Excellent Choice for Universal

From the appearance of the grounds to check-in, the stay, amenities and finally to check-out, the Hard Rock Hotel at Universal was excellent and delivered first class service. Our room was immaculately clean with an updated and very large two sink bathroom. The hotel itself is impressively clean as well; this includes the bars, pools areas, grounds and common areas. All staff were very friendly and knowledgeable about the hotel, parks and general Orlando area. Also, the parks are onl [... read more]y about a 10 minute walk, but the water taxi which takes about the same time is a pleasant ride as well after a full day of walking around. I highly recommend the Hard Rock Hotel at Universal for families, singles and couples. I thank the Tripcentral agents for recommending it. Good call!

Dated Resort

Unfortunately after coming back for a visit after 8 years found everything the same as when I left right down to the paint and carpets ,even the Kitchen restaurant had not changed figured they would of at least updated the decor tables,chairs ect. Even found the outside fountain was looking it's age (was not even cleaned up) sad for such a classy hotel.

Fantastic trip

At the Hard Rock Hotel the grounds, pool, water taxi, the room and restaurant, entertainment was fantastic. We would go there again and again. Our trip was the first week in oct and the weather was perfect for enjoying the outdoor pool until 11:00 pm. Parks were not crowded. visited 2 parks, had the park to park access including the express passes which we never had to wait in line for a ride. Animal shows,parades and photos with characters were exciting . Our favourite was Harry Potter Worl [... read more]d and the train ride that we used to travel from park to park... we felt like we were in the Harry Potter movies taking that triain was thrillling every time. We want to go back :o)

Overall a good place, but could be better...

As a Club Level & being on the 7th Floor, I am just going to mention few cons that I remember: - Check in time was poor & we had to wait around until 4 pm. - Hotel at this level & at this price (and be at Club Level) should have a free shuttle bus from/to airport for its own guests. - All drinks/water etc…should be 100% free in the room (at least for Club Level). They charged me $7 USD + Tax for a bottle of water)!! - Using/ordering hotel Taxi was about double the price of the regular [... read more] taxi (call any taxi company for any use. Do not use the hotel ones) - Pool, has a very shallow depth (95% only up to knees) overall, so swimming/playing was not enjoyable at all. - Eating in Hotel (anywhere) was very expensive (almost 3 times of Canada, not to mention, we are using US dollars!) - Ventilations in the room were poor & not sufficient, and there is no window (even the small ones) to open for fresh air/ventilation. - Staff at lobby/guest services did not explain everything properly & in details (also lack of knowledge). And took us several times back & forth & to ask different people to figure things out!

Nice Hotel

The hotel is quite nice. The entrance is spacious with a nice lounge area. We stayed in a newly renovated room, but also stayed two years ago and that room was also very nice. Everything is fresh looking and well maintained. The pool is enjoyable and usually always some sort of entertainment. The water taxis to Universal are a great feature and come frequently. Free wifi in the rooms now, which is really handy. Really nothing negative to report.

Worth the price

Getting fast passes for Universal Studios makes this hotel well worth the price. The location is perfect for accessing the park. There is early morning access to the Harry Potter theme parks. The rooms were clean, comfortable and attractive. The pool area was a nice refuge from the busyness of the park. We just had breakfast in the Kitchen but it was a very good buffet. The decor of the hotel is beautiful and the staff is friendly and helpful. We would definitely stay there again if the opportun [... read more]ity came up.