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.