Love that the water boats stay running so late, really helps after a tired day of walking at the park.

The boat captains transporting people to the parks were also personable and professional.

We were at the boat about 10 minutes to 7am and were able to get in the first boat.

Facilities wise the boat shuttle service to City Walk was efficient,

Boats to park make using an ECV wonderful.

There is a boat ride to universal city walk which takes 5 minutes, thus being able to quickly access the Universal Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios theme parks.

The restaurants are all good if a little pricy and the boat taxi to Universal was excellent.

I would definitely stay at a hotel with access to the boat.

Overall the hotel is mainly trading on the location which is a short and pleasant boat ride to universal studios.

The boat to the parks is lovely and a great way to go to and from the parks.

Amazing location being able to get the water boats straight from outside to universal parks.

The boats were seamless and such a pleasant way to traverse the parks.

One of the lovely water taxi trips had a fantastic boat ride with everyone singing YMCA on the boat which will forever be a fond memory for my sister and brother in law who got to enjoy that ride.

It is so easy to get to citywalk and parks, we choose to walk on a morning as we always have, especially when going to IOA as it takes 10 minutes from the boat dock and then catch the boat back after the parks.

The boat to City Walk allowed us to bypass the parking and security mess for regular guests and gave us a separate entrance to the event, which was very useful.

Pros:
- lovely spacious pool area
- extremely clean rooms and hotel
- boat service to universal
 - easy walk to volcano bay
- access to other universal hotels and pools
- new Dutch trading company service quick service till 11pm
- Alamo car hire desk in lobby
- daily housekeeping 
- friendly staff especially housekeeping who we could not fault

Improvements:
- few more shelves and towel rails needed in bath area
- room can feel cramped with a teen and 2 adults as there is no balcony -

If you're a family going to the Universal theme parks, Loews Sapphire Falls is pretty beautiful, clean, modern, and ideal, with lovely, modern rooms, baths, and grounds, including boats directly to the theme park.

but of all the hotels available with boat access to the parks, this was the lowest- end one.

The boat and/or walk to City Walk lovely.

Access to city walk was great if you like shopping and some food.

The water taxi's were ALWAYS there to take us back and forth to City Walk and Universal Parks.

The boat to Universal City Walk was very convenient.

One additional benefit of this resort is that you get the water taxi to Universal City Walk which starts early and runs late.

Quiet, clean, helpful and easy access to the parks and City Walk.

The water taxi to and from Universal's City walk was wonderful and unexpected!

The free water taxi to universal and city walks is fantastic and the boat staff and security are fun too.

They have the convenience of the dedicated walking path, shuttle, and water taxis to city walk.

Beautiful, moderate level resort with a price point beating anything the D offers. The pool area is well-themed, the lobby, restaurants, and lounges are inviting; and the water-taxi to City Walk makes for a very convenient and charming "commute."

The theme parks, city walk and volcano bay are a 10 minute walk away, or you can get the water taxi to city walk and the theme parks.

Super convenient water taxi that will take you directly to the parks and City Walk.

Beautiful walk (or leisurely boat ride) to City Walk or either of the Universal parks.

Very family friendly, clean and access to restaurants on the property and super convenient to have to water taxis to take you to and from City Walk and the parks.

The hotel is pretty, clean, and within walking distance to universal, volcano bay, and city walk.

The only enjoyable experience was the water taxi to the parks and city walk.

We really enjoyed the early park admission and easy, relaxing water taxi transportation to the theme parks and City Walk.

Charged in the hall, our ADA room with 2Q beds was effective for 2.

My only complaint is the extra $50/night charge for one of our sons.

Upon check in I was requested to provide a credit card to check in and have a $700 charge taken, as I do not have credit cards my debit card had to have a charge made to it.

Your hotel, unlike other competitors, charged us $15.98 to have a $6.00 bottle of cream my son needed / delivered from Amazon.

Check your bill as we were charged for the water we hadn't had - quickly rectified by reception.

We did decide that we missed having a balcony though the view over the shuttle boats always had something happening.. Poor in-room internet and even charged for it in the 'business centre'
We relied on the Amatista cookhouse for our evening meals

I'm sure it states somewhere in small print that this charge is required,

Needless to say I was charged more than what was initially quoted and when I called to dispute the charges I was told that due to the fact that I didn’t have a email showing those “quoted charges” I basically didn’t a fight and the charges will remain.

Thrown out with wet clothing due to a Universal employee’s (several employees as a matter of fact) poor communication and then charged full price for another night’s stay at a lesser resort with fewer amenities on our anniversary trip.

but that's probably why I was charged after I left now that I think about it.

We had to use them on the last day as our flight back to the UK was late and the charges for a late check out was extortionate.

I told him that none of the 4 cards were working.

Note there is a separate charge for the parking ($26 per day for self parking).

Again it took threatening to call a locksmith and charge them for the cost before they even asked what the keys looked like and found them.

I was advised once I was checked out, it would just come off the card that we added to our account on check in.

but we maxed out our credit card anyway so we can finally stay at Sapphire Falls!

There is No excuse for incorrect billing 2 stays in a row, this was my go to hotel,

but I missed where it said that you would be charged almost $40 a night for it.

The refreshments are very expensive anyway so with the service charge added it is a shock to the system!

We were also given a $100 hotel credit which was not honored.

We stayed at the Sapphire Hotel during the week of Thanksgiving-a very busy time for the resort and parks.

Very clean room, loved having the water taxi  take us to the park and not having to battle parking in the morning.

but as we primarily wanted to combine theme park action alongside some poolside relaxation, this seemed to tick boxes for both.

I loved being able to walk or ride the water taxi to the parks!

It is not just for families and is fun as a girls/lads break and even walking around the park alone is really safe and enjoyable.

We did like the boat to the park, it felt like you were still at the park and extended your whole park experience.

I like that the garden walk to either Volcano Bay or the theme parks is easy.

The convenience to the resort and theme parks is why we chose to stay

The pool was fantastic and the transport service to parks were super simple and convenient.

Its the acess to universal parks that make it.

French family who searched a hotel next to the Universal park
Nice hotel, very clean, easy to go to the park with the water taxi, RAS, it was a very good trip, good price, good place, very easy to find, parking there, nice pool with water slide

The hotel is beautiful and the convenience of distance to the universal parks is stellar.

The hotel is beautiful, the lobby has a gorgeous window at the end with amazing views of the water taxi area and the theme parks.

Friendly, helpful staff, great location, fast transportation to the parks, amazing pool, bar, and fire pit area, fantastic restaurant.

My family loved this hotel especially the food, pool, water slide and the water taxi from the hotel to the universal studios parks.

The halls were quiet, room spotless - almost as if we were the first to ever walk thru the doors, pool was perfect and convenient.

The hotel has a fitness room, pool and a video game room.

It was exactly what we were expecting - well located, well appointed, gorgeous sprawling pool with more than enough sunbeds for all, rooms no more or less than they are advertised as being and during our 6 night stay, experienced nothing

The pool is AMAZING and the staff is very attentive.

Beautifully clean hotel with lovely pool.

Aside from the above, there is a Universal store in the lobby with plenty of souvenir options, pharma needs and pool needs.

Pool is good and the slide went down well with the kids.

The pool and the hours it’s open is great!

Pool is very large and great for a family or just adults.

The pool is warm and always enough sunbeds.

In addition, your hotel once provided family entertainment on weekends at the pool which was a delight for kids.

We had a wonderful view overlooking the pool.

Two days of enjoying the pool and evenings of excellent meals.

However, you’re not paying premier prices either…

Now let me say this, cheaper does not always mean cheap.

I booked the hotel through the website and paid more than I would have if I booked with Expedia.

A family of 4 should be the same price regardless of age.

The cheaper hotels had the best benifits.It should have been some benefit for paying more than the other 3 hotels that occupy that same that entrance.

This unfortunately cost us dearly on our time in the parks as my children were unable to get back to sleep for sometime on each occasion.

Mandatory 20% service fee at Strong Water Tavern.

however, their policy states you cannot leave your pet in the room unattended ever - you cannot dine out, you cannot go to the pool, you cannot go to Universal Studios - so why travel a long distance and pay big money to sit in a hotel room !?

We paid over a $1,000 for this suite for just one night.

but we would have preferred a king bed option instead but this was not available without a massive increase in price which I didn't feel justified opting for this just for a bigger bed in the room.

Stock up on cheaper bottles of wine at Walgreens or elsewhere on International drive
5.

but look closer and it’s just not worth the additional cost compared to Aventura or Cabana Bay.

Our trip was fully paid and we just decided to budget cash to take and not use credit cards.

It might seem expensive to rent one at the beginning

I have given 4 stars purely due to the expensive food at this property.

Note you can stay at Adventura right next door cheaper and walk over and use water taxi.

What a great place couldn’t give a higher review the staff amazing the restaurants were very very good.

We had breakfast every day at Amatista…they have a great buffet as well as a la carte menu selections and a Kids menu.

I'd especially call out the exceptional service at the front desk, in the Amatista restaurant and the pick up cafe on the lobby floor, and of the housekeeping staff.

We didn’t eat at the sit down restaurant,

Food was delicious and highly recommend the grilled octopus.

The cafe also has a great selection of pastries and evening pizza.

Hotel was great and high quality through out, food was good in taste and portion size.

We had breakfast only once at the Amatista restaurant which was fine, was being pushed to go for the all-inclusive/eat as much as you like type deal,

The restaurant quality and bistro options are good and fairly priced.

We chose to stay 4 days at the end of our villa holiday, as it meant no driving, early park admission and all the benefits of city walk for eating.

They have great knowledge of food and drink.

Amatista - This is the resorts full restaurant.

The restaurants had a nice variety of food and it was delicious!

Strong Water Tavern, the tapas bar, was incredible and the drinks were great.

My wife dealt with him and he was exemplary.

Hotel staff was lovely during every interaction.

Great hotel, really is a nice place and very friendly staff.

This is a nice hotel and the staff is very nice.

The staff were all very friendly and helpful.

My plan was to give it to him downstairs in reception when I saw him.

The concierge desk especially who went over an above on a couple of occasions, feedback for which I shared in their own post-stay questionnaire also.

Staff was always responsive and wonderful.

Shout out to Patty and Jimmy lovely servers.

Both rooms had a desk and full dresser with tv and cable.

The staff are all helpful and friendly and after we had an alrm sound in the middle of the night we were given a generous discout.

Pierre at the Front Desk checked me in and he was so knowledgeable  and nice!

All of the staff was very nice and very accommodating.

We took the water taxi every day to and from the parks….very efficient!

Transportation to Universal Studios was very comfortable and enjoyable, especially by water taxi.

The after taxi is so fast, you don’t wait long to get to and from.

But taxi is great for end of day when your feet are dead from so much walking.

But the hotel is perfect, the staff were so lovely and helpful, the food around the pool was nice, nothing was a problem for the hard workers at this hotel.. 
lovely decorated, water taxi to parks ..

Easy stress free water taxi to the parks.

Great place to stay, clean and the water taxi is great way to get to the parks 
We will definately stay again 
Food was great, the pool is awesome
Staff was great , cant wait to go back 
Nothing

Very close to the park so the water taxi was ideal.

You can walk to volcano bay from the front of the hotel, walk alongside the Ventura hotel and always keeping it to your left and you enter at the security section, easy.

Looking at future vaca stays  we went to ventura no luck so we walked up to Sapphire falls and Christina not only was very informative she took us up to view a room and explicit explained more than our travel agent has !

Loews Sapphire Falls Resort at Universal Orlando

price

creditcard

pool

park

ventura

staff

restaurant

taxi

city walk

boat

They have so much right at the hotel you can spend a few days just hanging out by the pool with their transportation to city walk, or the parks the other days.

We even walked to city walk one day on the garden path near Sapphire Falls.

The employees at the store were always helpful and the Bayliner Diner had great food offerings when we didn't hit the City Walk.

Shuttles to/from universal City walk were plentiful and ran quickly.

You can easily walk to all three parks, or utilize the bus or water taxi (at Sapphire Falls) to get to City Walk and the parks.

Amazing place, people friendly and polite, clean place 
Easy to access to the dinner place, different options to choose meals for all the tastes at breakfast, lunch an dinner 
Easy transportation to the city walk

The best experiences for friends and family.There is plenty activities and places to visit.The universal city walk is a 12/10 experience.The Halloween horror nights were amazing.

The hotel also provides a free shuttles to and from city walk and we never had to wait long to get one.

We can walk, take a bus shuttle or a pleasant water taxi (from Sapphire Falls across the street) to City Walk and the parks.

Early park entry and bus to city walk were excellent 
Pools are lovely 
Stayed in a family apartment with a bit more space than a standard room - well worth the extra 
Will stay here again when we come back to theme parks 
Great base

It was so convenient to take the bus across to Universal Studios City Walk and Parks.

but to be fair that’s not at this hotel’s price point and with City Walk and International Drive a few minutes away there is plenty of choice there.

We chose to eat most of our dinners at restaurants located in City Walk.

Walk a couple mins take you direct to volcano Bay..
Few mins on a bus to city walk and universal themeparks ..

We stayed in a suite in continental block with pool view it was AMAZING .

Upon arrival we were given a map and some useful information to get us started on our holiday - including regarding the use of the free bus service to and from Universals City walk (which drops you at the Universal theme parks for those who don't know).

Its faster to go through security there than down at city walk.

Hotel was about 10 minute bus ride to bus terminal at city walk which was convenient and busses ran often.

Bus shows up on time with hardly no wait time to get to city walk and back to the hotel.

Family suite had ample room, like the style, kitchenette with decent fridge and microwave, coffee maker, so did own thing for breakfast.

The resort is themed so beautifully, our room (family suite) was nice and comfortable.

Our family suite was located on the backend of the Thunderbird building.

Always stay in the external courtyard family suites with a pool view.

even though we were going to the Magic Kingdom because of their family suites.

Our family suite was at the back of the Continental and it seemed like a very long way from the lobby and bus stops at the end of each day.

We were in a family suite with outside entry, and were able to park right outside our building.

(we had a family suite in the continental building )

Although the room is sold as a family suite, it is basically a room with a thin partition dividing the bedroom and living area.

We stayed here in July as a family of 4, in a family suite.

We checked in around midnight, with no line, and got an upgrade to a family suite.

They offer a family suite to sleep our family of 5 without breaking the bank!

Was able to get into Islands of Adventure 1 hour before actual park opening to general population, nice sized clean and comfy suite for a family of 5, not noisy, 2 great pools and helpful sweet professional staff and plenty of snacks, foods, and restaurants and bars to purchase from.

Just spent 2 weeks in a Family Suite exterior entry with my husband and 2 children, 11 and 8.

We had an interior family suite which was great for our family of 4 with 2 teenagers.

We had an indoor family suite that included two queen beds and a pull out sofa bed.

From the many choices of dinning to the convince of travel to the parks.

Transportation to the parks is vis Universal busses & takes maybe 7-10 minutes - always a bus waiting every time both going & coming to the parks.

We always plan our vacation for Christmas at Cabana Bay and Universal Parks.

but the real selling point is the easy and free transportation to and from the parks, as well as early park admission.

We love staying here and enjoy the ease of getting to the park with the great bus transportation.

Use the park shuttle so much easier and faster than parking.

We loved the location of the resort, and the convenience of the free shuttle service to the Universal parks, and to CityWalk.

The bus service to Universal parks was also quite useful.

One last detail, I like watching movies after a good day at the parks.

Transportation to the parks is quick and easy; shuttle, bus and walking.

but was all we needed since we were  at parks most of the time.

Can’t beat the price, service, and locations to the parks.

They have the music blaring until 10pm so if you like to get away from the parks for any peace and quiet, you won’t have it here.

We had a multi day pass for all the Universal Parks which meant we could just dip in and out over the vacation.

It's a definite must for those visiting Universal Them Parks.

Even if you drive in and park there the walk to parking from either park is very far, universal is lacking in that area.

Recommend this hotel especially for families close to parks free shuttle service, Friendly staff great location and wonderful experience.

Our room was perfectly serviced daily, pool and public areas were also clean and tidy at all times.

The pool already has rotating soundtracks for music which is quite pleasant -

Quick access to parks by bus and multiple pools!

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