Please help!!!! Hard Rock Hotel....

[SpideyHulk24]

Okay, on another thread the HRH got less than impressive reviews. Is it that bad? I have only heard great things about this resort until now. We really want to stay here on our next trip but after staying at the RPR and LOVING it, I am afraid that we may be disappointed. Now I heard Club Level was bad, but I thought I would be happy as long as I did not book club level.

What do you think?

 

[TigerLilly's Mom]

Spidey,
I want to tell you to do HRH, but I would feel horrible if you had a bad experience! I really liked the HRH, but as you know, we are going to RPR in November and I am not worried at all that I won't like it as much as HRH. So, maybe that tells you something.

If you want to try something new, HRH is really cool. The memorabilia (sp) is so cool to look at, and the pool and rooms were great. The exception would be a deluxe - I wouldn't get one personally. The one we had was worn, stained carpet, and had those horrible green bedspreads, and I have heard others same similiar things about deluxes.

As for club level, I would do it again going with my two kids, but wouldn't do it for just us as a couple or if I had kids who ate like birds. My 8 year old eats like nobody business, and paying 221 for club level was a much bigger savings then buying breakfast and dinner snacks every day.

If you or your family were very, very happy with RPR and you think you would be thinking about RPR during your HRH stay, then stay there again. You could pool hop to HRH and eat at the restaurants and make a decision to stay next time. If you wait until November to decide, I will have stayed at both and can give you my opinion then

 

[AspiringCindy]

Thank you, Thank you!...on the advice to not book deluxe! Iwas going to book deluxe, but noticed on the internet how unattractive the deluxe rooms look compared to a standard room. There are 5 of us, but the youngest is only 3...so I'll just pay extra for the roll-away! Thanks again!

 

[CarolynNC]

I stayed at the HRH this July and the RPR last July. I think the service and atmosphere was much better at RPR and my stay was during the period of adjustment right after they opened. I would imagine they really shine now.

My son & his friend thought it was great at the HRH but I think that's only because of the name value (both teenagers). The pool is much too shallow and I think the staff tries too hard to be cool. I had an unfortunate misunderstanding with the check in staff which left me in Margaritaville with no money, no credit card, and a room key which was denied for my dinner. Very embarrassing.

I've planned a return trip for next month and after much discussion with the hotel management I plan to give HRH another try. The feature I like the very best is the short walk out the back gate to US. If I don't enjoy the hotel this trip I plan to write it off for future trips and return to RPR.

You don't say when your next trip is planned but I'll be sure to report back my impressions after this trip.

Carolyn

 

[thessaly]

I've found two good sites that I don't see mentioned often, to read pretty detailed "man on the street" reviews of many of the Disney/Universal resorts:

www.tripadvisor.com
www.epinions.com

Just use the search function on each... There were LOTS of HRH reviews on tripadvisor, and not too many negatives... it lets you get a better feel overall for the hotel. And even when you see the ones that are one-star or whatever, when you read the actual review you often see that the person gave the negative review on something that *you* wouldn't consider to be a big deal.

Those sites are also what made me decide *not* to stay at the Swan... way too many complaints about the funky automated A/C system (I like it cold at night, thankyouverymuch!).

Anyway... On the whole, I've found the complaints about HRH to be few and far between. And the 2003 Unofficial Disney guide (the very popular one) gives the HRH rooms its highest rating, over any Disney resort.

Hope this all makes you feel a little better. I am staying there for the first time myself in about ten days.

 

[AspiringCindy]

I hear great things about RPH! The only reason I have chosen not to stay there instead of HRH, is because following our HRH stay will be 6 nights at the Poly. I didn't want to stay at 2 Poly/Tahiti style resorts!

 

[FeeFeeWhite]

AsparingCindy - Where did you see the HRH Deluxe Rooms in the internet?

Also I am a WL vet also!

 

[thessaly]

The official site has a 360 degree view of a Deluxe room...

http://themeparks.universalstudios.com/orlando/website/resort_hotels/hr_rooms.html#

I guess if you don't like the art deco look it might be considered unattractive. I personally can't stand the Hawaii look (possibly due to living in the subtropics), so RPH and Poly-type resorts are *way* out for me.

(Although, HRH isn't as nearly over-the-top in terms of art deco as, say, the Contemporary...)

 

[TigerLilly's Mom]

Just wanted to add that I did not find the deluxes "unattractive" for the decor, only because it was very worn. the couch looked like something I threw away after four years of college, the carpet was stained in many areas and also the carpet just seemed worn. The bedspreads were ugly, but beyond that they just looked old and dirty. The bedspreads in the standard rooms are a white duvet type thing and I know they are washed after each check out - since they are white there is no way to avoid this. The bedspreads in the deluxes (and in most hotels) are not washed after each stay - I know it is gross, but true

It seems like the HRH is going through a hard time right now. I hope they can pull things together.

 

[thessaly]

You're saying that as a matter of policy, they don't wash the linens after each guest, but only in the deluxe rooms? Seems kind of odd.

I'll be staying in a deluxe room in a few weeks, I'll bookmark this thread and report back.

 

[TigerLilly's Mom]

Hi,
Just saying that hotels don't normally wash bedspreads after each guest. Of course they wash sheets, and towels - just not bedspreads. Sad, but true. There was a great 20/20 one time where they went into hotel rooms with a black light to see what would show up - you probably don't want to know. The standard rooms at HRH would have to be washed after each guest because they are white, so anything dirty would show up. Also, they are made to wash - they are thin sheet like material and are duvets, not heavy bedspread material.

The first thing I do when I go into a hotel room is call housekeeping for a new bedspread. I'm not saying anything specific about HRH except they wash the white duvets in the standard rooms. And in my opinion the deluxes seemed more worn than the standard rooms. It makes sense because there are less them, and they get used probably most every night.

 

[AspiringCindy]

Originally posted by FeeFeeWhite
AsparingCindy - Where did you see the HRH Deluxe Rooms in the internet?

Also I am a WL vet also!

On the site thessaly posted with the 360 degree view!

 

[jacee]

just for the record, not all HRH deluxe have the green bedspreads, we were just in a deluxe room last week and had the white ones. I do have to agree that the room that I stayed in was looking a little worn. (this was our 3rd stay at the HRH) I did notice one day they were cleaning the stains on the carpet in the hallway, he was working his way down, so it wasn't just one spot. So to me, it appears they are trying to maintain.
I was also happy with star service & maintainence, they were very quick to respond. Our check-in was a breeze. The one thing I thought was strange was how late housekeeping comes to the rooms, it was usually around 4:00pm, but again, if you know to expect it at that time, it is not quite as irritating. We could deal with it so it wasn't a problem for us. We were not in our room during the day that much. To sum things up, all the employees we came in contact with were friendly, professional and efficient. But that was MY experience.

 

[SpideyHulk24]

Tigerlilly's Mom-- You are so sweet. I am going to hold you to your commitment. My trip is not until next August so I will have time to see your review on both resorts and so forth. We saw the resort from the outside and it looks beautiful, but my concern is that I don't want a room that looks worn and I don't want bad service. The RPR had such great service that I just can't forget!!!!! I have to agree the deluxe rooms don't look that attractive and the standard rooms look great via the internet. We probably will stay there but not in a deluxe room or on club level, which is what I originally wanted.

Keep the reviews coming!!!!