Universal's Cabana Bay Beach Resort

Cabana Bay has over two thousand rooms and it was at capacity when I was there for four days in late July. I checked-in around 5pm on a Saturday and had to wait 45 minutes. There were 11 receptionists, including one who managed the line for guests who checked-in early virtually. That said, the check-in line was much longer later at night when I walked by. The worse was a 2-hour wait on a Sunday night. My observations suggest you should check-in after 1pm on a weekday, but no later than 6pm. This five-hour window is when the front desk is at full staff and housekeeping has cleaned a significant number of rooms from guests who left that morning. After reading the negative reviews, I find it hard to believe they were at the same hotel. #1 ) The landscaping was some of the best I've ever seen. All of the common areas were clean, including the cafeteria, lobby, and both pools. In the cafeteria particularly, staff constantly sanitized tables and vacuumed. #2) After you check-in, the front desk texts you a welcome message on your phone. They ask for your permission beforehand. If you need anything, more towels, fix a broken light bulb, internet connection, etc., just text that number and tell them what you need. I always got a quick response. #3) The cafeteria has many options for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The international station was my favorite. I ate breakfast there every day and was satisfied with the food. Not so much with the prices. I did arrive before 8am to take advantage of the early admission to the parks and the food lines weren't long. On my last day, I slept late. The cafeteria was a mob at 9:30am. My advice is to eat early for breakfast and dinner. I was charged $29 for an omelet one morning and told the cashier "not happening." She immediately fixed the error. I kept a running tab in my head for future meals from then on. #4) All of the staff, from the janitors to the managers, were friendly and polite. I tipped the shuttle driver and the luggage services attendant and they were about to cry. "Thank you so much!" they both exclaimed. "I really appreciate it!" the driver continued. The lack of tips could be a big reason why the hotel is understaffed. Who wants to work in a place where the guests don't tip? Will a few dollars really make that big of a dent in your budget? #5) I had a poolside room in the Beachside tower. It was clean, no odors and had a fantastic view of the resort. I could see the Harry Potter castle in the background. The bed and pillow were okay, but the blanket was terrible. It seemed to be three sheets sewn together. All the bed linens were white. No doubt to speed the cleaning process by bleaching the *heck* out of them. The A/C was too loud to sleep with at night, which is a common problem I have with most hotels. The walls were thin, also. However, the big shower with a sliding glass door was fantastic. It had an internal clothesline which came in very handy. The lack of a tub would probably be a drawback for families with small children -- be sure to ask for a tub during check-in if you need one. #6) The amenities like a bowling alley, gym, video game room were nice but small for a hotel of that size. The bowling alley only has 10 lanes. Book in advance if you really want to use it. Yes, the Starbucks line was insanely long. The cafeteria coffee was decent enough to get me going. And if you just have to have that $6.75 latte with an extra pump of syrup, there are Starbucks stores in the parks. You can get a free cup of water if you ask which was a necessity since every day during my trip averaged 90 degrees. #7) There are two nice hotels directly across the street: Aventura and Sapphire Falls which have their own small restaurants / food kiosks if you want something different and don't feel like the trip to CityWalk. Oh, did I mention both hotels have their own Starbucks(!) ? There should be a crosswalk at the traffic light because the only approved way to get to them is to take the garden walk which turns what should be a 2-minute walk from the Cabana Bay lobby into 12 minutes. Of course, people chose to jaywalk instead. Note to Universal Resorts: Put up fences or install the crosswalk. Sooner or later, someone is going to be a speed bump for an SUV. The pool "lagoon" at Sapphire Falls is awesome. You are allowed to use it, along with the pools at Royal Pacific, Hard Rock and Portofino. #8) There are areas for smokers. One of the spots was on the path I used to the cafeteria, which was annoying when I stumbled into a cloud of tobacco. #9) I would stay at Cabana Bay again, but only if I had a poolside room. I'd advise against the Volcano Bay rooms because the tiki music starts very early. Read less

Prepare to wait for 4-5 hours at check-in. Terrible experience fir us and it was just the beginning. Almost nothing worked, not very clean (except our room, it was clean). Incredibly expensive food with unbelieveable lines to wait in to pay; food not worth the price AT ALL. You will be much happier ordering from one of the many restaurants in the area. Bring your own tubes for the lazy river, they only sell them here, and they had none while we were there. I wish we had stayed elsewhere, it would have been a better experience for sure. Read less

We spent 6 nights here last week and had a blast. Have seen so may negative reviews about how dirty and run down the place was which had us scared. We found the place to be the exact opposite, the staff was constantly walking around picking up trash and keeping the place spotless. You have to know going in this is a family hotel so it is loud around the pools and the inside diner is very busy at nights. We had no issues getting food at the Hideaway outside pool area while the inside was overpacked so recommend trying that. During the days that we stayed at the hotel on our days off from the parks we had no issues enjoying everything. Only downside is the check in process, we arrived around 8:30pm on a Saturday night and it took us an hour to get checked in. They either need more staff or somehow streamline this process. Lots of unnecessary talking by the staff that makes a 7-10 minute process last 15-20 for each guest. Read less