I rented a $300 cabana at a luxury Universal resort. It was totally worth it, especially since we stayed at a much cheaper property next door.

My friend and I spent a day in a cabana at Sapphire Falls Resort in Universal Orlando.Terri Peters

• I recently stayed at Universal's Aventura Hotel and visited the pool at Loews Sapphire Falls Resort.
• We rented a cabana at Sapphire Falls, which costs between $250 to $300 depending on the location.

As a Florida-based travel writer, Universal Orlando Resort has become a favorite destination for my family in recent years, especially because of the quality of its on-property hotels.

Universal divides its hotels into value, prime value, preferred, and premier categories, each of which offers different levels of amenities to guests at different prices. But resort guests can use the pools at all of the hotels regardless of the tier.

I recently stayed at the prime-value Aventura Hotel, which shares a parking lot with the more expensive preferred-level Lowes Sapphire Falls Resort. Because my friend and I were saving money on our hotel, we decided to splurge and book a cabana at Sapphire Falls for the first day of our trip.