Portofino Bay Hotel, A Loews Hotel

The hotel was themed well. But there is definitely a lack of security. I was accosted by a guest near the villa pool. There was not one employee around. I also noticed I never once saw any security personnel at this hotel at all until I reported this incident. The buildings have a key slot to enter but you didnt even need to swipe your card they were always open. If you are looking for a place and dont want to worry about your safety this is definitely not the place. Be aware of your surroundings if you choose to stay here.

Love the idea that when you stay on property you can have access to go on the ride without waiting in line for hours which that's how long it looks. Clean Villas and interesting things to see when you stroll through the hotel. and the water taxis to and from the park and to citywalk.

Portofino is a fine example of a theme hotel designed to let people experience the magic of italy. Why we choose to do this on a trip to America is a puzzel but hey thats holidays for you.

The roomsare big and clean and the staff helpful always greating you with Italian phrases etc adds to the experience .

The water taxis are fun and easy to use running every 15 min however they could do with a little better organisation .

The restaurants are nice and well priced but they did seem to close a little too early , however with the Universal city walk a short ride on the water taxi away its nice to sample the many fine restaurants around .

Out and about its got the obvious theme parks attached but also very close to several shopping malls .

We booked for the last two nights of our holiday and used it as a stop over before catching the plane from Sanford airport which is about 30 min away.

The hotel is great for this however I would not hesitate to book a full holiday in the Portofino and look forward to my next trip.

Loved the pools. Hated the front desk staff. Very rude and stuffy. Club room always too crowded. Water taxis took forever. Security a problem.

Ask for a view. We didnt have one!