This question is aimed to people who have stayed at both resorts. Normally when we go to UOR, we’ve stayed at Cabana Bay—some of the times in a suite, other times in a standard room. We love the theming, the shuttles are right there, and the fact that they have a restaurant in the hotel if we needed it.
I was looking at Endless Summer, and it looks clean, obviously new, has the shuttle, and they have a restaurant, too.
My question is to those who have stayed at both, is it worth trying, or is Cabana Bay still better (it’s value plus as opposed to just value). In general I’ve seen the cost is around $35 more per night. We’d only be sleeping, not bowling/arcade, etc. Coming straight from and to the airport with no car.
All the mixed reviews I see good or bad for ES don’t say whether they’re comparing to CB, or if it’s their first time at a UOR hotel. I thought I’d ask the experts, lol. This is still a general question, no specific dates in mind, yet.
I know touringplans did some posts, but I also wanted other opinions.
I have stayed at Endless Summer (Surfside), but not Cabana Bay. We were pleasantly surprised at how it all seemed for a value. We stayed in a suite, so my wife and I had our own bedroom, and the kids had two separate beds out in the main area with a kitchenette. Decorating was nicely done throughout. The use of the shuttle was extremely easy and fast. The food at the restaurant was decent. Nothing spectacular, but decent.
The pool itself is rather mundane. Just a bit fish-shaped pool with nothing special, but it gets the job done. (We actually preferred their basic pool to the pool at Pop Century if only because it was less crowded.)
I’d definitely stay there again if we wanted to stay at a value resort at Universal. You can see a bit of our trip that included our stay there in my Trip report from last year, starting here:
Endless Summer is a value in all meaning: it’s a place to lay your head, maybe grab a bite to eat, maybe grab a drink. CBBR has way more on-site amenities than ES plus is a short walk to Sapphire Falls and Aventura for their offerings.
I like ES a lot but if you enjoy hanging at a resort then spend the extra $35 and go to Cabana.