Universal’s grand hotel
Guests will overlook Epic Universe and have direct access to the new park
Bordering the far end of Universal’s Epic Universe, which is set to open summer 2025 at Universal Orlando’s new campus, the Universal Helios Grand Hotel will be an integral part of the highly anticipated theme park. Overlooking Epic Universe’s Celestial Park, the luxe resort will take inspiration from and blend seamlessly with the whimsical land. Guests will have their own dedicated gate and be able to walk directly into the park.
The 500-room, Mediterranean-influenced hotel looks stunning in the renderings provided by Universal. Gold and copper accents figure prominently as do stars, comets, and other flourishes depicting planetary playfulness. Tying in with one of the new park’s five lands, there will be “How to Train Your Dragon”-themed suites for children (and adult fans of the DreamWorks animated movies and TV shows). Enormous windows in the lobby, other common areas, and the guest rooms themselves will give patrons unfettered views of the bustling Epic Universe.
“You’ll really feel like you’re immersed in the entire theme park,” says Jessica Icons, assistant director of facility design at Universal Creative. “You can reach out and touch a roller coaster. Who wouldn’t want a theme park in the backyard?”
Bar Helios, a rooftop lounge, will grant especially sweeping views of the theme park. The airy Flora Taverna, which, as its name implies, will be adorned with lots of greenery, will offer an open kitchen that serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The back of the hotel will open to a well-appointed pool area.
This is just a hunch, but with large lagoons looming just beyond the lobby of the Grand Helios, and the building framing Celestial Park, which serves as the hub for Epic Universe, I wouldn’t be surprised if the hotel provides a backdrop for digital projections, fountains, and other elements of a nighttime multimedia presentation. That would really integrate the park and the hotel.
The new hotel will join Universal Orlando’s other Signature Collection of upscale hotels. Three of the properties, the Royal Pacific Resort, Portofino Bay Hotel, and Hard Rock Hotel, currently include Universal Express Unlimited, which offers skip-the-line access to most of the attractions at Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure. It’s unclear at this point whether the passes will also work at Epic Universe, although it’s unlikely. That’s because Universal indicates that the Express Unlimited passes will not be bundled with the room rates at Helios Grand, which is so closely aligned with the new theme park. It is surprising that the Helios Grand, which the resort is characterizing as “the pinnacle of Universal Orlando’s hotel experiences” won’t include the skip-the-lines amenity. The theme park resort’s other Signature hotel, the Sapphire Falls Resort, does not include Express passes either. Note that hotel as well as day guests can purchase Universal Express separately.
When the Helios Grand debuts next year, the portfolio of onsite hotels at Universal Orlando will increase to 11 properties and a total of 11,000 guest rooms. The theme park resort will also be adding two additional hotels, the Stella Nova and Terra Luna, to its new campus in early 2025. They will be near, but not immediately adjacent to Epic Universe and will fall into the Prime Value category. All of Universal’s accommodations are operated by Loews Hotels.
With three theme parks, a water park, the CityWalk dining, shopping, and entertainment complex, and 11 hotels, it’s clear that the days when Universal was seen as an add-on to a Disney World vacation are long past. As the only hotel in the theme park capital of the world that will be part of a theme park, the Helios Grand will make a bold statement.
Have you stayed at a Universal Orlando hotel? Might you book a stay at the Helios Grand?
Great idea of the hotel being a great view of projections. I hadn't thought of that. My goal right now is to visit the three main parks next September for Halloween Horror Nights (for the first time!) and visit Epic Universe for the first time. Right now, I would guess we might stay at either Stella Nova or Terra Luna hotels.
We had a great vacation to Universal Orlando in the summer of 2015 where we stayed at the Loews Royal Pacific Resort for one night to get the fast passes for the two main parks the day before and the day after the night we stayed.