epicureangirl
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jan 30, 2003
- Messages
- 340
HRH Trip Report Jun 6-10 and RPR Visit
Instead of giving you a play-by-play of everything I did in a daily journal, Im just going to review my dealings with the Hard Rock and my impressions during an evening trip to the Royal Pacific Resort
Many months in advance I booked an Entertainment rate for a pool view room for myself, my DH and DD (6). I was curious to see if this would effect our service in any way and I suspect it did although the jury is still out on that issue. So on with the story.
After a couple of nights at the Animal Kingdom Lodge we arrived early (noon) at the Hard Rock Hotel. The hotel from approach is particularily beautiful and the lobby is not spectacular but open and definitely rock-n-roll themed. I did not feel the staff had an attitude and everyone was pleasant. There was a short line at check-in and we were told our room was ready. This was terrific and unexpected since there check-in time is 3:00PM and apparently they dont guarantee rooms until 4:30. She asked us if we wanted 2 Queens or 1 King which I thought was odd since there were 3 of us and I had already stated on my reservation that I wanted 2 Queens. Anyhow, we selected the 2 queen bedded room. They gave my daughter the welcome package (without prodding) and asked us when we wanted our milk & cookies delivered. We picked 8:30 that night. So far Im thinking this is pretty good service and we didnt have to beg for anything, even though we had the entertainment rate.
We had requested by fax days earlier, to be assigned a room on a high floor and centrally located if possible and they gave us our room keys to a room on the 6th floor. Im thinking this is terrific, until we get to the room which is anything BUT centrally located . I tell you the walks in this hotel from the elevator can be ridiculous and this was right at the end of the last wing. Also, the ice machines are very far away so I cannot stress enough to ask for something by the elevators. Anyhow, we get into the room and are initially pleased, until we see that there are not 2 queen beds, but one queen and one sofa. My daughter may be 6, but I dont plan to have her sleep on a couch for 4 nights. So, we call down to the front desk and they say its there mistake, there should be 2 queens in the room and to come on down. I refuse their offer to send someone up for the bags (as if I want to tip some more) and we haul our things downstairs. They dont have a room ready with 2 queens, so request that we call a number later in the afternoon to see if our room is ready and what number theyve assigned us. We check our bags into the storage area and then head for the theme parks (we bought a 5 day 2 park pass). Were happy enough to go to the parks, just not happy that we wasted our time in this way.
We came back from the park around dinner time and used a courtesy phone to check on the room. We got the room number, again on the 6th floor and it was also way at the end of the last wing. It did have 2 beds however and they key worked a good sign.
My impression of the room: the controversial green bedspreads are nice and coordinate with everything in there. The style is hip and fresh although the bathroom is extremely basic and there is a chest-of-drawers with TV on top instead of an armoire concealing the electronics (which I prefer). There is a small vanity area with magnifying mirror (which I appreciate) but the counter I believe is a Corian type light green counter, not granite or marble like in most fine hotels. The rooms I would say are what I would expect in a 3 ½ * hotel. Toiletries are of unknown origin (not Aveda or anything special).
Okay, before you think Im being way to hard on them, I have to critique this as if I was paying full price. I was planning to stay here with or without the Entertaiment rate, but if there is a good rate offered I will always use it. I dont like throwing money away! Our family do stay in 4 to 5* hotels frequently and Im not comparing this to the Four Seasons, but to a Kimpton hotel, W Hotels and the new Hyatts. Those hotels try to have a hip style (like the Hard Rock) and are a chain. Rack room rates are similar so I think its a fair comparison.
The other thing was absent was complimentary robes for our stay. Although I did not check the website details for this (my fault) I didnt bring my robe thinking a hotel of this level would have them automatically.
Also, there is no automatic turn-down service (the demise of the service-industry for cost-cutting no doubt) but I highly recommend you request it. We only asked for it on our last night (too bad) and it was great. Some peace necklaces for the kids were a nice touch, although my husband remarked he was hoping for chocolate.
We went out for dinner and got back to the hotel around 9:00PM. No cookies and milk in sight. We waited another 15 minutes and called Star Service. They told us room service could take up to 45 minutes to bring them, would we like to choose another day? Well, seeing as our 6 year old has to get some sleep at some point we ask for them to be delivered the next day, at 8:30 PM.
The next day by 9:00 they had not been delivered either, so we called Star Service again and they sent someone up with them (in about 15 minutes). The cookies were good, the milk very refreshing and cold but these would be so much better received if they were there without us having to beg for them 2 days in a row.
On night 2, a very noisy family was in the next room. This wouldnt have been a problem, except we discovered that our room was an adjoining room and all the noise was coming through the door at the foot of our bed. We were woken up at 11:30 by them, and we were wearing EARPLUGS to prevent being disturbed by regular hallway noise, so it was definitely noisy. I called down to Star Service who apologized and assured me they were checking out the next day. They agreed to try to find us a room to move to that was not an adjoining room, since they could not guarantee that they would not check someone into that room the following night. The service person asked us what time they could call us back to let us know about the status of the room search and we picked 8:30. I wake up at 7:30 and see the message light flashing. I retrieve the message which is that they could not find another room to move us to and if we had any questions we could call star service.
Well. They basically ditched the person-to-person contact in favor of leaving a message and putting it in our court as to whether we wanted to follow up on this or not. How disappointing. This is the point where I completely gave up on their Star Service and didnt bother calling. I find it hard to believe another double queen was not available on the whole floor (this is a LARGE hotel). Also, if they really wanted to they could have made amends in a different way by offering a better room. Most hotels weve been in weve been surprised by the little extras, not disappointed by their deteriorating service.
So, in summary. The rate was right. The hotel and pool is very nice. The rooms are adequate and clean but not 4* in my opinion. Customer service has to get its act together. Nothing was coordinated and we had to deal with them way too often. Good service is when you hardly know its there, because everything goes so smoothly. Not so at this hotel. I get home and have some weird charge and then credit on the same bill. It was the same amount in US but I just lost $10 on the exchange rate between posting times. Now Ill have to follow up with them and see whats going on.
Would I stay at the Hard Rock again, probably not. Would I stay onsite? Definitely. The front of the line at the theme parks is awesome and worth every penny.
ROYAL PACIFIC RESORT
On Saturday June 7th we had dinner at Tchoup Chop (posted review the other day). Since we were headed to the RPR, my daugher and I wore our swimsuits underneath our outfits so we could have a swim after dinner.
We decided to explore the lobby first, and this place is GORGEOUS. I thought it was much more beautiful in its public areas than the Hard Rock. I asked one of the girls at check-in wether we would be able to view a room. She said it would be no problem and had one of the bellmen come over to give us a tour. He was very nice, professional and friendly (I wish I remembered his name) and brought us up to a room. The room was slightly smaller than the Hard Rock, had the same basic bathroom but the vanity area appeared to be granite. My husband thought the headboards looked a bit motelish but all-in-all I thought the room was very nice. The bellman said he would be happy to answer any other questions we might have that evening and slipped away before I could give him a gratuity. How classy.
My daughter and I had a swim in the pool with the attached water-park area. Its very nice and I think I even like it better than having the water slide at the Hard Rock. She had a great time and it was very relaxing even though there were a lot of people in the pool.
The only downside I can see to choosing this hotel is that you would be more reliant on the water-taxi or buses to go to Citywalk or the theme parks. The Hard Rock is very central. Even so, I will definitely book here when I go back. The public areas are gorgeous and the whole feel is much more peaceful and classy. Its amazing that this is cheaper than HRH.
I cant wait to stay at the RPR next trip.
Instead of giving you a play-by-play of everything I did in a daily journal, Im just going to review my dealings with the Hard Rock and my impressions during an evening trip to the Royal Pacific Resort
Many months in advance I booked an Entertainment rate for a pool view room for myself, my DH and DD (6). I was curious to see if this would effect our service in any way and I suspect it did although the jury is still out on that issue. So on with the story.
After a couple of nights at the Animal Kingdom Lodge we arrived early (noon) at the Hard Rock Hotel. The hotel from approach is particularily beautiful and the lobby is not spectacular but open and definitely rock-n-roll themed. I did not feel the staff had an attitude and everyone was pleasant. There was a short line at check-in and we were told our room was ready. This was terrific and unexpected since there check-in time is 3:00PM and apparently they dont guarantee rooms until 4:30. She asked us if we wanted 2 Queens or 1 King which I thought was odd since there were 3 of us and I had already stated on my reservation that I wanted 2 Queens. Anyhow, we selected the 2 queen bedded room. They gave my daughter the welcome package (without prodding) and asked us when we wanted our milk & cookies delivered. We picked 8:30 that night. So far Im thinking this is pretty good service and we didnt have to beg for anything, even though we had the entertainment rate.
We had requested by fax days earlier, to be assigned a room on a high floor and centrally located if possible and they gave us our room keys to a room on the 6th floor. Im thinking this is terrific, until we get to the room which is anything BUT centrally located . I tell you the walks in this hotel from the elevator can be ridiculous and this was right at the end of the last wing. Also, the ice machines are very far away so I cannot stress enough to ask for something by the elevators. Anyhow, we get into the room and are initially pleased, until we see that there are not 2 queen beds, but one queen and one sofa. My daughter may be 6, but I dont plan to have her sleep on a couch for 4 nights. So, we call down to the front desk and they say its there mistake, there should be 2 queens in the room and to come on down. I refuse their offer to send someone up for the bags (as if I want to tip some more) and we haul our things downstairs. They dont have a room ready with 2 queens, so request that we call a number later in the afternoon to see if our room is ready and what number theyve assigned us. We check our bags into the storage area and then head for the theme parks (we bought a 5 day 2 park pass). Were happy enough to go to the parks, just not happy that we wasted our time in this way.
We came back from the park around dinner time and used a courtesy phone to check on the room. We got the room number, again on the 6th floor and it was also way at the end of the last wing. It did have 2 beds however and they key worked a good sign.
My impression of the room: the controversial green bedspreads are nice and coordinate with everything in there. The style is hip and fresh although the bathroom is extremely basic and there is a chest-of-drawers with TV on top instead of an armoire concealing the electronics (which I prefer). There is a small vanity area with magnifying mirror (which I appreciate) but the counter I believe is a Corian type light green counter, not granite or marble like in most fine hotels. The rooms I would say are what I would expect in a 3 ½ * hotel. Toiletries are of unknown origin (not Aveda or anything special).
Okay, before you think Im being way to hard on them, I have to critique this as if I was paying full price. I was planning to stay here with or without the Entertaiment rate, but if there is a good rate offered I will always use it. I dont like throwing money away! Our family do stay in 4 to 5* hotels frequently and Im not comparing this to the Four Seasons, but to a Kimpton hotel, W Hotels and the new Hyatts. Those hotels try to have a hip style (like the Hard Rock) and are a chain. Rack room rates are similar so I think its a fair comparison.
The other thing was absent was complimentary robes for our stay. Although I did not check the website details for this (my fault) I didnt bring my robe thinking a hotel of this level would have them automatically.
Also, there is no automatic turn-down service (the demise of the service-industry for cost-cutting no doubt) but I highly recommend you request it. We only asked for it on our last night (too bad) and it was great. Some peace necklaces for the kids were a nice touch, although my husband remarked he was hoping for chocolate.
We went out for dinner and got back to the hotel around 9:00PM. No cookies and milk in sight. We waited another 15 minutes and called Star Service. They told us room service could take up to 45 minutes to bring them, would we like to choose another day? Well, seeing as our 6 year old has to get some sleep at some point we ask for them to be delivered the next day, at 8:30 PM.
The next day by 9:00 they had not been delivered either, so we called Star Service again and they sent someone up with them (in about 15 minutes). The cookies were good, the milk very refreshing and cold but these would be so much better received if they were there without us having to beg for them 2 days in a row.
On night 2, a very noisy family was in the next room. This wouldnt have been a problem, except we discovered that our room was an adjoining room and all the noise was coming through the door at the foot of our bed. We were woken up at 11:30 by them, and we were wearing EARPLUGS to prevent being disturbed by regular hallway noise, so it was definitely noisy. I called down to Star Service who apologized and assured me they were checking out the next day. They agreed to try to find us a room to move to that was not an adjoining room, since they could not guarantee that they would not check someone into that room the following night. The service person asked us what time they could call us back to let us know about the status of the room search and we picked 8:30. I wake up at 7:30 and see the message light flashing. I retrieve the message which is that they could not find another room to move us to and if we had any questions we could call star service.
Well. They basically ditched the person-to-person contact in favor of leaving a message and putting it in our court as to whether we wanted to follow up on this or not. How disappointing. This is the point where I completely gave up on their Star Service and didnt bother calling. I find it hard to believe another double queen was not available on the whole floor (this is a LARGE hotel). Also, if they really wanted to they could have made amends in a different way by offering a better room. Most hotels weve been in weve been surprised by the little extras, not disappointed by their deteriorating service.
So, in summary. The rate was right. The hotel and pool is very nice. The rooms are adequate and clean but not 4* in my opinion. Customer service has to get its act together. Nothing was coordinated and we had to deal with them way too often. Good service is when you hardly know its there, because everything goes so smoothly. Not so at this hotel. I get home and have some weird charge and then credit on the same bill. It was the same amount in US but I just lost $10 on the exchange rate between posting times. Now Ill have to follow up with them and see whats going on.
Would I stay at the Hard Rock again, probably not. Would I stay onsite? Definitely. The front of the line at the theme parks is awesome and worth every penny.
ROYAL PACIFIC RESORT
On Saturday June 7th we had dinner at Tchoup Chop (posted review the other day). Since we were headed to the RPR, my daugher and I wore our swimsuits underneath our outfits so we could have a swim after dinner.
We decided to explore the lobby first, and this place is GORGEOUS. I thought it was much more beautiful in its public areas than the Hard Rock. I asked one of the girls at check-in wether we would be able to view a room. She said it would be no problem and had one of the bellmen come over to give us a tour. He was very nice, professional and friendly (I wish I remembered his name) and brought us up to a room. The room was slightly smaller than the Hard Rock, had the same basic bathroom but the vanity area appeared to be granite. My husband thought the headboards looked a bit motelish but all-in-all I thought the room was very nice. The bellman said he would be happy to answer any other questions we might have that evening and slipped away before I could give him a gratuity. How classy.
My daughter and I had a swim in the pool with the attached water-park area. Its very nice and I think I even like it better than having the water slide at the Hard Rock. She had a great time and it was very relaxing even though there were a lot of people in the pool.
The only downside I can see to choosing this hotel is that you would be more reliant on the water-taxi or buses to go to Citywalk or the theme parks. The Hard Rock is very central. Even so, I will definitely book here when I go back. The public areas are gorgeous and the whole feel is much more peaceful and classy. Its amazing that this is cheaper than HRH.
I cant wait to stay at the RPR next trip.
