Water damage at Hard Rock Hotel

[lucyanna girl]

DD and I are in Orlando this week. We stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel on Sunday night before moving to WDW on Monday.

We had a great stay! Love that Front of the line for all the great Universal rides. Really enjoyed the Hard Rock too, DD says she has a new favorite Universal Hotel. We have stayed in all three and I regret waiting until last to try Hard Rock.

Monday when we came down from our 5th floor room to check out I questioned the desk employee about the note enclosed with our bill apologizing for any inconvenience as a result of the problems of the night before. He told us there had been flooding problems caused by a guest on the seventh floor who knocked off a fire sprinkler head while putting the ironing board in his room back in the closet. He told us the broken sprinkler pumps water out at the rate of eight gallons per second and that the damage resulting would be in the hundreds of thousands. He then pointed out cones sectioning off an area of floor in the lobby above which the ceiling was noticeably wet.

I hope his estimate of the damage overstated the final cost. What a shame an accident caused so much trouble.

Penny

 

[nyfinfan]

It sounds like a design flaw. I'll be curious to see if they alter the ironing board placement so it doesn't happen again. I'll check in August!

Glad you had a great stay.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

wow! how unfortunate for that poor guest. sounds like something my dh would do.
too bad it didn't happen before the renovations.
I hope they get it fixed soon so not too many guests are affected.
Then again, look on the bright side, at least it was clean water and not sewage!

 

[disneyag]

We checked in on Monday and couldn't get into our room until 7pm because of the water. I guess they were busy scrambling to put guests in other rooms. We were on the 5th floor and saw no evidence of damage.

 

[disneyfreakk]

wow! how unfortunate for that poor guest. sounds like something my dh would do.
too bad it didn't happen before the renovations.
I hope they get it fixed soon so not too many guests are affected.
Then again, look on the bright side, at least it was clean water and not sewage!

Yes, I guess that would be the 'glass is half full' theory....... but I am just too grossed out to drink from it!

Thank you for the heads up lucyanna girl

 

[tndisneyfan]

We were there on Sunday night but on the sixth floor. I tell you what there is nothing more frightening than being woke up a little after one in the morning with the fire alarm going off, lights flashing, and a recorded female voice telling you to stay in your room and standby forfurther instrctions. I'm not sure about DH but I was almost in panic mode.

The funny thing about it is this was our first night at HRH. We then stayed three nights in Panama City Beach. Our first night there about 12:30 am, the fire alarm in our room goes off. In all my traveling I've never heard a fire alarm go off in a hotel and but this trip it happened twice.

 

[Selvan]

We met a family in the elevator on Monday morning. The boy was excited to use his key for club level. We commented that he was pretty lucky, and then Mom piped in and said they were some of the unlucky ones to be in the flooded section. The hotel upgraded them to club, which by her look didn't begin to make up for the mess, but it sure did with her son. We were on the fifth floor, apparently far enough away not to know anything until we saw the note under our door.

 

[waterlogged]

My DH is the 7th floor guest that caused the water damage.
It was very traumatic for all of us, especially our children. Here is what happened~
We had washed clothes that night and DH was hanging some shirts up to air dry. He was moving the ironing board to make room for the shirts. The ceiling in the hallway is lower than the rest of the room. He unfortunately lifted the board just high enough and moved it in the direction and the exact spot of the sprinkler head!
I was already in the bed and had just dosed off when I heard this loud noise ~I jumped up and saw an incredible amount of black, sooty, greasy water pouring out of the ceiling! My DH grabbed our oldest child, who had woken up and was terrified, and I called the front desk to get help. I picked a few things up off the floor, electrical items. My DH came back and picked up our youngest child (who was still asleep! LOL) and carried her to the common hallway area a few feet from our room. I sat to the side with our children as DH talked to the staff that had arrived. I can imagine what a sight we were~wet, covered in this black soot and and in totally disbelief. You can't imagine the humiliation we felt knowing that we had disturbed all the other guests and caused all the damage. Fortunately, most of the guests that were in that lobby were kind and gracious!! We were offered food, drinks and clothing. One guest had a daughter the size of my youngest and gave her a dress so she could remove her wet clothes. I will be forever grateful to the kindness we were shown that night!
The staff was also kind and inquired several times as to the well being of myself and the children. A security guard kept assuring me that everything was ok and that they were preparing another room for us~ I asked if it was in the basement or even of the HR premises...LOL!
A big reason there was so much damage is because the water ran for about 20 mins., because NO ONE on the HRH staff knew where the main shut-off valve was!! My DH is the one who finally found it and turned it off!!
That was very frustrating and scary that they HR staff lacked that knowledge!
My DH moved our belongings to our new room, as I helped our children shower and clean up. Once they calmed down and were settled, I started cleaning our belongings. Luckily, everything that were in the drawers were kept dry and clean! We did have one suitcase that was very close to the ceiling opening. Those clothes were black and wet. All of our shoes were wet, as well as all of our toiletries, including toothbrushes, hairbrushes, etc. Some things were salvagable and others were not. DH spent the rest of the night cleaning the flooded room (because he felt so guilty). He also profusely apologized to every and any HRH staff member he came in contact with and waited up until the "big" manager came in around 9am.
We are very grateful that we were not held liable for the damages and were allowed to stay for the remainder of our week long vacation. Although, it was very difficult to enjoy after that happened.
I am sorry to those who have posted and were disturbed by what happened. It has been almost 3 weeks and I still can't believe it! It was such a freak event!
We are trying to find some humor in the situation~as some of our friends and family have already done!! I have given my DH a new nickname~ "NOAH"! He isn't to thrilled with it!
I don't think we will be travelling back the HRH in Orlando anytime soon! So future guests should be safe!
Thanks for letting me share!

 

[Simbee3]

My DH is the 7th floor guest that caused the water damage.
It was very traumatic for all of us, especially our children. Here is what happened~
We had washed clothes that night and DH was hanging some shirts up to air dry. He was moving the ironing board to make room for the shirts. The ceiling in the hallway is lower than the rest of the room. He unfortunately lifted the board just high enough and moved it in the direction and the exact spot of the sprinkler head!
I was already in the bed and had just dosed off when I heard this loud noise ~I jumped up and saw an incredible amount of black, sooty, greasy water pouring out of the ceiling! My DH grabbed our oldest child, who had woken up and was terrified, and I called the front desk to get help. I picked a few things up off the floor, electrical items. My DH came back and picked up our youngest child (who was still asleep! LOL) and carried her to the common hallway area a few feet from our room. I sat to the side with our children as DH talked to the staff that had arrived. I can imagine what a sight we were~wet, covered in this black soot and and in totally disbelief. You can't imagine the humiliation we felt knowing that we had disturbed all the other guests and caused all the damage. Fortunately, most of the guests that were in that lobby were kind and gracious!! We were offered food, drinks and clothing. One guest had a daughter the size of my youngest and gave her a dress so she could remove her wet clothes. I will be forever grateful to the kindness we were shown that night!
The staff was also kind and inquired several times as to the well being of myself and the children. A security guard kept assuring me that everything was ok and that they were preparing another room for us~ I asked if it was in the basement or even of the HR premises...LOL!
A big reason there was so much damage is because the water ran for about 20 mins., because NO ONE on the HRH staff knew where the main shut-off valve was!! My DH is the one who finally found it and turned it off!!
That was very frustrating and scary that they HR staff lacked that knowledge!
My DH moved our belongings to our new room, as I helped our children shower and clean up. Once they calmed down and were settled, I started cleaning our belongings. Luckily, everything that were in the drawers were kept dry and clean! We did have one suitcase that was very close to the ceiling opening. Those clothes were black and wet. All of our shoes were wet, as well as all of our toiletries, including toothbrushes, hairbrushes, etc. Some things were salvagable and others were not. DH spent the rest of the night cleaning the flooded room (because he felt so guilty). He also profusely apologized to every and any HRH staff member he came in contact with and waited up until the "big" manager came in around 9am.
We are very grateful that we were not held liable for the damages and were allowed to stay for the remainder of our week long vacation. Although, it was very difficult to enjoy after that happened.
I am sorry to those who have posted and were disturbed by what happened. It has been almost 3 weeks and I still can't believe it! It was such a freak event!
We are trying to find some humor in the situation~as some of our friends and family have already done!! I have given my DH a new nickname~ "NOAH"! He isn't to thrilled with it!
I don't think we will be travelling back the HRH in Orlando anytime soon! So future guests should be safe!
Thanks for letting me share!

So sorry to hear about the unfortunate event. But, it seems like everything was handled very well. I do hope that you and the rest of your family enjoyed the rest of your trip. And don't let this little mishap keep you away from staying at the HRH.

 

[Selvan]

What a conscientious husband. I think he is a keeper. He was helping out with laundry first, and then stayed up all night to help solve the problem. Sorry it happened. I'd say he is forgiven. We had a great time that weekend, hope you enjoyed some of it.

 

[disneyfan67]

Waterlogged, it sounds like you and your DH are the kind of people that we need more of on vacation. Your DH made an honest mistake and not only did you feel bad, you apologised to those affected and tried to clean up the room. Wow, that's pretty rare behavior, in the world we live in today. I feel for you and your mistake and I know all too well, that this is something that could happen to me. I think taking responsibility for an accident really shows the good character you and your DH have and plus, you came here to post about it. That takes guts, decency, and strong resolve, IMO. Don't stop going to Universal or the onsite resorts because of this. Put it behind you and plan your next trip.