Universal’s Epic Universe In-Park Hotel is Cheap!

We were harsh on Helios Grand Hotel when Universal Orlando pulled back the curtain on the new in-park hotel overlooking Epic Universe. But we’re always willing to admit when wrong or misguided, so in that spirit, we want to revisit our commentary about the upcoming signature resort now that base pricing has been revealed.

Almost all of our critique was premised around the belief that Helios Grand Hotel would be a luxury resort. That it would immediately become Universal Orlando’s flagship hotel, with prices higher than any of the current resorts. We speculated that it would easily eclipse Portofino Bay Hotel, which is currently top dog, with starting prices of $393 per night.

We never made public predictions as to price points (thankfully), but our expectation was that Helios Grand Hotel would rival Walt Disney World park-adjacent hotels in terms of pricing. To be sure, we were not anticipating that Helios Grand Hotel would cost as much as the Grand Floridian from the jump, but in the same ballpark as Walt Disney World’s cheapest park-connected hotels? Sure.

As it turns out, this expectation was very wrong–unless you use the most liberal interpretation of “park-connected” resorts at Walt Disney World. Are Pop Century and Art of Animation park-connected by virtue of their Skyliner access to EPCOT and Disney’s Hollywood Studios? If so, then Walt Disney World comes out on top–and is still cheaper.

But you and I both well know that’s not what any reasonable person means by park-connected or adjacent. Comparing the Universal’s Epic Universe in-park hotel to Pop Century and deeming them equivalents is like comparing filet mignon to Fancy Feast Filet Mignon flavor. There’s no way to spin this that makes it pass the smell test.

Anyway, Universal Orlando still hasn’t revealed full pricing for Universal Helios Grand Hotel (that’ll come next week), but we do have an idea of starting prices based the hotel comparison tool. Here’s a look:

Before we go anything further, there are a couple important asterisks.

First, the $293 per night cost at Universal Helios Grand Hotel is the starting price. Rates will go up from there.

Second, this is the price for a 4-night or longer stay. It’s safe to assume that shorter duration stays will be more expensive on a per-night basis.

Just for the sake of added context, I searched single-night stays at Portofino Bay for what I’d expect to be off-season and peak season dates, and the range for those 1-night stays in 2025 was $491 to $1,024 for a standard room.

For even more context, I searched single-night stays at Gran Destino Tower in Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort for the exact same off-season and peak season dates, and the range for those 1-night stays in 2024-2025* was $398 to $602 for a standard room. (*I had to search 2024 peak season dates for Gran Destino because 2025 prices for that timeframe aren’t out yet–rates do not materially increase for the rest of 2025, though.)

For the same dates, Grand Floridian is $732 to $1,224. Again, standard room.

Walt Disney World fans who feel compelled to defend the company for whatever reason will likely point to the 1-night rate at the higher end of the spectrum at Portofino Bay. After all, that arguably “proves” that Universal’s starting price is marketing puffery, false advertising, or whatever.

I’d be somewhat receptive to that argument when it comes to Portofino Bay–or even Hard Rock Hotel or Royal Pacific Resort (for those who are wondering, both are over $900 for peak season dates around Christmas 2025). Those rates are extremely expensive, all on par with the most expensive Deluxe Resorts at Walt Disney World during the same timeframe.

However, I figured that might be attributable to Unlimited Express Pass. Since Walt Disney World doesn’t include Lightning Lane Premier Pass–much less an unlimited incarnation of it–with Deluxe Resort stays, that also isn’t an apples to apples comparison. So I took a look at Universal’s other “Signature Collection” resort that does not offer Unlimited Express Pass for a cleaner comparison.

Sure enough, Sapphire Falls is priced at $451 per night during those peak season dates. Less than half any of the other top-tier options at Universal, and also cheaper than Gran Destino Tower. (No matter how you feel about the other comparisons, there’s little denying that Sapphire Falls and Gran Destino are in the same ballpark, quality-wise.)

From my perspective, the explanation for all of this pricing is pretty simple: Unlimited Express Pass, or the lack thereof, is the key driver of room rates among Signature Collection resorts at Universal Orlando.

This explains why Sapphire Falls is so much cheaper the week between Christmas and New Year’s in late 2025. It also explains why the starting price for Universal Helios Grand Hotel is lower than Portofino Bay. Or, for that matter, why it’s lower than all three of the legacy top-tier hotels.

Now, you could also make the case that Sapphire Falls isn’t as luxurious as Portofino, Hard Rock, or Royal Pacific. That’s fair and accurate. I’m not so sure it’s true of Helios Grand Hotel, though. It arguably is when comparing certain elements of each, but across the board? I don’t think so.

I’m a big fan of all three of those hotels and was highly-critical of Helios Grand Hotel’s reveal.

With that said, I can’t claim that my least favorite of the trio–Royal Pacific–looks better than Helios Grand Hotel across the board. Certainly not to the point that it justifies premium pricing of what appears will be around $50 per night!

This is precisely why I was critical of Helios Grand Hotel in the first place. Even though we knew it wouldn’t include Unlimited Express Pass, I still expected it would be the new flagship at Universal Orlando, likely having a starting point of $100 more than Portofino Bay–not $100 less. That $200 per night swing in expected vs. actual pricing makes me much, much more forgiving.

My bad. I undervalued Unlimited Express Pass and overvalued Helios Grand Hotel’s location overlooking Epic Universe. At least, as compared to Universal Orlando’s valuation of these features. My guess is that the ‘market’ will make an assessment more in line with mine, and Helios Grand Hotel will be very difficult to book.

Speaking of which, if you want the pros to book Helios Grand Hotel for you or to help determine which tickets or packages will work best for your family, we highly recommend requesting a quote from Be Our Guest Vacations, a no-fee Universal Preferred Travel Agency.

Most importantly when it comes to Epic Universe, they’ll wait in the virtual queue or on hold via the telephone so you don’t have to. We don’t know how high demand will be for Epic Universe tickets and packages, but my guess is very high. I’d expect waits online or via the phone once Epic Universe packages go live. Depending upon the dates you want to book Helios Grand Hotel, I could see it being very competitive, filling up fast, and difficult to book–especially at the lower end of the price spectrum.

Just keep in mind that if you want to use a travel agent, the time to submit a quote request is NOW–before October 22, 2024. Don’t wait until tickets & packages go live, realize you’re overwhelmed, and scramble. They’ll already have active clients they’re assisting on launch day!

Turning to commentary, now that the starting rate has been revealed for Universal Helios Grand Hotel–and we can infer rates beyond that based on percentage differences between it, Sapphire Falls and Royal Pacific, I am much more inclined to stay there. In fact, my first impression (or is it second?) of the value proposition is now much more favorable.

Guests staying at Universal Helios Grand Hotel, or any of the other Universal Orlando hotels, receive Early Park Admission to enjoy select attractions at the theme parks, which will expand to include Universal Epic Universe with the park’s opening in 2025. Early Park Admission will offer up to one hour of priority access before the park opens with valid theme park admission.

Honestly, I’m pleasantly surprised here that Early Park Admission is being expanded to Epic Universe. I wouldn’t necessarily have bet on that, and expected that Universal Orlando would instead try to monetize early access in the same way they do at Super Nintendo World in Hollywood. So that is a small victory at the very least–and one that could be incredibly valuable at Epic Universe.

Obviously, location is the other big one. While I’d normally rather be on the main campus of Universal Orlando, I’d prefer the proximity to Epic Universe in 2025. This is because I’m going to spend a disproportionate amount of time there, and think it’s strategically advantageous for Early Entry, midday breaks, and everything else. Longer term, who knows.

For this very same reason, I don’t care a whole lot about Unlimited Express Pass.

We’ve speculated for a while that Helios Grand Hotel wouldn’t offer it or that the other hotels wouldn’t offer it for Epic Universe wouldn’t…or both. This turned out to be accurate. As we’ve discussed previously, Universal Orlando likely regrets the deal they made with Loews to offer Unlimited Express Pass to its Premier Hotels, which is why subsequent hotels (and now parks) haven’t seen that arrangement extended.

Universal would not make the same deal in the 2020s that it did in the late 1990s, which is precisely why Sapphire Falls doesn’t offer Express Pass. Universal Orlando is now already established as a bona fide theme park heavy hitter, and there is no need to dangle such a park to get a commitment from Loews. The hotelier couldn’t get a sweetheart deal this time–it’s Universal with the leverage now.

All of that’s a bit inside baseball, though. From a practical guest perspective, in 2025 I don’t care as much about Unlimited Express Pass because my priority is Epic Universe, which will not have it. The flip side of that is that I’ll care about Unlimited Express Pass less at Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure.

This is both because I’ll be spending less time in those parks during my stay and because I don’t think it’ll be as necessary. Meaning that even with the vacation packages that “force” people to visit the other two parks, I’d bet that the existing gates are not seeing significant spikes in crowds next year.

Of course, I could be wrong about this–but it’s a gamble that I’m personally willing to make because I don’t really care if I’m wrong (been there, done that with the existing parks–they’re not top priorities this go-round). Not only that, but the known upsides of Universal Helios Grand Hotel (lower price + better location) outweigh the downsides, even the potential ones. At least, for me. As always, your circumstances may differ.

I’m also unbothered by the “starting price” or that it’s “based on a 4-night stay” part of the base price. Companies trying to catch your attention with best-case prices isn’t exactly stop-the-presses news. Anyone who has ever watched a Walt Disney World commercial that ends with “vacation starting at $X per person” prices that are comically low should know that!

Sure, Universal Helios Grand Hotel won’t cost $293 for a 1-night stay on New Year’s Eve–it’ll probably be close to double that. But single nights during the off-season shouldn’t be that much more expensive (~$350/night if we extrapolate and adjust from Sapphire Falls).

Beyond all else, I don’t care because a 4-night or longer stay is probably what I’d book at Universal Helios Grand Hotel! If I’m the average tourist booking a hotel in 2025 who is emphasizing Epic Universe, I’m either doing a split stay between Universal Orlando and Walt Disney World, or simply staying at Universal and commuting to Disney.

The on-site perks at Universal are more valuable than the ones at WDW and, at least for now, Universal pricing is still superior. In light of that, a 4-night stay is probably exactly what I’m booking, and that base price isn’t deceptive from my perspective.

Ultimately, given all of this–I want to revise and upgrade my initial assessment of Universal Helios Grand Hotel. As before, the exterior looks to me like the strange love-child of Disney’s Riviera Resort and Gran Destino Tower at Coronado Springs, but with more artifice and attention to detail so it’s not so boxy.

It’s still not nearly as good as Portofino Bay, which remains the high-water mark for themed resorts at Universal Orlando. With that said, it’s priced closer to Gran Destino Tower than Riviera or Portofino Bay, so it’s perfectly fair for Helios Grand to look like a better version of that.

The pool likewise looks nice, which is not a huge surprise since Universal Creative and Loews have done a fantastic job with pool complexes at many of the existing resorts. It’s probably fair to say that Universal hotels, on average, outdo Disney from the perspective of pools. The pools at Hard Rock and Portofino Bay are my personal favorites, but there are several great ones. (Cabana Bay can be good, but it’s often packed.)

The standard rooms look small and bland, but with the added context that Universal Helios Grand is closer in price to Sapphire Falls than it is Portofino Bay, it now makes complete sense that it would remind me of the former. It looks like Universal wanted to cram as many rooms into as small of a footprint as possible…probably because they did! Universal took the economical and efficient approach–both to building and pricing Helios Grand Hotel–and it’s difficult to argue with that decision!

Need trip planning tips and comprehensive advice for your visit to Central Florida? Make sure to read our Universal Orlando Planning Guide for everything about Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios Florida. Also check out our Walt Disney World Vacation Planning Guide for everything about those parks, resorts, restaurants, and so much more. For regular updates, news & rumors, a heads up when discounts are released, and much more, sign up for our FREE email newsletter!

YOUR THOUGHTS

Surprised by the low prices of Universal Helios Grand Hotel? Were you expected the base price to be higher? Did you think it would be the flagship Universal Orlando hotel, or did you expect this? Will you book Universal Helios Grand Hotel, or stick with one of the existing resorts? Think Epic Universe will be a third gate that’s a worthy addition to Universal Orlando Resort…and potentially on par with Disney’s best lands? Agree or disagree with our assessment that much of the interior looks too similar to Universal’s new lower-tier resorts? Any questions? We love hearing from readers, so please share any other thoughts or questions you have in the comments below!