Loews Portofino Bay Hotel at Universal Orlando

Food was great, but very little options if you can't do dairy. I wish I was alerted that there was going to be a cheerleading competition at the hotel and the studio because they got very annoying at the pool and at universal. Nobody warned us the park was closing at 6 due to grad bash, and they did nothing for us after purchasing tickets full price for literally 3 hours of enjoyment. The person on phone told me I could check in and get my hotel room as early as I want which ended up being a lie and costing us a lot of time we could have saved. We checked in our bags than got the wrong bags which costed us more time later again and frustration. I think for how much you're paying these should be considered if you're booking a hotel with them, but hopefully they can improve upon it. Otherwise great stay and thank god for the included express pass otherwise we would haven't gotten on many rides in. Staff was very nice and helpful except for some of the baggage people.

Everything was great! A phone call or text to staff got quick results. From extra towels to laundry facilities to room service. Everything was responded to in a few minutes! This was our 3rd time at this resort. Everything we asked for was addressed almost immediately. We have traveled the world and who gets this kind of service!

We just returned from the Portofino bay hotel for my daughter’s wedding. WOW!! What a great experience!! The hotel is immaculate and the staff members are amazing. David M & Lauren were OUTSTANDING in the food and beverage department. Carmen and Alexandra were awesome in helping with the selection of our rooms. Seth, the manager at the front desk, was extremely helpful. Kaitlin was incredible! She stayed in contact with us throughout the week to ensure our family had the best vacation and wedding experience. Robert, general manager, went ABOVE AND BEYOND throughout the week, taking care of all our needs. His communication was second to none which makes Portofino Bay the BEST hotel we have ever stayed at. My daughter, Erica and son in law, Jimmy will never forget this experience and the Portofino staff made this a once in a lifetime experience. Thank you for the experience and we can’t wait to return to Portofino Bay for another vacation.

This was our second time staying at the Portofino and we are overall disappointed with this visit. In general, this is a very nice hotel, the service is above average, and staying at any of the Universal Resort is a definitely plus with the ease of access to the parks and the Express Pass added in. We thoroughly enjoyed our first stay at Portofino prior to COVID, so we decided a return trip to the hotel was in order. Unfortunately, the second trip did not live up the expectations and we will almost certainly shy away from Portofino in the future. The biggest and most glaring problem we had was all the construction. When we first booked, we were not made aware of construction efforts up front. Either there was no formal warnings or it was not apparent when we booked the stay. When I did speak with an agent later on about the stay, the agent did mention that there would be some construction, but the resort would be fully open. From the conversations, i did not get a sense that it would be impactful -- many places have on-going construction, but it often is hidden or isolated. However, the Portofino construction during our stay was incredibly obstructive. The entire main courtyard on the water was completely shut down. Access to any of the restaurants, amenities, taxi services, and even the pools, was hinders with limited walk-ways under all the construction scaffolding. Thankfully, we did not get a room obstructed by the exterior construction blocking windows, but a significant portion of the exterior was covered, blocking any views out windows for many guests. Some insights: in speaking with some of the workers, they seemed to think this would go thru most of 2024 but hoped some parts would begin opening in later Summer. There were even shocked at the amount of construction and the impact it was having. In addition, we were not impressed with the Club Lounge. It was OK, but Disney has it much better. First, the staff was tremendous. However, everything else just OK. Breakfast was breakfast -- nothing flashy but just your typical hotel-style full service breakfast. Snacks were underwhelming and very limited in time, and evening meals were OK. Alcohol was very strictly limited to a 2 hour dinner window, which was a bummer. Desserts were good. Again, we had higher hopes and had read reviews that this was the best Club lounge Universal had to offer. Decent, but if it's the best, Universal is lacking. Hindsight: don't pay the extra for club level. There were other little things that didn't help, such as not having enough water taxis on the one early-open morning to shuttle people to the parks early. The end result was a 45 minute wait for a boat and then an extended wait in the line for that Hagrid ride forcing us to wait in line for an additional 2 hours just to get on. Probably not going back. Wish I stayed at Hard Rock.

We stayed at Portofino from May 25th to 27th and were greatly disappointed for various reasons. It seems that the Loews hotels do not meet the 4-star standard and do not justify the $785 per night rate considering their offerings.The website did mention ongoing construction, but it failed to convey the extent of the inconvenience and the unsightliness that hindered the use of hotel amenities. Regrettably, the concierge service was lacking. Upon arrival, I was assured by a concierge that we would receive chocolate-covered strawberries for our anniversary and a chocolate bar and a snack box for my son's 14th birthday on Sunday, but none were delivered as promised. When I inquired, I was informed that there was no record of this and that the strawberries required prior day ordering, which I had done. Ultimately, only the chocolate bar was provided, which was disappointing. Additionally, our poolside dinner experience was subpar, with overpriced burnt burgers, incorrect sweet potato fries, stale bread for the club sandwich, and soggy onion rings. Given the cost, one would expect at least satisfactory quality. The transportation was another source of frustration, with a scarce boat service and a single bus arriving every half hour, in stark contrast to the frequent buses at less expensive resorts. For a premier property charging $785 per night plus an additional 35.15 per night for parking, the experience should have been exceptional. Sadly, my high expectations were met with great disappointment. Additionally, I had to close my credit card and dispute several charges. Upon reviewing my credit card statement, I discovered an extra charge of $106.50 for parking. We were not informed by the hotel to use our room key to exit the garage; instead, we used our credit card when prompted to swipe a card upon departure. The garage operates on a third-party billing system, resulting in a total parking charge of $179 from both the hotel and the third-party garage. Furthermore, there was a charge that I did not authorize, leading me to suspect that the complimentary chocolate bar delivered to our room was billed to my account. It appears that my experiences with housekeeping at Loews hotels have been particularly unlucky, as this is the second occurrence at their properties. During both nights of our stay, the cleaning staff entered our room without knocking, despite the 'do not disturb' sign being displayed. This has felt like an infringement on our privacy. I completed a survey and have not received any response from management, which suggests to me that they are indifferent to their customers' experiences., I have included the charges that I have disputed with my bank but have not been resolved as of yet. I have contacted the BBB and still have not heard from the hotel management.