Aventura vs. Sapphire Falls?

Artygal90

DIS Veteran
Joined
Aug 1, 2017
With the announced closure today I am looking at rebooking my early May birthday trip to late August. Since I want to do a full day of relaxing at Volcano Bay I figured I could save some money and book our first two nights at a non-EP hotel. AP rates for my tentative dates are $112/night for Aventura or $149 for Sapphire Falls. I haven't stayed at either hotel. Is Sapphire Falls worth the extra money? Which hotel do you prefer?

Even if this trip has to be canceled too, planning it is giving me something to look forward to.
 
Have you thought about staying at Cabana Bay? I’ve stayed at both CB and Sapphire Falls and if it were between the two and we would be enjoying Volcano Bay on those days then I would choose CB.

Sapphire Falls is gorgeous but CB would be so much easier while going to VB.

Keep in mind I haven’t stayed at Adventura, But in choosing between those two for 2 nights I would save the $80 ish dollars and try Aventura.

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Have you thought about staying at Cabana Bay? I’ve stayed at both CB and Sapphire Falls and if it were between the two and we would be enjoying Volcano Bay on those days then I would choose CB.

Sapphire Falls is gorgeous but CB would be so much easier while going to VB.

Keep in mind I haven’t stayed at Adventura, But in choosing between those two for 2 nights I would save the $80 ish dollars and try Aventura.

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That’s what I was thinking too. Although I’ve never stayed at CB, if the OP was focusing on Volcano Bay during that 2 night stay, CB is the closest and would probably be the best option with a similar price range. I’ve also haven’t stayed at Aventura either.

I have stayed at SF a couple years ago. It is a beautiful hotel, and we enjoyed our stay there. It’s probably the best non-EP hotel when visiting USF or IOA. But for stays focused on Volcano Bay, I would go with the cheapest rate of the three hotels with a slight edge going to CB.
 
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Have you thought about staying at Cabana Bay? I’ve stayed at both CB and Sapphire Falls and if it were between the two and we would be enjoying Volcano Bay on those days then I would choose CB.

Sapphire Falls is gorgeous but CB would be so much easier while going to VB.

Keep in mind I haven’t stayed at Adventura, But in choosing between those two for 2 nights I would save the $80 ish dollars and try Aventura.

.
That’s what I was thinking too. Although I’ve never stayed at CB, if the OP was focusing on Volcano Bay during that 2 night stay, CB is the closest and would probably be the best option with a similar price range. I’ve also haven’t stayed at Aventura either.

I have stayed at SF a couple years ago. It is a beautiful hotel, and we enjoyed our stay there. It’s probably the best non-EP hotel when visiting USF or IOA. But for stays focused on Volcano Bay, I would go with the cheapest rate of the three hotels with a slight edge going to CB.

I do love Cabana Bay! However I stayed there for my last trip and am looking to try a new hotel this time. I did end up with a fabulous view looking straight at the volcano...it ended up being a huge tease as there was a cold snap and the park was closed during my whole trip!

Update: I showed pictures, talked about the boat taxi at SF vs walking to Volcano Bay at Aventura, and laid out the price differences to my husband and my mom, and asked them what they thought. My husband thought the rooms at Sapphire Falls looked prettier and more fun. My mom said, and I quote, "I love boats!!! 😍" Since she will be my travel buddy for this trip, I guess we are going with Sapphire Falls :D Thanks for the input everyone!
 
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I usually save the few dollars and go with Aventrua.
You can pretty much take advantage of all the benefits of SF, and savings pays for a few drinks in Strong Water at SF.
The theme and pool are much better at SF, but again you can just walk over from Aventura.
Aventura is more like the typical Marriott - not much of a theme - but clean and a good value
 
I usually save the few dollars and go with Aventrua.
You can pretty much take advantage of all the benefits of SF, and savings pays for a few drinks in Strong Water at SF.
The theme and pool are much better at SF, but again you can just walk over from Aventura.
Aventura is more like the typical Marriott - not much of a theme - but clean and a good value

How’s the bar at the top of Aventura? If you’re visiting SF’s Strong Water, do you consider Aventura’s roof top bar inferior?
 
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SF is a beautiful resort! And we liked the restaurant and the quick stop cafe.

You can use the water taxi if you stay at Adventura (or CB and dont mind the long walk).
 


How’s the bar at the top of Aventura? If you’re visiting SF’s Strong Water, do you consider Aventura’s roof top bar inferior?

Not Tony patster, but I certainly consider Strong Water Bar to be far superior to Bar 17.

The views are the main reason to go up there......everything else is very average. I don't like saying that as the manager is a lovely guy, but as we told the Food and Beverage Manager when he asked what we thought after we visited, it`s just missing something.


@Artygal90 I`m glad you decided to go with Sapphire Falls. It`s a much warmer feeling hotel than Aventura.....you`ll enjoy it I`m sure.
 
I do love Cabana Bay! However I stayed there for my last trip and am looking to try a new hotel this time. I did end up with a fabulous view looking straight at the volcano...it ended up being a huge tease as there was a cold snap and the park was closed during my whole trip!

Update: I showed pictures, talked about the boat taxi at SF vs walking to Volcano Bay at Aventura, and laid out the price differences to my husband and my mom, and asked them what they thought. My husband thought the rooms at Sapphire Falls looked prettier and more fun. My mom said, and I quote, "I love boats!!! 😍" Since she will be my travel buddy for this trip, I guess we are going with Sapphire Falls :D Thanks for the input everyone!

Sapphire is great!!!

Aventura does look nice but having been there for a visit not an actual stay to the rooftop and lobby and pool areas, I should add on a night or two so I can validate my opinion, I hear some that say if Aventura offered EP it would be there favorite and other’s that say only if they have no other choice. I do like the CLEAN and modern aspects of the place, but then again they are all CLEAN.
 
Not Tony patster, but I certainly consider Strong Water Bar to be far superior to Bar 17.

The views are the main reason to go up there......everything else is very average. I don't like saying that as the manager is a lovely guy, but as we told the Food and Beverage Manager when he asked what we thought after we visited, it`s just missing something.


@Artygal90 I`m glad you decided to go with Sapphire Falls. It`s a much warmer feeling hotel than Aventura.....you`ll enjoy it I`m sure.

Thanks. It’s been a while since my last visit to Strong Water. On my last two trips while staying at RPH, I’ve suggested to DW that we should stop by for drinks, but after a long day at the parks, she said no. My sister and her husband stop at Strong Water on each trip, even when staying off-property.

Bar 17 is on my to do list, primarily for the views. Any bars at CB worth visiting? Perhaps, I should try a Universal Orlando hotel bar crawl!
 
Thanks. It’s been a while since my last visit to Strong Water. On my last two trips while staying at RPH, I’ve suggested to DW that we should stop by for drinks, but after a long day at the parks, she said no. My sister and her husband stop at Strong Water on each trip, even when staying off-property.

Bar 17 is on my to do list, primarily for the views. Any bars at CB worth visiting? Perhaps, I should try a Universal Orlando hotel bar crawl!

CB bars, no. Don`t bother.

I would tell anyone to go up for the views....although Orlando is hardly Vegas....but to see it all is quite the novelty. If you can time it to see the fireworks too, all good. But the drinks menu is limited, for cocktails anyway. The ones we tried were not that good, and not a good pour either.

Then you have Strong Water and it is everything Bar 17 isn't. And wow on the cocktails......

A bar crawl sounds like fun!!! There are some fabulous bars in the hotels and Citywalk......not sure if you`ve ever gone up, but Cowfish has a good bar just for drinks and some lovely cocktails.....nice staff too!!!

PBH also has Bar American….nice atmosphere and good solid drinks. Bar staff there were similar in knowledge to Strong Water......didn't feel that at the HRH.
 
CB bars, no. Don`t bother.

I would tell anyone to go up for the views....although Orlando is hardly Vegas....but to see it all is quite the novelty. If you can time it to see the fireworks too, all good. But the drinks menu is limited, for cocktails anyway. The ones we tried were not that good, and not a good pour either.

Then you have Strong Water and it is everything Bar 17 isn't. And wow on the cocktails......

A bar crawl sounds like fun!!! There are some fabulous bars in the hotels and Citywalk......not sure if you`ve ever gone up, but Cowfish has a good bar just for drinks and some lovely cocktails.....nice staff too!!!

PBH also has Bar American….nice atmosphere and good solid drinks. Bar staff there were similar in knowledge to Strong Water......didn't feel that at the HRH.

Thanks. Although we’ve stayed at PBH a few times, we’ve never stopped by Bar American. I think it opens at 4PM when we’re at the parks. Same thing with Thirsty Fish. When we get back, if we want a drink, we’ll get it from Sal’s to take back to our room.

We’ve stayed at HRH once. Bad room service left us disappointed, and no desire to return. Also wasn’t a fan of HRH’s vibe. We did get a drink from The Velvet Lounge. The lounge felt stuffy, and we finished our drinks on the balcony which was nice.

Perhaps we need to try the pool bars. DW and I never use the hotel pools, which means we haven’t tried the pool bars. That was until this last trip in February when we had food at Bula Bar and Grill before catching our Uber back to the airport. We liked it. I want to thank everyone who had posted positive reviews for Bula Bar. Without those, we wouldn’t have tried it. Hopefully, the other hotels’ pool bars are just as good.

As for Cowfish, although we didn’t sit at the bar, we did have lunch there on our last trip. I’m not a typical sushi eater, but the box I got, which included firecracker shrimp sushi, was really good.
 
How’s the bar at the top of Aventura? If you’re visiting SF’s Strong Water, do you consider Aventura’s roof top bar inferior?
Disappointing to say the least.
The staff is just there. Food was average. The lobby bar has more atmosphere and better staff.
I tried it a few times and other than the view it offers very little of interest.
Speaking with many of the bartenders around Universal they all same the same thing - big missed opportunity
 
Thanks. Although we’ve stayed at PBH a few times, we’ve never stopped by Bar American. I think it opens at 4PM when we’re at the parks. Same thing with Thirsty Fish. When we get back, if we want a drink, we’ll get it from Sal’s to take back to our room.

We’ve stayed at HRH once. Bad room service left us disappointed, and no desire to return. Also wasn’t a fan of HRH’s vibe. We did get a drink from The Velvet Lounge. The lounge felt stuffy, and we finished our drinks on the balcony which was nice.

Perhaps we need to try the pool bars. DW and I never use the hotel pools, which means we haven’t tried the pool bars. That was until this last trip in February when we had food at Bula Bar and Grill before catching our Uber back to the airport. We liked it. I want to thank everyone who had posted positive reviews for Bula Bar. Without those, we wouldn’t have tried it. Hopefully, the other hotels’ pool bars are just as good.

As for Cowfish, although we didn’t sit at the bar, we did have lunch there on our last trip. I’m not a typical sushi eater, but the box I got, which included firecracker shrimp sushi, was really good.

Bula Bar, to us, is the best pool bar out of all the hotels. Sapphire Falls comes a close second. I haven’t used CB (don‘t like the hotel) but the other hotel pool bars are all decent.

We never eat Sushi from Cowfish....burgers all the way there.....it’s not a favourite restaurant but the bar is good.

You just reminded me, we haven’t been in the Thirsty Fish for years.......and I mean about 10 years! And we can’t remember if we liked it or not......lol.....so maybe not!
 
Disappointing to say the least.
The staff is just there. Food was average. The lobby bar has more atmosphere and better staff.
I tried it a few times and other than the view it offers very little of interest.
Speaking with many of the bartenders around Universal they all same the same thing - big missed opportunity

Hearing that makes me feel even better about deciding to go with Sapphire for this trip. The rooftop bar is like 50% of the reason I was interested in Aventura. Maybe I’ll stop by but do my serious drinking at Strongwater Tavern :)
 
Hearing that makes me feel even better about deciding to go with Sapphire for this trip. The rooftop bar is like 50% of the reason I was interested in Aventura. Maybe I’ll stop by but do my serious drinking at Strongwater Tavern :)
Yeah for one or two days that is a good choice. You can still go over and check out the rooftop bar as well.
I've stayed at both and like them both - but i usually stay 10 nights - so that's a different of about $400 - so makes the choice easier.
The only reason i would not stay at Aventura is if I needed express pass - then I would go to the least expensive that has that - typically RPR
 
Our go to hotel has been RPR for many years, but the lack of APH rates has forced to look at the non-deluxe offerings. We've been using Aventura for the past 4 visits and have no complaints given the $125 or so rates. We don't go crazy in the parks anymore, so the express pass loss is not a key factor. The lack of the water taxi is not key either, since we walk across the street to Saphire to get on the walking path that dumps us at Jimmy Buffets. We sometimes grab a water taxi at Saphire if it's available, but mostly take the brisk 10 minute walk. We fly in and don't have a car, so parking is not a factor either.
 

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