Hard Rock review~ July 10-14

[Tinkbell]

We arrived at the HRH at around 1:00 pm. We used valet parking, even though we never used the car while at Universal. It just seemed less complicated to do. There were about 3 parties in front of us at the check in line. We waited about 10 minutes. The lobby seemed nice. I thought it might be a bit more "campy" and I was glad it wasn't. I'd describe it as elegant, yet hip. I really liked that music was played throughout the resort, even the elevators. However, the music created a minor problem at check in. Our front desk CM spoke in a very soft voice. Neither my boyfriend nor I could hear her over the upbeat sounds of the "White Stripes", who were playing over the speakers. We had to keep saying, "What?". I think we just got a dud of a worker because we heard the people next to her just fine. We reserved a gardenview room and it was ready! I thought for sure we'd have to wait.

Our room was #5080 and overlooked the boat dock and, according to our map, an area called "The Woodstock Lawn". I thought the view was very nice for a gardenview room. It was also a very short walk to the elevator. The room was in great condition. The only flaw I saw was a small spot on the carpet. The bedding and furniture looked as good as new. However, when my boyfriend tried to flush the toilet, the water pressure was extremely low. It took about 3 flushes to get 1 tissue to go down the drain. I know Florida hotels like to conserve their water, but having to flush 3 times sort of defeats this purpose. My boyfriend called the front desk and someone from the staff came up within 10 minutes and agreed that the toilet did not flush right. He was able to fix the problem and we didn't need to move.

The pool area was nice, but I wish it were a little deeper. The kids seemed to really enjoy it though. One night there was a group of adults who had too much to drink and tried going down the slide all together at the same time. They did this like 3 times and the lifeguard threatened to throw them out if they did it again. The kids were better behaved than some of the adults.

We ate breakfast at "The Kitchen". It was expensive, but a very good buffet. Our server even gave us a cup of coffee "to go". I thought that was a nice touch. We also had drinks and appetizers one night at "The Beach Club". Again, expensive, but good.

FOTL was wonderful and definitely worth the price of the room. This was my first stay onsite at Universal and I really enjoyed myself. I had not been to Universal since 1996 so there was so much to see. I'm totally hooked on MIB now!

I had a nice stay here. I still prefer the Disney resorts, but as long as FOTL is available, I wouldn't hesitate to stay at HRH again.

 

[SpideyHulk24]

Great report. Thanks for sharing. This is the second review that mentions some of these problems. I really hope that I don't have that type experience even though yours was ALOT better than the last one I read.

Thank you for sharing!

 

[Planogirl]

It sounds like HRH might be due for a rehab soon. I'm kind of glad that we're staying in RPR now.

 

[highlander447]

It definetly sounds like they should be reinvesting in these hotels when we stayed at RPR we did not experience any problems but our day at HRH was a down point customer service wise

 

[DisneyMomx7]

We stayed at HRH for the first time July 15-18. I was a little nervous because we had only stayed at Disney previously. HRH was great Our room was 1140. Clean, no problems. I had requested a non-pet room because of my daughters allergies, so that may have helped. We were a long walk to elevators and pool but that was okay. Pool was great and so were the short walk to Universal out the back of the pool and FOTL. I wouldn't hestitate to stay there again. We had 1/2 price coupons for Kitchen lunch and it was very good.

 

[damo]

Disneymomx7 -- Glad to hear that all that worrying and frustration with Guest Services was for nothing and you enjoyed yourselves!!! Isn't that the way it usually goes?

 

[DisneyMomx7]

I was worried after being treated rather rudely by guest services. HRH was wonderful though. We rented a cabana and that was very nice also. It's a very different experience than Disney but we really enjoyed it - so much so that if I can get a good Entertainment rate for next July we might add a few more days onto our Disney trip and stay there again. Also I think the people that thought the US was not a good choice for little ones were wrong. While there might be more to do for teens there was plenty to keep the kids entertained and the HRH pool was awesome. The deluxe room was really roomy also and gave us a lot of space. Thanks to those who gave us tips about the cabanas and 1/2 price gift certificates.

 

[karmic]

We stayed at HRH on July 29, 30. We had booked club level and were assigned room 7132. We like the hotel well enough and loved the proximity to the parks. The pool area was very nice but I agree with another poster that it had very shallow water. I room was very nice with a great view of the pool. One downside- we had reserved a non smoking room. There was even a sign in the room that it was however it reaked of smoke and there were 2 burn holes in the carpet. The hallway also smelled of smoke. We also found housekeeping very lacking- a wine glass was outside our room from the moment we checked in untill we left and room service trays from breakfast still outside in the hall at 6 pm. We had just been at the Beach Club Villas so I guess we were kinda spoiled. FOTL made it worthwhile.

 

[jiggerj]

DisneyMomx7
We have a deluxe booked for this Sept. What was the view like from your particular room? How close was it to the elevators ect??? Thank you for any info!

 

[DisneyMomx7]

jiggerj- sorry so long getting back we were at the beach for several days. Our room was 1140. It was a long walk to the elevators but since the kids were in strollers we really didn't mind. It was a "pool view" but since we were on the third floor we mostly saw greenery. However it was a very nice room and extremely spacious. We didn't have any complaints about housekeeping and it was a non-smoking/non-pet room. Enjoy your trip - we certainly did.