HotelChatter - Stories about Loews Portofino Bay Hotel

Orlando: A Tale of Two Pools at Loews Portofino Bay

JetSetCD — 2010-07-30T15:02:03-05:00

Stay at a hotel in a city, and you've got very little chance of hopping into a pool. Stay in a hotel in a vacation destination in Florida however, and you not only are almost guaranteed a pool, but typically you've got your choice of pools.

This is the case at Universal Studios' Loews Portofino Bay Hotel, which sports both an "adult" pool and a "family pool." The latter is where we found all the action when we visited the hotel for a few days recently, and yet no one was at all interested in the quieter, more refined adult pool.

Orlando: Our New Obsessions: Hotels with Their Own Boats

JetSetCD — 2010-07-01T15:56:00-05:00

<![CDATA[<img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/6193/PortofinoBayreflect.jpg" class="top"> Yea, we totally snapped this photo and the best moment between storm and sunset You may arrive to your hotel by limo, taxi, subway or even helicopter, but nothing beats the romance of gliding up to a magnificent hotel by boat. Naturally, when you think of hotel boats, your thoughts first turn to Venice's gondolas and the <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/Hotel+Danieli/ian/141155">Hotel Danieli</a> or the tender out to the <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2008/5/20/221754/578/hotels/Snapshot_The_W_Boat_at_the_W_Maldives">W Maldives</a>, but we found something a little bit closer to home. As part of the attempt to inject Universal Studios' <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/Loews+Portofino+Bay+Hotel/local/1200">Loews Portofino Bay Hotel</a> with all the charms of Italy, the hotel boasts its own water taxi for direct transport over the Universal CityWalk area, which you don't need

5 Hotels Where Kids Can Sleep with Their Favorite Character

Jennifer Kester — 2010-06-30T15:01:00-05:00

When you bring Junior to a hotel, why put him up in some boring beige room? Win the best-parent-ever award by staying a colorful SpongeBob or Dr. Seuss suite that'll also score him lots of swag. We scoured around the most kid-friendly hotels to find the ones with the coolest rooms.

After the jump, choose your own hotel adventure based on your kid's favorite character.

Orlando: Emeril Lagasse Greets You in the Morning at Universal Orlando Resorts

JetSetCD — 2010-06-21T15:11:46-05:00

While some hotels are all about flaunting their Top Chef winners (ah hem Affinia Chicago and Marcus Samuelsson of C-House), others stick with the already established names, like Wolfgang Puck or Emeril Lagasse. You'll find the latter dominating the in-room coffee trays of Universal Orlando's three resorts—Loews Portofino Bay Resort at Universal Studios Orlando, Loews Royal Pacific and Hard Rock Hotel—with Emeril-branded "Jazzed Up Decaf" and "Big Easy Bold" paired with a Keurig coffee machine.

Orlando: Skip the Lines at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter by Staying at a Universal Resort

JetSetCD — 2010-06-18T08:55:54-05:00

<![CDATA[<img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/6193/PortofinoBay1.jpg" class="top"> Are we in Italy right now? Nope, but this hotel is pretty convincing in its Italian-ness, if only it could decide exactly what part of Italy it wants to be. We're talking about the <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/hotel-reviews/Loews+Portofino+Bay+Hotel/local/1200">Loews Portofino Bay Resort at Universal Studios Orlando</a>, aka our base camp during the opening days of the new Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park at Universal's Islands of Adventure. Although Steven Spielberg initially conceived of making this hotel in the spirit of the Italian Riviera town of Portofino after spending his honeymoon there, a wander around the grounds reveals that it's smushed a bit of Venice, a dash of Tuscany, a dollop of Sicily and a pinch of Naples together