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I just stayed at the Grand Helios and can confirm there is nothing like having your own private entrance/exit in & out of the park. You have the biggest advantage in the morning and can be first on any ride you want (unless it breaks down, which did happen to me with the Ministry ride). The restaurants are also very good.

We have stayed at The Hard Rock and loved it and Royal Pacific and hated it. 🤷🏼‍♀️ They were doing hotel renovations when we stayed at Royal Pacific but I also just feel like it just wasn't worth it everything was just kind of blah..

Why do all Universal hotels lack any branding. Will never stay there so boring and unrelated to the parks.

I've stayed at most of the Universal Hotels. Including the Helios grand. As far as I'm concerned, my favorite and the one I spend the most time staying at is the Royal Pacific. The Club Level is the best and It's one of just 3 Hotels there where your Hotel Key is your Unlimited Fast Pass to the parks. If you buy a pass at the park you get to use it only once per ride. I usually hit Universal for a week when I go there and this is my choice when I go. And I hate Disney so going there is never on the agenda. Hated it the last few times I actually gave it another try.

I stayed at Royal Pacific the last time that I went to Universal and absolutely loved it. The ease of walking to the parks. The boat ride back at the end of the night. Then to add on express passes it is the greatest hotel on property.

I booked Surfside in and Suites back in 2024, absolutely loved the theme. The staff was friendly, and fast when we needed blankets, Sheets and or pillows. We loved how every day we walked passed the desk they greeted you. This was the first time ever staying on resort but i can see why there is a big niche for it. Although the downside to this resort there is not express passes included. But all in all its a beautiful hotel if your going with a small group of like 2-3. Im.currently going back this august and staying there again. But i have to travel back down in october for a friends wedding so we may book Cabana Bay cause that as well looks like alot of fun.

Cabana Bay is my favorite resort, it’s just feels like home away from home.

YAY for Universal Content!!!!

Cabana Bay was hands down the worst hotel experience I've ever had. I will never return nor would I recommend it to anyone. It was so bad that when I left a review via email, they not only called the next day but they refunded me 2 of 3 nights without me asking.

Stayed at several hotels at Universal at Stella Nova was the absolute worst hotel I have ever stayed in, I am a annual pass holder and I was so disappointed , Poor food choices and food was just terrible, My recommendation is to tear down and start over , I prefer Endless Summer resorts and Sapphire Falls resort.

Does anyone else find it incredibly difficult to navigate the universal website for booking hotel and tickets?? I feel like it’s impossible to find things on their website. Disney makes it so much easier in my opinion

Aventura always gets the shaft in all the hotel ranking videos, I don’t understand why and it’s getting really old. I get the general bias towards kids in most YouTuber’s videos, but speaking as a Universal adult this is the deal and the ideal option – you have walking access to the parks, basically comparable to Sapphire ( why calling out that walking path but don’t mention Aventura also access that path?) ,like other commenters noted it’s a quick walk over to Sapphire to access that boat transfer, which is EVERYTHING, specially at the end of a busy day, a manageable resort to walk – ie not several buildings and super long hallways – it’s all vertical, it’s short walk to Volcano Bay – closer than Sapphire, the rooftop bar is great, the room views are actually quite Epic when you get the views to Volcano Bay and finally comparatively better priced than the nearby Sapphire. Basically I don’t know why Sapphire gets ranked higher.

Every list like this has Adventura very low on the list yet it is my absolute favorite. Quick check in, walk to the boats, and the least amount of kids makes this hotel my number one choice

Also keep in mind prices change a lot depending on when you go

Just think about how much you’ll be in your room, most people on vacation, are there too sleep and shower any of the value hotels are just fine

Not sure I can be friends with someone who thinks Non-frosted Pop Tarts are better then Frosted, Lol 😆

I'm good with boring hotel room as long as it is clean and location is convenient and includes Unlimited Express Pass. IMy family is usually only in the room to sleep anyway.

Great video compiling the basic info of all Universal Resorts! I just wanted to add that Sapphire Falls offers a kid suite room as well. It’s in the $429-$495 price range but has a separate room for the kids with two twins beds, dresser, table and tv. And a door that closes 🙂

We got married at Hard Rock in October this year. The thing you forgot to mention? How GOOD the lobby smells. It's amazing. The staff there are amazing, and although we didn't need a lot of assistance with the wedding part of things, they did come in clutch for storing my bouquet to keep it fresh for a couple days. A fantastic stay, I'd go back any time. ❤

Cabana Bay is great.

Can someone tell me how comfortable the beds are at Endless Summer resort?

Not sure about the other hotels , but notice for Sapphire Falls in spring (April/May), they rent out their ballrooms for prom and it gets very noisy and very busy with teens and taking pictures in the lobby. Ask for a room away from elevator if you stay here during this time.

I love Cabana Bay, the whole vibe, the only reason I don't stay here anymore is because I want to be on busses less, if they had a boat service I'd be down to go back. Sapphire is close second and I love having the boats but now a days I stay at Portofino or Royal Pacific because we have the boats and you get unlimited express pass included

I see all these many different ways to spend the days at the parks and hotels to stay at, food to eat. But what do you do when the parks close for the day at like 7pm. What fun is there to do for those of us who are creatures of the night?

You don't have to walk outside in the heat/humidity from sapphire falls to royal pacific. They're connected if you follow the route through the business/conference area.

For value, Dockside. For moderate Sapphire Falls. For Deluxe, Royal Pacific. Dont stay at Aventura. Decent hotel and staff was great. Just kind of boring and no phone connectivity if you dont use wifi.

Can’t you walk from Terra Luna to Stella Nova and then use Stella Nova’s path to Epic Universe? Are these 2 resorts walking distance from each other?

Surfside is a winner for me if I'm only doing the parks all day, because I just don't use any hotel amenities like the pool and restaurants. I didn't care for Hard Rock, though the walking distance was awesome. I really liked Portofino and Sapphire Falls for when I had more free time to hang out at the hotel.

Portofino Bay Hotel is wonderful!!! It's been a hot minute since I was there, and I was on a business trip from when I was a contract employee for NBC/Universal and I hated that job with everything in me…but staying at that hotel was so wonderful!!

hmmmmm you guys kinda lost me. no mention that Adventura is literally a 5 minute walk to Sapphire Falls. just walk over and save $250-$400

I loved Endless Summer. (Stayed at Dockside). Loved the two bedroom suite. Fantastic prices. I plan to stay there next visit. I can’t understand why the Disney resorts are so overpriced.

Sapphire Falls was the nicest of all the Universal hotels I stayed at.. but for the price Dockside is my go to.

Great video 👍🏻 do you think grand Helios will get express pass any time soon ?

Royal Pacific is my go to. never been let down

I stayed at either Royal Pacific or Portofino back in 2008 for a company holiday trip (for my dad's company so it was more of a family trip for us). Can't remember much about the hotel itself, but the express passes were AMAZING and it was one of the best trips ever!