When planning a trip to Universal Orlando Resort, one of the important decisions you’ll have to make is whether to stay at a Universal hotel or not. In this post, we’ll discuss the various perks offered to guests of Universal hotels at Universal Orlando Resort. We’ll also include some commentary on how those impact our analysis of the hotels. Read on to learn about the perks of staying at a Universal Orlando hotel!
Reminder: Epic Universe, Helios Grand Hotel Coming Soon
Epic Universe is set to open May 22, 2025, and the Universal Helios Grand Hotel will open alongside it. That hotel has a dedicated entrance to Epic Universe (admission to Epic Universe still required). As of now it’s not 100% clear how the perks will shake up both regarding Epic Universe and at Helios Grand Hotel. I’m going to talk through specific issues real quick—I cove these perks in more detail later in this post, so if you’re wholly unfamiliar, feel free to skip this part and come back later.
On the Epic Universe side of things, we don’t know when Early Admission will be extended to Epic Universe. Since that perk doesn’t occur on regular schedule (i.e. they tend to pick one park to have it for a month or two at a time), we’ll probably only have any information a few weeks before the opening.
We also don’t know if / when the Express Pass Unlimited perk will be expanded to include Epic Universe. As of this update, the Terms and Conditions Universal provides specifically say the Express Pass Unlimited perk is “Not valid at Universal Volcano Bay or at Universal Epic Universe.” Will this change when the pakr opens? Sometime after?
As for Universal Helios Grand Hotel, it is categorized as a “Signature Collection” hotel. However, I have not yet seen anything specifically saying that guests at Universal Helios Grand Hotel will get Express Pass Unlimited. One other Signature Collection hotel—Loews Sapphire Falls Resort—does not get Express Pass Unlimited, while the other three do. Universal Helios Grand Hotel is confirmed to include the Early Admission perk, as all Universal hotels do.
A Quick Notes About Universal Hotels
It’s worth noting that, in our experience, the Universal Orlando hotels are actually good hotels that aren’t too overpriced. Dollar for dollar, in terms of hotel quality, Universal Orlando has Disney beat, in our minds at least. This is partly because Universal’s hotels are operated by third parties (mostly Loews) with expertise in the hotel industry. There are shortcomings, as with any hotel, but I’m always excited about my stays at Universal hotels.
The perks offered to guests of Universal hotels might not be game changers, but on the margins they make it easy for us to recommend staying at a Universal hotel in pretty much all circumstances. We’ve always enjoyed the hotels, and while they come at a small premium to nearby competition, they offer enough by way of convenience and perks to justify that premium.
List of Universal Orlando Resort Hotels
Just to avoid confusion, here are the hotels we’re talking about—broken down by tier—when we’re talking about Universal hotels (link are to our reviews, where available):
Signature Collection
Loews Royal Pacific Resort
Hard Rock Hotel
Loews Sapphire Falls Resort
Universal Helios Grand Hotel (Opening May 22, 2025)
Prime Value Hotels
Universal Stella Nova Resort (Opening Jan. 21, 2025)
Universal Terra Luna Resort (Opening Feb. 25, 2025)
Value Inns and Suites
Universal Cabana Bay Beach Resort
Universal Endless Summer Resort - Dockside Inn and Suites
Universal Endless Summer Resort - Surfside Inn and Suites
Transportation to Theme Parks
Each of Universal’s hotels provides complimentary transportation to the theme parks and Volcano Bay. For most journeys, the default option is bus service, but several hotels have alternative options.
Water Taxi service connects Loews Portofino Bay Hotel, Hard Rock Hotel, Loews Royal Pacific Resort and Loews Sapphire Falls Resort to one stop at CityWalk (which connects to Universal Studios Florida and Universal Islands of Adventure).
There is a walking path that stretches from Volcano Bay, past Cabana Beach, Aventura Hotel, Loews Sapphire Falls, and Loews Royal Pacific before connecting to CityWalk (which connects to Universal Studios Florida and Universal Islands of Adventure). A separate walking path connects CityWalk to Hard Rock Hotel and Loews Portofino Bay.
You can also walk from the Universal Endless Summer Resorts to CityWalk, but it will take over 30 minutes on a sidewalk along a major, busy street. I’d recommend the bus.
Universal’s two newest resorts—Terra Luna and Stella Nova—will be connected directly to Epic Universe by a short walking path when that park opens May 22, 2025. Universal Helios Grand Hotel will be situated at its own entrance to Epic Universe.
Walking paths are great because you never have to wait for transportation—you can time your arrivals/returns as you see fit. The buses and boats are nice because they run more or less continuously. This is in contrast to shuttles operated by other hotels you might stay at, which usually run on some fixed schedule (which may or may not be helpful for getting to rope drop). If you’re driving, you might not find a ton of value in this perk.
Early Park Admission
All Universal hotels offer the Early Park Admission perk. Early Admission grants guests early morning access to at least one of the Universal Orlando parks each day of their visit. Only a handful of attractions will be operating, but they are usually popular attractions worth arriving a little early for.
Unfortunately, Early Park Admission is usually setup so that one park will have the perk for an extended period of time. This means in a typical two-to-four night stay, you shouldn’t expect to use Early Park Admission at both parks. However, during some peak seasons both parks will offer Early Park Admission.
While I like Early Park Admission, I do find it’s basically an even tradeoff between waking up an hour early and saving time on a few rides. Unlike Disney World, where Early Entry is particularly important for guests without Lightning Lanes, Universal’s Early Park Admission is more of a nice treat if you’re an early riser.
That comes with two important notes. First, since Early Park Admission is usually only at one park during your trip, you’ll probably only have to wake up early one morning in order to use the perk. Second, during seasons where both parks have Early Admission, it’s a more important part of park touring. These tend to be peak seasons, and coming from off-site and winding up behind hotel guests every morning of your trip could be a drag.
Universal Express Pass Unlimited (Select Hotels Only)
Guests of the select hotels at Universal Orlando Resort get complimentary Express Unlimited for the durations of their stay, including check-in and check-out day.
(Note: The hotels that get Express Unlimited used to be called “Premier” hotels. Well, Universal got rid of that designation, replacing it with “Signature Collection.” This would be fine, except Loews Sapphire Falls Resort is a part of the Signature Collection but doesn’t include complimentary Express Pass.)
The hotels currently offering Express Pass Unlimited are:
Loews Royal Pacific Resort
Hard Rock Hotel
Loews Portofino Bay Hotel
This is a pretty interesting perk. As discussed in our Complete Guide to Universal Express Pass, the pricing of Express Pass means it can sometimes make sense—particularly for larger parties—to spend even a single night at one fo these hotels rather than purchasing Express Pass Unlimited outright.
For a family of four, this could mean big savings. Let’s say they find a Premier room for $350. For a 2-Park Express Pass (not Unlimited), they were going to spend at least $360+tax for one day. Now, they get two days of Express Unlimited for the same price.
The other nights of their trip, they could stay at another Universal hotel, like Aventura or Cabana Bay, or just any hotel in the area. Since the cost of a Universal trip can be quite high, you’ll want to pay careful attention to these options when planning.
Merchandise Delivery
Guests staying at Universal hotels can have merchandise purchases from Universal-operated stores (not everything in CityWalk, specifically) delivered to their rooms.
Priority Seating At Select Restaurants Throughout The Resort (Select Hotels Only)
As someone who generally avoids table service dining at theme parks, I have to admit I know little about this perk. There’s also very little information available online. Universal recommends speaking with your hotel concierge, so I’d start there.
The hotels currently offering the priority seating perk are:
Loews Royal Pacific Resort
Hard Rock Hotel
Loews Portofino Bay Hotel
That’s all for now. Will you be staying at a Universal hotel for your next visit?
All Your Other Universal Orlando Planning Questions Answered
Don't be overwhelmed by Universal Orlando planning! Take a second to check out our most important content!
Just starting out? Start with our Universal Orlando Resort planning guide! If you’re considering a Universal hotel, read our Review of Universal’s Aventura Hotel!
You’ll want to know what rides the parks offer, so we’ve got a Universal Studios Florida Rides Guide and a Universal’s Islands of Adventure Rides Guide. And to know how to get on them without the long waits, read all about Express Pass at Universal Orlando Resort.
If you’d like an idea of how to plan a day at these parks, we can help there, too. Our One Day Universal Studios Florida Itinerary covers a full day at the original park, and our Universal’s Islands of Adventure One Day Plan covers that park.
Early risers always have the best theme parks days (well, we think so). Read about Early Park Admission at Universal Orlando to learn how to get an extra hour in the parks. And read about rope drop at Islands of Adventure, including getting on the brand new Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure.