Helios Grand Hotel

[Jake S]

One of the things that stuck out the most was Cabana Bay's loooow rating. So I mathed out the lazy river square footage to be around ~9640 sq ft. If you add on the lazy river it bumps the rating up to 11.65.

This matches the eye test, right? Those pool areas often at least feel more crowded than at other resort hotel pools. There's also a qualitative aspect to this, which is are guests are certain hotels more likely to use the pools than at others. The guests self-selecting into a "upper tier" hotel with a special entrance to theme park may be less likely to have a pool day than those spending much less to stay at Endless Summer, etc. etc.

And, of course, no one has more data on this sort of guest behavior than Universal and Disney. I'd love to see some of the decks they put together to make these kinds of decisions.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

This matches the eye test, right? Those pool areas often at least feel more crowded than at other resort hotel pools. There's also a qualitative aspect to this, which is are guests are certain hotels more likely to use the pools than at others. The guests self-selecting into a "upper tier" hotel with a special entrance to theme park may be less likely to have a pool day than those spending much less to stay at Endless Summer, etc. etc.

And, of course, no one has more data on this sort of guest behavior than Universal and Disney. I'd love to see some of the decks they put together to make these kinds of decisions.

I don't think there's any change in pool usage that'll matter IMHO (but I'd love to see the data) but a variable I missed is average room occupancy, Royal Pacific and Aventura will have a room occupancy closer to 2 guests while Cabana and Endless occupancy would be closer to 3 guests.

 

[Jake S]

I don't think there's any change in pool usage that'll matter IMHO (but I'd love to see the data) but a variable I missed is average room occupancy.

Do we know each hotel's theoretical total occupancy? Obviously no hotel is completely full 100 percent of the time, but could at least then compare them apples to apples.

 

[Mad Dog]

So one of the most common complaints I've see about Helios is the pool size. I think it looks smaller than it actually is, so I went looking for some data to back up a hypothesis that this pool is actually a good size.

Here's some pool sizes at other UOR hotels

• Helios Grand - 8660 sq ft
• Aventura - 4754 sq ft
• Royal Pacific - ~10075 sq ft
• Hard Rock - 12000 sq ft
• Sapphire Falls - 16000 sq ft
• Cabana Bay*
  • Courtyard Pool w/ Slide - 10000 sq ft
  • Quiet Pool - 6000 sq ft
• Portofino Bay
  • Beach Pool - ~9800 sq ft
  • Villa Pool - ~2100 sq ft
  • Hillside Pool - ~1600 sq ft

So my theory is right, the hotel pool just appears to be smaller from the helicopter views. Now, compare the pool size per room (pool size divided by room count) and you'll have a Pool Size Per Room rating:

1. Hard Rock - 18.46 pool sq ft/room
2. Portofino Bay - 18 pool sq ft/room
3. Helios Grand - 17.32 pool sq ft/room
4. Sapphire Falls - 16 pool sq ft/room
5. Stella Nova - 13.33 pool sq ft/room
6. Surfside - 12.13 pool sq ft/room
7. Dockside - 11.95 pool sq ft/room
8. Royal Pacific - ~ 10 pool sq ft/room
9. Aventura - 7.92 pool sq ft/room
10. Cabana Bay - 7.27 pool sq ft/room*
11. Terra Luna - Unknown

This puts the pool on par with Portofino, Sapphire, and Hard Rock. That's nothing to sneeze at! I do think the pool would be better with a slide or water play area to make it more unique.

*Did not factor in the lazy river.
**Did not include any water play areas, slides, or hot tubs.

Great interesting info. I wrote it down and put it into my theme park file....Thanks!!!

 

[Dermitder]

Anyone who has booked a stay at Helios, was your credit card charged now for the deposit? I booked on the 22nd and still nothing on the credit card, got an email with the confirmation which is still valid.

 

[Brian G.]

Anyone who has booked a stay at Helios, was your credit card charged now for the deposit? I booked on the 22nd and still nothing on the credit card, got an email with the confirmation which is still valid.

Nothing yet.

 

[JustLikeMe]

I made two bookings very shortly after reservations opened up and the deposit for one of them appeared as a pending charge on my credit card yesterday:

 

[TheCodeMan95]

Never thought I'd be so interested in hotel pool math.

I've never seen Sapphire's pool - didn't realize it was that massive.

 

[Brian G.]

Never thought I'd be so interested in hotel pool math.

I've never seen Sapphire's pool - didn't realize it was that massive.

Cuz people always look for something

 

[Scott W.]

I made two bookings very shortly after reservations opened up and the deposit for one of them appeared as a pending charge on my credit card yesterday:

View attachment 23912

Gotta get those Virgin air miles.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

Cuz people always look for something

I'm slightly concerned that the height of the tables in the dining areas might be slightly too low. Can we get some math on that too?

 

[Jake S]

I'm slightly concerned that the height of the tables in the dining areas might be slightly too low. Can we get some math on that too?

don't bait poor @Parkscope Joe like that!

 

[Scott W.]

So one of the most common complaints I've see about Helios is the pool size. I think it looks smaller than it actually is, so I went looking for some data to back up a hypothesis that this pool is actually a good size.

Here's some pool sizes at other UOR hotels

• Helios Grand - 8660 sq ft
• Aventura - 4754 sq ft
• Royal Pacific - ~10075 sq ft
• Hard Rock - 12000 sq ft
• Sapphire Falls - 16000 sq ft
• Cabana Bay*
  • Courtyard Pool w/ Slide - 10000 sq ft
  • Quiet Pool - 6000 sq ft
• Portofino Bay
  • Beach Pool - ~9800 sq ft
  • Villa Pool - ~2100 sq ft
  • Hillside Pool - ~1600 sq ft

So my theory is right, the hotel pool just appears to be smaller from the helicopter views. Now, compare the pool size per room (pool size divided by room count) and you'll have a Pool Size Per Room rating:

1. Hard Rock - 18.46 pool sq ft/room
2. Portofino Bay - 18 pool sq ft/room
3. Helios Grand - 17.32 pool sq ft/room
4. Sapphire Falls - 16 pool sq ft/room
5. Stella Nova - 13.33 pool sq ft/room
6. Surfside - 12.13 pool sq ft/room
7. Dockside - 11.95 pool sq ft/room
8. Royal Pacific - ~ 10 pool sq ft/room
9. Aventura - 7.92 pool sq ft/room
10. Cabana Bay - 7.27 pool sq ft/room*
11. Terra Luna - Unknown

This puts the pool on par with Portofino, Sapphire, and Hard Rock. That's nothing to sneeze at! I do think the pool would be better with a slide or water play area to make it more unique.

*Did not factor in the lazy river.
**Did not include any water play areas, slides, or hot tubs.

Pool size for Terra Luna if you want to complete the set:




Never really noticed that it looks like pacman before.

 

[Brian G.]

Pool size for Terra Luna if you want to complete the set:

View attachment 23914


Never really noticed that it looks like pacman before.

That's no moon...

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Pool size for Terra Luna if you want to complete the set:

View attachment 23914


Never really noticed that it looks like pacman before.

Thanks Scott, rounding up to 9740 sq ft and I get 12.98 sq ft pool/room.

That's no moon...

It's a pizza moon!

 

[Ahmanet]

Never thought I'd be so interested in hotel pool math.

I've never seen Sapphire's pool - didn't realize it was that massive.

Sapphire is smaller than appears because the middle is a sand bar (can walk across it as a shortcut)

Dockside has to be biggest at Universal, maybe even in Orlando.

 

[SeventyOne]

Thought I might have heard fireworks last night--maybe not, was late (after midnight) but Helios was all lit up for the first time I've seen. Even without finishing touches applied, it's stunning.