Last Updated on February 24, 2023 by Jane
This past September we visited Universal Studios Orlando. We stayed at the Loews Portofino Bay Resort which gives easy access to the parks, early park admission and fast pass as part of your stay. The resort has an Italian theme from the look and feel of the resort that is very much inspired by the town of Portofino. The restaurants are Italian and even the hotel room has an Italian feel to the décor. This is our Loews Portofino Bay Hotel Review.
Loews Portofino Bay Hotel Review
We drove from South Western Ontario to Florida. We drove in our EV (read our other EV road trips here and here). There is charging available at the Lowes Portofino for EVs. There was a dedicated Tesla destination charger. The charging was found on the first level down from the outside parking at the top or ground level. We brought our Tesla adapter that we use at home and had no issues charging our Ioniq 5.
Check in was smooth for us although busier than I was expecting for September. At check-in the concierge team will take your cell number so that they can assist you with any questions you have. At first I didn’t think I would really utilize this service but they proved so helpful with getting us reservations and answering questions even after we were back home.
The rooms were renovated back in 2020. Originally we had this trip booked back in Spring of 2020 and we would have been visiting during the construction. However with COVID travel restrictions we postponed our trip until recently. This worked out as the construction was a non issue and we got to take advantage of the new rooms.
The look of the rooms was quite lovely. And the view! We were in the east wing. If you want to be closer to the pools and water taxi ask for the west wing. The most stand out thing about our room was how comfortable our beds were. Everyone in our family commented on how wonderful these beds were. And the pillows! I usually don’t sleep particularly well when we travel but it was so much easier to get a good nights sleep at this resort.
The bathrooms were large. I am not a huge fan of the pink tile but the bathroom suited our needs. Not the best shower, but not terrible either. If I had one thing though that I think would vastly improve the usefulness of the bathroom would be more places to hang wet towels and bathing suits. There was so much dead space over by the toilet that I think extra towel bars or hooks would really work. Extra points if they installed heated towel racks!
While the main pull to stay on property at one of the higher end Universal Orlando resorts are the perks that you receive like early admission and fast pass access. But we could have stayed at a number of options. The big pull for us was the Italian theme. It almost is like you get two vacations in one because when you come back to the resort each day you don’t feel like you are in Orlando Florida.
Of course if you look too closely the illusion begins to fade. You can of course tell that you aren’t actually in Italy. The buildings aren’t centuries old. You have park goers wandering around with their lanyards and fanny packs and theme merchandise. I found so many people complaining on Trip Advisor that it was fake. Well yes of course it is, this is a theme park, it is all fake and that is part of the fun. If you accept it for what it is you will have a gorgeous stay.
One of the other main pulls for us was the waterslide pool. I knew were weren’t going to stay at the parks all day every day. The last theme park vacation we went to the parks every other day as our kids were younger. This time around we went every day but only half or three quarters of a day. The rest of the day we spent hanging at the pool.
The water slide was loads of fun. Don’t get me wrong though it isn’t anything like what you would experience at Volcano Bay. This is more of a small all ages waterslide. It also seemed to vary greatly slide to slide how fast you might rip through. Sometimes it was slow, others you came zooming out. My biggest recommendation is get out of the way of the sliders. Do not stand right near the slide exit. And do not slide quickly after someone else. We witnessed an older woman come out right after a young child and basically flatten the child. I am not sure why they weren’t following the life guards directions.
Technically the waterslide pool is called the beach pool. One side has sand and has walk in access. Great for those who can’t do stairs whether young or old. There were loads of loungers although at high season I could see it being hard to get a spot. We spent zero time in a lounger and all our time lounging directly in the pool as it is quite shallow in spots. There is also a restaurant right at this pool.
There are life guards on guard at the beach pool. Many life guards.
There are two pools in addition to the main beach pool with the water slide. The Villa pool which we went to once. It is nice but quieter and much smaller. There is also the hillside pool which despite my best intentions we never made it to.
I am going to save food for a separate post. We did eat at two of the on property restaurants in addition to restaurants at City Walk. I would say that the Loews Portofino Restaurants were good to very good.
All in all I really enjoyed our stay at Lowes Portofino Bay hotel. Even though we had one of their basic rooms it was very comfortable for our family of four. The pool was fantastic and the atmosphere was exactly what I was hoping for; a separate experience from the vibe at the parks. We got that Dolce Vita feel while in Orlando.
Have you been to Loews Portofino Bay Hotel in Orlando?