I recently stayed at the Universal Terra Luna Resort, and overall, I had an enjoyable experience, especially considering the resort has only been open for two months. Here’s a breakdown of my stay:
Design & Cleanliness: The resort is sparkling clean and beautifully designed, with a fresh, modern aesthetic throughout. The lobby, in particular, is stunning, spacious, airy, and a great place to relax or meet up with friends.
Rooms: The rooms are on the smaller side compared to other resorts I’ve visited. While space is a bit limited (including the bathrooms and sink areas), the rooms themselves are gorgeous, with thoughtful decor and comfortable beds. If you’re traveling with a lot of luggage or need extra room to spread out, keep this in mind.
Dining: There are several restaurants on-site, and I found them generally nice. The food is decently good, but don’t expect a huge variety—menus are somewhat limited. However, there’s a convenient market for sandwiches and snacks, which is handy for a quick bite.
Bars & Pool: The resort features two excellent bars: one indoors and one by the pool. Both offer great atmospheres to unwind. The pool area is fantastic, while not very deep, it’s perfect for families and a great spot to cool off and relax.
Staff & Service: The hospitality staff were consistently friendly and helpful, adding to the welcoming feel of the resort.
Overall: Universal Terra Luna Resort is a wonderful addition to the area. It’s clean, stylish, and offers a lot to families, especially. While the rooms are a bit compact and the dining options could be expanded, I thoroughly enjoyed my stay and would visit again!
We had a wonderful stay at this hotel.
The guest laundry facilities were very convenient — they are located on the 4th and 7th floors of Towers 1 and 2, which made it easy to do laundry during our stay.
Another great point was that we were able to store our luggage even after check-out, so we could go to the parks and enjoy the day without worrying about our bags.
Most importantly, all of the staff were fantastic. Everyone was friendly, professional, and very helpful, which made our stay even more comfortable.
We would definitely stay here again and highly recommend this hotel.
Ccm2024As people who travel regularly, we place a lot of emphasis on other reviews when booking. I was rather concerned reading previous reviews of this property, but having stayed at multiple other Ritz Carlton’s (Singapore, Koh Samui, Dalllas, Melbourne etc) we hoped the brand would live up to expectations and great experiences at other properties. IT DID NOT!
Strongly suggest avoiding this property at all costs. Look at the low ranked reviews, they all make sense to me after staying.
This property has us questioning if we would ever stay with this brand again. Amazing isn’t it, how one property can tarnish a brands reputation.
We have been overcharged after checkout after settling the bill when leaving (unresolved at this point but will get to that later).
The first room we checked into had air conditioning so loud you could not hear the TV. It was also dirty with marks and dust/grime on every surface and excess dog hair on the floor. I went to the front desk and the best they could do was “send someone up to check the A/C. The property was practically empty. This was not good enough!
I was fortunate enough to speak with the GM who remedied the room situation immediately. We then dealt with Daniel (who was on loan from Santa Barbara Ritz Carlton) he was a great reflection on the brand. He upgraded us, which was appreciated but not expected, just a room with a reasonable a/c would have been fine.
Rooms are very average, worn and not clean. Linen was stained, towels so old some had tears and holes in them.
The majority of the staff seemed like they would rather be anywhere else than at the Ritz Carlton South, can’t say I blame them but really let the place down.
When dining they would bring the bill before we had finished dining over and over, at times even advising their break was about to start so needed to provide bill, how about you get another staff member to do this…
Upon checkout I paid with an alternate card than I used for the security deposit (to avoid international transaction fees). I settled the bill of approx $450usd and away we went.
A few days later, a charge of $390usd (approx) appears on my original card used for security deposit (along with an international transaction fee). This charge is absolute rubbish and was not warranted, everything was settled and paid on check out.
I rang and rang and rang all day to the hotel and the phone was never answered. Finally I had to call and international call centre where the wind noise in the background was so loud I could hardly hear. I was then told the extra was for bar charges (not ours!) we had one whisky and a coke at the bar which was on my bill at checkout. I was then told they would try to contact hotel and hopefully in up to 2 weeks they would respond to the call centre, and sometime after to me. This from Ritz Carlton? Disgraceful.
We then got lucky and got the US call centre. This was much more helpful and the agent advised the hotel would call back the same day. Still no call back from Hotel, no explanation of why my card was charged… no invoice, no receipts.
Now I need to go through the process of disputing the transaction with my bank. Really?
The old saying one bad apple spoils the cart, couldn’t be more true of the Ritz Carlton South Beach. There were many other disappointing things that happened during the stay that isn’t even worth going into. Such an epic disappointment from this brand.
I am hoping this property reaches out as promised but it holding my breath.
Do better Ritz Carlton South Beach!
Not wanting to end on such a sour note. Daniel (from RC Santa Barbara) was a standout for guest service as was Noela at the Valet, both embody what guest expect from RC.
WWaiDriving up to the hotel it looked promising, lift up to our floor felt bit old but worked well with the style, rooms were ok but looked like it could do with some freshening up.
First thing we noticed was a stain on one of the pillowcases, this made us wonder whether the beds were properly changed or cleaned, we did see a single strand of hair in the bathtub but gave it the benefit of the doubt that could be the cleaner if they did clean it. Sadly on the website it states luxury toiletries- well these were disappointing and did not feel it. We were provided with one set for two people. That is one shampoo, one conditioner, one body lotion, no shower gel, (you get a shower in the room) one face soap, one hand soap.
The hot water kettle dispenser was not cleaned as when we went to do an initial clean there was a lot of black stuff coming out, we had no coffee in the room either. We had to go ask reception to give us a new one and that’s when we found out we should have had coffee provided with the kettles. So far very disappointing,
We found out during our stay that the hotel doesn’t clean your room on a daily basis and we weren’t aware of this so our bins were over filling, we had to ask for toilet roll, and new towels. When we received the towels in the bedroom whilst we were out they were left on top of the toilet. Not exactly the best or cleanest place to put if especially if we haven’t had the room cleaned for a good few days.
If you want your room cleaned I expect you will need to let reception know. I’ve stayed at Marriotts before and I’ve never experienced it where they don’t clean your room and I don’t mind if they don’t do it on a daily basis but they should inform you at reception when you check in.
We stayed during Hurricane Milton and we were very disappointed as international tourists not to have received any information from the hotel that it was coming and what to do/ how to stay safe/ whether there was going to be reduced restaurant opening times/ services.
This was our first hurricane. We instead received much more information and advice from our Uber drivers such as to stock up on food and water.
Our other information was from alerts we received on our phones and also by watching the news otherwise we would have been none the wiser. We are aware that other hotels received a note under their door as a minimum.
We were looking to hire a car but this hotel charges 27 dollars to park a day. So we decided to use Uber and actually turned out cheaper for us so bear this in mind.
The pros:
It’s very central and icon park is about 5 mins away, lots of bars and restaurants along the the drive in either direction. Close to the parks if that’s what you’re here for.
Reception staff are very nice and really get straight on to the case when you need something.
Two people who stood out for us was firstly Joe, who was standing outside one day as myself and my friend were deciding to visit a mall was so helpful. He even gave us some leaflets to hand it at our destination to get discounts and a free bag. He was really friendly and chatty and a great sense of humour.
The second person was Ryan, from housekeeping was also very helpful when my friend was after some items for our room. Very cheerful.
I’d only recommend this hotel if you just want somewhere to sleep for a few days. I wouldn’t come back here again not for a holiday as I feel the basic expectations of a hotel service was lacking. Can’t fault any of the staff we dealt with.
LLiyingLindaIt is very convenient to stay this hotel as the train, metro, Greyhound Flixbus, all around it, only 4minuts walking from Hotel to the above points, the restaurant has served very good meals, the breakfast is also good. We will stay at this hotel in the Future again.
ผผู้เข้าพักI enjoyed my stay at Tru by Hilton in downtown Fort Lauderdale. The location was great. Downtown, easy access to everywhere, without feeling like you’re in the middle of a busy city. The staff was very warm and welcoming. Over all, the vibe of the place is very much like college dorm or summer camp for grown adults. I’d definitely stay here again. The free breakfast every morning was also a very nice addition.
ผผู้เข้าพักWe love this location right in the middle of downtown Fort Myers, Florida. We've stayed here a few times, including before the recent renovation. There is a an interesting variety of rooms with different layouts which we enjoyed. This time we chose a King room with balcony and city view. The balcony is small but big enough for 2 people and while it does have an ok ”city view,” it also looks down upon another roof below with all the air conditioners (something we do not like when paying extra for a ”view”). However, you can also see the river along with a bit of Patio DeLeon, in the middle of downtown Fort Myers. At night, is where the view shines with all the colorful lighting and usual music can be heard from live musicians. This room is fairly large for a boutique hotel with a larger than usual TV. However, the TV and dresser on which it sits are oddly placed in a corner at an angle, and pretty far from the bed detracting from the size of the screen. Programming is not in HD and also not set to the correct proportions (everything was vertically compressed) and the remote does not allow adjustments for this. It has a nice kitchenette area with a mini fridge but no microwave which we thought it should have given the price for the room and how inexpensive small microwaves cost (It may have been an option but it should already be there). Shower is very nice but every 30 seconds the water pressure dropped, then climbed back up - no biggie, just odd. Toilet paper seemed cheap for this type of hotel but all other items seemed to match this type of hotel. You have to pay $3 per bottle for the 2 bottles that are already in the room. It's like ”nickel and diming” for something as inexpensive as bottled water - like having no microwave, it takes away from the experience given the price of the room. Some light fixtures were not fully seated into the ceiling and like most hotels, the air vent in the bathroom had visible dust (I realize most people don't even look at these things, but I tend to notice it). The bed, although newer, was very firm, and not what we typically find in an upscale hotel. The walls are ”thin” allowing sounds from outside and adjacent rooms to be heard which is just an observation, not necessarily a negative. Front desk personnel were friendly, professional and helpful. Parking options are basically valet or one of 2 nearby parking garages. One parking garage is literally across the street which worked great for us at a lot less than using valet - pros and cons to each. The ice machine on our floor was not working which requires you to acquire ice on another floor (we were on the 7th floor - the top floor). There is a nice little rooftop bar which has a similar view of the city as our room but a little higher. The bar area has decent seating with a good mix of small couches, chairs and high top tables. We did not eat or have room service during this stay but it's available. Overall, it's a very nice, small hotel in an ideal, convenient location and we will definitely go back.
MMama CheetahWe ended up at the Daytona Grande after the Hilton Oceanfront overbooked and we were on our way with no place to stay! Admittedly not the safest, but I had to book this place while driving from the Orlando airport and just looking for something that wasn’t a total dive but still decently priced without a ton of extra fees. No free breakfast here which is something I especially appreciate as a family of 6, but in this case it was just me and my teenage son in town for an archery championship. After the highly stressful day of travel we had, the Grande was like a little slice of Heaven! It was clean, quiet, and beautiful. We decided after having to skip lunch with flight delays and all that, we just wanted a good meal and a good bed and we got exactly that. My son and I split truffle fries to start, the crusted crab filet, and beignets for dessert. All were wonderful (and we’re from Dallas where there is no shortage of excellent food) and enjoyed Oceanside on the dimly lit quiet patio. My only criticism is that the tables should be turned perpendicularly to the ocean and hotel so that everyone at the table gets a view of both rather than one facing a wall while the other faces the ocean.
Rooms were nicely decorated, had comfortable, intuitive lighting, handy USB plugs, and most importantly REALLY COMFORTABLE BEDS! We have a Tempurpedic at home so my sleep is usually pretty abysmal at hotels. Now, this wasn’t as comfy as home, but I slept hard and woke without being sore since the bed was genuinely comfortable.
My only complaints about the room were that the window sheers, while stylish, really gave no privacy at all, so if you wanted privacy you had to sacrifice light. Water pressure wasn’t great and the bathroom needed more towel bars and hooks. This would’ve been way more of a nuisance with the whole family, but they also came midday and restocked towels and made up the beds, which we see less and less of these days, even at nice hotels in the name of being “green”. But it was spacious and clean and otherwise nicely equipped.
Elevators were fast and never held us up. Beach access from the elevator was nice as we didn’t have to walk through the lobby in swimsuits. Parking was slightly inconvenient being caddy corner across the street, but not bad at all. We considered but didn’t try room service mainly due to price and unknown wait (when we had tournament times to consider) but the little shop/cafe in the lobby was great and convenient and priced about as you’d expect (pricey, but not too ridiculous). We got coffee and breakfast sandwiches both days.
I think the biggest issue with this place is the visibility. It’s tall to be sure so you’re not going to miss it, but the entrance and signage is on the far side and behind a little aqua building (I think called Sand Dunes) which had to be apartments or a teeny hotel that I can only assume refused to sell to the Grande in development so the Grande built around it. It keeps it from having the opulent entrance that the Hilton does