Universal Orlando has always had fantastic resorts with beautiful properties like the Royal Pacific and Portifino Bay Hotel. But the luxurious amenities and proximity to the parks came with a hefty price tag. With the opening of Universal Orlando’s newest resort, Cabana Bay, guests now have an affordable option with all of the pizazz you would expect from a Universal resort. When you drive up to the Cabana Bay Beach Resort you are immediately transported back in time to the 1960s. When what is now retro was totally in vogue. Life was swell and Americana was a way of life.
While Cabana Bay is classified as a “budget resort,” nothing about this place feels “budget” – except the bill at check out! Every detail of Cabana Bay was considered, and for a family visiting Universal Studios this should be your choice of places to stay. Heck, for the price it makes a fantastic staycation for us locals too – even if you never leave the Cabana Bay property.
7 Reasons to stay at Cabana Bay
It’s Groovy Baby! Neon lights, pops of color and everything mod – from the lobby to the guest rooms every piece looks like it could have been taken straight out of the sixties. Fun and funky everywhere you look, sans the looks that should stay in the sixties like shag carpets. (Thank goodness.)
Make a Splash. Need a day to unwind after hitting the parks? Spend the day poolside in the most happening pool are around. Flanked by private cabanas, the center piece of the 10,000 square foot zero-entry pool is a far-out water slide. And for the little ones, there is a splash pad that is sure to keep tots happy. And as an added bonus, it is heated!
Grab a Cup o’ Joe. In addition to the restaurants on property, Cabana Bay hosts its very own Starbucks. Not just any Starbucks, this outta sight retreat has larger-than life mermaid murals and is just plain cool. Even if you aren’t jonesing for some caffeine, you have to stop by to look around.
Strrrrike! After a day of fun in the sun, tap into the family’s competitive side with a game of bowling. The 10 lanes at Galaxy Bowl are just right for some family fun. Next door you’ll find more fun at Game-O-Rama, which is stocked with latest high-tech arcade games and a few old school classics like Skee-Ball.
Lots of Good Eats. In addition to four restaurants and three lounges (plus a Starbucks) at Cabana Bay, don’t miss the food trucks and ice cream trucks that make regular stops by the pool. There is no shortage of good eats at Cabana Bay. Tip – grab a Sonic Fill cup and enjoy the first drink refill program at Universal Orlando.
Sleep in Style. Want to hear something sweet? Universal’s Cabana Bay Beach Resort features 1,800 rooms – 900 family suites and 900 standard guest rooms. Family suites sleep six with a kitchenette and pull-out couch on the other side of a room divider. And even the toiletries have sixties style, on the bathroom counter you will find VO5 and Zest. Oh, and another perk in the family suites — a split bathroom with a toilet room separate from the shower.
Let’s Talk Budget. So how much does a room at Cabana Bay cost? Rates for the family suites begin at $160 per-night depending on the length of stay. Rates for the standard guest rooms begin at $120 per night depending on the length of stay. Yes, as low as $120 per night!
Cabana Bay Beach Resort is now open with the second half of the resort set to open in June 2014. The second phase of Cabana Bay will include even more incredible amenities, including a second 8,000-square-foot zero entry pool, Universal Orlando’s first lazy river at an on-site hotel, The Hideaway Bar & Grill, and additional moderately-priced family suites and value-priced standard guest rooms. When complete, Universal’s Cabana Bay Beach Resort will feature a total of 1,800 rooms – 900 family suites and 900 standard guest rooms. If you are visiting Universal Orlando, book a stay at Cabana Bay Beach Resort
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53 thoughts on “7 Reasons To Stay At Cabana Bay Beach Resort At Universal Studios Orlando”
If/when we make it down to Orlando, I’m going to look into staying at Cabana Bay. We love anything retro, so this is our kind of place.
Haha I just said on Facebook yesterday that I wanted to start a movement to bring back the 50s and 60s (instead of the 80s lol) Looks like they are one step ahead! SO SO cool!
WOW! Looks beautiful. I have always wanted to go to Universal Studios with the family. Looks like they have some good food there! And the bowling is right up my alley. Beautiful pool.
Looks like a retro fun family vacation spot for sure! With the old cars and the retro furniture it would be hard to pass this one up. My dad collected older cars and I have the experience of riding in the butterfly doored cars!
I love the retro look of Cabana Bay! I can’t believe I have never heard about this cool place, definitely going to stay there when we plan our next years vacation 🙂
oh my goodness this place looks amazing! we live in tampa so we are not far from orlando, we definitely need to check this place out as we frequent orlando!!! Thanks for sharing!
How great is this for a local vacation? And…I don’t even need a time machine. Our kids can have a taste of what it was like for us growing up! Perfect!
Wow! I absolutely love the retro look of this resort. My dream vacation is to take my family to Orlando and go to Disney so i’ll have to keep this place in mind. Thanks for the review!
The Prices are not that bad, I would love to stay there and enjoy a few days with my family. I love how it has a starbucks and the galaxy bowl. So many things to do for sure!
Oh my goodness, this hotel looks like the places we’d stay in Florida when I was little. lol It’s really cool! I live in Florida and we sometimes take three day week-ends to Orlando. I will definitely keep this place in mind! Thank-you for the review!
that is awesome i have been kind of thinking of planning some kind of stay cation and that would be perfect and its not to far from home. Thanks for all the great pictures i love the 60’s theme of the whole place and the pool wow, its so big the ice cream truck drives by it often, wow. lol. awesome, i will be checking it out, thanks for a great review
I am also in the market for a family resort when we return to Orlando, I am not sure Cabana Bay is for us. After reading tons of reviews on TripAdvisor, Cabana Bay seems like they have it all, everything costs money (lots of reviews about how spendy the bowling is) and the food is not that great. I do love the look of the hotel and the pool and slide do look amazing. I am hard pressed to be the family staying there.
There are always going to be extras a a budget hotel because only the basics are included. But the rooms are FANTASTIC and the things that are included (like the pool) are wonderful. Honestly, I didn’t bowl while I was there so I have no idea how much it cost. But the food was fine. It isn’t a 5-star restaurant, but for quick food while on vacation it was good. If you want to stay in the Universal area, you can’t beat Cabana Bay for the price. If you want luxury, my pick is The Portifino Bay resort 😉
Just booked our stay for December and we are PUMPED! 4 kids makes it hard to find accommodations at so many resorts but this resort will fit our family well!! And the price- CANNOT Beat it! They gave us amazing deals on park perks and admission as well!!
Is there room in the family suite to store luggage and to put our clothes in drawers? Based on the pictures I am seeing, I am concerned that we may be walking on suitcases. Any idea?
There are some drawers for clothes and shelves for clothes/things. (Just the 2 drawers in the unit shown by the couch, as I recall.) There is space under the bathroom counter (which is separate from both the toilet and shower) for a small suitcase, but there isn’t really a good place for luggage. We ended up putting ours behind the chairs in the sitting area so it wasn’t a problem. But we weren’t there long or with huge bags.
If/when we make it down to Orlando, I’m going to look into staying at Cabana Bay. We love anything retro, so this is our kind of place.
So cool! Definitely on the radar for our next visit to Orlando!
Haha I just said on Facebook yesterday that I wanted to start a movement to bring back the 50s and 60s (instead of the 80s lol) Looks like they are one step ahead! SO SO cool!
How awesome! It does look like a really hip/cool place to stay. Staying on a property that is at Universal is the bomb!
I will definitely have to check out the Cabana Bay next time we’re vacationing in the area. Looks like a really cool place to stay.
Wow! That looks like a fabulous place to vacation! I’m bookmarking this page so I can show my hubby!
I LOVE the retro look, and how everything is so sleek and shiny. It looks like a lot of fun!
WOW! Looks beautiful. I have always wanted to go to Universal Studios with the family. Looks like they have some good food there! And the bowling is right up my alley. Beautiful pool.
This would be an awesome place to stay. It’s just me and hubby, and I think we would really enjoy this next time we go. Thanks!
Looks like a great place to stay. I like the bowling alley, and my husband loves to play skee ball
I love the old school feel of the place. It looks beautiful!
All that for that price? Woohoo!! Definitely another add-on to my travel bucket list!
Spent 3 nights at Cabana Bay. Wonderful hotel, staff very friendly.
I love the splash pad for the littles! Adding bowling to the mix makes for a perfect weekend vacay for us locals!
This looks like a lot of fun—like a destination in itself. What a blast!
The décor is amazing! This looks like such a fun place to stay. I’ve never heard of it before, but I will tell my family about it!
you have me convinced! i need to go there now!
Looks like a retro fun family vacation spot for sure! With the old cars and the retro furniture it would be hard to pass this one up. My dad collected older cars and I have the experience of riding in the butterfly doored cars!
Love this style!! This looks like a really neat and fun place to stay!
Looks like a really fun place. Some day we hope to make it south!
That is so very retro and looks fun for the kids too!
Great post! I’ve been wanting to take our son! Looks so fun!
This is amazing to kind of go back in time . Would have loved to visit that timeframe. This is neat and I’d love to stay there
I love the retro look of Cabana Bay! I can’t believe I have never heard about this cool place, definitely going to stay there when we plan our next years vacation 🙂
this is so cool I love the sixties style plus the fact that the food trucks and ice cream trucks make regular stops by the pool.
oh my goodness this place looks amazing! we live in tampa so we are not far from orlando, we definitely need to check this place out as we frequent orlando!!! Thanks for sharing!
How great is this for a local vacation? And…I don’t even need a time machine. Our kids can have a taste of what it was like for us growing up! Perfect!
That looks like a really cool hotel! I love the retro feel and any place that has bowling is awesome in my book!
if i had the money i would love to go visit
We’re actually planning a trip to Florida this summer and this looks really cool. My daughter would love that pool!
Wow! I absolutely love the retro look of this resort. My dream vacation is to take my family to Orlando and go to Disney so i’ll have to keep this place in mind. Thanks for the review!
That was designed well for the period. Very whimsical too.
Between the splash pad and the candy colored bowling balls, this place makes up my 2.5 year olds dream vacation.
I would love to go to this Cabana Bay! It is beautiful and new. I love the new part because I am not a huge fan of germs.
I’d love to visit after reading this post. What a great family vacation idea! Thanks for sharing pics!
great review, thank you!
A friend of mine just stayed here and really enjoyed it! I’d love a chance to stay there myself.
The Prices are not that bad, I would love to stay there and enjoy a few days with my family. I love how it has a starbucks and the galaxy bowl. So many things to do for sure!
That is so retro in design, it’s uncanny how accurate it was done!
Oh my goodness, this hotel looks like the places we’d stay in Florida when I was little. lol It’s really cool! I live in Florida and we sometimes take three day week-ends to Orlando. I will definitely keep this place in mind! Thank-you for the review!
that is awesome i have been kind of thinking of planning some kind of stay cation and that would be perfect and its not to far from home. Thanks for all the great pictures i love the 60’s theme of the whole place and the pool wow, its so big the ice cream truck drives by it often, wow. lol. awesome, i will be checking it out, thanks for a great review
That pool looks like paradise!
This looks like a super hip resort. My kids are the perfect age for a staycation. They would love this super cool pool!
wow you dont need to give me a reason, i would die to go there, but reasons 3 and 4 are my favorite. My kids would love all of it!
I am also in the market for a family resort when we return to Orlando, I am not sure Cabana Bay is for us. After reading tons of reviews on TripAdvisor, Cabana Bay seems like they have it all, everything costs money (lots of reviews about how spendy the bowling is) and the food is not that great. I do love the look of the hotel and the pool and slide do look amazing. I am hard pressed to be the family staying there.
There are always going to be extras a a budget hotel because only the basics are included. But the rooms are FANTASTIC and the things that are included (like the pool) are wonderful. Honestly, I didn’t bowl while I was there so I have no idea how much it cost. But the food was fine. It isn’t a 5-star restaurant, but for quick food while on vacation it was good. If you want to stay in the Universal area, you can’t beat Cabana Bay for the price. If you want luxury, my pick is The Portifino Bay resort 😉
If she’s complaining that everything “costs money” (though God knows what that actually means)..I do not think this visitor is up for Portofino!!
Just booked a week at this resort for summer vacation! It has gotten great reviews . And rates for longer stays are terrific.
Have fun! We loved it!!
Just booked our stay for December and we are PUMPED! 4 kids makes it hard to find accommodations at so many resorts but this resort will fit our family well!! And the price- CANNOT Beat it! They gave us amazing deals on park perks and admission as well!!
Have a great time!!!
Is there room in the family suite to store luggage and to put our clothes in drawers? Based on the pictures I am seeing, I am concerned that we may be walking on suitcases. Any idea?
There are some drawers for clothes and shelves for clothes/things. (Just the 2 drawers in the unit shown by the couch, as I recall.) There is space under the bathroom counter (which is separate from both the toilet and shower) for a small suitcase, but there isn’t really a good place for luggage. We ended up putting ours behind the chairs in the sitting area so it wasn’t a problem. But we weren’t there long or with huge bags.