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Aventura Hotel

Just got back from my Orlando Trip and here are my thoughts of this place.

Positives:
Close to Volcano Bay
Close to Sapphire falls (Boats, Restaurants)
Low crowds in the cafeteria area
Rooms are all close to the elevators and cafeteria
Some of the food is really good (Burgers, Pizza and Stir Fry Wok Station)
The garage Elevator Voice is the sexiest and most seductive elevator voice I've ever heard. = "Labby Levaaal"

Negatives:
Water was shut off on our floor most of the day on Tuesday so we had to use the gym showers
The Elevator can be a real CF when going up to your room.
The food is made to order and delivered to you. But sometimes they take forever to get your food to you and its just sitting there getting cold.
The pancakes were nasty and tasted like cardboard
The only available food for room service was pizza. (WTH?)
The ipad is more like a gimmick than anything. I hate how I have to go all the way to the ipad just to turn on the washroom light.
Room wasn't ready til 3:30 so I had to sleep in my car for a few hours til it was ready. I've stayed at Cabana Bay twice and I was always able to get in earlier (I'm thinking because there are more rooms there?)

The $100 promotion credit was nice but next time I'm going to stay at my favorite hotel Cabana Bay. It has a charm this hotel just doesn't have.
 
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Most hotel pools close at 10pm because of the noise. People having fun in the pool tend to be pretty loud.

It also gives the overnight crew a chance to ready the pool area for the next day.

But there are some higher end hotels like The Don Cesar that keep their pools open 24 hours.

Last year in Anaheim, the 8 hour time difference completely ruined me. My room overlooked the pool we were staying at and I had to call down to reception to complain about the noise coming from the pool then I was gently reminded that the pool didn't close until 10 and it was only 7pm. I've never felt like such a grumpy old man.

Just got back from my Orlando Trip and here are my thoughts of this place.

Positives:
Close to Volcano Bay
Close to Sapphire falls (Boats, Restaurants)
Low crowds in the cafeteria area
Rooms are all close to the elevators and cafeteria
Some of the food is really good (Burgers, Pizza and Stir Fry Wok Station)
The garage Elevator Voice is the sexiest and most seductive elevator voice I've ever heard. = "Labby Levaaal"

Negatives:
Water was shut off on our floor most of the day on Tuesday so we had to use the gym showers
The Elevator can be a real CF when going up to your room.
The food is made to order and delivered to you. But sometimes they take forever to get your food to you and its just sitting there getting cold.
The pancakes were nasty and tasted like cardboard
The ipad is more like a gimmick than anything. I hate how I have to go all the way to the ipad just to turn on the washroom light.
Room wasn't ready til 3:30 so I had to sleep in my car for a few hours til it was ready. I've stayed at Cabana Bay twice and I was always able to get in earlier (I'm thinking because their are more rooms there?)

The $100 promotion credit was nice but next time I'm going to stay at my favorite hotel Cabana Bay. It has a charm this hotel just doesn't have.


I didn't realise the lights were exclusivly controlled by the iPad. I assumed that they still had a switch. That's awful.
 
Last year in Anaheim, the 8 hour time difference completely ruined me. My room overlooked the pool we were staying at and I had to call down to reception to complain about the noise coming from the pool then I was gently reminded that the pool didn't close until 10 and it was only 7pm. I've never felt like such a grumpy old man.




I didn't realise the lights were exclusivly controlled by the iPad. I assumed that they still had a switch. That's awful.
They have a switch but it is overridden by the switch at the door or the Ipad. Either way when you want to turn on the vanity light you mostly have to find the pad or walk to the entrance door.
My big gripe is the shower doors are installed backward. If they reversed them the shower wouldn't spray out on the floor if you tilt the head towards the doors. Same at SF and CBBR if I recall so maybe there is something about shower door mounting I don't grasp/
Better than the sliders over at Sapphire Falls tho
 
I didn't realise the lights were exclusivly controlled by the iPad. I assumed that they still had a switch. That's awful.

The only light switches I located were the "All lights on" at the door, Bathroom Switch and the Bed Light switch. All other 3 lights (Washroom (Vanity), Reading Lamp on counter, Floor Lamp were Ipad. Seems kinda of silly to split it this way and my only option for Vanity is either by "All lights on" or "Ipad"
 
My big gripe is the shower doors are installed backward. If they reversed them the shower wouldn't spray out on the floor if you tilt the head towards the doors. Same at SF and CBBR if I recall so maybe there is something about shower door mounting I don't grasp/
Better than the sliders over at Sapphire Falls tho

Lol. Maybe that's why they put that little towel down there to collect the water. I was wondering why I had a towel there when I arrived. I just grabbed some extra towels and covered the bathroom in them. :)
 
Just got back from my Orlando Trip and here are my thoughts of this place.

Positives:
Close to Volcano Bay
Close to Sapphire falls (Boats, Restaurants)
Low crowds in the cafeteria area
Rooms are all close to the elevators and cafeteria
Some of the food is really good (Burgers, Pizza and Stir Fry Wok Station)
The garage Elevator Voice is the sexiest and most seductive elevator voice I've ever heard. = "Labby Levaaal"

Negatives:
Water was shut off on our floor most of the day on Tuesday so we had to use the gym showers
The Elevator can be a real CF when going up to your room.
The food is made to order and delivered to you. But sometimes they take forever to get your food to you and its just sitting there getting cold.
The pancakes were nasty and tasted like cardboard
The ipad is more like a gimmick than anything. I hate how I have to go all the way to the ipad just to turn on the washroom light.
Room wasn't ready til 3:30 so I had to sleep in my car for a few hours til it was ready. I've stayed at Cabana Bay twice and I was always able to get in earlier (I'm thinking because their are more rooms there?)

The $100 promotion credit was nice but next time I'm going to stay at my favorite hotel Cabana Bay. It has a charm this hotel just doesn't have.

It sounds like the lights should be controlled at the light switch level not at the light bulb level. So if someone wants something on/off it can be done at both levels.

Also I had the pizza late night after Trader Sams and loved it.
 
Maybe it depends on the time. It was starting to get late when I checked and they just had Pizza,Wine and Beer.
Oh yeah, when we came back from HHN the bus driver told us to make sure to visit the cafe if we were hungry because they were open until 2am

We went and it was boxed cheese and pepperoni pizza in an oven warmer

Can't expect too much late at night I guess haha
 
At the airport waiting on my flight after an 8-night stay at Aventura.

I would say that overall, I would definitely recommend this hotel. Do I prefer Royal Pacific and Sapphire Falls - yes. But I knew this hotel was not trying to be those two resorts and had my expectations as such.

Hotel Overview / Lobby / Urban Pantry
When we arrived, I was impressed by the visuals of this hotel - the soaring glass towers, the sleek, minimalist lobby and the overall vibe at the hotel. It reminded me a bit of W hotel properties I've stayed at in the past.

Check-in was smooth - we arrive around 2:30 p.m. and our room was not ready yet - so we hung out in the lobby until we were text around 3:15. We got our keys and headed to the elevator to head up to the 5th floor (we had booked a standard queen-queen room). As others have mentioned - the elevators are a bit clunky. We saw numerous folks try and press the physical keypad for their room floor - without realizing you had to press the button on the touchscreen. The key sensor was a bit slow - sometimes the door would close and then open again before you could get your floor pressed.

The food court exceeded our expectations - the prices were reasonable and we really enjoyed the refillable mugs. These were $18 for length of stay (up to 14 days) ($10 for one day and $12 for three days and $16 for five days). You could refill your mug at the two Freestyle machines in the food court or at the two by the pool bar.

Room
Our room was clean and comfortable and met our needs (two adults staying in the room for eight nights). The rooms are definitely on the small-side, so I could see the standard rooms being very tight for 3-4 people.

I enjoyed using the iPad feature - and you could control the "vestibule" (entryway and bathroom sink) lights as well as the floor lamp and the nightstand lamp with the iPad. It was great to be able to stream Netflix / Hulu / Prime video on the hotel TV. We didn't use the iPad for room service - but did use it to communicate to the front desk (which was nice).

The bathroom was adequate - all clean/modern touches. Surprising amount of shelf space to store toiletries and such. The shower was a bit awkward - as the door opens where the shower head sprays - so it was kind of a dancing act until we could adjust the shower head.

Pool / other amenities
The pool overall is much smaller than the other resorts - but it works here. My only complaint was the the pool chairs were a bit close to the edge of the pool - so walking around was a bit of a hassle trying to dodge guests and their stuff. Having the Freestyle machines and the bar out by the pool was nice (it was "self serve" - there are no servers that walk around the pool area).

Bar 17 and Bistro was cool - we went up a couple of nights and the breeze and views were great. We didn't eat up there - but the food looked good. Definitely a cool spot to hit up even if you're not staying at Aventura.

There was a smaller gym on the second floor (we didn't utilize - we were already walking around enough!)

Resort Transportation
To me, one of the best perks of this hotel was it's proximity to Volcano Bay (very short walk and you're at the front gate) and Sapphire Falls (ability to utilize the water taxis). We do not like taking the resort buses (due to the fact it drops you off so far up CityWalk and having to deal with the crowds at the main security checkpoint), so this was a huge benefit for us.

Overall
As I mentioned - Aventura is an incredible option for a value resort at Universal. If you know what to expect when going in - you will have an amazing stay. Just don't go in thinking it's going to be Portofino or Royal Pacific - just as you don't walk into a Courtyard Marriott and expect the Ritz.
 
At the airport waiting on my flight after an 8-night stay at Aventura.

I would say that overall, I would definitely recommend this hotel. Do I prefer Royal Pacific and Sapphire Falls - yes. But I knew this hotel was not trying to be those two resorts and had my expectations as such.

Hotel Overview / Lobby / Urban Pantry
When we arrived, I was impressed by the visuals of this hotel - the soaring glass towers, the sleek, minimalist lobby and the overall vibe at the hotel. It reminded me a bit of W hotel properties I've stayed at in the past.

Check-in was smooth - we arrive around 2:30 p.m. and our room was not ready yet - so we hung out in the lobby until we were text around 3:15. We got our keys and headed to the elevator to head up to the 5th floor (we had booked a standard queen-queen room). As others have mentioned - the elevators are a bit clunky. We saw numerous folks try and press the physical keypad for their room floor - without realizing you had to press the button on the touchscreen. The key sensor was a bit slow - sometimes the door would close and then open again before you could get your floor pressed.

The food court exceeded our expectations - the prices were reasonable and we really enjoyed the refillable mugs. These were $18 for length of stay (up to 14 days) ($10 for one day and $12 for three days and $16 for five days). You could refill your mug at the two Freestyle machines in the food court or at the two by the pool bar.

Room
Our room was clean and comfortable and met our needs (two adults staying in the room for eight nights). The rooms are definitely on the small-side, so I could see the standard rooms being very tight for 3-4 people.

I enjoyed using the iPad feature - and you could control the "vestibule" (entryway and bathroom sink) lights as well as the floor lamp and the nightstand lamp with the iPad. It was great to be able to stream Netflix / Hulu / Prime video on the hotel TV. We didn't use the iPad for room service - but did use it to communicate to the front desk (which was nice).

The bathroom was adequate - all clean/modern touches. Surprising amount of shelf space to store toiletries and such. The shower was a bit awkward - as the door opens where the shower head sprays - so it was kind of a dancing act until we could adjust the shower head.

Pool / other amenities
The pool overall is much smaller than the other resorts - but it works here. My only complaint was the the pool chairs were a bit close to the edge of the pool - so walking around was a bit of a hassle trying to dodge guests and their stuff. Having the Freestyle machines and the bar out by the pool was nice (it was "self serve" - there are no servers that walk around the pool area).

Bar 17 and Bistro was cool - we went up a couple of nights and the breeze and views were great. We didn't eat up there - but the food looked good. Definitely a cool spot to hit up even if you're not staying at Aventura.

There was a smaller gym on the second floor (we didn't utilize - we were already walking around enough!)

Resort Transportation
To me, one of the best perks of this hotel was it's proximity to Volcano Bay (very short walk and you're at the front gate) and Sapphire Falls (ability to utilize the water taxis). We do not like taking the resort buses (due to the fact it drops you off so far up CityWalk and having to deal with the crowds at the main security checkpoint), so this was a huge benefit for us.

Overall
As I mentioned - Aventura is an incredible option for a value resort at Universal. If you know what to expect when going in - you will have an amazing stay. Just don't go in thinking it's going to be Portofino or Royal Pacific - just as you don't walk into a Courtyard Marriott and expect the Ritz.

Good fair review which pretty much matches my thoughts after a recent 4 night stay.
 
Forgot to post about my stay in late September. But my review would be very close to the one above by Brad. Overall a very enjoyable experience though if cost was the same across the resorts this would be my last pick. That just shows you the quality of the resorts at Universal. We did stay in a deluxe king room which was actually very spacious and had a great view. I only wish the curtains opened all the way. Bathroom was a little small and awkward though. If you didn’t shut the door and had the curtains open you were very exposed in the deluxe room.
 
Forgot to post about my stay in late September. But my review would be very close to the one above by Brad. Overall a very enjoyable experience though if cost was the same across the resorts this would be my last pick. That just shows you the quality of the resorts at Universal. We did stay in a deluxe king room which was actually very spacious and had a great view. I only wish the curtains opened all the way. Bathroom was a little small and awkward though. If you didn’t shut the door and had the curtains open you were very exposed in the deluxe room.
Umm yeah, I had people at the pool waving at me in a 6th floor room when closing the curtains. If you want privacy this may not be the place for you.
 
Does anyone know if this hotel will be getting any kind of Christmas tree or holiday decor?
 
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