The first phase of the Epic Universe era at Universal Orlando has begun with the opening of Universal’s Stella Nova Resort. Located directly across the street from Epic Universe, Stella Nova is considered a Prime Value resort, which is the middle tier of Universal’s hotel offerings. The hotel, along with its sister hotel, Terra Luna (reviewed here), which is set to open in March, are themed around space. Stella Nova is “inspired by the infinite vastness of the unexplored universe.”
Stella Nova is visually striking on the outside, with over 140,000 colorful shiny tiles visible from the entire area around the resort. Stella Nova is located directly across the street from the back side of Epic Universe, and you drive right next to the park as you’re entering, which just builds excitement for the new park. I stayed at Stella Nova for two nights, and here are my thoughts on the rooms, food, shop and everything in between.
The Rooms
Stella Nova only has two room categories, Standard rooms and Pool View rooms. Both categories have two queen beds and sleep up to four, the only difference is of course the view. We were in a Standard room, but our view was far from standard. We were lucky enough to be placed on the top floor with a view looking directly at Epic Universe, which was incredible.
Usually you would have to pay a premium for a view like this, granted it’s not actually in the park but for $128, this is an unbelievable view.
We could see themed lighting, rides testing, and even heard in-park audio as we were walking outside at night. This might have been my favorite part of the room, but there’s plenty more to like.
The beds were comfortable, and there are plenty of lamps and lights to adjust the level of lighting. I like that this room also includes a couch, which is rare for a “value” priced resort in Orlando.
The window is huge and lets in a lot of light, and no matter what the view is, it’s fun to have a porthole-type window to look out of. The aesthetic of the room is very minimalist, with the exception being a nice galaxy pattern detail on the main wall above the beds.
The bathroom is nice as well, there is a sink area with plenty of towels and some storage space, and the shower/toilet are in a separate area with its own door.
The rooms are decently spacious, there is a dresser with four drawers for storage and a closet as well, so four people could fit their luggage comfortably. We didn’t think there was any noise from other rooms we could hear during the night, but you can hear nearby doors opening and closing.
Lobby and Gift Shop
The lobby area of the resort is nice, it’s all very open and the check-in desks, gift shop, restaurant and lobby bar are all in the same area. There are tons of places to sit and relax, and the sleek designs carry over the space and galactic theme.
There are some cool light fixtures in the lobby above the front desk, and everyone working in the lobby was friendly and helpful. We did park a car here, which is around $30 a night for resort guests. There is also housekeeping services every other day, but you can always ask the front desk if you need something serviced.
The gift shop is fairly small, but offers a wide variety of Epic Universe merchandise for the park itself as well as the themed lands.
I’m a little surprised there isn’t more generic Universal merchandise, but I guess that’s what the park gift shops are for. I am however very disappointed that there is no actual Stella Nova branded merchandise. The only Stella Nova specific items available for purchase are the refillable soda mug and the souvenir cup at the Galaxy Bar out by the pool.
I would’ve loved a Stella Nova shirt or hat, or even something like a keychain or magnet. These may be coming in the future, but were not available as of opening day.
Food and Drinks
Stella Nova has one main restaurant, the quick service Cosmos Cafe & Market. There is a small grab-and-go market section, and a quick service order counter where you order and then sit down to wait for your food, or mobile order on your phone. This location is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner and has different options for each, as well as some overlap from lunch to dinner.
A very minor but very annoying thing is that the menus at Cosmos are displayed on TVs that constantly scroll and change the menu screens so you only have a few seconds to look at the menu before another category comes up. I had to take a picture of the menu before it went away, and I saw other guests doing the same thing. It would be a simple fix but would go a long way to just display one menu on each screen rather than a rotation.
The food here was good overall, I tried a few different options and some were better than others. The best thing I had here was the chicken quesadilla, it was delicious and came with guacamole, salsa and sour cream.
The fish and chips were good, but the batter is much sweeter than other fish and chips dishes I’ve had. This wasn’t a problem for me, but just be prepared for an almost fried dough type taste on the outside of the fish.
The chicken sandwich was very good as well, and was more flavorful than a typical theme park chicken sandwich. When I got this for dinner on opening night, we had to wait around 40 minutes for our food but that was an anomaly in the stay, it was most likely due to opening day kinks and a team member let us know the ticket ordering system was malfunctioning.
The stromboli was good, the crust was the best part and was crispy and baked perfectly. The cheese, peppers and onions on the inside were fresh but not anything special.
It was cold during our stay, so the grilled cheese and tomato soup was a perfect option. The soup was delicious and was a very large portion and the grilled cheese went with it perfectly.
Breakfast was the most uneventful meal in my opinion, with nothing overly interesting on the menu other than a side of monkey bread that looked delicious. I had banana walnut pancakes that were pretty good and exactly what you would expect from a quick service breakfast.
The grab-and-go market section offers snacks, candy, desserts and hand scooped ice cream.
The bars at Stella Nova are very good, and are actually decently affordable for theme park cocktails. My favorite was the outdoor Galaxy Bar, where the souvenir cups are included with the $16 drinks. The bartenders are all extremely friendly and already knowledgeable about the drinks even on opening day. The design on the Galaxy Bar also matches the shiny colorful tiles on the hotel exterior, which is a great detail.
The indoor Nova Bar was always popular during our stay, with guests sitting at the bar and around the lobby with the space-themed cocktails. They also make smoked drinks, which are fun to see prepared and pretty unique for a lobby bar.
The outdoor Galaxy Grill offers a slightly different menu than Cosmos Cafe and has appetizers, salads, sandwiches and ice cream sandwiches.
Other Stella Nova Resort Thoughts
- There is a fitness center here located in the main lobby, and has a lot of cardio machines as well as weight machines.
- The hotel does movies by the pool when it is nice out, and when it’s raining they move them inside in the rec room. The rec room also had games and other rainy day activities which was nice.
- Like other Universal hotels, Stella Nova has a texting service available to set up at check-in that allows you to text for any questions or requests, which is a really handy service for asking about hours or requesting towels and such.
- There is a walkway to Epic Universe, which is not open yet of course, but when the park opens this will be a great way to get to the park. There are buses as well that will go to all three theme parks.
- The market is open later than the Cosmos quick service, and also offers hard serve ice cream scoops and some premade desserts.
- Stella Nova has in-room pizza delivery until midnight, like other Universal hotels.
- The outdoor pool area was closed for a lot of my stay because of the cold weather we’ve been having in Florida, but the pool is very large and I love that there is also a hot tub, which is rarer for value resorts.
- The price per night here is really unbeatable when compared to the other “value” resorts around Orlando. Even for non-Florida residents, the price is around $160. Being walking distance from Epic Universe alone makes this worth it.
Learn more about Stella Nova Resort here. Compare this to our review of Universal’s Surfside Inn and Suites here. Staying at Stella Nova Resort has us even more excited for epic rides and epic lands!
Have any questions about the Stella Nova Resort? Ask us anything in the comments below!
The resort boasts a 10,000-square-foot lagoon-style pool, the Galaxy Bar offering craft beers and cocktails, a fitness center, an arcade, and various dining options.