We stayed at Dockside last month and found the staff and facilities were great! The pool was awesome especially in the evening. The food options were great and having the option to Uber was helpful also.
Thanks KP❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤ Always want to stay at the hard rock one probably try them all out eventually I usually end up staying at the La Quinta right around the corner from universal nothing fancy suits my needs. Thanks for the tips. Always appreciate a video from you.❤❤❤
@@TheKrystalPalace I just stayed at the four points Sheraton it was great. I have stayed in The surf side endless summer and Aventura and it was incredible
We were just at Cabana bay for 5 nights with 2 little ones! We didn’t get to go the pools or play at the bowling alley but we did the arcade. We were mainly going to the parks all 4 days. Every time we wanted to go to the pool it would start raining lol plus there was the tropical storm. If we had express passes, I think 2 days at the park would be enough. I think it would have been better staying at one of the endless summer resorts, just because we only used the hotel for breakfast and sleep. Though we did use the walking path everyday. It is such a beautiful walk! Would love to stay at Royal Pacific!
Hello :) Thank you so much for your passion and these great videos. I'm from Frankfurt(Germany) and since a few months i'm watching your channel more than Netflix;) We are coming in October and stay at Cabana Bay. I prepared 90% of our holidays with your videos and we take the 14 days universal Tickets for the Studios, Island of Adventure and Volcano Bay. My kids are so excited...with 5 and 7 they can't understand you but they love that you are smiling so much...so never loose your smile and i wish you all the Best!! Thanks for everything:) Best Regards Markus
@@starfccker Thank you very much:) Hopefully we all stay healthy an then it will be the best vacation ever. The United States is such an amazing country :)
You can't go wrong with any! But personal favorite for us.. Sapphire falls... least fave and the only one we haven't stayed at with no desire to stay is Aventura. We like theming and this one just doesn't do it for us. Great rankings!
Terrible rankings, especially putting Aventura at the bottom, which is wild. Aventura is definitely one of the top two resorts, just for the fact that it DOESN'T have theming, which is great! Less kids, and less people as well. The rooftop bar is also one of the best restaurants on property by a mile. Sapphire, on the other hand, would probably the one I wouldn't stay in, as there isn't any point without the express passes.
@supersanic1254 terrible rankings?? Maybe Aventura in a top 2 and SF at the bottom is terrible rankings to us. I usually don't tell ANYONE how their rankings are terrible.... different people, different opinions. That's the good thing about opinions!!
Love this video! We're planning on staying and vlogging HHN in just a few days now and would be perfect to stay at a universal hotel instead of driving back home!
Interesting and many thanks. We got a deal last year and stayed at Portofino Bay. Loved the theming, water taxi to the parks, pools and friendly staff. My only issue was the room, which apart from some minor Italian touches, was basically a small and fairly standard hotel room. However, we were there for the parks and the room was for sleeping and changing clothes...so nothing really lost in the experience!
Great video as always! LOL, my favorite Go-to is one of your least fav. Sapphire Falls in my opinion is the best value. It’s like a premium resort but without the express passes. If using annual pass discount, I can easily find rooms for around $200/night. Great pool, boat access, and smells lovely 😊
For budget I prefer Cabana Bay & Loews Portofino for when I want every day express passes. It's hard to justify the extra 2-3k for the premier resorts (for a 4+ day stay) unless you have 3+ people going and want express passes. Usually it's just me and my daughter and I've only stayed at the premier resorts 2 out of 8 trips. Express passes are really only needed for the weekend most of the time when we go during HHN.
I stayed at both Portofino and Hard Rock many years ago. Loved both but my favourite was Portofino. Too expensive now but myself and my son are planning a trip and I’m thinking about Endless Summer Reaort and find your video helpful for my decision in which one. Thank you 😊.
I stayed at Aventura recently and it was not good. It felt kind of run down. Staff was aloof and slow to assist despite not being very busy. Pool screen was broken. Games were largely unusable for various reasons, like missing balls, only taking cash, etc. Bistro on roof was out of various things on the menu just minutes after opening (doesn't anyone ever restock between days?). It is nice that you can just walk across street to take water taxi. The room was nice. Hot water would get very hot, which is not a complaint, just an observation for anyone who cares. I probably would not stay there again.
Haven’t gotten to stay at all the hotels yet but… Endless Sunmer Dockside and Surfside are AMAZING value for the price Hard Rock and Royal Pacific are both ELITE but hard rock wins via location and pool atmosphere Cabana Bay is a GREAT family hotel but can feel a bit too big if room is far away from lobby area
I’ve only stayed at the Premier resorts. RP is my favorite primarily based on the price, with location coming in second. IOA typically has EPA. PB some of the restaurants don’t provide UOAP discounts.
I know-it’s so hard to rank!! I’ve stayed at them all except Endless Summer and Sapphire is my runaway favorite BUT I’m glad it’s not everyone’s! My least favorite, Cabana Bay, is still great and I recommend it all the time to young families. So many great resorts that there is the perfect first stay for everyone and it’s fun to figure it out.
Honestly speaking I’ve stayed at each and every single one of these and me and my families favorite is cabana bay best quality you can get for the money
Sapphire falls will be changing its tier into the premium level with Helios and other 3 existing hotels, so no doubt the express will be included in the new tier system at this hotel
Great review of the hotels and resorts! Can you include per night costs? I know that I can go back and look at each individual vid for each hotel, but it would be cool to include them all in one vid. I would love to stay at the #1 resort, but I will be spending a lot in the parks, so I might end up booking number #7 or #8. Thank you K !
Hotel, resort, or any place you stay always have flexible rates, whether it be Mon thru Thurs or Fri thru Sun. Maybe a range, so that e erroneous watching will get a general idea. One thing though, and I have mentioned it to you, I would rather stay at a Universal area resort, than a Disney resort.
Hard Rock #1. Best hotel for HHN💯. 5 minutes to walk to parks. Unlimited express pass for free! My grandkids and I had 5 ppl in a rm for 4 nights that gave us 5 days of Unlimited express pass worth a minimum 1000$ a day for 5 ppl. 5 days were 5Gs worth of express. Room was 2200 for 5 ppl 4 nights. Just can't be beat for ppl who want the maximum amount of ride time.
Loved everything about Cabana Bay other than the food. The food was absolutely terrible, especially the breakfast! For the amount of money that you pay for the rooms, the food should be top-notch. It was disgusting and so outrageously priced.
@@supersanic1254 you’re right that was about the only thing that was good. People were complaining everywhere around me and we were there for 10 days so it wasn’t like it was a fluke.
I LOVE Cabana Bay and stay there every year I go to Universal. Great ambiance and great staff! The Bay Liner has great food too!
Krystal 😊love this one. My personal rankings line up with yours. Royal is one of favs 😊 Thanks for all your hard work 😊😊
Thank you so much!!
We stayed at Dockside last month and found the staff and facilities were great! The pool was awesome especially in the evening. The food options were great and having the option to Uber was helpful also.
Thanks KP❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤ Always want to stay at the hard rock one probably try them all out eventually I usually end up staying at the La Quinta right around the corner from universal nothing fancy suits my needs. Thanks for the tips. Always appreciate a video from you.❤❤❤
I love every one of Universal hotels! Each one is special in their own way. You can’t go wrong with any of them! 👍🏻👏🏻
Universal has the best resorts.
Agree!!
@@TheKrystalPalace I just stayed at the four points Sheraton it was great. I have stayed in The surf side endless summer and Aventura and it was incredible
Would love to stay at all the universal resorts! Universal has REALLY upped their game in every way!
We were just at Cabana bay for 5 nights with 2 little ones! We didn’t get to go the pools or play at the bowling alley but we did the arcade. We were mainly going to the parks all 4 days.
Every time we wanted to go to the pool it would start raining lol plus there was the tropical storm.
If we had express passes, I think 2 days at the park would be enough.
I think it would have been better staying at one of the endless summer resorts, just because we only used the hotel for breakfast and sleep.
Though we did use the walking path everyday. It is such a beautiful walk!
Would love to stay at Royal Pacific!
Great video! Love the effort and detail you put into your analysis.
1.Hard Rock
2. Royal Pacific
3. Sapphire Falls
4.Cabanna Bay
5. P-Bay
6. Dockside
7.Adventura
8.Surfside
Agree. Sapphire is definitely top 3. Only thing it lacks is express pass
This should be at the top, well done!
Great video and very helpful! Are you going to rank Disney World hotels next?
My wife and I love Dockside. We love the big pools and the rooms have a nice beach-house feel.
Love the rooms!!
Dockside is one of my family's faves. Family suite, price, and 2 huge pools. We love it
Hey CRYSTAL Palace That's Awesome Video CRYSTAL Palace Nice Video's You Make CRYSTAL Palace
Hello :)
Thank you so much for your passion and these great videos. I'm from Frankfurt(Germany) and since a few months i'm watching your channel more than Netflix;) We are coming in October and stay at Cabana Bay. I prepared 90% of our holidays with your videos and we take the 14 days universal Tickets for the Studios, Island of Adventure and Volcano Bay. My kids are so excited...with 5 and 7 they can't understand you but they love that you are smiling so much...so never loose your smile and i wish you all the Best!! Thanks for everything:)
Best Regards
Markus
Hope you and your family have the best vacation Markus!😁
@@starfccker
Thank you very much:) Hopefully we all stay healthy an then it will be the best vacation ever. The United States is such an amazing country :)
@@markuspawolka9123 Fingers crossed 🤞🏼. I couldn’t agree more, I always love visiting. Hoping to go back again next year! I’m from Scotland 🏴.
Hi Markus, ich beneide dich! Wir fliegen nächstes Jahr! Einen tollen Urlaub euch ❤
@@starfcckerwe love scotland - at least since the Euro 2024 ⚽️
Awesome video Krystal! I would stay at Hard Rock or Cabana Bay first.
You can't go wrong with any! But personal favorite for us.. Sapphire falls... least fave and the only one we haven't stayed at with no desire to stay is Aventura. We like theming and this one just doesn't do it for us. Great rankings!
Terrible rankings, especially putting Aventura at the bottom, which is wild. Aventura is definitely one of the top two resorts, just for the fact that it DOESN'T have theming, which is great! Less kids, and less people as well. The rooftop bar is also one of the best restaurants on property by a mile. Sapphire, on the other hand, would probably the one I wouldn't stay in, as there isn't any point without the express passes.
@supersanic1254 terrible rankings?? Maybe Aventura in a top 2 and SF at the bottom is terrible rankings to us. I usually don't tell ANYONE how their rankings are terrible.... different people, different opinions. That's the good thing about opinions!!
Great breakdown. We like the Sapphire for best value
Thank you!
Love this video! We're planning on staying and vlogging HHN in just a few days now and would be perfect to stay at a universal hotel instead of driving back home!
Interesting and many thanks. We got a deal last year and stayed at Portofino Bay. Loved the theming, water taxi to the parks, pools and friendly staff. My only issue was the room, which apart from some minor Italian touches, was basically a small and fairly standard hotel room. However, we were there for the parks and the room was for sleeping and changing clothes...so nothing really lost in the experience!
First. My opinion is that Cabana Bay is the best one for families.
I agree!
Cabana bay is our favorite...we have been their 3 times
Great video as always! LOL, my favorite Go-to is one of your least fav. Sapphire Falls in my opinion is the best value. It’s like a premium resort but without the express passes. If using annual pass discount, I can easily find rooms for around $200/night. Great pool, boat access, and smells lovely 😊
If you stay at surfside you better stay in a suite . If not the walls are paper thin and noisy.
We are staying at Lake Buena Vista Resort in January
unless there is another that offers 3 bedrooms for 5 people.
Best one I have seen.
We are also doing a "ghost room" at Loews to receive our
Universal Express Passes.
Great deal.
Love universal and can't wait to go their next yr
Excellent review! So, we are pool people, which one has the best pool/outdoor bar areas?
For budget I prefer Cabana Bay & Loews Portofino for when I want every day express passes. It's hard to justify the extra 2-3k for the premier resorts (for a 4+ day stay) unless you have 3+ people going and want express passes. Usually it's just me and my daughter and I've only stayed at the premier resorts 2 out of 8 trips. Express passes are really only needed for the weekend most of the time when we go during HHN.
Aventura because of its small footprint and quieter, adult atmosphere. Good food and next door to Sapphire and VB.
I stayed at both Portofino and Hard Rock many years ago. Loved both but my favourite was Portofino. Too expensive now but myself and my son are planning a trip and I’m thinking about Endless Summer Reaort and find your video helpful for my decision in which one. Thank you 😊.
So happy to hear it’s helpful!!😊
I stayed at Aventura recently and it was not good. It felt kind of run down. Staff was aloof and slow to assist despite not being very busy. Pool screen was broken. Games were largely unusable for various reasons, like missing balls, only taking cash, etc. Bistro on roof was out of various things on the menu just minutes after opening (doesn't anyone ever restock between days?). It is nice that you can just walk across street to take water taxi. The room was nice. Hot water would get very hot, which is not a complaint, just an observation for anyone who cares. I probably would not stay there again.
I was at portofino bay and it was amazing
Haven’t gotten to stay at all the hotels yet but…
Endless Sunmer Dockside and Surfside are AMAZING value for the price
Hard Rock and Royal Pacific are both ELITE but hard rock wins via location and pool atmosphere
Cabana Bay is a GREAT family hotel but can feel a bit too big if room is far away from lobby area
I’ve only stayed at the Premier resorts. RP is my favorite primarily based on the price, with location coming in second. IOA typically has EPA. PB some of the restaurants don’t provide UOAP discounts.
Yes, the premier resorts quick service locations don't accept UOAP discount unfortunately
I know-it’s so hard to rank!! I’ve stayed at them all except Endless Summer and Sapphire is my runaway favorite BUT I’m glad it’s not everyone’s! My least favorite, Cabana Bay, is still great and I recommend it all the time to young families. So many great resorts that there is the perfect first stay for everyone and it’s fun to figure it out.
Absolutely!!
Looks like they’re all nice but for me less expensive rules.
Totally!
Honestly speaking I’ve stayed at each and every single one of these and me and my families favorite is cabana bay best quality you can get for the money
Sapphire falls will be changing its tier into the premium level with Helios and other 3 existing hotels, so no doubt the express will be included in the new tier system at this hotel
For me my house in Orlando is Dockside . I love it.
👏🏼👏🏼
Great review of the hotels and resorts! Can you include per night costs? I know that I can go back and look at each individual vid for each hotel, but it would be cool to include them all in one vid. I would love to stay at the #1 resort, but I will be spending a lot in the parks, so I might end up booking number #7 or #8. Thank you K !
Honestly they change per night / fluctuate sooo much that including prices wouldn’t really do it justice. But I can include a general range next time.
Hotel, resort, or any place you stay always have flexible rates, whether it be Mon thru Thurs or Fri thru Sun. Maybe a range, so that e erroneous watching will get a general idea. One thing though, and I have mentioned it to you, I would rather stay at a Universal area resort, than a Disney resort.
would you ever do a ranking of off property ones since sometimes they might be cheaper
Love this game 3:10 😎👍
Hard Rock #1. Best hotel for HHN💯. 5 minutes to walk to parks. Unlimited express pass for free! My grandkids and I had 5 ppl in a rm for 4 nights that gave us 5 days of Unlimited express pass worth a minimum 1000$ a day for 5 ppl. 5 days were 5Gs worth of express. Room was 2200 for 5 ppl 4 nights. Just can't be beat for ppl who want the maximum amount of ride time.
I heard Sapphire Falls would be in premiere level when all new hotels open up. Is that true?
Hotel Rempe is my favorite
Where did you get your top?
I usually stay at either Royal Pacific or Cabana bay
Great choices!
I love ❤️ cabana bay
Just curious is your accent from New Jersey ?
From Hershey to Florida. What the..
Cabana bay is 1 you let me down
We're staying in aventura in November. Then only 3 we haven't stayed in
Amazing views from Aventura! Whats your favorite so far?
❤
Cabana Bay is beat up really bad, and the restaurants are not good.
We were going to cabana purely to walk to Volcano Bay. Is it worth it if we are on a budget?
always the cheapest for me. I use for sleep and shower only.
Totally get this!
Nope, you are wrong! Sapphire Falls is #1 for us then Royal Pacific.
Everyone has a different opinion based on their own preferences and thats totally fine! no right or wrong answers here :)
Sapphire is hot trash compared to Royal for sure. Waste of time to stay at Sapphire.
@@supersanic1254 umm….nope!
Adventura is the best because of the no attendance of children
For me
🤍🤍🤍🤍
You eyes are beautiful
Loved everything about Cabana Bay other than the food. The food was absolutely terrible, especially the breakfast! For the amount of money that you pay for the rooms, the food should be top-notch. It was disgusting and so outrageously priced.
The omelettes were great at Cabana!
@@supersanic1254 you’re right that was about the only thing that was good. People were complaining everywhere around me and we were there for 10 days so it wasn’t like it was a fluke.