In ancient Greek, Helios means sun and is the name of the Greek god who would ride his chariot across the sky each day to bring light to the world. It is also the name of Universal Orlando’s newest hotel, which borders and even has a private entrance into Universal’s new theme park, Epic Universe. For its namesake, the hotel has a bronze statue of the Greek god brandishing a flaming arrow facing the park. On the arch above his head, it says, “At break of dawn the god of light a bow he draws with all his might, his flaming arrow in its flight will burn away the darkest night.” The Mediterranean-designed hotel is inspired throughout by this vision of light and celestial warmth all against the grandiose backdrop of Epic Universe.
Our Arrival
From the moment you step inside the lobby, your eyes are drawn straight ahead and out the large floor-to-ceiling windows that look out on to Epic Universe. We walked out to see the park from the large hotel porch even before we checked in. Once you come back inside, your eyes are then drawn to the subtle theming, from the sun-shaped chandelier to the lighted orange and blue portraits behind the desks to the beams of light shooting across the ceiling. It is a small lobby for one of Universal’s Signature Collection Resorts, but it is attractive and inviting.
We arrived a couple of hours before check-in. Usually, Universal has our room ready early, but this time we had to wait until almost check-in time at 4:00. We took the opportunity to pick up our theme park tickets and scan them into our Universal apps for future use. We also enjoyed the gelato that is just off to one side of the lobby in the Aurora Market. I had the tiramisu flavor! Look for the flavor of the week and seasonal flavors each day as well.
Our Room
For this trip, we chose the Park View Deluxe Room. This 415-square-foot room gives you a little extra space and features two queen beds, a sleeper sofa, a desk with chair, a pretty pink side chair, separate bath and vanity areas, and a magnificent view of Epic Universe! My two teenage boys no longer like to share a bed, so this room worked well as one slept on one queen bed and the other took the sofa bed. The beds were comfortable, and the separate bath and vanity areas helped the four of us get showered and ready in the mornings easier. We stay at Universal’s Cabana Beach Resort often and did miss the extra separation of the toilet and shower, but this configuration was still very much appreciated. I also appreciated the night light in the bathroom.
Other features of the room include a coffee/tea maker, television, hair dryer, in-room safe, lighted makeup mirror, mini refrigerator, telephone with data ports, and tablet. My husband loved the tablet! It is located between the two queen beds, and with it, you can easily control the room temperature, television, lighting, and even the curtains. We all liked the coffee maker. Caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee pods and green tea pods with full coffee condiments were provided each day.
Our View
Of course, the view was the best feature of the room! We spent a lot of time just looking out at the park. It was our first visit to Epic Universe, so when we arrived on Sunday, we visually mapped out the park and planned where we wanted to go first the next day.
The best view of the park we discovered was at night. Epic Universe is gorgeous all lit up and has a nightly fountain show. We had front row seats from our room of the Cosmos Fountain Show each night. My husband and I watched it from the ground during our first park day. While it was good there, we didn’t realize until the next night when we were up in our room that the whole park lights up in coordination with the fountains as a part of the show. It was amazing to see! My favorite part of the show is the Mario section. The colors are spectacular and fun with the music. The show impressed me even more than the famous Bellagio Fountain Show in Las Vegas.
Room Negatives
We found little to complain about in our room. Although it didn’t bother us, if you wanted to sleep later in the mornings, the theme park music just outside the window might be bothersome. We always slept with a noise maker and were getting up early anyway, so it wasn’t a big deal to us. Otherwise, we found our room to be very comfortable, functional, and visually appealing. We ran out of coffee often, but the hotel attendants were always quick to bring anything we ran out of and texted for.
Hotel Perks
The best perk for staying at Helios is the private park entrance into Epic Universe. On our first Epic Day, we walked down at 8:15 and were surprised that guests were already going through security and being allowed into the park to form a holding line inside the park. The whole process was quick and easy, and we were soon waiting with the other park guests. At about ten minutes to 9:00, when early entry for Universal resort guests officially begins, we were allowed fully into the park.
On our second Epic day, we walked down to the private entrance a little earlier at 8:00 and waited inside briefly for security to begin the entry process. Again, it was easy, we got a jump start on our park day, and we were the very first riders on Mine-Cart Madness! Another nice hotel perk was the trolley of goodies sitting at the hotel entrance. There was complimentary water with individual cups, sunscreen, and special occasion buttons with makers for writing.
Another big perk to staying at Helios is its close proximity for an afternoon park break. On our second Epic day, we went in for early entrance, did as much as we could before lunch, ate at Pizza Moon, and then came back to the hotel for a nap and pool time. Both were relaxing and much needed! The pool is a good size with a hot tub and full food and drink service. We enjoyed some fruity drinks, sat in the hot tub, and cooled off in the pool before spending the rest of the day back in Epic.
The Disadvantage
While it is nice to be so close to Epic Universe, it isn’t as convenient to get to Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, Volcano Bay, and City Walk, as the new park is in a different area from Universal’s other Orlando offerings. This is the part I wasn’t looking forward to as we typically stay at resorts with ferry boat transportation and walking paths to all the other areas. To my surprise, it didn’t bother me as much as I thought it would! The bus transportation hub at Helios is covered with benches for waiting, and the security lines in City Walk were never long. Except for one bus ride, we never had to wait more than five minutes for a bus leaving our hotel. Many times, the bus was already there. At night, coming back to Helios from City Walk, we did have to wait a little longer. The bus ride is about ten to fifteen minutes either way. If you go to Volcano Bay, I do recommend that you plan for it to take a little extra time to get back to Helios. The bus stopped at Terra Luna and Stella Nova, Universal’s other two new resorts near Epic, before dropping us off at the Helios Grand. While we didn’t mind, I hadn’t planned for that, and we were almost late for our dinner reservation.
We had two days at Epic Universe, so we loved having the private entrance into the new park, but if your focus is on the other parks, you might still want to stay at a resort closer to the main area. Also, if getting free Universal Express Unlimited for Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios with your stay at a Signature Collection Resort is important to you, I would recommend staying at Loews Royal Pacific Resort, Hard Rock Hotel, or Loews Portofino Bay Hotel instead. Currently, they are the only three resorts that offer Universal Express Unlimited with your stay.
Other Advantages and Tips
Other things we enjoyed at Helios Grand were the gift shop, gym, and restaurant, Flora Taverna. Again, for a Signature Collection Resort, the gift shop and some of the other common areas felt smaller, but this hotel is smaller than the others in its hotel classification. It has 500 rooms and 35 suites while Portofino Bay has 750 rooms and 45 suites, for example. Even though it is smaller, the gift shop still has a lot to offer but can feel crowded quickly.
My son got up early and went to the gym most mornings. He did find it too crowded to work out some days. If planning to use it, you might need to be flexible with your timing.
We had the breakfast buffet on our last morning at Flora Taverna as a parting treat, and it was delicious! Options included an omelet station, fresh fruit, oatmeal with toppings, pancakes, eggs, bacon, potatoes, pastries, charcuterie, and the protein of the day, which was shrimp on our day. There were also fresh juices, coffee, tea, and sodas to drink. It is pricey at $36.00 per person, but we thoroughly enjoyed it after having many quick-service park meals. The space is also pleasant to sit in with trees and soft lighting. I wish we would have had time to eat lunch or dinner here as well as there are some tasty sounding gyros on the menu.
Overall, our stay at Helios Grand Hotel truly was epic. If your trip to Universal Orlando is centered around visiting Epic Universe, I would recommend it. I also highly recommend getting a park-view room and watching the fountain show from it every night!
Laci Post is a travel agent for Dreams Unlimited Travel and would be happy to help you with your next Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Universal, Disney Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean, or Celebrity adventure.
