🔴 RECOMMENDED VIDEOS/PLAYLISTS
🎥 LIST: UO Fanatic Podcast: LINK
★ TABLE OF CONTENTS ★
- 00:34 Introduction
- 00:53 Resort News
- 10:42 Main topic, ranking the hotels
- 35:55 Closing
🔥 TOPICS IN THIS PODCAST🔥
- Universal Orlando News
- Halloween Horror Night News
- All 11 hotels ranked by price, amenities and location
Show Length: 37:13
🔴 *** Follow Along ***
✅ Podcast website: https://uofanatic.com ✅ Podcast email: Podcast@UOFanatic.com ✅ X: UOFanaticPod ✅ Linktr.ee: LINK ✅ Apple Podcasts: UO Fanatic Podcast ✅ Spotify: UO Fanatic Podcast ✅ Amazon Music: UO Fanatic Podcast ✅ iHeart: UO Fanatic Podcast ✅ YouTube: UO Fanatic Podcast
News
On 7/7/26 Epic Universe began its nightly fireworks and fountain show, Celestial Goodnight. I have remained spoiler free on this because I want to see this in person not watch it from a video. I am happy to say all reports I have heard have been very positive and this is another one of those major milestones for the resort. Can’t wait for this one.
On July 7th, Universal Orlando official twitter account announced, EPIC NEWS 💫 Enjoy the thrills of all five amazing worlds during Universal Nights at Epic Universe, a new limited capacity, after-hours event coming Oct. 3 & 17. Tickets on sale Aug. 13.
I am sure this will sell out quickly. I will actually be there on the 17th, but I’m leaning toward not going because I really want to check out something different this year. Since I’m not 100% sure yet, I’ll just leave it at that.
We got our Show Announcement and I personally couldn’t be happier: Nightmare Fuel: Blood Noir. Embark on a dark musical journey and resist temptation as death-defying stunts lure you deeper into a vampire-ridden metropolis.
I recognize this may not have the best talent from the Fuel Girls as we understand they have another tour going on, but I trust in that so many of the local talent has trained with them for years. Maybe we will be lucky and be graced by a few of the Fuel Girls as well, the truth is we don’t know. I think this is going to be fantastic, and with a radically different theme its going to feel very fresh and new. 3 cheers from me.
From Auzzy’s official Instagram he says “I’ve been DYING to announce my latest endeavor and the time has FINALLY COME! This spooky season you can find me at @horrornightsorl for the newest Nightmare Fuel creation BLOOD NOIR. You won’t wanna miss the heart pounding INSANITY. 😈
On July 13th, we got a Scare Zone Announcement: Infernal Carnival of Nightmares. Jack and Dr. Oddfellow invite you to step right up and see what horrors hide in every shadow at a sinister spectacle decades in the making.
This is going to be the entry scare zone by the front gates. Current construction is showing 2 stages in the area, leading many to believe a stage for Jack and a stage for Dr. Oddfellow. But when we start getting scare zone announcements, the event starts to feel very much real and soon.
And we got another Scare Zone Announcement on July 14th, Sideshow of Decay. Cindy’s time has come. With Dr. Oddfellow’s dark sorcery, she opened a portal in the carnival’s junkyard — using it to resurrect decayed nightmares from the past that are back to haunt you.
This is pretty exciting from a lore or historical point of view. My HHN story started in 2008 so this is before my time, so I’m just sharing how I heard it.
Cindy Caine was originally intended to be the central icon for Halloween Horror Nights 12 in 2002, but the idea was scrapped as the event’s figurehead due to real-world social tragedies. The primary reason for Cindy’s removal was a series of high-profile child abductions that occurred across the United States during the summer of 2002. These included local cases in Florida. In a climate of intense national anxiety regarding child safety, Universal’s creative team determined that promoting a murderous, disfigured young girl as the face of a major marketing campaign would be in poor taste.
Universal came up with Dr. Albert Caine, better known as The Caretaker, who assumed the role of the 2002 icon. Cindy, was the Caretakers daughter. While Cindy has been denied her opportunity to be an HHN icon, she is still getting a moment that the fans are going to love. Once you are a fan, this is the kind of thing you love to see, especially when something was before your time, so now you are finally witnessing the lore first hand.
July 15th, we got the long rumored lagoon Show Announcement: Stranger Things: Return to Hawkins The music. The monsters. The memories. In this show, tune in to a special WSQK broadcast and relive your favorite moments from five seasons of Stranger Things.
Michael Aiello, gave us a little more info in an RT as well. Our #HHN35 lagoon show this year travels to the Upside Down! In partnership with @netflix we celebrate all the “Strange” within Hawkins! The music, the characters, moments… fountains, media, mapped projections…
I think this is a perfect way to celebrate the entire series and give the property the send off it deserves. I am obviously a big fan, and can’t wait to see this.
July 16th, another scare zone…ish announcement. Klown around and find out 😈. The Killer Klowns from Outer Space are coming to the street of Universal Orlando Halloween Horror Nights. More deets coming soon.
I’ve heard a lot of people suggesting maybe they will be roaming and other slight variants, but honestly the long rumored scare zone mentioned having several clown properties in it. So my guess is just that for whatever reason they want to give the property and possibly other properties their moment of glory before talking about the zone as a group. Obviously just a guess, but it lines up with the rumors we had all along.
And we will finish our news round up with the announcement that broke the internet.
On July 15th, not in their own tweet, but rather in a reply to someone asking about multi night tickets offering express. The main Universal Orlando twitter account responded with the following: Hello, as we continue to evaluate our offerings in an effort to provide the best Halloween Horror Nights experience for all Guests, we have discontinued all Fear with Express Pass products. Other Fear pass options will go on sale soon.
Lets start with how we found out, that’s just terrible. They had plenty of time to put a real response together and should have done so ahead of time. After putting some thought into it, they honestly should have made the announcement at the end of last years event. A couple days after, letting us know what to expect for next year. I don’t think anyone has a real argument that this was done in one of the worst ways possible.
Next was the terrible fan reaction. All I saw was a split between people who don’t buy express mocking the people who were upset, and the flip side of those who let the anger get the better of themselves and just went crazy in what almost appeared like they spend so much money at Universal they almost sounded entitled. But I do want to emphasize that wasn’t everyone really, but when the internet gets angry, that’s what we notice. The most awful of the awful.
I am an out of state pass holder and I do tend to go usually like 3 times to HHN every year, so I am definitely one of the people impacted by this. I tend to buy the Frequent Fear Plus with express and then plan on getting at least 8 HHN visits in. I am definitely already on the hook for 2 this year, my daughter and I have October birthdays so after our group plan to visit opening weekend, she asked to go again on her birthday. If you are a mom or dad you know when your child (albeit 31 years old) asks to do something with you and it even includes something you have a strong interest in. you don’t say no. Even knowing this will cost quite a bit more, I already said yes, so we are going. I am aware despite the hefty price associated with frequent fear plus with express, it was still kind of dirt cheap if you used it enough, and I definitely did. Im slowly coming to terms with it all and I am still really excited over the event and for the moment none of my plans are changing. Not sure what next year will bring, but I’ll worry about next year, next year. As much as this HHN community can feel like a family, every now and then you see something that shows just how awful people in general, even if they share your interests, can be. In the infamous words of the Greek philosopher, Bill. Be excellent to each other.
So that’s the news, lets turn the mood around here and get into the main topic. Ranking the hotels. Now this rank is more about ultimately learning what the strengths and weaknesses of these resorts are so people can actually get a head start on choosing which hotel they might want to stay at on their next trip.
Main topic: Ranking the hotels
The method to my madness
First, I have to say, these rankings are based on my experiences and my preferences but I promise to be open about my logic behind them in the hopes to be very transparent. We will rank them chronologically in the order they were first open. I have stayed at all 11 hotels myself, most of them several times so I definitely can provide some real world experience as I weigh the rankings. I’ll rank them simply in a scale of 1 to 10 where a 10 is the best possible outcome and a 1, is, well a 1. Each hotel will get scored on 3 different categories; Price, Amenities and location. I will share a total score for each hotel, but that isn’t necessarily a great way to sell you on where you should stay. When its all said and done, I will share a Venn Diagram on the website to let you decide what the best resort for you and your family might be.
Loews Portofino Bay Hotel
The resort opened in 1999, a few months later than Islands of Adventure. In a way the Universal Orlando Resort became a resort destination because of this hotel. I don’t know how many times I have stayed here honestly. Its more than 10 for sure, maybe even more than 15. I know, crazy right. We will get into the details more and you’ll start to figure out my reasons as we talk about the different categories.
Speaking of, the first category for ranking the hotel is price. And lets be honest, the better the hotel, the more it costs, the worse its going to rank on price. Its ok, its expected. When it comes to price, I decided on a 3 out of 10. It’s definitely not the highest priced hotel on property, but its definitely in the running for 2nd or 3rd place. In my experience over the years, I have found the best deals consistently here. In episode 1, I did gather pricing for all of 2026 which I can reflect on here to share that the median price for Portofino was $516 a night. That is definitely a lot of coin, but the lowest prices seen for 2026 were $299. Both that median and the lowest price did put right in 3rd place as I was estimating.
Lets move along to the next category, resort Amenities. There is a lot here to unpack, you have the largest rooms on property, the most restaurants in any resort and of course there is the coveted Unlimited Express Pass benefit that only the first 3 hotels have available. The pool is wonderful, albeit the real hero here is the giant secluded hot tub featuring a water fall. Great views and really relaxing. If you have never been at least go visit, and see what you are missing. I gave Portofino a solid 8 in this category.
When it comes to location, I want to first set the record straight. You’ll find a lot of internet drama saying that Portofino Bay is so far away, its not walk-able, it doesn’t feel part like its even on site. That is nonsense. It’s about 7 tenths of a mile, which is like 14 minutes for the average walking speed. I believe that perception is because the first half of that walk is does not have much cover. The garden walk is such a beautiful walk, but that first stretch towards Hard Rock Hotel has little cover compared to the rest. Now you don’t have to walk, there is a water taxi, which is a particularly pleasant transportation mode when your on vacation, trust me on that one. Busses are available also of course. The Hard Rock hotel is only half of that walk, making sharing amenities there a real possibility as well. Don’t listen to the haters. I settled in on a 7 for location.
While I promised not to dwell on the score, its still fun to see how it turns out, so for the record that gives Portofino Bay a 18 total points out of a possible 30. If you would love to hear more about Portofino be sure to listen to Episode 11 where the entire episode was devoted to all things Portofino.
Hard Rock Hotel
The Hard Rock Hotel was the second resort to open and that was a little over a year after in early 2001. Since price is the first category, we might as well get it out of the way, this one will hurt you. While you can find deals on occasion, they are not frequent. This hotel typically costs more than all of the others, and sometimes by a lot. The median price for 2026 is $672 a night. The lowest I have seen this year was at $352 but I often see it going for over $900 a night. If you see Hard Rock at $400 or lower and you’re interested in staying there, that is the time to make your move. Hard Rock hotel scored a 1 out of 10 for price, simply because its almost always the most expensive.
Now you do get a lot with your stay at the Hard Rock when it comes to amenities, so that might take the sting out a little bit. First what a stunning lobby, such a great vibe. You really do feel like this is where rock stars stay, and they really do. Ive always found the team members here to be among the best anywhere. Yes, I meant anywhere. I had even put some thought into that over the years, and I’m convinced its one of the few places where you can really be yourself, they aren’t telling you necessarily how to dress or what color your hair is and I think when people feel comfortable, they enjoy their work much more. But I digress. You do also get that coveted Unlimited Express Pass which is a benefit that absolutely has a big price tag with it. Great bars, a top tier pool and some great food options. I would go so far to say the best food/bar option in the Palm. The vibe here is unlike any of the other resorts, its not any one thing, it’s a great experience. Where else can you rent a guitar with amp, or some vinyl and a record player. Go big or go home, I gave the hotel a 9 on amenities.
When it comes to location, only one resort could I give a 10. This resort is a stone throw from CityWalk and the Universal Studios front gate. Unless a boat is leaving as you start walking, you will beat that boat. Four tenths of a mile from the ‘advertised’ path, shorter from the pool, and even shorter if you’re sneaky. The butterfly garden is not just a feature, it’s a shortcut. If the party is to much for you and you want to relax a bit, that short walk to Portofino can heal you quickly. Buses for Epic and Volcano bay and a Water Taxi to CityWalk. That is a total of 20 points for those keeping score.
Loews Royal Pacific Resort
Over the years I have spent a lot of time at this resort. It opened in 2002. When it comes to price, it bounces back and forth ahead then behind Portofino in price. I know we are not talking about the amenities yet, but the context here is that this is the last resort priced with Unlimited Express Pass benefits. In 2026 the median pricing is $528 a night, with a low of $316 and a high of $860. Much like Portofino when the resort is in the slow times you’ll see those low prices pretty predictably. I gave it a 3 for price, same as Portofino for the same reasons.
When it comes to amenities I already mentioned the coveted Unlimited Express Pass, but additionally they have some great food options and even some entertainment like Luaus on the weekends. A gorgeous sushi bar in the lobby, a wonderful bar & grill as well as a buffet style restaurant. It has a lot going on and additionally a wok experience as well. The pool is fun and the entire resort has a very tropical south pacific feel. There is a lot here to take in, it’s another very special place at Universal Orlando Resort and I am giving it an 8 out of 10 for the amenities category.
When it comes to location, it’s the second closest resort to CityWalk, but it comes out on the Island of Adventure side. It also features a Water Taxi and of course bus transportation to Epic or Volcano Bay should you need it. The walk is a little further than Hard Rock, but only by a couple of minutes and measuring under a half mile walk down the very shady Garden Walk trail. It shares conference room space with Sapphire which is next door and really close by making the amenities of Sapphire and Aventura very accessible should you have the desire or the need. Scoring Royal with another 8 here for the location giving the resort a total score of 19.
Universal’s Cabana Bay Beach Resort
There was a several year gap between Royal Pacific Resort and the next resort Universal’s Cabana Bay Beach Resort, in fact, almost 12 years. I’m not sure I realized they would ever expand, until the Harry Potter craze kicked in and what a change in really everything for Universal as a result. Cabana Bay first opened in 2014, and did open in phases over the next couple of years. This was their first resort that they were using the word value for, but as they talked about it, we just couldn’t believe how many things they were putting here with the idea it would really be a value. I guess I’m getting ahead of myself, but sticking to pricing here, you can find the median cost per night at $206 a night in 2026. I have seen prices this year as little as $104 a night, and on the flip side around Christmas, you are more likely to pay $371. This resort, much like The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Hogsmeade was definitely a game changer. In the price category I gave Cabana Bay a 7 out of 10.
When it comes to the Amenities, its kind of crazy really. You have a beloved lobby bar, a shake and ice cream parlor, a food court, 2 pool bars and a 4th bar inside the bowling alley. Yes, a bowling alley. If that wasn’t enough, one of the pool areas also features a lazy river. The entire resort has a sort of 50s and 60s retro vibe with oranges and teal and they themed it right down to the zest soap and V8 shampoo. Also several of the rooms have a really incredible view of Volcano Bay as well. I am giving Cabana Bay a 6 for amenities, keeping in mind, the higher scoring resorts prior all had Unlimited Express Pass going for them.
Location is definitely the resorts weaker category but its really not a problem with how efficient the resort buses are. The resort is about .8 of a mile walk to CityWalk, however, it has its own private entrance to Volcano Bay, so if Volcano Bay was part of your itinerary, you could make an argument to boost its score in location. When it comes to location I had to give it a score of a 4 out of 10 when considering all of the other properties. This gives Cabana Bay a total score of 17.
Loews Sapphire Falls Resort
Loews Sapphire Falls Resort opened in 2016, and I can’t remember the categories at the time, but this was originally alone in this middle of the road category. The resort is a relaxed, upscale Caribbean island theme, featuring cascading blue waterfalls, lush tropical landscaping, and rustic stone architecture. The idea at the time was, since it didn’t have express, it isn’t going to be deluxe, but nobody told the architects because you’ve heard me go on and on about this resort, this is typically the resort I feel has the most bang for the buck. With the addition of Helios Grand, another deluxe which does not feature the express pass benefit, they came to their senses and put it in the premiere category or signature series as they put it. But lets talk about price, because that’s the first category. It sits really well, especially for that category. On occasion you can snag this for even less than its prime value sisters. The median price for 2026 is $264 a night. But the low wow, $145 a night! If you do happen to go in the busiest of times, then you will pay as high as $481 a night. Given that incredible median price, I had to give this resort a 5 out of 10 for its pricing structure.
Amenities, yeah, she has them. I’ll start with my favorite bar on property, Strongwater Tavern. Mai Tai all day long. The pool, is absolutely gorgeous, and features a zero entry but its in the middle of the pool, its extremely hard to describe but you can walk right across the center of the pool to get to the Dhrum Klub as one should do. This is a resort, if I have the days to relax built in, I rent a nice cabana and spend a solid day at this pool. I don’t personally love the Amitista Cookhouse, but I am definitely in the minority on this one. Even if you do agree with me, the location will solve that problem. But before I talk about the location, I am giving Sapphire a solid 6 out of 10 for amenities.
One thing without question nobody can argue with it has more walking accessible hotels and CityWalk than any other resort. It is less than a 12 minute walk to CityWalk, but before that you have Aventura across the parking lot, Royal Pacific which is connected at the conference rooms section and Cabana Bay across the street. Additionally it has a Water Taxi and the best part about that for us walkers the boat launch is on your walking way to the Garden Walk, so should you see a boat coming in, what the heck, take the ride. Buses to Epic and Volcano Bay of course. I can’t give this the highest location score because the theme parks are 12 minutes away by foot, but it’s a really smart home base if you want to explore more than the theme parks. I am giving Sapphire Falls a 7 out of 10 for its location.
Universal’s Aventura Hotel
Universal’s Aventura Hotel opened in 2018 and at the time joined Cabana Bay in the value resort category. Now Aventura is what they refer to as Prime Value. If you listen to episode 5, I covered underrated resort in detail. When it comes to pricing, it does sit pretty close to Cabana Bay. The median price for 2026 is $202 a night, with a low price of $114 and a high price of $314 a night. Given that price range I scored it at a 7 out of 10.
Amenities, its fine, its not at the top in comparison for sure, but it does get a bonus for being like a 2 minute walk to sapphire and its amenities. It does have Universal’s first rooftop bar, Bar 17, which is a lot of fun. It’s a compact resort, and that can be a big bonus after a long day at a theme park. Once you walk in the door, there is no room that is far away because of its fidget spinner layout. When it comes to Amenities I’m scoring it at 5 out of 10, probably a 4 if it weren’t so close to Strongwater Tavern.
Location to the parks is one thing, but like Sapphire it really is close to a lot of things as previously described, which is definitely a plus. It has a back door to Volcano Bay and its bus lot for a bit of a resort to resort transportation hack. It is a good location, its just not super close to CityWalk and it does not have a nice leisurely Water Taxi. As a result, I’m giving it a 6 out of 10. The total for all 3 categories is 18.
Endless Summer – Surfside Inn and Endless Summer – Dockside Inn
Endless Summer – Surfside Inn and Endless Summer – Dockside Inn are sister resorts, and are really close to exact price night to night as well as have almost the exact same amenities so Im going to talk about them both together as a group. These resorts, along with Cabana Bay, make up the Value Inn & Suites category. Despite being in the same group, Cabana Bay is priced more along the Aventura model. These resorts do provide a real value with a median 2026 price of $160 a night. The low price, with plenty of availability I might add, sits at $91 for Dockside and $94 for Surfside. That is definitely the lowest cost, which means they are the best in this category with a score of a 9 out of 10.
I don’t mean to slight these resorts, but these resorts in comparison to the rest of the lineup, will definitely come up short. The minor differences between these resorts is that dockside is large and has a lobby bar and Surfside is small and does not have a lobby bar. Surfside opened in 2019 and the larger resort, Dockside opened in 2020 as the pandemic was winding down. I can highlight the theming here is great, a casual beach life style. The beds are comfortable, and the sea salt soap is quite frankly, refreshing. When choosing these resorts you probably are prioritizing price over amenities, or you are thinking you are going to spend all of your time at the parks, not the hotel. The amenities for both resorts are a 2 out of 10.
When it comes to the location, you do pretty much have to bus everywhere you want to be during your vacation. Now the plus side of this coin, is that it is very central between the North campus, CityWalk, and the South campus of Epic. If you have a very balanced vacation split between those campuses, then this could be seen as a positive for sure. Best bus service on property in my opinion. They are just across the street from each other, so you could use the amenities of each other but I’m not sure I can come up with a very legitimate use case for it. My bias, I do like Surfside, because its smaller which means way less people. I have stayed at dockside just one time and unless Surf Side just didn’t have any availability I cant imagine a scenario where I choose to stay at dockside ever again. Definitely a bias, don’t mind me, try it for yourself and see. If you happen to love the hustle and bustle on vacation, you might even prefer Dockside. I would just think your insane, that’s all. So I’m giving the resorts a 2 for location, and that means a score of 13 for each resort.
Just my opinion, but because both of those resorts are so similar and so aligned in price, Dockside Inn is one of the two resorts, I don’t see myself ever staying at again, I would simply just choose Surfside if I was interested in these.
Universal Stella Nova Resort & Universal Terra Luna Resort
Universal Stella Nova Resort & Universal Terra Luna Resort also are similar like the Endless Summer resorts so I’m also going to lump them together before scoring. They are even more similar in that they are the same size even. They both opened in 2025 but Stella Nova opened first, a few months prior to Terra Luna. When it comes to pricing, they are in the Prime Value category and pretty frequently are actually priced more in alignment with the Endless Summer resorts. Terra Luna getting a slight edge on pricing with its median of $158 a night compared to Stella Nova’s $179. Despite the median difference, they are pretty spot on with a low of $104 and a high of $345. Most of the time, they are priced the exact same and therefore scoring them both the same, with a 6 out of 10.
As I said, the resorts have pretty much the same layout, size and amenities. I will say during my stays I had the best sleep I’ve had yet. Maybe it had to do with the excitement of Epic Universe, I don’t know, but every day I woke up at either resort I remember being surprised at how well I sleep, because even in my own bed, I just don’t typically sleep well. I am not a fan of the food at either spot, but I do love the cosmic aesthetic at the resorts.
We get decent lobby and pool bars at both resorts. While I am struggling to come up with positives here, honestly, I really enjoyed my time at both. Just mentioning the struggle because may there is something to read into there. Both resorts get a score of 4 out of 10 for amenities from me.
When it comes to location, I am going to score them slightly different. They have great bussing, the same in my experience. But Stella Nova has one boost over Terra Luna, its very close and easy to walk to Epic Universe. You absolutely can walk from Terra Luna by the way, I have done so and its only about a 12 minute walk. That walk is out in public streets with almost no shade and you need to know your way. You don’t have the benefit of any Garden Walk here, so for that reason I don’t recommend walking from there. Terra Luna is the other resort I don’t see myself ever staying at again, and its just as simple as Stella has the same price, the same amenities and a better location. I would just simply choose Stella Nova over it. I am giving Stella Nova a location score of 4 for a total of 14 points and giving Terra Luna a 3 for location which brings its total score to 13.
Universal Helios Grand Hotel
Last but not least, the Universal Helios Grand Hotel opened also in 2025. This is the newest of the Signature Series resorts. It’s pricing structure is a mixed bag, but it definitely sits at a level higher than your Sapphire Falls but lower than the other 3 hotels that feature the Unlimited Express Pass benefit. The median price per night for 2026 is $447 a night. However, it’s lowest prices are pretty low at $258 a night considering there is an entire theme park in your back yard. It does reach prices as high as $827 a night during the busiest times of the year. One thing of note, if you are staying here, I strongly recommend getting a theme park view here, it is literally what makes this place special, and then of course you have to understand your cost per night just went up. For price, Im giving Helios a 4 out of 10 which does settle it nicely between the resorts I mentioned in the signature series.
The amenities are great here, no complaints at all. The food is good, the pool is great, Bar Helios is next level and if you have a theme park view as I suggested, you will stare out that window more than you think you will. The lobby is absolutely beautiful and Epic is no doubt the most beautiful park to look upon. I have to give this resort a solid 7 out of 10 for the amenities.
Location is a little bit of a mixed bag, but having Epic steps from your room is a really big perk, but you have a 15 minute bus ride for the rest of the places you want to be. I know 15 minutes isn’t terrible but we are comparing all of these resorts, many of which are very close to 2 theme parks not just 1. Ive settled on giving Helios a 7 out of 10 on its location after much deliberation. I basically scored it the same as say Portofino Bay which is the furthest walk able resort to CityWalk. I feel pretty good about that. This gives Helios a total score of 18.
What do the scores mean?
Now when you just total these scores it doesn’t really mean that much but for the fun and the exercise, let me list out the resorts from lowest total score to highest total score.
- 7 Endless Summer – Surfside Inn (9 / 2 / 2) 13
- 8 Endless Summer – Dockside Inn (9 / 2 / 2) 13
- 11 Terra Luna Resort (6 / 4 / 3) 13
- 9 Stella Nova Resort (6 / 4 / 4) 14
- 4 Cabana Bay Beach Resort (7 / 6 / 4) 17
- 1 Portofino Bay Hotel (3 / 8 / 7) 18
- 5 Sapphire Falls Resort (5 / 6 / 7) 18
- 6 Aventura Hotel (7 / 5 / 6) 18
- 10 Helios Grand Hotel (4 / 7 / 7) 18
- 3 Royal Pacific Resort (3 / 8 / 8) 19
- 2 Hard Rock Hotel (1 / 9 / 10) 20
While I still feel I have a better way to use those scores, there is one obvious trend here. The resorts I expected to score the best, did in fact, and the outliers I expected did as well. I mean basically your cheapest hotels scored poorly and your most expensive resorts scored well which, isn’t great for decisions since Price is such a determining factor for most us. It’s what’s in the middle here that is the secret sauce so to speak. Sapphire Falls scoring so well with 18 points and at a fair price. I can add that Aventura and Cabana do particularly well in this range as well at 18 and 17 points respectively.
So the best way to represent this data is by using a Venn Diagram. So while that makes for a terrible audio podcast, I hope to insert it into the show notes, put it on the site, and also have it on my socials. Because the only resort that lands in the middle of this Venn is indeed Sapphire Falls. If you care about all 3 of these categories, it’s the only resort to do well at all 3. If you really are just trying to plan a trip, I think if you glance at this diagram it will really quickly help you sort out where to look so you don’t go doom scrolling reviewing 11 different hotels along with pricing for months on end.
