I recently stayed at the Holiday Inn Universal, which is as close to the park as you can get without actually staying onsite. I got a beautiful, clean, full suite. That is large bedroom with 2 queen size beds and a tv, and a very large living room with a queen size convertible, coffee and accent tables, easy chair and 27 inch tv, dining table and a kitchen area with a sink, full size refridgerator, dishwasher, microwave, coffee maker, and toaster plus dishes and utensils. The bathroom also had a separate vanity area with 2 sinks. There is a TGIFridays on the ground floor of the hotel that also provides the room service, which I found to be fast, accurate and reasonably priced. They also serve a decent breakfast buffet. There is a Dennys and a Cracker Barrel within walking distance.
I paid only 89 per night using the Entertainment card, a substantial savings over staying onsite.
There is also a Radisson across the street from the Holiday Inn which I have not tried yet but I have heard it is nice.
If you are looking for the least expensive there is also a Days Inn very close but I do not recomment it, friends have stayed there and told me while it was clean it was old and run down.
One close place I definately would NEVER stay at again was the Amerisuites in that same area. It's too long a story to print here, I have posted it before, trust me, it was BAD NEWS.
I have, however, also stayed at the Hard Rock and I have to say that even though it was not a suite as I usually prefer, it was the most luxurious and comfy standard room I have ever experienced (and that includes several Disney properties I have stayed at). Plus you just cannot beat that express line access, if you are there on a busy day it can literally save you hours of waiting time, and in my book that does justify the extra $. With the entertainment book you can often get a good deal there, so don't automatically rule it out.
Hope this helps