Universal’s Aventura Hotel

UNIVERASAL STUDIOS FLORIDA Aventura hotel

august 2023

Universal’s Aventura Hotel, Orlando, Florida, 2023

As one of the newest hotels on the property, the resort and rooms integrate technology into the stay. The proximity to Sapphire Falls and Cabana Bay Resort is also a plus, especially because Universal Orlando allows you to pool hop as long as you are in a Prime category and above. We were also able to get to the Sapphire Falls boat stop within 10 minutes, so it generally took no more than 30 minutes to get to the theme parks from our hotel lobby. A bus was pretty consistently available as well, but utilizing the boat avoided a longer walk across CityWalk.

We were at first offered an upgrade to one of the top floors facing Volcano Bay, but were warned that the DJ would be playing each night until midnight. We chose to stick with our original room, and ironically we found that the music from the pool below also carried to our fourth floor room. However, it wasn’t anything a white noise app couldn’t cover, and we didn’t find any other commotion from the hallway or adjacent rooms.

As one of the newest hotels on the property, the resort and rooms integrate technology into the stay, and all room functions are performed on a tablet device.

The proximity to Sapphire Falls and Cabana Bay Resort is a plus, especially because Universal Orlando allows you to pool hop as long as you are in a Prime category and above. We were also able to get to the Sapphire Falls boat stop within 10 minutes, so it generally took no more than 30 minutes to get to the theme parks from our hotel lobby. A bus was pretty consistently available as well, but utilizing the boat avoided a longer walk across CityWalk.

Lobby Amenities

The lobby is spacious and never felt too crowded. The Urban Pantry quick service restaurant and market, “barVentura” and Starbucks met all of our basic needs (coffee, wine, cereal and milk to take to our rooms for an easy morning routine). A Universal Orlando store offered souvenirs as well as general travel needs.

We never made it to the Bar 17 Bistro on the rooftop . It is probably a great feature for young adults or those not traveling with kids. (Secretly I didn’t want the upgraded room with DJ noise because it may have lead to FOMO reminder of what I would have been doing in my younger years.)

Pool & recreation

The pool and seating area wrap around the same tower as our room and Bar Sol. There is a small splash area, outdoor games and a hot tub.

The biggest benefit to staying at Aventura Resort was the side path that lead directly to the entrance to Volcano Bay (Cabana Bay Resort also offers this.) During prior visits in the late spring and early summer, I found the park busy but manageable. But on this summer afternoon, it was PACKED. We spent less than 2-hours at Volcano Bay, and were happy to be able to retreat back to our pool. While it was smaller than many of the other on-property pools, we liked that it felt more relaxed for our break from the parks.