Universal’s Endless Summer: Surfside Inn and Suites is the latest addition to their onsite hotels. It is considered a “Value Hotel” and is generally the cheapest online option when staying at Universal. While this hotel boasts fewer amenities, it is a Universal Hotel so it’s still a beautiful resort!
Endless Summer is larger in size then their last addition, Aventura, but smaller than Cabana Bay. As soon as you arrive you’ll notice it’s themed with a ‘sand and surf’ theme…
This theme is carried through to the rooms. The standard rooms are your basic hotel room. I’m not sure if they’re a bit larger then the standard rooms at Cabana Bay and Royal Pacific but light and airy decor made it feel that way. The standard rooms are basic with two queen beds, a washroom with a separate sink area and a large stand up shower. A detail that didn’t go unnoticed was that the shower controls were on the opposite wall from the shower head. A small detail that made me very happy!
This hotel is also a great one for families, not only because of the lower cost, but because they have what they call “Two Bedroom Suites.” These rooms will accommodate up to 6 guests. They’re set up as standard hotel room with two queen beds but a bit larger. There is also a separate room attached with a third queen bed. The main area has a small kitchen area with a table and four chairs, a fridge, microwave, coffee maker and small sink. A great option for families!
While a little more limited, Surfside Inn & Suites still has some amenities…a Starbucks in the lobby, an arcade, a gym and a nice fish shaped pool with lots of seating and a zero entry at one end.
The onsite restaurant, Beach Break Cafe, is cafeteria style where you order at a counter, pay and find a seat. We had dinner there which was mediocre. I had a tofu power bowl, my husband had the chicken Alfredo and our friends had burgers. All of the food was edible but none of it was spectacular. I would definitely opt for eating at City walk in the future (read more about why the Restaurants of City Walk here.) The breakfast at the Beach Break Cafe on the other hand was pretty decent and we would likely get it again before heading to the airport. While simple, the breakfast was all really tasty and fresh.
Another amenity that is standard at all onsite Universal hotels is shuttles to and from the park. The shuttles come every 15 minutes starting 2 hours before the parks open and running until 2am when the City Walk closes.
The shuttles go directly to and from the hotel to the main entrance to City Walk (which you must walk through to get to the parks.) This resort is a bit further away then the others and I’m not sure I’d want to walk to the parks from it but with the shuttles coming so frequently, there really wasn’t a reason to.
This resort also has the added bonus of a fairly large, 24-hour Walgreen’s right across the street where you can stock up on snacks and beverages for in your room.
This is a resort that I would stay in again in a heart beat! The size of the resort combined with the value for the rooms is great. The only downside I found was that the towels were small and rough (picture the white bath mat at most hotels.) That being said, towels aren’t enough to keep me away and everything else about this resort I loved!
