Universal Endless Summer Resort - Dockside Inn and Suites — Hotel in Orlando

This hotel is one of the cheapest Universal offers. You can’t walk to the parks, but they have shuttle buses which come pretty often. (It is a half hour walk across a busy highway to CityWalk, I did see some people doing this). When we checked in, they gave us a blank set of keys and we were told the room would be ready at 4pm and we would receive a text with the room number when it was ready, and we could go right up. We had already checked in online, so this should have been easy. It was not. We had not received a text by 4pm so we went to the front desk. We had to wait there for almost a half an hour for them to find our room and give us brand new keys. This was really annoying. They were never going to text us with the room numbers, that’s clear to me now. The check-in process is completely disorganized, and the online check-in doesn’t speed things up. The large suite-type rooms at this very low price point are the only reason why a large family might choose this hotel or its sister property, Surfside. Each room can sleep up to 6 people, so it’s great for a family with four kids. If you have fewer than two kids, and you don’t need to prepare your own meals, you don’t need this hotel (though, again, the price is great). There’s a big living room with two queen beds in it, a table and chairs, and a microwave, mini fridge, and sink. If you are cost-conscious you can prepare your own meals here, or reheat them. This would be especially convenient for breakfast for a family with four kids. The bathroom is nice because the vanity is separate from the shower and toilet, so a lot of people can get ready at the same time. The towels are of extremely poor quality. There is a separate little bedroom with room for just a queen bed and a tiny closet (no drawers) and a ledge on each side of the bed to place your phone. This would be for the parents. That’s how they bill this as a “two-bedroom,” which it really isn’t, it’s a regular hotel room with a kitchenette and a tiny room which fits a bed for the parents. On the upside, the small bedroom is very private and cosy and has its own TV. On the downside, there is absolutely no place for the two parents to store their clothing within the little room unless they want to hang everything up in the closet. There isn’t even a drawer for underwear, for heaven’s sake. There are some very low hooks (I assume for wet bathing suits? and a tiny ledge under the TV which is too narrow to hold anything. If you need to put your stuff in drawers, you have to use the three drawers in the expansive living room, where your kids are sleeping, and your kids have to share them with you, and there are only three. We only have one child, so this was a bit too much room for us, but it was very comfortable and cost-effective. Cabana Bay would have been better for our family as that has rooms with a separate living area, a foldout bed, and a privacy screen between the two sections, and well as a regular main hotel bedroom for the parents with drawers and nightstands. The Dockside hotel itself is pretty no-frills, (think Hampton Inn or Homewood Suites), though it does have a bar and a pretty decent food court with a lot of delicious options. The only room-service is pizza delivery from the food court, you can’t order anything else. There is no restaurant or other amenities except a Universal souvenir store in the lobby, a bar which does not serve any food, and a Starbucks. There is no sundry store if you forget something. The hotel is HUGE, and there are two very nice pools with sand and zero-entry which is nice for kids. There are two towers, and each has its own identical pool, with an identical bar. I don’t think the pool bars serve food either. This is not a hotel you’re going to be spending a lot of time at, it seems designed for people who spend all day at the parks and maybe use the pool once or twice. There is also a small game room that is heavily Mario-focused. If you have a large family (3-4 kids), and a small budget, and you don’t need a sit-down restaurant or multiple lounges and bars which serve food, this would be where you should stay. Otherwise, I’d recommend staying closer to the parks, or, if you want a modestly-priced...

Mostly here to balance out the "The Key change was the worst thing in the world and all the employees sucked" reviews. I was there during key-pocalypse with my family. On check-in, we were told that they were working on changing some of the locks, and we may need to swap out our keys at some point during our stay, and that they would text us if that was the case. I will also note that according to some of the folks in line, not everyone got this notice, so I'm assuming they only gave it out to the rooms they were planning on changing over and not the entire hotel, which makes sense, as from my understanding, it was not planned for the whole hotel to lose key access and there was an error made by a third party. After our first day in the parks, we, like the rest of the hotel, were unable to get into our room (note - we did not receive the text we were promised, which was slightly disappointing). Security came and let my family into the room while I waited for the key exchange. Now. It was not a pleasant experience in that line (minus the very chill people I chatted with for awhile). I was there for an hour. Which was the longest I had waited in a line all day (yay for express passes). HOWEVER. The line was made significantly longer because guests were arguing with staff (who were truly just doing their best) so much, and taking their frustration at the situation out at the desk staff (at one point, someone tried to start some sort of chant I couldn't understand). I saw people standing there arguing with staff (probably closer to verbally abusing the staff, if we're being honest) for upwards of 15 minutes - when I finally got up to the front of the line, it maybe took 3 minutes, max, and that included the very nice staff person explaining the situation to me on my request. I then emailed customer service expressing my disappointment with the lack of communication surrounding the mass lock out, and within the week, I received an email saying they would process a refund for that night (which I had not asked for, I will add!) which was great to see. ||Overall, the staff was very nice, and was doing their best to get everyone into their rooms as quickly as possible, and was trying to rectify a third party's mistake as best they could, and pretty much handed out a refund without a second glance. ||Onto the actual hotel itself:|It worked well for what me and my family needed: A place to crash between parks. The beds were pretty comfy. Beds were made, garbage taken out, and towels replaced daily. The suite room gave us some privacy when needed, and we didn't really have any issues with noise, though this may be dependent on where you are in the hotel and who shares walls with you. The shuttles to and from the parks and the early park entry were a MAJOR win, and we probably won't go with out them again. Dockside and Surfside are situated pretty much halfway between epic and the main campus, which is great for getting to epic quickly. We didn't take advantage of the pool, or the onsite restaurant at all, but it seemed pretty much like what you'd expect. According to my sister, the on-site starbucks was actually about 20 cents more expensive for her go-to drink than the ones in the parks. The delivery for purchases made in park was great! We didn't make too many big purchases because we were all flying with limited luggage space, but if we had to do it again, we probably would take advantage of it. Check-in, park pass pick up, and check-out were painless and fast, and the folks at the desks were great at laying out everything we needed to know and answering our questions. ||TL;DR: very kind staff, neat space, easy check-in/out, a very unfortunate key situation, and park perks made for a quite successful stay with a few hiccups that would have been smoothed over with just a tad more communication than we actually got. We would stay here again (though we are looking into some of the fancier hotels purely for the included express passes) but its not going to knock your socks off with themeing or amenities if that's what you're...

It is with significant disappointment that I must express my complete dissatisfaction with my recent stay at Dockside. I am not typically compelled to write reviews, but the series of deeply frustrating experiences I encountered leaves me no choice. I feel a duty to inform future travelers so they may avoid the immense inconvenience and disappointment that defined my time at this property.

From the moment I arrived, it was immediately clear that this “resort” is mismanaged, understaffed, and ill-equipped to handle the volume of guests it accepts. The check-in process was an ordeal in itself: a crowded, chaotic lobby with only a fraction of check-in desks open, while multiple employees congregated around individual families for prolonged periods. To make matters worse, this is when I first learned — with no prior disclosure — that Dockside is not a Universal property. This lack of transparency meant that mobile check-in was not available to me, which would have saved considerable time and frustration.

The facility design is baffling. One central elevator bank serves the entire property, and during my stay, one of the few elevators was out of service. Guests waited 5 to 10 minutes just to catch an elevator, with no seating available for elderly or disabled guests — an inexcusable oversight in accessibility. Instead, there was a security guard posted at the elevators who appeared to serve no meaningful purpose other than pressing the down button, all while making no effort to engage with or assist guests. There also appears to be no service elevator on site. Guests share cramped elevators with staff hauling overflowing bins of dirty linens and trash. On multiple occasions, I was forced to stand next to open containers of waste, an unsanitary and unacceptable experience in any hospitality setting. Guest service was equally disappointing. After finally arriving at my room, I attempted to return a luggage cart, only to be trapped in a bottleneck of guests in a poorly designed transition area. A staff member — who clearly saw me struggling — not only failed to assist me with the cumbersome swinging doors, but actually closed one in my face. When I brought this to his attention, I received a long, irrelevant apology which did nothing to alleviate the issue. A second employee promised me that “vouchers” would be provided for the inconvenience and asked me to return the next morning. When I did, the front desk had no record of the interaction. I was ultimately given vouchers only after a prolonged conversation, but by then the damage was done: the hotel had shown an appalling lack of follow-through and accountability At checkout, the situation somehow deteriorated further. I was told there were no luggage carts available — not even an estimated wait time. Staff suggested I wander the hotel myself to search for an abandoned cart near elevators. I cannot emphasize enough how outrageous this is at a “resort” of this size and scale. This property is only four years old, yet it feels decades older due to excessive wear, poor upkeep, and what I can only describe as institutional neglect. The rooms are damaged. The common areas are dirty. The service is indifferent at best, and nonexistent at worst. The design is deeply flawed, and the guest experience feels like an afterthought. I would not only never stay at Dockside again — I will go out of my way to ensure others know how poorly this hotel performs on every front. There is nothing “resort” about this property. It is, frankly, an embarrassment, and I regret wasting my time...