Universal Studios Hollywood today announced that it has introduced a Preferred Hotels Program for vacation packages booked on the USH website.
There are 25 hotels participating in the offer, including the Sheraton and Hilton hotels located on the Universal City property. You'll also find the Loews hotels at Hollywood & Highland and in Santa Monica. (Universal Orlando fans will know that Loews operates Universal's four - soon to be five - on-site hotels at the Orlando resort.)
As anyone familiar with southern California geography might notice from the preceding paragraph, the participating hotels are located all over the LA area map. The Loews Santa Monica is located about 17 miles away from Universal Studios Hollywood -- and that's more than a hour's drive in rush hour traffic.
Prices and amenities vary, of course, but many of the hotels do offer free shuttle service to and from Universal. Only the Sheraton really could be considered within walking distance of the park. Given the hill that Universal's built on, most people staying at the Hilton probably would opt for the shuttle.
Of course, Universal is supposed to be building its own on-site hotel, according to public documents filed in support of its billion-dollar-plus Evolution master plan for the Universal City property. But that hotel site remains a dirt lot at this point, so the Preferred Hotel Program might remain the best option for out-of-market visitors for some time.
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Can I rent a room in Hogwarts castle? That'd be on-site, no?
Don't know what's up with the onsite hotel on the Fung Lum lot. There are dozens of hotels under construction around LA and Uni can't get one built on its own property?
@Gabriel ha, that would actually be a great idea.
I would like the Dumbledore's suite, not the dorm rooms.
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Ooh, now I can just stay here when I go to SoCal theme parks instead of my parents house an hour away