We have always wanted to stay at the Hard Rock Hotel. Early in the spring we found a great online vacation package that included the Universal theme parks. We went in early October which is off season for tourist and the perfect weather for outdoor activities.

Staying at an on site hotel is definitely the best way to go if you're visiting the theme parks. The Hard Rock Hotel is one of the three resorts on the Universal Orlando property. Being on property has an enormous benefit. Your room key gives you permission to go to the front of the line at most of the rides at Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios. It also gives you priority seating to many Citywalk and theme park restaurants.

Arriving
Check in time is 4 pm. The arrival process is very smooth. Have cash in hand upon arrival because you're not going to have time to look through your purse for tips. When a vehicle pulls up one attendant takes the luggage and the other attendant makes arrangements to park the car. They keep the flow moving very well.

Think again if you're considering carrying your own luggage. Self-parking is pretty far away from the front and there is a large amount of stairs to go up to get to the hotel. The hotel is also very large with more than 650 rooms.

Parking
Hard Rock has a manned gate at the front. Simply insert your room key or show the attendant your parking pass to enter and leave the parking lot. The price was $12 per day for self-parking or $18 per day for valet parking (plus tip).

Hotel Decorations
The Hard Rock Hotel was very different than we anticipated. We assumed it would be more like the Hard Rock Cafe but it was not. There wasn't a bunch of memorabilia on every inch of the wall. The hotel, built in 2001, has a very modern feel. There were singer's outfits and autographed photos downstairs behind the windows. There was music in the lobby, elevators and pool area. It's actually a very classy looking hotel.

Room
We really hated the room layout. We just had a traditional room with 2 queen beds which we thought would be fine since we were spending most of the time at the parks. If I had the chance to do it over again, I would upgrade the room. The room was extremely small. If you wanted to watch TV you had to sit on the bed.

The bed was comfortable and had nice sheets. The maid would make the bed each day and change the sheets on the third day. I had spilled coffee on hubby's side so there was an obvious large coffee stain. I didn't think that I needed to request sheets with that big of a stain to be replaced but apparently I should have because the maid just tucked that stain right in.

I can not put in words how bad the bathroom was. The door nearly touches the tub. You have to open the door and literally squeeze through the door to get in and out of the room. There was a sink in the bathroom and a sink outside the bathroom. It was bad enough the family had the share one bathroom why force us to struggle to get in and out of it too?

The music theme was subtle. The bathroom faucet had music notes for handles. The shower curtain looked like it had compact disc imprints. Our room had a nice alarm radio with CD player, a flat screen TV, and coffee maker. There was a bar if we wanted to pay and a $6 bottle of water should we consume.

The air conditioning was cold, quiet and efficient. No noisy wall unit.

The room was nice enough and clean but since we were on vacation we wanted fluff and there wasn't any. The room was so tiny and we weren't comfortable which defeats the whole point of vacationing for this price.

Pool Area
We had a lot of fun at the pool. It's a huge 12,000 square feet pool and is 4 feet deep or less. Shallow water means that patrons play ball and lounge rather than taking laps. You can bring your own small floats and rafts or you can buy them in the gift shop.

What you don't have to bring is your beach towels! You can get fresh white towels at the pool, no charge. It's a good thing too because there's no room to hang wet towels in your room.

The pool has a slide with running water that drops into a deeper area of the pool. The slide is placed so that it won't interfere with those wishing to relax.

There are two jacuzzi hot tubs which were always full.

There is a man-made beach that surrounds the pool with plenty of lounge chairs. There were always people lounging, no matter what time it was. The beach area surrounding the pool made it more like paradise. There is a poolside bar that delivers right to your lounge chair, or you can sit at the outdoor bar.

There are several covered cabanas a the pool which can be rented. It looked like it would be fun for a group. It had ceiling fans, seating and a TV.

The pool was open until 10 pm so we went to the pool a couple of times in the evenings. One night a week they have a movie night at the pool. We sat, literally, in the pool to watch the large screen. It was a really old movie, but a cool concept.

Restaurants & Food
We spent more money on food than we did on the hotel and theme park tickets if that gives you any idea of how expensive it is.

There's not a refrigerator in the room. A fridge can be rented for about $15 per day.

The breakfast buffet is about $15 per person.

We ate lunch at “The Kitchen” which is a restaurant in the hotel. It was so delicious and the service was fantastic. It ended up being unanimously the best meal that we had in the two weeks that we were in Orlando. If you're not staying at the hotel you can still dine there. There is a free boat at Citywalk that will take you there.

There is also a Starbucks and an ice cream parlor downstairs. We had breakfast there one morning. They had self-serve donuts, bagels and an assortment of drinks. It was very fast but of course expensive.

Velvet Lounge
My biggest regret is that we weren't able to check out the Velvet Lounge. It's not a family area, but there is a cool kid facility in the building. A room key is required to get to the lounge.

Camp Lil Rock
No feeling guilty here! Kids will love their special area in the hotel with vibrant decorations and fun things to do. The price is $12 per hour for each kid. Only open from 5 pm – 11:30 pm.

Fitness Center
There is a fitness center with a spa which can be used with an $8 fee per day.

Overall
We stayed at four highly rated hotels on our vacation and this one was our least favorite mostly because our room was a shoe box. The hotel was nice but the ambiance lacked the "getaway" feeling we hoped for. The pool area and the outside garden was beautiful and relaxing. It was a novel experience. It was "like totally cool" and "awesome" for the kids. They absolutely loved it.







Recommended: Yes