Loews Portofino Bay Hotel at Universal Orlando

Universal Orlando Resort, Orlando

Virgin rating

Standard Two Queen Room
Despicable Me Kid's Suite
Sal's Market Deli
Mama Della's Ristorante
MANDARA Spa®
MANDARA Spa®
A video preview image
Standard Two Queen Room
Despicable Me Kid's Suite
Sal's Market Deli
Mama Della's Ristorante
MANDARA Spa®
MANDARA Spa®

The hotel

Experience la dolce vita — the sweet life — at Loews Portofino Bay at Universal Orlando. Set on a stunning harbour, prepare to be transported to the charming, picturesque Italian seaside and cobblestoned streets. Sit and enjoy the views over the glistening harbour waters while sipping on a coffee. Taste traditional Italian food in one of the many restaurants. And, when the sun’s shining, jump into one of the pools to cool off. The parks are only a water taxi or shuttle bus away, and you’ll benefit from amazing extras such as FREE** Universal Express Unlimited ride access, allowing you to skip the regular lines in Universal Studios Florida and Universal’s Islands of Adventure all day (Valid theme park admission required) and Early Park Admission† to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter™ and Universal’s Volcano Bay.

Amenities

  • Kids Club
  • Wheelchair access
  • Families
  • Bar
  • Fitness Centre/Gym
  • Games Room
  • Hot tub
  • Restaurant
  • Room Service
  • Safety Deposit Box
  • Spa
  • Swimming Pool

Where is it

Within easy walking distance of Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure plus Universal CityWalk and a quick shuttle bus ride to Universal's Volcano Bay. A water taxi or shuttle bus is also available to reach all 3 parks and Universal CityWalk. Transfer time from Orlando International Airport: 20 minutes.

Hotel information

750 rooms. All with air-conditioning, 42" flat-screen TV, iPod docking station, coffee maker, safe, iron and board, bathrobes, and hairdryer. Nightly turn-down service on-request. Garden View Rooms are 450 sq ft and have views of the lawns and gardens, with 1 king-size bed or 2 queen-size beds, sleeping maximum 4 adults or 2 adults and 2 children.

Bay View Rooms are 450 sq ft and overlook the piazza and scenic harbour, with 1 king-size bed or 2 queen-size beds, sleeping maximum 4 adults or 2 adults and 2 children. 

Deluxe Rooms are 490 sq ft and have views of the villa pool or the beach pool, with a larger living space and 1 king-size bed or 2 queen-size beds, sleeping maximum 4 adults or 2 adults and 2 children. 

Club Rooms are 490 sq ft and include exclusive club benefits (listed below), with 1 king-size bed or 2 queen-size beds, sleeping maximum 4 adults or 2 adults and 2 children. 

Despicable Me Kids Suites are large family suites, featuring two bedrooms and a separate kids room with a small table and chair set, wardrobe and TV. With 1 king-size bed in the master bedroom, and twin beds or bunk beds in the second bedroom, sleeping maximum 4 adults or 2 adults and 2 children. (Please note: the children's bedroom only opens into the adult's bedroom). 


Club Level Rooms include access to the Portofino Club Lounge, offering the following benefits:  

Access to an exclusive Lounge for American buffet breakfast, drinks and afternoon snacks 

Access to the exclusive Compass Club Lounge for private breakfast, drinks and afternoon snacks  

Please note: all rooms can have an additional rollaway bed, sleeping a 3rd child. Rollaway beds are at an additional cost, payable locally

  • Book 7 nights or more for travel before 31 Dec '25 and receive up to 30% off your accommodation rates. Any applicable offers have been calculated into the prices shown. Offers may not be combinable.

Complimentary water taxis or shuttle buses to Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, Volcano Bay and CityWalk™. Self-parking $31, Valet parking $40, both plus tax, per day (payable locally, subject to change).

Bice Ristorante (Italian cuisine, open for dinner). Mama Della's Ristorante (Italian food, open for dinner). Trattoria del Porto (Italian with a modern twist, open for breakfast, lunch and dinner). Sal's Market Deli (pizza, sandwiches and deli items, open for lunch and dinner). Splendido Bar and Grill^ (poolside dining). Gelateria (breakfast items, ice cream and milkshakes). Starbucks®. The Thirsty Fish (harbourside bar with evening entertainment on select nights). 24-hour room service*.

'Musica della Notte' (Music of the Night), an evening musical celebration at the Harbour Piazza.

Beach pool with water-slide, a sandy beach, adjacent children's pool, poolside games, 2 hot tubs and private cabanas*. Villa pool with private cabanas*. Hillside pool (quiet pool). Kids' camp* (reservations required), Mandara Spa®*. Fitness centre with hot tub, sauna and steam rooms*. Games room*.

Resort-wide charging privileges with your room key card. Complimentary delivery of merchandise purchased throughout the resort to your hotel. Wake-up call from one of your favourite Universal Orlando characters*. Gift and retail shops. Concierge. Complimentary WiFi. Universal Vacation Planning Centre.

Wheelchair accessible rooms available on request. Please note that these rooms are subject to availability and may be restricted to specific room categories and bedding arrangements. Rooms and facilities vary between hotels so please check at the time of booking. To discover all the special assistance services we offer please see additional information below.

2 nights at all times.

 

Please note: Due to renovation work, this hotel is currenly only on sale for 2025 departures.

WIZARDING WORLD and all related trademarks, characters, names, and indicia are © & ™ Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. Publishing Rights © JKR. (s23).

Special assistance

Please note: one person must be 21 years or over in each room to check-in

^ Must be 21+ with a valid photo ID to consume alcoholic beverages.

**Requires theme park admission. Valid only at participating rides and attractions in Universal Studios Florida and Universal’s Islands of Adventure. Not valid at Universal’s Volcano Bay. Excludes separately ticketed events. Park-to-Park admission required to board the Hogwarts™ Express. Benefit valid only for guests of Loews Royal Pacific Resort, Hard Rock Hotel® and Loews Portofino Bay Hotel, for the number of guests staying in the room for the length of hotel stay. Available during normal theme park operating hours only. Additional restrictions may apply and benefits are subject to change without notice.

†Requires theme park admission. Early Park Admission begins up to one (1) hour prior to regular scheduled park opening to either Universal Studios Florida or Universal’s Islands of Adventure as determined by Universal Orlando. Early Park Admission begins up to one (1) hour prior to regular scheduled park opening for Universal’s Volcano Bay. Valid at select attractions at each park. Attractions are subject to substitutions without notice. Additional restrictions may apply.

Portofino Bay Hotel TM & © 2022 UCF Hotel Venture. All rights reserved. Universal elements and all related indicia TM & © 2022 Universal Studios. All rights reserved.

Please note: the hotel will be making repairs to the façade of the hotel from June 2023 – June 2025 to maintain the immersive experience of the Italian village. All work will be done during business hours 9am – 6pm. These repairs are being done one section at a time and may be visible to guests. Guests can expect noise from time to time. ​Thank you for your understanding as the hotel make these repairs to the distinctive environment created for guests. Areas where repairs are in progress may be visible to guests, depending on the location of their room within the hotel. Most common areas of the hotel and food and beverage outlets will remain available for guest use. There may be modifications required in certain areas as work is being completed. 

Rating summary

  • Location Image of the Tripadvisor rating
  • Sleep Quality Image of the Tripadvisor rating
  • Rooms Image of the Tripadvisor rating
  • Service Image of the Tripadvisor rating
  • Value Image of the Tripadvisor rating
  • Cleanliness Image of the Tripadvisor rating

Traveller rating

  • Excellent (5164)
  • Very good (1661)
  • Average (812)
  • Poor (453)
  • Terrible (504)
Image of the Tripadvisor rating Stay away! Unacceptable service, horrible treatment of guests, poor premises. Ruined our vacation.

Nov 5, 2024 Mikalai A

Absolutely horrible and unacceptable service. The place pretends to be of high-end but doesn't care for their guests' needs at all. It all started from the check-in. I had requested a room on a higher floor 3 months prior to the arrival when I was making the reservation. I also received a call from the booking department a month before our to… Read more
Absolutely horrible and unacceptable service. The place pretends to be of high-end but doesn't care for their guests' needs at all. It all started from the check-in. I had requested a room on a higher floor 3 months prior to the arrival when I was making the reservation. I also received a call from the booking department a month before our to arrival to confirm the booking ang was promised a room on a higher floor. I also specified that it was going to be our wedding anniversary and it was really important for my wife and me to have a nice room with a beautiful view. Upon our arrival, we were told that the room would be on the 2nd floor (!) and there were no available rooms on higher floors. I immediately asked to check again because there must have been a mistake. In response I only heard that there were no other rooms and the place was fully booked. Trying to be nice, I politely requested to put us on the waiting list to change the room as soon as some room on a higher floor becomes available. I think it goes without saying that no one ever got back to us to offer a different room. Nobody even said 'sorry'. The only apology I received from the staff of the hotel was via a text message. When we came to our room, we found out that the hotel was under construction. Nobody thought it necessary to mention it prior to our arrival or at least during the check-in. Not only our view was of the scaffolding, the sliding door wouldn't open, and on top of that there was a lot of construction waste and garbage outside the door. The bathroom was designed by absolute morons who thought it wise to have a drain in the middle of the room so that all the water would flow from the shower along the whole bathroom floor to the drain. As a result, each time we would use a shower (even for a few minutes), the floor would be flooded and it was impossible to walk into the bathroom without stepping into a puddle. I wish I could say that was it. Not even close. Every request for room service went nowhere unless you called back once or twice to remind them about the request and most of the time they responded in a way that it was my fault that I didn't remind them about the things I needed. This level of service and treatment of guests is unacceptable in any type of establishment, to say nothing of a hotel that bares the name Loews. Old-fashioned decorations, bad smells on the premises, rude employees, no apologies, poor communication, lack of desire to be understanding and sensitive to guests' requests and/or comments... These are just a few things that are entirely wrong with this place. My advice is to stay away from this overpriced h/motel with horrific service. At least until they change the management and finish the renovation. Shame on you, Loews Portofino Bay Hotel. You ruined our wedding anniversary and didn't even care about it. Read less
Image of the Tripadvisor rating Perfecto!

Nov 4, 2024 chase4567 Spartanburg, South Carolina

Charming hotel. Staff was excellent and friendly at every point of contact. Housekeeping did an especially good job. Restaurants were delicious. Close proximity to parks a definite plus. Enjoyed our stay and the construction didn’t bother us at all.
Image of the Tripadvisor rating recommend avoiding until they finish their building works

Nov 1, 2024 Jill B

The hotel is very good in many ways, but with some significant drawbacks. First and foremost the building works - the result was that our room had scaffolding outside all the windows with sheets pasted up so no natural light and no view. Villa Pool was significantly impacted by it, with access being much more roundabout/lengthy and the area being… Read more
The hotel is very good in many ways, but with some significant drawbacks. First and foremost the building works - the result was that our room had scaffolding outside all the windows with sheets pasted up so no natural light and no view. Villa Pool was significantly impacted by it, with access being much more roundabout/lengthy and the area being disturbed by building noise. Would strongly recommend avoiding a visit until this work is completed. Service is automatically added to all bills (food, coffee etc) but the bill is printed with an optional tip line where you can select one of three percentage amounts so we unintentionally tipped twice before we realised this and that left a rather bad taste in the mouth as it's not a cheap place. That being said, service was excellent and rooms were generously proportioned and well appointed. Italian restaurant was lovely. Read less
Image of the Tripadvisor rating Lovely Portofino Bay

Nov 1, 2024 Rachel P Surrey

We have just returned from 10 nights at Portofino Bay and have had the best time. The hotel is in a beautiful location and only a 15 minute walk to Universal. The Disney parks are around a 25 minute drive away and Kennedy Space Center 60 minutes. Our room was clean and comfortable and had a beautiful bay view. All staff were friendly and… Read more
We have just returned from 10 nights at Portofino Bay and have had the best time. The hotel is in a beautiful location and only a 15 minute walk to Universal. The Disney parks are around a 25 minute drive away and Kennedy Space Center 60 minutes. Our room was clean and comfortable and had a beautiful bay view. All staff were friendly and couldn’t do enough to help. We upgraded at check in to club level and are so glad we did as having access to the club lounge throughout the day, even just for drinks and snacks, was helpful. We were aware of the construction work but this didn’t affect our holiday at all. Work to the bay area is pretty much done and much of our day was spent around this area, walking to the parks or catching the water taxi. Overall we had a fantastic holiday at Portofino Bay and would love to return one day. Read less
Image of the Tripadvisor rating Don’t stay! No longer the place it was & major renovations occurring!

Oct 30, 2024 Nix K

This was a return visit. Historically this has been one of the best hotels to stay in in Orlando. That is not the case at present. The hotel is 2/3 covered with scaffolding, has workmen throughout doing extensive repairs ahead of the US holidays. There is noise and dust everywhere. The pool is only accessible via a tunnel of plastic and… Read more
This was a return visit. Historically this has been one of the best hotels to stay in in Orlando. That is not the case at present. The hotel is 2/3 covered with scaffolding, has workmen throughout doing extensive repairs ahead of the US holidays. There is noise and dust everywhere. The pool is only accessible via a tunnel of plastic and scaffolding. Not the ‘minor’ repairs we had been led to believe. Due to renovations, only a handful of rooms have opening windows or doors as the rest are sealed by plastic! Not only that but I arranged for a coupe of small packages (apple airpods & cap) to be delivered to the hotel for an anniversary present and the hotel demanded a $38 charge for receiving them! What a total joke. The management has lost the plot. Will be speaking to our travel agent and demanding a part refund as the hotel is currently not operating at the level it pitches itself. Read less