Hotel Review: Hard Rock Hotel

The Hard Rock Hotel at Universal Orlando Resort opened in 2001 with a total of 650 rooms. My first stay here was in 2013, with my most recent stay here being March 2024. So what's so special about my favorite on property hotel?

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Amenities

The Hard Rock Hotel at Universal Orlando Resort is one of the three premier level hotels on property (the other two are Loews Royal Pacific Resort and Loews Portofino Bay). Because it is premier level, your stay here includes Universal Express Unlimited for Universal Studios Florida and Universal's Islands of Adventure from the time of check in through the end of the day of check out.

The hotel has two restaurants, The Kitchen and The Palm. The Kitchen serves American food, while The Palm is more upscale as it is a steakhouse. You can stop by Emack and Bolio's Marketplace for small snacks, ice cream, pizzas, and a limited Starbucks drink menu. The Velvet Bar is located in the lobby and is the place for live entertainment on select nights. Room service is also available.

Your transportation options here are abundant! You can take a quick five minute walk using the walking path which passes by or through the butterfly garden depending on the path you choose. You also have the options of taking the bus or the water taxi. I recommend the walking path since the walk is quick, shaded, and honestly quite beautiful (I hope they pay their landscapers well).

Want to relax at the hotel after a long day, or just don't want to leave at all for the day? Hard Rock Hotel has you covered. The outdoor pool includes a water slide and zero entry sand beach with speakers underwater for continuous tunes, and there's an arcade! The hotel is packed full of classic rock memorabilia, and each floor has something different if you feel like exploring a little. Don't want to leave the room either? That's alright. Get the music delivered straight to you and have a guitar delivered to your room. Don't know how to play? That's okay too, there's a channel on your TV specifically to teach you.

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Rooms

Hard Rock Hotel features standard, club level, and suite rooms. Standard rooms include garden view, pool view, and deluxe rooms featuring two queen beds or one king bed, with deluxe rooms also including a sleeper sofa. There are four different suite style rooms. These include the Future Rock Star Suites featuring a master bedroom and a kids room with two twin beds, the King Suites featuring king-sized beds with one through three bedroom options, the Hospitality Suites with one or two bedroom options, and the 2,000-square-foot Graceland Suite fitted with it's own baby grand piano. Club level rooms have two queen beds and include access to the Rock Royalty Lounge and your personal concierge. Some rooms include accessible features such as roll-in showers, closed captioned TVs, and toilets with railing. Hearing impaired kits can be used in any room and can be requested from the front desk.

I have had the opportunity to stay in the Future Rock Star Suite, the standard pool view room, and most recently the deluxe garden view room. Our room was spacious enough for the four of us, even with the sleeper sofa pulled out. It included a desk to do some work (the school work never stops and the blog never shuts down, even on vacation), two chairs in a small sitting area, a side area with a large closet and floor length mirror, and an extra sink and mirror right outside the bathroom with the toilet and shower. We had a fantastic view of the main courtyard in the back of the hotel. The window spanned the length of the wall which provided a perfect view when coming back to rest mid-day.

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The Downside (Or maybe the B-Side?)

I've already stated that this is my favorite place to stay on property at Universal Orlando Resort, so there is no doubt where my priorities lie. But since this is a review, I would be doing you all a disservice if I didn't talk about some things that could be better, or some personal opinions of mine. My biggest pet peeve in this room, and in any Universal Orlando Resort hotel, is there is no fan in the bathroom. Maybe some people don't care about that but I do, especially when sharing a room with others. This may also not be the best hotel for small kids. Sure, there are tons of amenities that suit families with younger children, but the biggest draw of this hotel (in my own opinion) is the classic rock theming. The younger the person, the less they are to recognize or appreciate these details scattered throughout.

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Overall, this is absolutely my favorite place to stay when staying on property. I love the theme, the amenities, and the vibe of this hotel the most. Have you stayed here before? What were your thoughts? Let me know in the comments below, and be on the look out for more Universal Orlando Resort hotel reviews.