Portofino Bay

Cinderelley;2459430 wrote: Is Portofino Bay like the Venetian in Vegas? When I read the description, that is what comes to my mind.

What are the pros and cons to staying at Portofino as opposed to the other Universal hotels?

Pros/Cons? Well - they all are close by so like Disney monorail resorts, to me it's just a matter of taste and what you like. You won't go wrong with any of the 3 nearest the gates.

Having been to the venetian and stayed there - no, I would not compare it to the vegas hotel. Not much compares with Vegas. Where vegas is over the top on everything - this is more deluxe hotel and tasteful.

Rooms are nicer than my room at the venetian was - at least I liked the décor better.

Bonus is that there is a Starbucks on site (at least for me - full blown one).

The big pool is pretty sweet, though was a bit of a walk from the end we were at. The quiet pool is just that, a standard pool but we had it pretty much to ourselves the day we were swimming.

The pizza restaurant had good pizza for Orlando. Water ferries left every 10-15 minutes from the dock, but if you were up for a stroll, a 10-15 minute walk along the waterway gets you to the entrance of the studios.

All in all - we really enjoyed our stay here - would be hard picking between Hard Rock and staying here again. Both were really excellent hotel wise.

We loved the Portofino and will be going back this December, styaing Club level. We really did not have any complaints staying here. Rooms are huge. Nice restaurants. Great atmosphere.

Only con might be long corridors to rooms if you have any imparements.

We did not mind the walk.

Cinderelley;2459430 wrote: Is Portofino Bay like the Venetian in Vegas? When I read the description, that is what comes to my mind.

What are the pros and cons to staying at Portofino as opposed to the other Universal hotels?

No...Not at all...I have stayed at the Venetian in Vegas and the public areas are nothing alike, not even close. The Venetian was like a small city that was enclosed. Now my room at the Venetian was wonderful. It was huge and I thought it was very tasteful. It even have a sunken living room.

But the Portofino is a very nice hotel.

Thanks everyone. I love the Venetian and would have been pretty disappointed if I walked in expecting that and not getting it.