For as much as we travel together as a family, we don’t often frequent the high-end of the accommodation spectrum. This isn’t because we don’t fancy the fancy, it’s because we are usually over-extended financially and piecing our trips together with rolls of nickels and my dwindling collection of crisp $2 bills from when I was a small boy still happily losing my teeth. Because of this, the girls kinda lost their shit when we checked into the stunning Loews Portofino Bay Hotel in Italy Orlando, Florida. To understand fully how special our arrival last month was, you’ll need to watch this video of my two daughters leaping out of their flip-flops with silver-dollar eyes and jaws more wide open than a 24-hour convenience store. Ok, there is no video. I didn’t even think of it. Gimme a break, it was nearly midnight when the Super Shuttle approached the center fountain of the Loews Portofino Bay Hotel check-in roundabout.
And THAT’S the real story. My girls were half asleep as we made the tedious 25 minute commute from MCO to the sprawling Universal Orlando Resort property to launch into #FamilyForward 2014. The slice of la dolce vita they experienced in steamy Orlando in the pitch black of night was like waking up from a coma and being handed a 64oz-sized 5 Hour Energy Drink AND a box of Twinkies. BOOM! They were delirious and thought they’d traveled to Italy in a blue and yellow van. To be fair to them, that IS an easy mistake to make at this remarkable Loews hotel.
The rooms at the Loews Portfofino Bay flank the body of water which gives the place its name, in presidentially-appointed East and West Wings. The West is primo, thanks to its proximity to the free water taxi and the head start along the pleasant footpath leading to the two Universal theme parks and Universal’s City Walk district, and also because it cradles the hotel’s Beach Pool, its waterfalls and Roman aqueduct water slide, a slippery mode of downward transportation capable of evaporating the stuffiness out of a stodgy grown-up who’d otherwise profess to being to ‘old’ for such merriment. I’m talking about me in that last sentence, in case you didn’t pick up on that. I hadn’t traversed a water slide, or found blissful relaxation in a pool for that matter, in years, but I submerged myself deep into the shallow-end of the Portofino Bay pool experience during our first full day at the hotel, spending hours floating, applying sunscreen, splashing, reapplying sunscreen, and water-sliding with my daughters. It was one of the best days we’ve shared together, in every possible way, and exactly what we didn’t know we needed before a busy weekend in the joyfully hectic parks of Universal Orlando. This hotel oozes tranquility, even high-strung me was helpless to its power.
The East Wing guests, they’ve got a Starbucks beneath their noses. You decide who has it best. 😉
The rooms are wonderful, with bathrooms the size of the bedrooms in our home. Seriously, you could probably put a rollaway bed in there if you wanted to grab a quick snooze before or after a shower. The tile work around the sink and tub is exquisite, providing a small touch of elegance that’ll make you feel like a wealthy Tuscan land owner. The view from the East Wing at dawn is marvelous, I mean really, really breathtaking. See below. Speaking of taking your breath away, an early morning run around the property and the City Walk complex is an entertaining way to travel a 5K distance but it is SO humid early in the morning that you’ll return to your gorgeous bathroom wetter than after you’ll shower off the central Florida stickiness.
The postcard-perfect view of the Loews Portofino Bay Hotel Orlando at dusk.
Ok, so the rooms, the pool, the Starbucks, the walking/running trails are all superb. The other huge advantage to staying on site at Universal Orlando at the Loews Portofino Bay Hotel is two fold: Early entry into the parks to climb aboard Harry Potter rides like Forbidden Journey and Escape from Gringotts with minimal lines (relatively speaking) AND Universal Express, which gives you and your family unlimited fast-pass style ride access. Yes, you can cut the regular lines over and over again with no limit. We found that this saved us oodles of time standing around — for example a 40 minute wait time in the normal line for Minion Madness was less than 15 minutes for us in the Express line. 15 minutes!! This kind of Express ride privilege normally costs $89 per person (and is worth it even at THAT price) but is included for FREEEEE when your gang stays on site at the Loews Portofino Bay. I cannot stress enough how awesome this benefit is for anyone who, like me, loathes waiting around for anything in life, especially when it is 95 degrees outside.
One more thing, should you need a car for any reason while at the Loews Portofino Bay (if you are only hitting the Universal theme parks, you won’t,) there’s a Hertz on site at the hotel and my man Taylor who works there will take great care of you, as he did for us when we picked up a ride to hit the Gulf Coast beaches for our mini ‘vacation from the vacation’.
We cannot wait to return to this magical place, for another slice of la dolce vita in steamy Orlando.
*All photos taken with Samsung Cameras, the NX30 and NX3000, as part of their Imagelogger program.
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