Universal's Helios Grand Hotel, a Loews Hotel in Orlando, FL

Date of Stay: Wednesday, 5/14/25 - Friday, 5/16/25 Length of Stay: 2 Nights In a nutshell, the Universal Helios Grand Hotel is an epic and beautiful new addition to the Loews Portfolio of Hotels at Universal Orlando; it offers spacious and beautiful high-tech rooms with excellent views of Universal Epic Universe! It continues to exude the top-notch service that the Loews brand is famous for, and its prime location within Universal Epic Universe makes it the perfect place to stay for visiting the newest theme park that Universal Orlando has to offer! Now, for my detailed review: We have always loved the excellent service offered by the Loews Portfolio of Hotels at the Universal Orlando Resort, with the Loews Portofino Bay Hotel being a long-standing favorite. Based on such prior amazing experiences, seeing the Loews Portfolio expand to add an epic new property for the Grand Opening of Universal Epic Universe, we could not resist booking a quick stay. We certainly were not disappointed, as our stay at the Universal Helios Grand Hotel was truly an epic experience! One initial comment - as some have stated in prior reviews, this new hotel is a bit down the road from the rest of the Universal Orlando Resort. When Epic Universe was added, there was no space on the current property, thus this new park and its accompanying hotels are located slightly off-site from the rest of the Universal Orlando Resort. If your main goal is to simply visit City Walk or the two original Universal Orlando Theme Parks, you might want to stay at the original Loews Hotels on property; however, if you are even considering a day at Epic Universe, staying at the Universal Helios Grand Hotel is a must based upon its prime location! The Universal Helios Grand Hotel is located within Universal Epic Universe, at the back end of the park, offering its own private security and entrance into the park. It also provides visitors with Early Park Admission, allowing you to be the first to experience several of the amazing new attractions that Universal Epic Universe offers. For this reason alone, a stay at the Universal Helios Grand Hotel is well worth it. If distance from the original parks of Universal Orlando concerns you, you should not be concerned, as the property offers very efficient bus service to and from City Walk and the other two Universal Orlando Theme Parks. However, you could always do a split-stay and stay at Universal Helios Grand Hotel the night before and day of your planned visit to Universal Epic Universe and then stay at perhaps Portofino Bay or Royal Pacific for your days at the original parks. Either way, I can promise you that you will have a truly epic time while staying at the new Universal Helios Grand Hotel! As you approach the Universal Helios Grand Hotel, you will find two options for parking. The first and most efficient is Valet Parking, currently priced at $45/night. This rate is completely in line with that at most other Orlando Resort properties, and you will find the Valet Staff to be amazing! Within moments of dropping your car at the Valet Stand, you can be inside the property's main lobby to begin your epic adventures at Universal Orlando. However, you also have the option of Self Parking for $36/night in a large parking garage conveniently located just next to the property's main entrance. Whichever option you choose, your car is going to be very conveniently located to you throughout your stay. Upon entry, you will be in awe of the truly amazing view into Universal Epic Universe from the Main Lobby -- the Main Lobby was positioned in such a way that you will see spectacular views of the park and its fountains. Inside and to your Left, you will find the Resort Concierge and full-service park ticketing desk and to your right, you will find the well-staffed Front Desk. Just keep in mind, like almost every property in Orlando, rooms are at a premium and everyone wants to check-in early to get into the parks. Please do not forget this and simply assume that your room will be ready at 8am when you want to get into the parks -- we saw many people unhappy with the poor Front Desk Staff over this, so please be nice to them! If you arrive early, simply check-in with the Front Desk to start the process and leave your luggage secured with the amazing Bell Staff as you are still able to use the property's private entry into Epic Universe on your arrival day -- assuming, of course, you have a ticket to the park! Keep in mind that tickets to Epic Universe are park and date specific, so make sure to pick the proper date when purchasing. Additionally, unlike the other Signature Resorts at Universal Orlando (Portofino Bay, Royal Pacific & Hard Rock Hotel), a stay at the Universal Helios Grand Hotel does not include Universal Express Pass. But, when you combine your direct entry into Epic Universe with the Early Park Admission, you generally should not need Express Pass at Epic Universe, so do not let this fact deter you. A great perk of staying at this property -- or at any of the Loews Portfolio of Hotels at Universal Orlando -- is that you will find no "resort fee," which is unheard of in Orlando these days. The price that you see for your room is the price that you will pay for it and all of its amenities, without any surprising additional "resort fee." As for rooms at the Universal Helios Grand Hotel, you will find several different types and views -- the one common element is that all rooms are brand new and feature high-tech amenities and a modern feel. The entire room can be controlled by a Tablet, including the lighting and the window shades. Room Size at the Universal Helios Grand starts at a decent 325-square feet, with slightly larger Deluxe Rooms available. The key thing to remember is that Park View Rooms only account for half of the hotel, with the opposite side facing the Skyline and Orlando Tourist Venues, so if you want to see all of the beauty that Epic Universe has to offer, make sure to book a Park View Room. Additionally, Universal Helios Grand Hotel offers numerous amazing Suite Options, including Universal Themed Suites. Regardless of what you chose, you will surely be happy as most of your time will be spent within Epic Universe as that is the prime reason for a stay at this beautiful property! Our room was a Park View Room on the 6th Floor. The first thing that we noticed upon entering our room was a spectacular view of a beautifully lit Epic Universe as the room offered floor-to-ceiling windows facing Epic Universe's main fountain. As you enter the room, you have a long entry hallway and to your right you find a closet. To the left, you find a standard-sized bathroom, complete with plush towels and a single vanity. The toilet is separate from the vanity, inside the shower room. The shower itself was a very nice glass enclosed shower that -- unlike those at most other properties -- did not leak water onto the floor. Finally, the bathroom is stocked with the standard Julien Farel bath products that you will find at other Universal Signature Collection Resorts. Continuing into the room, you will find two extremely comfortable queen beds, with a central nightstand equipped with the room's control tablet. Across from the bed, you will find a large dresser and television. Next to the dresser is a large computer/work desk, complete with additional electrical outlets. Finally, there is a small table and a large plush lounge chair to allow one to enjoy a room service meal with a view of Epic Universe. All-in-all, a truly excellent room -- and the only one Orlando with such a spectacular theme park view! All rooms at the Universal Helios Grand Hotel feature complimentary WiFi -- a feature that is unheard of without a Resort Fee in the Orlando area. And, this complimentary Standard WiFi seemed to provide excellent connectivity, but if you need more speed, there is an option to upgrade to a Premium Speed for a moderate cost. As to Housekeeping Services -- like all Signature Collection Resorts at Universal Orlando -- you have excellent daily housekeeping service. You will find that although the Housekeeping Staff remains quite busy turning over rooms, they do a truly excellent job keeping the rooms spotless. A quick wipe-down of any surface in our room with a Clorox wipe, and the wipe came up still white -- our room was impeccably clean! If you are not spending your days in Epic Universe, the Universal Helios Grand Hotel does offer an excellent pool with ample seating and the option to rent beautiful private cabanas. Finally, as to Dining, you certainly will never go hungry at the Universal Helios Grand Hotel! Flora Taverna offered a truly amazing dinner, and its bar has some wonderful drinks. The property also offers an excellent pool bar and grille, the Lotus Lagoon. If you just want a quick grab-and-go, you will find numerous options at the Aurora Market. And finally, for some of the best drinks, tapas and views around, make sure not to miss Bar Helios, offering 360-degree views of Epic Universe and the surrounding area! To sum up, the Universal Helios Grand Hotel truly is an epic property, set in the perfect location! Offering spectacular customer service, modern and high-tech rooms right within the excitement of Universal Epic Universe, you can never go wrong with a stay at this beautiful new property! I highly recommend that you try out this new property on your next visit to Universal Epic Universe!

As this was a brand new hotel there were no reviews previous to arrival we were hoping for the best experience ever Hotel beautiful and clean as it’s new. Staff lovely and helpful. Would we stay here again No we wouldn’t. Not worth the expense. We have stayed at a few universal Loews hotels. Hard rock and Portifino our favourites so was looking forward to experiencing a new hotel. Helios feels too far out of the universal experience. No fast tracks for the parks like the others. You end up paying more for no extras. The deposit you have to leave per room even though our children were in the inter connecting room we had to leave deposit that does not go back onto your card until 3 working days which could cause some issues for some. Leaving credit card details should have been enough for room charges etc. Always check your final bill as we had someone else’s restaurant bill charged to our room!! New park not that good. The day we went I most of the rides had issues and were not working. No fast tracks unless you purchase it Hoping when things settle there it becomes a great hotel but we won’t be back

The Grand Helios hotel is not that “grand.” We stayed here to celebrate a birthday for my son. We were in a How to Train Your Dragon Suite. The lobby of the hotel, restaurant and bar are very nice. The view of Epic is spectacular. The hotel room itself was very disappointing. For the cost of this room, we expected a more luxurious and up-scale space. The living area with small sofa feels like a dorm room. There is a mini fridge without a panel or door on the front. Then, a strangely placed microwave sitting on top of the cabinet under the T.V. and an unusually undersized light fixture on the ceiling. It’s a good thing we only stayed 1 night. The design of this hotel room is not at all well thought out for families. There is nowhere to stow away suitcases. There are only a couple of tiny drawers in the main bedroom and the bathroom cabinet is mostly solid with tiny storage space. It is bizarre that so much money was spent to control T.V. drapery and lightings electronically, because the rest of the room feels very inexpensive. One reason for our stay was to have early park entry. They got us guests efficiently into Celestial Park, then, had us stand in a long HOT line til they allowed us in. It was pretty miserable. We were all sweating like crazy before we even started our day. It seems they could have put up umbrellas on the path or had us line up under the cover of the hotel. This didn’t feel like a perk. Epic Universe is an impressive park. We will stay at the Waldorf for the same price next time. Or, a Disney hotel that is nicer and designed for families to stay longer.

Great one night stay in between Yacht Club and Portofino to experience the new Epic theme park. Hotel Was stylish. Hired a grand cabana which was great fun ( but be aware you only get two sun loungers and are not allowed to move others over which we found odd). Pool bar was excellent - beautiful with great food and drink and excellent service. Bar Helios was also great for small plates in the evening and exceptional cocktails! Lovely service from Ben! Great view of the park at night. We will be back.

Brilliant! The close vicinity to the park proved to be exactly what we’d hoped for. We stayed for a night so that we could wake up early and enjoy Epic Universe in its entirety and the hotel was absolutely perfect, we managed to be queuing nice and early and with the battle of the ministry ride opening a bit early too, we had been on it by 9:30 and headed straight to dark universe. The advantage was evident in that we were a walk on for Harry potter the second the ride started moving- something we felt very privileged to enjoy as the queues are known to get insane. The bar was absolutely flawless, I can’t imagine a negative review for this hotel because its designing is gorgeous and the effort put into it is noticed. The cocktails at the bar were spectacular and the mixed dishes we decided to try for dinner that night were more than a pleasant surprise. I’d rank that as one of the best nights I’ve had in Florida both for food and drink, and the view of the park and water display was an undeniable bonus. We rented a cabana the day we moved in to enjoy the pool and had a lovely time, the pool bar served a lovely lunch and drinks options, the cabana provided us with cool drinks, shade, a television, seating, a fruit platter and sunbeds that all were enjoyed all day long. The pool itself has a great atmosphere, good songs, it was never too busy, very spacious and attractive too. The room was comfortable, stylish, and provided all the amenities anyone could need. The shower was a personal favourite of mine, really lovely quality and spacious, the beds were very comfortable and the ability to close and open curtains and adjust lighting with a button made it feel all the more exciting. Breakfast we grabbed from the market was perfect, fantastic blueberry muffins and croissants, as were the bagels. Really happy we came and hopefully we will stay longer next time!