Nervous about Cabana Bay...

[leahgoogle]

We are are doing a split stay the end of October between RP and CB. Given all the negative reviews about CB, I am wondering if I should switch to a different hotel. We are really interested in being close to Volcano Bay. What hotel would be a good one to switch to?

 

[Lynne G]

I think many enjoy their CB stay. And you cannot beat the closet access to walk right into VB. Unless you want to explore a different resort, I’d keep CB.

Plus, if you are doing RPR first, even after you checkout and check into CB, you can use your RPR key on that switching day, as remains your express to the other 2 parks for the rest of the time the are open. RPR’s included express via your room key, is good the day you check in through the day you checkout. I do the same thing, I move from RPR this Fall to SF for the rest of my stay.

 

[EveDallas]

Cabana Bay is awesome! Every hotel has negative reviews - best to make up your own mind about it. And literally no other hotel is as close to Volcano Bay.

 

[leahgoogle]

Cabana Bay is awesome! Every hotel has negative reviews - best to make up your own mind about it. And literally no other hotel is as close to Volcano Bay.

OK, I will keep it for now. I don't doubt that it is a great hotel. I'm in a Universal Fan group and many people have been recently and said they are severely understaffed. Like rooms not cleaned at check-in and trash all over the halls understaffed.

 

[DLgal]

We cancelled our CB reservation in 3 weeks and switched to Hard Rock. There were just FAR too many horrific reviews, all mentioning the same problems that, frankly, were things I am not willing to tolerate on a vacation. Chief among them, disgustingly dirty rooms and the pervasive smell of marijuana smoke. Allegedly, this hotel is called "Cannabis Bay" by the locals. Yeah, no. Not paying to stay at a frat house, thanks.

And sure, there are also good reviews, but on balance, there seem to be far more negative reviews which point to a failure of management, which wasn't something we wanted to put up with. There seems to be no attempt at guest recovery at the moment. It's a lot of shrugging and saying "nothing we can do."

If you still want to be able to walk to VB, switch to Sapphire Falls. We were going to do that, but decided for an extra $100/night, we'd just go with a premier resort to get the Express Pass. We already plan to just buy the separate VB EP for $20, so now we will just have to take a bus there instead. No biggie.

 

[leahgoogle]

We cancelled our CB reservation in 3 weeks and switched to Hard Rock. There were just FAR too many horrific reviews, all mentioning the same problems that, frankly, were things I am not willing to tolerate on a vacation. Chief among them, disgustingly dirty rooms and the pervasive smell of marijuana smoke. Allegedly, this hotel is called "Cannabis Bay" by the locals. Yeah, no. Not paying to stay at a frat house, thanks.

And sure, there are also good reviews, but on balance, there seem to be far more negative reviews which point to a failure of management, which wasn't something we wanted to put up with. There seems to be no attempt at guest recovery at the moment. It's a lot of shrugging and saying "nothing we can do."

If you still want to be able to walk to VB, switch to Sapphire Falls. We were going to do that, but decided for an extra $100/night, we'd just go with a premier resort to get the Express Pass. We already plan to just buy the separate VB EP for $20, so now we will just have to take a bus there instead. No biggie.

This is what I have been reading too! Like, nasty, I would not stay there stuff. We wanted to stay at RP the whole trip, but they don't have availability for our last night. This is what led me to pick up a different hotel for one night.

 

[EveDallas]

This is what I have been reading too! Like, nasty, I would not stay there stuff. We wanted to stay at RP the whole trip, but they don't have availability for our last night. This is what led me to pick up a different hotel for one night.

If you feel that strongly about it, then I would definitely stay somewhere else. Go with your gut - don't let me or anyone else talk you into something you don't want. Just know that right now pretty much all the hotels are understaffed and housekeeping is not being offered so guests are told to put trash and used towels in the hallways for pick up.

 

[georgina]

We are are doing a split stay the end of October between RP and CB. Given all the negative reviews about CB, I am wondering if I should switch to a different hotel. We are really interested in being close to Volcano Bay. What hotel would be a good one to switch to?

It has been disheartening to see the bad reviews, I have always loved CBBR, but haven't stayed there in a year and a half. The next closest to VB is Aventura. I believe you can walk from there also.

 

[Carrol]

If you feel that strongly about it, then I would definitely stay somewhere else. Go with your gut - don't let me or anyone else talk you into something you don't want. Just know that right now pretty much all the hotels are understaffed and housekeeping is not being offered so guests are told to put trash and used towels in the hallways for pick up.

That's too bad about CB. We've stayed there 3 times in the past and loved it. Our last trip (just before COVID hit we stayed at Aventura. It's across the street from CB. Very modern and not themed. We loved this one as well. They have robots roaming the lobby. Sometimes they contain free samples of Starbuck smoothies. Staff were great. By the end our trip we were on a first name basis with many of them. If they ever open up the borders we'll be going back and staying there for a couple of weeks and one week at a deluxe (haven't decided which one as we have never stayed at any of them).

Enjoy your trip.

 

[ClapYourHands]

We had a fantastic stay there in April. No line to check in. Room was clean. Housekeeping was great about bringing extra linen and towels when we texted. It was quiet, and no smells of any kind of smoke. Granted, we stayed exterior entry family suites, so smoking would probably dissipate more because the halls are outdoors and I assume mostly family groups stay in that section, so they’re probably less likely to party. The only downside was the lazy river was closed for maintenance. Still, we liked it better than Hard Rock. I’m surprised by the poor reviews I’ve been seeing lately.

If you don’t want to risk CBBR, try Aventura. It’s the same hotel class, so prices are usually the same, and it also has easy access to VB.

 

[cschaaf]

We stayed at Aventura at the end of July and it was nice. Same class as Cabana Bay, but felt more 'upscale'. It's also easy to get around the resort; not like CB which is sprawling.

It's a short walk from Aventura to Volcano Bay.

 

[New Mouse]

I love cabana bay. As far as proximity tk volcano bay you cannot go wrong.

See if you can get a tower volcano view. Probably my all time favorite when it comes to hotel rooms.

 

[fivikse]

If you feel that strongly about it, then I would definitely stay somewhere else. Go with your gut - don't let me or anyone else talk you into something you don't want. Just know that right now pretty much all the hotels are understaffed and housekeeping is not being offered so guests are told to put trash and used towels in the hallways for pick up.

We just got back from Royal Pacific (checked out yesterday) and had Housekeeping every day - we didn't request it and weren't expecting it. The first day it was weird - they made one bed, not the other and replaced a couple towels but not the rest and didn't replace toiletries. After that it was normal housekeeping.

I have stayed at Sapphire Falls on a non-park trip and enjoyed it. Honestly if you are worried about Cabana Bay and it is just one night, I'd switch to one of the newer ones. Because now that you're looking for it, everything negative you see at CB will stand out.

 

[EveDallas]

We just got back from Royal Pacific (checked out yesterday) and had Housekeeping every day - we didn't request it and weren't expecting it. The first day it was weird - they made one bed, not the other and replaced a couple towels but not the rest and didn't replace toiletries. After that it was normal housekeeping.

I have stayed at Sapphire Falls on a non-park trip and enjoyed it. Honestly if you are worried about Cabana Bay and it is just one night, I'd switch to one of the newer ones. Because now that you're looking for it, everything negative you see at CB will stand out.

It's good to know they've restarted housekeeping. It was still not happening when I went in April. It will be nice having my beds made again!

 

[Bethany10]

It has been disheartening to see the bad reviews, I have always loved CBBR, but haven't stayed there in a year and a half. The next closest to VB is Aventura. I believe you can walk from there also.

I'm with you. We stayed at CB in 2019 and again this past June. I really loved the hotel in 2019 and was excited to go back this year. You can tell they're suffering from staffing. I'm hopeful they can get more staff on board and bring it back up to standard, it really is a neat hotel and the access to VB can't be beat.

 

[mamamelody2]

We stayed 4 nights at CBBR two months ago. No issues. Didn't notice anything like those reviews are talking about. Maybe we were just lucky, I don't know. We were in an inside entry standard room. We really enjoyed our stay!

 

[DoryGirl1963]

We stayed 4 nights at CBBR two months ago. No issues. Didn't notice anything like those reviews are talking about. Maybe we were just lucky, I don't know. We were in an inside entry standard room. We really enjoyed our stay!

Same here - stayed 05/09-14/2021 at CBBR - Poolside Family Suite Exterior Entry - & no issues at all - our best visit to date - had a fabulous time!

Cabana Bay is our favorite property for our longer UO vacations - I sure hope they can get staffed back up (or fix whatever the issue(s) are) & back on track

 

[DLgal]

We stayed 4 nights at CBBR two months ago. No issues. Didn't notice anything like those reviews are talking about. Maybe we were just lucky, I don't know. We were in an inside entry standard room. We really enjoyed our stay!

The negative reports seemed to start happening around late June onward. It seems like the hotel went up to 100% capacity with only 60% of their staff back, and that is when things went downhill in a major way.

 

[Travelgrrl]

Allegedly, this hotel is called "Cannabis Bay" by the locals.

Ummm, I might need to investigate that further when we're there in December! Is it sold in the gift shop, the food court, or at Starbucks?

(Just kidding, of course!)

 

[mamamelody2]

The negative reports seemed to start happening around late June onward. It seems like the hotel went up to 100% capacity with only 60% of their staff back, and that is when things went downhill in a major way.

Oof! I hope they can get things back up to snuff. I really enjoyed that hotel and the amenities! Very fun vibe!