I had originally booked the Doubletree hotel, which is just two buildings down from this Fairfield. The Doubletree is a little closer to the Universal entrance, but after reading ratings on Trip Advisor I found that this Fairfield seemed to be much more highly rated. Also, the Fairfield has free parking and free breakfast, two things that can really add up for a family in the course of a week. I canceled my Doubletree reservation and booked the Fairfield.

The staff was very friendly and helpful. Emanoel very kindly managed to upgrade our room at check-in, and was so pleasant and helpful several times when I came to the desk with questions or requests. The breakfast area was always fully stocked, and the selection was quite good. The decor is nice, and everything looked fresh and new. The housekeeping staff does a great job in the room and the common areas (make sure to drop them a few bucks every day, they work hard!) And there are cookies in the lobby area, at least sometimes. It was always a surprise, and we'd hope to find them.

The shuttle is scheduled, and only does one trip over in the morning (it was timed to get you to the park right when the gates opened, so for us in January it was 8:45 AM), and one trip back in the evening 25 minutes after the park closed (7:25 PM in January). We found that a little restrictive, as that is just too long a day. We would either take shuttle one way and walk the other, or we simply drove over to Universal. Parking at Universal was reasonable at $15 a day, because you could come and go and not have to pay again. So, we'd go to the park while, come back and rest, and then head over to CityWalk for dinner. If you don't want to pay to park, the walk one way is do-able but takes 15 to 20 minutes. (There are cute little lizards on the sidewalk. We had fun watching the dozens of them scurry away as we approached.) But with all the park walking, we just treated ourselves to parking at Universal. (If we had stayed at Doubletree, then we would have been paying to park at both the hotel and the park, which would have been ridiculous.) The shuttle is nice, it is a bus so we had no worries of not getting a seat. The driver was friendly and prompt.

Thanks, Fairfield staff! You earned your 5 "dot" rating here. :) Excellent service, very nice hotel!

I went to visit family and my sister got the flu so we wanted to stay at a hotel at the last minute trying to avoid getting sick. I went on trip advisor to seek out a hotel that was close by. The reviews were spot on. The customer service was better than a lot of 5* hotels I have been to. The second night we were there, the parking lot was full. I had my fiance run inside to ask the front desk where we should park. As I'm waiting there I see the front desk staff (Mariant) running to move her car for me. She actually moved her spot so I could park there and who knows where she ended up putting her car. She didn't have to do that, but she went way beyond her professional call of duty and with a smile. She was wonderful, as was all the other staff members at this hotel. The room was clean and quiet. I would definitely stay there again.

I met a childhood friend for a weekend at Universal Studios and was blown away by the hotel - most especially the welcoming and well informed registration staff! The young man arranged for a taxi since we had missed the shuttle to Universal and engaged in friendly conversation when we checked out the following morning. The room was comfortable and well maintained and the breakfast - ending at 11 am - was exceptional! If you're going to the Orlando area, don't think twice - this is the hotel for you!

Our experience at this hotel was excellent! We stayed two different times during the past week and both times were perfect. Rooms were spotless, and the hotel is centrally located. We were assisted by Emanoel during both visits, he was professional, friendly and extremely helpful during our stays...i can't say enough about the level of customer service he gave us, I wish every hotel had people like this at the desk!