A Review of the Loews Portofino Bay Hotel, at Universal Studios Orlando, Florida

The Portofino Bay Hotel at Universal Studios in Orlando Florida is a beautiful 750-room property that sits right next to an artificial recreation of a bay. The hotel is themed like the Italian coastal village of Portofino, Italy. The theme of the hotel is definitely Italian, with Italian music, Italian food, and Italian decor everywhere in the hotel. If you don't care for an Italian then this hotel is definitely not for you. For those that enjoy a romantic environment, then this hotel will be ideal for you.

The location of the hotel is a major selling point, as it is located right on the Universal Studios property. It is worthy of note that the Portofino Bay Hotel is located the furthest away from the parks, but there are water launches so you don't have to walk the distance. I am a big believer in staying on property, weather at Walt Disney World, or Universal Studios, so in that regard this hotel really delivers.

The room that I stayed in was a Garden View Room, which is the least expensive, of the room options that Portofino Bay offers. The room was adequately sized, and had two queen beds. The room was appointed with marble accents, a two sink bathroom, and a small table and chairs. The beds were very comfortable, and were a big hit with us. One negative that I noted about the room is that both sinks were located in the bathroom. I find this arrangement to be counter productive. It would have been better to have created a vanity area elsewhere in the room, so that when you are traveling with a family you could use both sinks when the bathroom was occupied.

The amenities and service at the hotel is top notch. The staff was always very accommodating and I didn't find any problems with the service level. The hotel has a large array of amenities including as full spa and fitness center.

One of the most interesting aspects of this hotel was the indoor themed shopping area. The hallway, which led to, the shopping area was themed like an Italian street, and was very well executed.

The hotel features three pools, the beach pool, villa pool, and hillside pool. The beach pool has a waterside and even has private beach cabanas that you can rent. The villa pool is more for relaxing and had a large number of beach lounge chairs around the pool area. I didn't try the hillside pool during my stay so I can not really comment on that.

Rates for the Portofino Bay Hotel begin around $200 in off-season, and with various specials. The rates can go to well over double that amount depending on the type of room, which you book.

All told I found my stay at the hotel to be very enjoyable, and I would definitely recommend this hotel to anyone who was looking for a great relaxing get away, mixed in with a little Universal Studios fun.