Reviews: Universal's Cabana Bay Beach Resort
katie l - Tampa, Florida : “Free trip so cant complain”
I won a free trip to this hotel through the radio, the hotel itself is very cute. From the time you enter the lobby, walk through the pool area and get your room you definitely feel like you are back in the 50s. Everything is so detailed. The pools are always crowded, get there early to get a chair. Cabanas are not worth the extra $ in my opinion. I guess if you have little ones you will like it but they have annoying lifeguards that are jerks about everything. I had one make an inappropriate gesture to me and felt uncomfortable so we moved to the big pool. Over all it was a good stay but it is definitely the budget friendly hotel of universal. Id much rather stay at the portifino or Polynesian.
Jessica S - review: “Almost A Wonderful Experience”
At first glance this hotel looks amazing. When booking my families stay here, I had no specific expectations for it. However, after reading some of the reviews on tripadvisor about Cabana Bay Beach Resort, I thought wow for a value hotel for Universal Orlando it might be fun to stay here. When we all arrived at the hotel we all thought, “Wow the lobby is so beautiful!” Then I found out that I got a complimentary room upgrade. That was nice surprise. I was very happy about that. My hotel room was located near the main lobby area; it probably took us about 10 to 15 minutes to walk to the bus pickup area. Now, let’s take a quick tour into our family suite. At first glance it looks splendid, there is a small Livingroom area with a kitchenette. Not to mention, there is a big flat screen TV in the Livingroom area and then there is a separate sleeping area that has a screen door that closes for privacy. We all thought that was great idea. Also, the bathroom has split floorplan the toilet is not right next to the bathtub. Then there is a sink in the bathroom, and then another one in the middle, and then the toilet on the other end by itself. This was an interesting floorplan. I agree that we liked it very well. The only major thing that really bothered my family and I were the three-legged-tables in the living room area because my son got hurt on from it. It fell on him without as so much as a bump to it. He ended up with a huge bruise on the back of his leg. This is was very upsetting because my son cried and cried because it hurt so badly. Well, I just thought I would share this experience with parents with little ones because the 3 legged tables could really hurt or kill a small child if it lands on their head.
Room Tip: Some of the suites are far away from the lobby where the buses stop.
Donna D : Albany, United States - reviews: “Fun at Universal”
Check in was easy and so friendly. We arrived before noon and we got into our room immediately. The room was perfect for a family of four and a grandparent. We brought some food with us and had plenty of fridge and shelf space.
Love the bathroom layout with center sink and separate toilet and additional separate shower and sink giving us plenty of changing room. The closet was great for storing luggage etc. The front room divider worked very well - not for soundproof, but for privacy. There are large drawers as part of the divider - very clever. The fold-out bet was easy (still a fold out and not nearly as comfy as the beds!). The beds were SUPER comfy! Everything was clean. All of the employees we met were happy and helpful! No complaints.
The pool areas were clean, well maintained and great fun. We brought our own tubes for the laze river, although with the hassle of having to blow them up, it's just as easy to purchase.
Our room was in Castaway and on the outside (not inside facing the pool). There was construction across the street. We were not around most of the time, so we were not bothered by it. I would chose poolside next time, just in case. We had plenty of room choices and the 4th floor was quiet. Parking was easy and very accessible.
Oh the buses to the park were FABULOUS and frequent! Drivers were all friendly and helpful. Seamless transfers.
The lines to get into the park can be long, but the whole system is very efficient.
Go - have fun!
Ruth B (London, United Kingdom) - review: “Brilliant Orlando Hotel”
My wife and I stayed at Universal's Cabana Bay Beach Resort for two weeks in April and overall we had a fantastic stay. We chose to stay at Cabana Bay for a few reasons: we wanted the early access to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, but to be honest we were a little disappointed in it. Only Universal Studios had early access hours although hotel literature says it alternates between the parks, presumably they do this in the summer. The extra hour was good to take photos of Diagon Alley without too many people there but it soon fills up. Considering the universal parks close so early (7pm is the latest compared to 9pm and later at Disney) the early admission could start at 7am or run until 8pm to really give a bonus to on site guests.
The other reasons for choosing this hotel was the price and location. Staying at a Disney resort was out of the question for us and Cabana Bay had a great location with a good price. The hotel is still relatively new and we loved the retro 50s theme which is continued throughout the whole hotel. Location wise it is a winner as well. We used the frequent free shuttle bus to the Universal parks and the garden walkway once. The walkway takes 15-20 mins and is not very well signposted so just ask someone if you can't spot it. Once in the walkway there are lots of signposts to the parks and various universal hotels. We hired a car for 8 days of our trip so we could drive to the Disney parks and Kennedy Space Centre. For us this worked really well and gave us freedom and reliable transport. There was always plenty of parking at Cabana Bay (which costs $12 a night plus tax) and the Disney parks area is 15-20 mins away. A tip for saving some money: we bought North American maps for our own sat nav and bought it with us. This cost £35 which was less than half the cost of hiring a GPS from the car hire company.
Hotel Staff
- everyone we spoke to and interacted with from the check in, gift shop, bars, diner and staff who cleaned the rooms, everyone was professional and friendly and couldn't do enough to help. We felt at home here right away.
Room
- we booked a Tower family suite as we wanted a kitchenette. There was a standard size fridge (uk standard under the counter size) microwave and coffee maker in the room as well as plastic plates and cutlery. We took our own kettle as we drink tea and we also took our own picnic plates and cutlery and some plastic beakers. There was a lounge area with a sofa and two chairs plus a TV and the bedroom had two double beds and another TV. There was one sink unit with mirror adjoining the bedroom with a toilet off to one side and a separate room the other side with bath/shower and sink unit with mirror. There was a walk in wardrobe with hanging rail, ironing board and a safe. The room was amply big enough for two of us but we soon filled it up with our purchases from the parks! The room was cleaned every day and my only gripe would be about waste; every day when we returned to the hotel (often very late after a day at the parks) the lights had been left on in our room by the maids which was a waste of electricity. Our towels were also replaced daily even if we had hung them up (usually a sign you are happy to re-use). Admittedly we didn't speak to anyone about this whole we were there but I have passed on these comments to the hotel now.
Diner
- we didn't eat at the diner very much as we had a grocery delivery on our second day and used the kitchenette in the room to make breakfast, packed lunch and snacks and in the evenings we either ate at the parks or out somewhere else. We did buy the odd drink and snack from the diner and we also bought milk when we first arrived. It is open from 7am - 11pm and served a wide range of hot and cold food with a salad bar and plenty of snacks too. We also had a pizza delivery one evening from the pizza bar onsite which is called Delizioso. This was fantastic, very good value and very tasty.
We had 11 full days in Orlando which we spent like this:
Days 1 and 2 - Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure
Days 3-5 Epcot and Magic Kingdom
Day 6 Kennedy Space Centre
Days 7-9 Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom
Days 10-11 Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure
We also squeezed in a trip to The Florida Mall and evenings out at CityWalk and Disney Springs. We had some rest mornings when we chilled at the pool. You will need some time out to relax as the parks really are huge and you will be exhausted, we averaged 22,000 steps a day!
We had a fantastic holiday in Orlando and can't stop talking about it! Our main tips would be to plan your days for the parks as best you can before you arrive so that you see what you want to see, it's easy to get caught up in everything that is happening and miss a parade or a show you wanted to see. Consider self catering for some of your trip to save money, we didn't feel we missed out by making our own breakfasts and lunches and actually felt quite smug not spending $30 on lunch every day. Tips for water in the parks, which you will need in the Florida heat, at Disney parks ask in any Starbucks for water and you will get a huge takeaway cup of iced water. At universal the freestyle Coke machines dispense free water which you can add ice too.
If we return to Florida and the Disney/universal parks area we will definitely stay at Cabana Bay again and have recommended it to all our friends.
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