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The Loews Sapphire Falls Resort at the Universal Orlando Resort is a great choice if you want to visit the Universal theme parks. Its onsite location means you can walk to Universal Studios Florida, Islands of Adventure, and Universal Citywalk. They also have boat transportation and bus transportation to Volcano Bay. They’ve got spacious rooms, great amenities, and plenty of dining. But the theming is lacking and it’s a bit expensive. Ultimately though we loved our stay, and would recommend a stay at the hotel for your family, too.
So let’s give you a full list of the positives and negatives of this hotel and then go more in depth on a few points.
Positives
- Spacious rooms
- Comfortable beds
- Spacious bathrooms in the guest rooms
- Great pool complex
- Gorgeous color scheme
- Lots of restaurants
- Within walking distance of Universal Studios Florida, Islands of Adventure, and Universal CityWalk
Negatives
- Theming is a bit lacking
- Longer walk than other onsite Universal Orlando hotels
- Expensive
- Lacking a quick-service restaurant
Theming
Loews Sapphire Falls has a Caribbean theming. I love the theming and the Caribbean music playing. The decorations in the guest rooms are great. I love the colors throughout the resort.
But it is not a completely immersive hotel in the same way other hotels are at Universal, like Portofino Bay, Cabana Bay, or Royal Pacific. I never really felt like I was at a Caribbean island while I was there.
Of course, all that being said, I still loved my stay here. It’s a beautiful resort and staying at a beautiful resort is a great experience in and of itself. And I did like the artwork around the hotel and the overall decor.
And I loved how there were even decorated staircases.
But if you like a hotel with a completely immersive theme, you might want to consider booking one of the hotels I mentioned before.
Exterior/Pool Complex/Other Ammenities
In addition to the decor inside the hotel, the outside of the hotel is gorgeous, too.
I also really love the pool complex, with great features like:
- Zero entry pool
- Sand beach area
- Children’s play area with pop-up jets
- A very large hot tub
- A poolside restaurant and bar with plenty of tables for seating
- A fire pit
- A waterslide
They also have movies by the pool at night. This can be great if your kid still has energy at night so they can swim and watch the movie while you relax on a comfortable chair with a drink from their poolside bar.
Other amenities they have at the hotel include:
- An arcade/game room
- A fitness center
Transportation to the Parks
Sapphire Falls offers boat transportation to the theme parks, which I really like.
Not all Universal Orlando hotels offer boat transportation. Some offer bus transportation, which I do not like as much. Where the busses drop you off is a farther walk than the boat dock. Plus, boat rides are smoother than bus rides.
Though I do must say, when I say theme parks, I mean Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure. You have bus transportation to Volcano Bay, but that is pretty standard for Universal Orland hotels.
You can also walk to Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, and Universal Citywalk from Sapphire Falls. It is more of a walk than other Universal hotels, like Royal Pacific or Portofino Bay. But it’s really great to have that option.
Rooms
As I mentioned before, the rooms are beautifully decorated. They are also very spacious.
It has a nice desk area if you need to do any work during your vacation.
The beds were really comfortable. I also really liked the pillows on the bed.
The bathrooms were great and spacious, which you don’t always get at hotels. I also liked the mirror in the bathroom and the colors around the mirror.
And I like the decor in the bedroom, too.
Dining
There are multiple dining options at Loews Sapphire Falls Resort:
- Amatista Cookhouse (hotel’s remiere sit-down restaurant)
- Drhum Club Kantine (Poolside restaurant/bar)
- New Dutch Trading Co. (Quick service restaurant)
- Strong Water Tavern (A bar and tapas-style dining)
My family’s favorite was Amatista Cookhouse.
We loved the breakfast buffet, you can read our buffet breakfast review here.
They also have a great breakfast and lunch, which you can read about in our Amatista Cookhouse dinner review.
But if I had one complaint about the dining, it would be that there aren’t enough quick service options. Now, don’t get me wrong, I like New Dutch Trading Co. They have some good food options.
But it’s not a big food court like some of Universal’s other hotels like Cabana Bay and Surfside Inn. There is one line to get your food rather than multiple food stations in those food courts. So the line can get long in the morning. And there’s not nearly enough seating. And while the sit-down restaurant is really good and I like it, sometimes I just want a quick meal (especially since they are more affordable).
Pricing
And finally, I would like to talk about pricing. Sapphire Falls is about in the middle when it comes to pricing for Universal Orlando hotels. It is not as expensive as Portofino Bay or Royal Pacific. But it is also not as affordable as Dockside or Surfside.
But if you would like to stay at Sapphire Falls and want to get an even better price, I have had good luck booking my hotel here. The prices are much cheaper than what you would see on other websites.
Sapphire Falls Comparisons
Throughout this blog entry, I have compared Sapphire Falls to other Universal Orlando. If you want a more in-depth look at how Sapphire Falls compares to other Universal Orlando Resorts, check out these blog entries: