Skip to main content

Universal's Aventura Hotel

If you're looking for a modern, stylish hotel at a value price point, Universal's Aventura Hotel may be the perfect choice for your next Universal Orlando Resort vacation. This perfectly priced hotel offers spectacular views of all three Universal Orlando theme parks, especially from it's rooftop bar, Bar 17 Bistro, and is just steps away from Universal's Volcano Bay.

Universal's Aventura Hotel is one of two Prime Value hotels on Universal property. You get all the benefits of a Universal Orlando hotel guest including Early Park Admission to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter (valid theme park admission required), resort-wide charging privileges using your room key card, and direct to hotel deliveries of purchases made at select stores in Universal's theme parks and CityWalk. 
In addition to those benefits, you also get complimentary shuttle buses and walking paths to Universal Studios Florida, Universal's Islands of Adventure and CityWalk. The buses run about every 10 minutes and will drop you off at the CityWalk entrance, where you will go through security before you walk through CityWalk to the theme parks. If you use the walking paths, it's about a 15 minute walk from the resort to CityWalk but you'll go through security at the end of the walking path, putting you closer to the entrances to the theme parks. Although this resort doesn't have a water taxi to the theme parks, it is right across the street from Loews Sapphire Falls Resort which does have water taxi service. If you happen to find yourself visiting Sapphire Falls, you could take the water taxi service. 
One of the biggest benefits of staying at Aventura is that there is a dedicated walking path from the resort that takes you straight to Universal's Volcano Bay. You are just steps away from the thrills and relaxation of Universal's water theme park. We stayed at Aventura, partially to take advantage of it's proximity to Volcano Bay, and we were very pleased with the 5 minute walk from the resort to the water park. 
View of Aventura from the Volcano Bay entrance
Aventura offers Standard, Deluxe and Kid's Suites room options. The Standard and Deluxe rooms sleep up to 4 guests and the Kid's Suite sleep up to 5 guests. We stayed in a Standard 2 Queen room with 4 adults and although we technically fit in the room, it was a little tight. The counter space across from the beds is plentiful but the counterspace/storage options in the bathroom vanity area is a little lacking. The views from our room were spectacular! I definitely recommend asking for a higher floor at this hotel or booking a Skyline View room to guarantee you'll be on a higher floor. 
Standard 2 Queen room
The view from our room at Aventura
There are a few dining options available at Aventura. The best, in my opinion, is Bar 17 Bistro which is located on the rooftop of the hotel, offering amazing views of Universal Orlando's theme parks, and serving a mixture of unique and classic dishes along with custom-crafted cocktails. It's a great spot to relax with a drink in the evening after enjoying the theme parks.
View from Bar 17 Bistro
The first floor of the hotel is home to several other quick service dining options. Urban Pantry is a food hall open for breakfast, lunch and dinner with a variety of selections from international flavors at the roast kitchen, a custom wok dish at the Asian Station to burgers and pizza. Next to Urban Pantry, in the heart of the hotel lobby, is Starbucks. The lobby bar, barVentura, and the pool bar, Bar Sol, are two great options to grab a beer, wine or cocktail.

The pool at Aventura is relatively small compared to the pools at other Universal hotels so if the hotel pool is a major factor in your hotel choice, then this resort might not be the right one for you. The hotel also a small splash zone for kids, a fire pit, and hot tub. That helps make up for the smaller pool. 
Aventura Hotel pool
For me, the biggest downside to staying at Aventura is that you don't get the FREE Universal Express Unlimited. In case you aren't familiar, the Universal Express Unlimited gives you access to skip the regular lines at most attractions in Universal's Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios Florida. That benefit is reserved for Premier Hotel guests and isn't available at this Prime Value hotel. I wouldn't say this is a total deal breaker for me but it's a major downside. The Express Unlimited pass is currently a must have for my family as my boys have no patience waiting in line and I have no patience dealing with them complaining. 

I think Aventura is a great option if you're looking to get all the benefits of staying at a Universal Orlando hotel at a value price point. I would happily stay at Aventura again but I would probably only stay there when I wasn't with my children or if it was a really slow time of year and I didn't need the Universal Express Unlimited pass. The hotel has a great modern feel, a fun rooftop bar and is in a perfect location if you want to visit Volcano Bay! 

Want to see more photos from Universal's Aventura Hotel? Check out our Photo Tour here

What do you think of Universal's Aventura Hotel? Would you stay here on a future trip? Have you already stayed here? Let us know in the comments. 

Ashley is a Hufflepuff who loves rollercoasters and thrill rides. You can email Ashley at ashley@kingdomkonsultant.com.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

House of Blues Brunch

Brunch is probably my favorite meal to go out for, and Disney Springs has some hidden gems in the brunch department. House of Blues offers weekend brunch with one of the best deals on property, bottomless mimosas!  If you’re up for it, House of Blues offers a laid back atmosphere with live music for brunch. It is available Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 2pm, with the full menu available after 12pm. We were sat in the back room where we couldn’t see the stage but could hear it and it was a great vibe!  Bottomless mimosas and coffee were the popular choice for beverages, but they also offer a variety of brunch cocktails and other options. Bottomless mimosa! We were a party of 8 and hungry, so we started with an order of nachos from the lunch menu and they were a HUGE portion, so glad we had a lot of people to share them with.  BBQ Nachos - Four cheese sauce, avocado, roasted corn salsa, pickled red onion, tomato, Memphis BBQ sauce, cilantro crema, cotija cheese. Chicken, Brisket or Pul

Carthay Circle Review

The Kingdom Konsultant team had the pleasure of being invited to the Disneyland Resort for agent training recently, and the first night the whole group was there, we went to Carthay Circle for dinner. The restaurant is a model of the famed Carthay Circle Theater, where Snow White debuted in 1937. The restaurant is elegant and beautiful, but not pretentious. They are used to people in theme park attire. We had trouble securing a reservation for 18, but we were able to get 3 smaller reservations and the restaurant was accommodating to seat us at tables next to each other. We had beautiful tables on the balcony overlooking Disney California Adventure and a dazzling sunset.  Some of us ordered entrees, some ordered appetizers but mostly we ordered a lot of things to share! Every table tried the Warm Cheddar Parker House Rolls, which were served with Calabrian Chili-Pine Nut Romesco Butter. These were delicious , and the butter was the real star.  Warm Cheddar Parker House Rolls & Calab

Black Tap Craft Burgers & Shakes

Black Tap Burgers & Shakes is located at the Downtown Disney District at the Disneyland Resort.  It is a fast-casual restaurant, meaning you order your items at the counter, but then they bring it to the table for you.  They have a selection of burgers, wings, salads and chicken and a fun milkshake menu.  If you just want a shake, there's also a walkup window outside, but some special creations can only be ordered for dine-in. We placed our order at the counter and noticed all the tables inside were full. We found a table outside and hung out while we waited for our food to come. They have a full bar and craft beers on tap, but I was surprised to get wine in a can. Strawberry Shortcake Shake We had hoped to have this Crazy Shake for dessert, but it actually came before any of our food. The Strawberry Shortcake is described as a vanilla frosted rim with crumbled cake topped with a strawberry shortcake ice cream bar, pink & white twisty pop, whipped cream, strawberry drizzle