Universal Helios Grand Hotel

My family of 5 travel to Orlando several times a year. We decided to stay at Helios Grand for three nights during the Epic Universe preview. We had been looking forward to this for so long! Unfortunately, this hotel did not meet our expectations and we probably will not stay here again. Here are the pros: *This hotel is directly attached to Epic Universe. You can go thru security right in the hotel and be in the park in minutes. Very convenient! *Everything is brand new! For me, this means the air quality in the rooms is good. *Beds are very comfortable. *The Flora Taverna restaurant is gorgeous and has delicious food for breakfast and dinner. *The pool is large, has great food and can accommodate many guests. *24-hour room service *Staff is pleasant, engaging and welcoming. Now to the many cons…. *The air conditioning in the room cools only the bedroom, not the bathroom or hallway. *Room service messed up our kids’ order pretty badly. Ordered soup and grilled chicken, then they called us back 20 min later to said they had no soup. So we ordered something else, and after 30 more minutes with no food we decided to cancel, but the food was on the way up. They did not give us the chicken we ordered but did give us the side of broccolini that came with the chicken, as well as two bowls of fruit. Confused. *Ordered soup the next day (my daughter’s favorite food) at 4:30 pm and they didn’t have soup because “it’s a very popular item.” *Family bathrooms on first floor don’t have a changing table. Keyword: FAMILY bathroom. *Speaking of family things - the game room only has four games (Mario Kart, basketball, a Jurassic Park shooting game and a VR game) and six claw machines. It’s super boring. *Not enough dining options. The market has very limited choices for snacks and food. I was told at 1:30 pm that they stopped making sandwiches at 11 am (???) and if I wanted one, to take a cold one from the cooler. Why are sandwiches on the menu if I can’t order a hot one? *Laundry rooms are hard to find. They are marked just as every other hotel room is, so if you aren’t looking at every single room as you walk down the hallway you can easily miss it. There are no signs and the hallways are LONG. *We had to wait 25 minutes to be seated for breakfast this morning at 10 am. There were 12 whole tables being waited on in a restaurant that is so big it can accommodate hundreds of customers. *We found the porte cochère to be underwhelming for such a hyped-up hotel. Overall, this hotel is a 6/10 and we would not stay here again for several nights. I’d *maybe* stay for one night just for the convenience of getting into Epic Universe, but for the price, I’d rather stay at a Universal hotel near CityWalk.

Front Desk staff was welcoming. Hailey checked us in and she was great! She was friendly, very helpful, and explained amenities/locations well. It was great to have park access directly from hotel. Hotel key is needed to enter park from hotel and to enter hotel from park. The hotel decor was very pretty and the park view was amazing! Hotel room was very clean and we were very pleasantly surprised to walk into a Park View room. Huge wow factor! Beds were very comfortable as were the pillows. Room was pretty quiet although could hear the music from outside. Nothing too annoying, but something to keep in mind if you’re a light sleeper. Dining options for late night eaters is at a minimum here. Room service is available and Bar Helios is open till late; however, reservations fill up quickly. We experienced a slight lack of communication when wanting to go and just sit at the bar or outside, which was an option we were given. We were quickly stopped by another Hostess who informed us we couldn’t. Was told if interested in dining, needed a reservation. Asked if we could then go and check out the bar area and was told no; “foot traffic was to be limited” in the restaurant. Text communication from earlier in the day said we could “try to walk in” Bar Helios, and I guess they weren’t kidding with the TRY. We were left with going to Aurora Market for pre-made sandwich options that were okay. Couldn’t use our Epic Universe refillable cups there so would have to buy another refillable cup from Helios to use. Over all, it was a pleasant stay and good experience. Not sure if we will stay here again seeing that we’re locals. The park entrance from hotel doesn’t seem to the nightly price for a stay here.

I traveled to Helios Grand for a couple nights on May 5th and 6th. I was there to enjoy Epic Universe and the hotel. I did online check in, but when I arrived inside the lobby there was no online check in line. Everyone had to go through regular check in. Even though that was the case the Front desk staff handled the mass of folks checking in including myself with great poise, kindness and efficiency. Lexi and Michael at the front desk on check in were absolutely lovely. Although the Lobby is smaller in comparison to the other Universal resorts it is no less elegant. It is really beautiful. The hotel is very easy to navigate and the signage for the various amenities offered are easy to see. The pool is beautiful and as the newly planted trees and other plantings grow and mature it will be a stunning Oasis. Every staff member I met was very kind and helpful. There is a very nice fitness center provided for guests. Someone with a mind for detail made sure that the treadmills were facing the windows with a view of the beautiful Celestial Park. Nice touch. My room was not ready and I had not expected it to be. I was going to the park anyway. There was a long line for the hotel guest entrance to the park the morning I checked in, but again the staff handled getting everyone through security and photo scan in a timely manner. My room was ready about 1:30 pm. I had a room king room on the 7th floor and when I walked in and saw the view It was phenomenal. It was a beautiful park view. I could not take my eyes off of the view. Stunning………………… The rooms are decorated in a soft tones of blues and pinks. With lovely art deco style lighting. The room was beautiful and very clean. The king bed and pillows are very comfortable. The sheets are soft as were the towels and wash cloths. There are plenty of plug ins and USB ports for all your electronics. There is smart tablet provided for you to use to request any additional things you would need. I requested some extra towels and wash cloths and they were delivered quickly to the room. Being able to control the lighting, curtain shears and curtains at the touch of your finger is a nice touch. Body wash, shampoo, conditioner is anchored to the wall in the shower for your convenience. As with other Lowes hotels coffee maker, hair dryer, luggage rack, safe, small refrigerator, ample draw space are all provided. The TV is large and mounted to the wall which allows for more counter space. There is a grab and go Aurora Market for a coffee and quick breakfast items. It was busy the morning I arrived. I walked through and looked and there was a nice variety of options. The Flora Taverna is a beautiful open airy space and the attention to detail in the restaurant is incredible. The center pieces are Olive trees from Italy. I had the buffet breakfast there and had the most delicious fresh made omelet I have ever had. My server Jared was attentive and very nice. The view from my room at ni

The only reason I stayed here was because I got a good deal and was experiencing Epic Universe during previews. For the amount of money, you are paying to stay here, I expected more. I mean you can’t beat the location (walking right into park). First, parking is very expensive. Second, the food and drinks are also massively expensive for what you get. I had 2 drinks at Bar Helios and 2 of their plates (they are like appetizer/sharable size) and spent over $100. I ended up still being hungry and ended up ordering food from Uber Eats because the pricing for just standard food at the hotel was very high. Third, while my room was clean, it seemed like the construction and furniture set up was rushed. Things that should have lined up, didn't and certain items were placed in an area that didn't make practical sense. It also looks like my window had leaked at one point as there were clear water stains on the drywall above the window. I know I am being nitpicky, but when you are paying for a room at a brand new, expensive hotel, you expect more.

Visited for Mother’s Day as part of passholder preview experience. Understanding there are still some growing pains, but it seems like there is a lot of room for improvement We arrived at 8:00am in anticipation of early park admission starting at 9:00am. We were unable to enter parking without calling for assistance to verify our reservation which seemed like an added extra step which was unnecessary. It took 45-50 minutes to obtain our room Keys despite completing online check in. (Room keys are required to enter the park using designated entrance off the hotel lobby so you can’t bypass this step if you’re planning to enter Epic Universe on day of arrival). The lobby is grossly undersized which makes no sense to be honest with amount of foot traffic which passes through it each day. We have stayed numerous times at Hard Rock and Royal Pacific and they’re much more relaxing entrance an experience since you’re not tripping over other travelers nor are you battling with a team member working to deliver a 6ft cart full of breakfast sandwiches. Each key card must be printed at time of physical check in despite completing online check in which seems to negate any efficiency. While the team members are polite, the systems flow has some serious room for improvement. What is the purpose of having an online check in system if you have to go over every detail (who is adult, who is child, photo ID, etc) in order to be officially checked in. Went to epic universe after annoying introduction to hotel, facial recognition software while novel, and unrelated to Lowe’s seems to be an unnecessary step which slows efficiency. We returned in the afternoon after running into rain and long wait times. In online check in I requested a roll away (to the best of my recollection) which was not delivered so another request which was resolved quickly. Again, team members amazing. The room is a “smart” room with tablet controlling all lighting, television, drapes - as a tech person I appreciated this, my husband could care less, my kids liked they could choose the channel they wanted to watch without scrolling through the channel guide. My husband tried watching the basketball game which he was unable to watch due to pixelating picture and no audio, then the tv turned off (?). We got it back up but couldn’t watch basketball. We were told at check in to check out the rooftop bar for views of the park which we wanted to check out - so after two kids got showered we walked up to check it out. We were told at hostess stand, they could “offer” a view from behind the hostess stand which was inside as the patio was reserved for those with reservations. This was another fail moment. Beds and pillows were comfortable. Extra towel request submitted through the in room tablet was responded to quickly. In the morning we decided to run down to restaurant in lobby for breakfast. We were asked if we had a reservation (we did not as we figured… it’s a breakfast buffet so woul

We arrived at around 10 am on Friday. We had already completed on line check in, but the line was long. It took over an hour to check in, but our room was ready. The public areas of the hotel are stunning. The room was okay. We had a few electrical issues, such as one of the lights near the bed turning on automatically during the night. The mattress was a little firm for our liking, but we slept ok. Lighting in the vanity area was a little bit dark. The parking garage was a challenge. It fills up fairly quickly. We might stay here again on a split stay. The security line for the park is just off the lobby. That is super cool. I'm glad we tried it, but we prefer Sapphire Falls over Helios.