HardRockHotel NOT worth the money

[Robinrs]

I am also excited about the pool since I am 4'11" tall and can't swim.

I am sorry about your experience, also Jen. I have found that the 4 and 5 stars charge for just about everything, mainly because these things are usually expensed to a corporation. The 2 and 3 stars cater to the little guy, offering much more.

I stayed across the street at the Radisson on my first trip and was charged $21 for 3 phone calls! Yikes! I learned my lesson after that.

I will be at the Hard Rock this week and knowing both sides is a plus for me also. Frankly I want the FOTL only, and it's worth any price to me!

 

[TJA]

I like to hear all opinions too! In fact, it's very informative to hear all views and thoughts. As far as minibars, they're all over-priced. We've stayed in many 4-5 star resorts/hotels and they're all the same. So if it's a person's first time experiencing a minibar, it would be a shock to see the prices!

At times, I do feel I'm overpaying for various resorts. But you just can't beat the convenience of staying inside Universal or Disney. Great benefits.

 

[idontknow]

As for the minibar....I was the one that posted all of the prices around the middle of Feb for the minibar. We stayed there Feb 2 - 4, and were surprised at how "cheap" the minibar was. LOL We found it was less to drink a beer out of the minibar than it was to go to the Velvet bar and buy a beer! (of course, it would have been cheaper to bring our own)

We normally stay at hotels that do not have them. When we stayed at the Swan last year, I made sure that our DS knew not to go near the minibar. That was the first time we ever stayed at a place with one.

 

[damo]

Last year we stayed at the Yacht Club for $399/night. Pail for phone calls, mini bar, no FOTL, room was MUCH smaller than Hard Rock, walked to one park. Had to wait until 3:00 for check in

This year stayed at Hard Rock for $149/night. Made no phone calls, didn't use mini bar, adored FOTL and had a huge room (4101), walked to both parks and Citywalk, even ordered room service and was under $40 for two adults and two children (good food too!). Room was very well kept and we had no billing problems, checked-in at 9:30 am and room was ready!

Never, ever, ever will we stay at Disney again!

 

[debden]

Damo, WOW! You got to check in at 9:30am?
I hope my stay at HRH works out as good as
yours did! Is Room 4101 a Garden Room? I plan on stopping at a store and picking up
snacks for the room. No mini-bar or phone
calls for me! I hope they let us check in
early when we get there! That would be nice.

 

[damo]

Rm. 4101 is what they call a "super deluxe" room. It's at the bend in the hotel so you get this extra triangular area which allows the couch to become a pull-out couch and the table has four chairs. It's a great room and yes it is a garden view with a view of the boat docking area.

 

[msr709]

I'm sorry to hear about the original poster's disappointing experience at the HRH but it has proven very useful and we should thank her for taking the time and posting because it gives us all an opportunity to see things from a different point of view and we can travel a little more at ease knowing that we are prepared for the worst scenario.

I'm also booked at the HRH for Aug. and the truth is that I was thinking mainly in the FOTL advantage more than anything else, but now I know (from these boards) not to use the phone or take anything from the minibar. This is the best group of people on the Internet that I know! Love these boards!

 

[The Hunt]

I'm always annoyed by high phone costs, especially fees to call a toll-free number. Recently, I've started taking my cell phone along on trips, at least for long-distance charges. That can get expensive too, but somehow I don't feel as ripped off.

I am troubled about the complaints I have read here about housekeeping at the HRH. That's something I expect to be impeccable at a four-star resort. We'll be there in August, and will let you know if my shorts get dusty.

 

[Nan]

We will be at the HRH August 1, 2, and 3. When will you other guys be there in August?

I understand the person who had a bad experience at the HRH. We stayed at the Portofino last August and had a less than wonderful experience mostly due to the terrible housekeeping. When I posted that on this board most people got defensive and I was even accused of being a Disney plant! Anyway, I would definitely NOT stay onsite except for FOTL. I was hoping for better housekeeping at HRH - we'll see! I am hoping for the best.

Nan

 

[njmomof2]

I read in the welcome info given to me by HRH that the first 10 minutes of calls to 800 numbers are free. After that they charge .10 per minute. I had my prepaid calling card I bought at Sam's club(4.132Cents/min)So my calls cost me 14.32cents/min for the time over 10 min per call. (so my 38min call cost 2.80 on my hotel bill)
Although this isn't great it was something I could live with.

 

[h20jag]

Always hate to hear someone got short-changed somehow. But nothing gets resolved unless we, as customers, bring matters to Managements' attention.
Fill those comment cards out; e-mail your opinions; tell staff & supervisors what you liked and disliked.
Leave a little tip for your housekeeper if pleased with their job.
A little goes a long way if everyone mentions the good, the bad, & the ugly to the hotel staff.
In my book, HRH is worth the Ent. rate. (And if ever needed, and I'd have to need it badly, it would even be worth paying rack rate!)
Jim

 

[ceb29]

I'd like to thank everyone who posts what they experience. It is by knowing the problems that others run into that we may learn and avoid the same such bad experience. I know the others on the Disney boards wouldn't even what me to start about our bad experience at Carribean Beach Resort in January.
And when we let them know at CBR they insulted us with offering us to come down again at a rate that was $40 higher than what they were offering (in other deals)!!!!!! What nerve!! That's why we are trying HRH in June. I just hope that the housekeeping and the attitude of the staff are much better than CBR. (It wouldn't take much to be better than CBR.) Please everyone with info on what to look out for POST IT AS IT IS! It helps us all. Thanks again

 

[LadyTrampScamp&Angel]

I'm sorry the original poster was not happy with HRH and it is definitely good for us who read these boards to get varying viewpoints. I've always thought that I'm pretty much a hotel snob but I've come to realize that I may just be a whole lot more laid back than I think after seeing the kinds of things that really seem to bother other people. The only complaint we had was housekeeping made up our room late one day, but that was a minor inconvenience for us.

For those of you who are thinking of changing from HRH, I just had to say, we absolutely LOVED it there. Can't wait to go back. I've got very small children and my son was in that pool every afternoon going up and down the slide about a hundred times and having a blast. I'm also not that tall and not much of a swimmer so I think it was great for us. My husband just loved the music.

I recently paid $189 plus tax for an awesome pool view room and didn't feel bad about that at all since we had a great time and it was shortly after Easter so kinda a peak time. FOTL is absolutely the best. The short walk to the parks is another thing that's just wonderful. I never ate at the hotel, we always were in the parks or we ate over at CityWalk somewhere so I can't comment on the food at the hotel itself but look at all the choices you have within walking distance! As far as phone calls and the mini bar I've never been in a 4 star hotel where those things aren't a huge ripoff - it just comes with the territory. So we never partake of anything from the mini bar and use our cell phones for any calls we make. Fortunately we have the no roaming charge kind of service. I didn't even pay for a fridge because the minibar one was enough. They told me to have it emptied would be $25, another huge ripoff but followed it with "if you want to empty it yourself into a drawer, we'll put it back" and that's what I did. Took a trip to a grocery store and bought water, soda, baby formula etc and it worked out great.

So I'm sorry it was a bad experience for one but given the diverse opinions on these boards, I'd say give it a try once and see what you think for yourself.

Everybody - have a great day!

 

[Disney Debbie]

I'll be doing a trip report - but we LOVED HRH! Our room was beautiful, clean, convenient. We ADORED the pool - in fact spent 2 hours of park time there yesterday afternoon and then went back in the evening.

I brought my mini bar price sheet home - it wasn't badd at all - we didn't get anything! but Soft drinks were $2.25, beer $3.50, liquor from $5.00 - $14.00 for wine, camera $17.00 ceral and snacks from .99 to $10.00.

And I CANNOT stress enough how GREAT FOTL was.

One man's trash is another man's treasure!!

 

[Vicky Fla]

Jen,
Sorry you didn't like the HRH. I would go yesterday if I could get the $117 rate. I think it's good to hear the good and bad... however to the other people who are thinking twice about staying at the hrh.. I wouldn't not go to hrh because of a bad expereince. I didn't like the pbh myself, but I am sure many others did...To quiet for my taste. We all need to go where we want and just post our experience about it if we wish!

Vickyinkbounc