HARD ROCK HOTEL INFO, FAQ and more........

[schumigirl]

Thank you so much! I truly appreciate you getting back to me - I was really worried that I had messed up. Thank you

You are so welcome.

It`s easy to worry you`ve done something wrong......but, you`ll be fine.

 

[Nabas]

Hello! We are now booked for 2 nights at the HRH (Deluxe Queen) for this summer.

I booked through a 3rd party to use up Chase points and realized that the reservation is only for 2 adults (we are traveling w/our 2 kids as well - I forgot to fill that in). Will this be an issue at check-in to receive the Express Passes? I cannot cancel and rebook the reservation, as this room isn't available anymore via the Chase portal and was wondering if I needed to call their travel center.

Thank you so much!

In the past, I received a text message the day before asking me for the names of the people in the room.

But I also have changed the number and names when I was at the check-in counter at the hotel.

You mention that you have a Deluxe Queen room, so you should be fine for the 4 of you. (You might have run into an issue if it was a king room.)

 

[Good&Plenty]

schumigirl and Nabas - thank you both for your excellent and quick responses. I truly appreciate it! This forum continues to be such a great resource to us!

 

[bluejasmine74]

Staying in Dec for the first time, we are super excited, we are a DIsney family and this will be first time staying on site at Universal after our Disney trip this year! That being said we are traveling with our son and his wife,10 yr old and 6 month old and want connecting rooms. We both booked standard rooms. what would be an area we should request that is close to the parks?

 

[Nabas]

Staying in Dec for the first time, we are super excited, we are a DIsney family and this will be first time staying on site at Universal after our Disney trip this year! That being said we are traveling with our son and his wife,10 yr old and 6 month old and want connecting rooms. We both booked standard rooms. what would be an area we should request that is close to the parks?

The Hard Rock Hotel is not large. (650 rooms, about the same size as the Yacht Club.) So I don’t think there are any rooms that are particularly closer to the parks.

 

[weather_lady]

I apologize if this was already addressed -- I did a couple of thread searches re: "construction" and "walkway" and couldn't find an answer -- but is the walkway from the pool to the Garden Walk (i.e., the walkway to CityWalk) open again? I read some reviews from a few weeks ago where guests were complaining that it was closed due to the construction, meaning that the only way for them to access the Garden Walk was to take a much longer route from the front of the hotel. Just want to make sure I adjust my expectations for our upcoming visit if it's not going to be available.

 

[macraven]

I don’t know
But I would go out the hotel front door and walk thru the employee parking lot and use that way to shorten my walk to city walk/ park

 

[PoohNFriends]

I apologize if this was already addressed -- I did a couple of thread searches re: "construction" and "walkway" and couldn't find an answer -- but is the walkway from the pool to the Garden Walk (i.e., the walkway to CityWalk) open again? I read some reviews from a few weeks ago where guests were complaining that it was closed due to the construction, meaning that the only way for them to access the Garden Walk was to take a much longer route from the front of the hotel. Just want to make sure I adjust my expectations for our upcoming visit if it's not going to be available.

It appeared to be closed last week still. We went out by the Woodstock lawn everytime; if boat was there we took it & if not we walked. We had a stroller & I thought I read the employee parking lot path had some stairs so didn't try that route.

 

[weather_lady]

It appeared to be closed last week still. We went out by the Woodstock lawn everytime; if boat was there we took it & if not we walked. We had a stroller & I thought I read the employee parking lot path had some stairs so didn't try that route.

We've never tried the employee parking lot path -- I didn't know it existed until it was mentioned here! I think the Woodstock Lawn sounds like the best option: from the satellite map (Googled and pasted below - appears to show the employee lot path in green, the route from Woodstock lawn in orange-yellow, and the path through the pool area in yellow), it looks like the walk from there isn't significantly longer than going through the employee parking lot, and as you mentioned, by going that way we can see if there's a boat available.


Image credit: OrlandoInformer

 

[PoohNFriends]

We've never tried the employee parking lot path -- I didn't know it existed until it was mentioned here! I think the Woodstock Lawn sounds like the best option: from the satellite map (Googled and pasted below - appears to show the employee lot path in green, the route from Woodstock lawn in orange-yellow, and the path through the pool area in yellow), it looks like the walk from there isn't significantly longer than going through the employee parking lot, and as you mentioned, by going that way we can see if there's a boat available.

View attachment 646625
Image credit: OrlandoInformer

It wasn't a bad walk at all. Last week the construction was definitely in that bottom, outer part of the hotel. Sometimes the door nearest the Woodstock lawn redirected us down a nearby hall and we came out thru doors in the part of the building that juts out above Woodstock lawn. Security at boat or at park were both really fast.

 

[MamaBear58]

We've never tried the employee parking lot path -- I didn't know it existed until it was mentioned here! I think the Woodstock Lawn sounds like the best option: from the satellite map (Googled and pasted below - appears to show the employee lot path in green, the route from Woodstock lawn in orange-yellow, and the path through the pool area in yellow), it looks like the walk from there isn't significantly longer than going through the employee parking lot, and as you mentioned, by going that way we can see if there's a boat available.

View attachment 646625
Image credit: OrlandoInformer

Forgive my ignorance, but what portion is currently blocked? We are staying for the first time in June, and I'm trying to get my bearings. Currently deciding between HRH and PBH, and if the main benefit to HRH--short walk to the Park/City Walk---isn't there, or there's lots of scaffolding, that may sway my decision. Thanks.

 

[PoohNFriends]

View attachment 646625
Image credit: OrlandoInformer
[/QUOTE]

Forgive my ignorance, but what portion is currently blocked? We are staying for the first time in June, and I'm trying to get my bearings. Currently deciding between HRH and PBH, and if the main benefit to HRH--short walk to the Park/City Walk---isn't there, or there's lots of scaffolding, that may sway my decision. Thanks.

MamaBear-
When we were there 2 weeks ago the outer part of the right hand side if the building, running "parallel" to that orange-yellow path had scaffolding. The area closest to the building is blocked, but you can still walk that part of the path fine. Since that area is being worked on the path thru the pool area is not a walkable path-the area w/the lower red dot is closed off bc of work. None of this affected our walk to the park at all. I'm not sure if or where other areas were blocked off like this since we always took that yellow-orange path & didn't explore the hotel. Obviously, by June a different area could be blocked, but I also don't know how long the work is scheduled to last.
I stayed at PBR last March and the boat was never a problem there, we never tried to walk to/from parks. We walked most times to/from HRH and took the boat 2x, I think. Honestly, in the future, with the way I pick things, I would likely pick whichever resort had the best rate for the room size I need. I liked both for the type of stay we usually do.

 

[MamaBear58]

View attachment 646625
Image credit: OrlandoInformer

MamaBear-
When we were there 2 weeks ago the outer part of the right hand side if the building, running "parallel" to that orange-yellow path had scaffolding. The area closest to the building is blocked, but you can still walk that part of the path fine. Since that area is being worked on the path thru the pool area is not a walkable path-the area w/the lower red dot is closed off bc of work. None of this affected our walk to the park at all. I'm not sure if or where other areas were blocked off like this since we always took that yellow-orange path & didn't explore the hotel. Obviously, by June a different area could be blocked, but I also don't know how long the work is scheduled to last.
I stayed at PBR last March and the boat was never a problem there, we never tried to walk to/from parks. We walked most times to/from HRH and took the boat 2x, I think. Honestly, in the future, with the way I pick things, I would likely pick whichever resort had the best rate for the room size I need. I liked both for the type of stay we usually do.
[/QUOTE]
Thanks...this is very helpful.

 

[weather_lady]

Staying in Dec for the first time, we are super excited, we are a DIsney family and this will be first time staying on site at Universal after our Disney trip this year! That being said we are traveling with our son and his wife,10 yr old and 6 month old and want connecting rooms. We both booked standard rooms. what would be an area we should request that is close to the parks?

Hard Rock Hotel is all one building with the lobby/elevator area as the hub for accessing walking paths and transportation, so other than asking for a room close to the elevator/lobby (which I would recommend, especially with an infant in your party), there's not really any section of the hotel that's appreciably closer to the parks.

We typically take the Garden Walk, which is just a few minutes' scenic stroll from Hard Rock Hotel to the entrance of Universal Studios Florida park, with Islands of Adventure just a few minutes further on. The water taxi ride is also very short and pleasant, and the wait is short.

As Disney guests, you'll be surprised at how small the footprint of the Universal property is -- at least, that was the biggest thing that struck my family when we first visited Universal after several vacations to WDW. There are pros and cons to this, but one of the huge pros is the convenient and easy distance between the onsite parks and hotels. You'll spend far less time "getting places" and way more time being able to "do fun things." Plus, with the unlimited express pass perk that comes with staying at Hard Rock Hotel, you can be completely spontaneous in your touring, only having to do standby lines at Hagrid's and the Velocicoaster.

 

[heidijanesmith]

1st time staying Club level at HRH. Is the Club offering grab and go items or more like it was prior?

Can we ask for a couple beers during the day, or is it only available during the evening reception?

 

[schumigirl]

1st time staying Club level at HRH. Is the Club offering grab and go items or more like it was prior?

Can we ask for a couple beers during the day, or is it only available during the evening reception?

It`s back to exactly as it was before. You can grab water and such anytime you like and if snacks (chips and such) aren`t laid out you can ask for them.

Beers and wine are still only available during evening offerings.

 

[heidijanesmith]

It`s back to exactly as it was before. You can grab water and such anytime you like and if snacks (chips and such) aren`t laid out you can ask for them.

Beers and wine are still only available during evening offerings.

Awesome! Glad to know that the Club Level food is back to normal.

We are excited to be back at HRH. Last Sept we did a stay at Cabana Bay, it was nice and the bus system was perfect. I miss the walking path to HRH, it's so close!

 

[schumigirl]

Awesome! Glad to know that the Club Level food is back to normal.

We are excited to be back at HRH. Last Sept we did a stay at Cabana Bay, it was nice and the bus system was perfect. I miss the walking path to HRH, it's so close!

It is incredibly close for walking and yes, everyone who stays at Cbay always mention how great the buses are.

 

[dez1978]

As I'm sitting here in an ice storm, my may trip to HRH can't get here soon enough

 

[weather_lady]

As I'm sitting here in an ice storm, my may trip to HRH can't get here soon enough

Ditto! (Just got the call that school will be delayed 2 hours today due to the ice on the roads -- praying the weather clears as forecast before we fly out Sunday!)