pepperandchips
[melinda]
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2014
January 14 - arrival day
After our quick breakfast stop, we made our way back to Universal Boulevard. We initially missed the turn in (how could you miss the giant sign?) but eventually wound our way down the beautiful drive, passing the namesake bay and catching our first glimpse of this gorgeous resort in the blue dawn light. Knowing a 7:00 arrival would make an available room unlikely, we left our bags in the car, took our theme park day bags, and made our way up from the parking garage.
Every touch in this hotel was appreciated, from the folding french doors (rather than the standard automatic glass sliding doors) to the faux stucco decor and the soft lighting. There were a number of gentlemen in the front desk queue who appeared to be checking out after a business conference, but we were greeted in short order by a very friendly young lady who checked us in, gave us resort maps, told us about early entry (at Studios all week this week), and best of all told us that our room in the west wing was ready! I'd already decided that I wanted to ask for a west wing room as I thought it would be most convenient for us near the pools and boat dock. We found our way across the courtyard and into building 3. Our room was nearly at the end of the hall furthest from the lobby - which would be just our luck since we typically end up with a room in east Timbuktu, but as we didn't really need the lobby much for this trip, the location ended up being perfect.
I could go on for days about how much I loved this room! It was so spacious (as it should be at 450 sq. ft!), beautifully decorated with a mix of contemporary and classic decor, and extremely cozy and comfortable.
Garden view two queen room (standard size - 450 sq ft)
Beyond being excited that our room was ready at 7:00 am, I found the kiosks to print the express passes easy to use and the staff to be exceptionally friendly and warm. When we entered the room, the lights were blazing and everything was sparklingly clean. A quick peak out the curtains revealed our "garden view" to be an obscured view of the pool. We don't spend much time looking out the window in the room, so I had no real preference about our view, but I certainly prefer the pool view to a parking lot or rooftop view (which I've had in other Orlando accomodations).
As expected, the entry of our room was outfitted with a nice bar set up and a Keurig coffee machine. We don't use Keurig at home and I'd ended up wishing I'd bought some different K cups than what were offered - but the coffee was still ok and I was glad to see that they'd provided miniature liquid creamers rather than powdered creamer (yuck!).
The bathroom and toiletries were on par with everything else in the room. We had great housekeeping during our stay and I appreciated that she always left us plenty of washcloths and towels.
After a quick freshen-up, we were ready to head toward the park for early admission at Universal Studios. I was about to get my first taste of Universal in over two decades!
First day continued in next post...
After our quick breakfast stop, we made our way back to Universal Boulevard. We initially missed the turn in (how could you miss the giant sign?) but eventually wound our way down the beautiful drive, passing the namesake bay and catching our first glimpse of this gorgeous resort in the blue dawn light. Knowing a 7:00 arrival would make an available room unlikely, we left our bags in the car, took our theme park day bags, and made our way up from the parking garage.
Every touch in this hotel was appreciated, from the folding french doors (rather than the standard automatic glass sliding doors) to the faux stucco decor and the soft lighting. There were a number of gentlemen in the front desk queue who appeared to be checking out after a business conference, but we were greeted in short order by a very friendly young lady who checked us in, gave us resort maps, told us about early entry (at Studios all week this week), and best of all told us that our room in the west wing was ready! I'd already decided that I wanted to ask for a west wing room as I thought it would be most convenient for us near the pools and boat dock. We found our way across the courtyard and into building 3. Our room was nearly at the end of the hall furthest from the lobby - which would be just our luck since we typically end up with a room in east Timbuktu, but as we didn't really need the lobby much for this trip, the location ended up being perfect.
I could go on for days about how much I loved this room! It was so spacious (as it should be at 450 sq. ft!), beautifully decorated with a mix of contemporary and classic decor, and extremely cozy and comfortable.
Garden view two queen room (standard size - 450 sq ft)
Beyond being excited that our room was ready at 7:00 am, I found the kiosks to print the express passes easy to use and the staff to be exceptionally friendly and warm. When we entered the room, the lights were blazing and everything was sparklingly clean. A quick peak out the curtains revealed our "garden view" to be an obscured view of the pool. We don't spend much time looking out the window in the room, so I had no real preference about our view, but I certainly prefer the pool view to a parking lot or rooftop view (which I've had in other Orlando accomodations).
As expected, the entry of our room was outfitted with a nice bar set up and a Keurig coffee machine. We don't use Keurig at home and I'd ended up wishing I'd bought some different K cups than what were offered - but the coffee was still ok and I was glad to see that they'd provided miniature liquid creamers rather than powdered creamer (yuck!).
The bathroom and toiletries were on par with everything else in the room. We had great housekeeping during our stay and I appreciated that she always left us plenty of washcloths and towels.
After a quick freshen-up, we were ready to head toward the park for early admission at Universal Studios. I was about to get my first taste of Universal in over two decades!
First day continued in next post...