TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

We stayed at the hotel February 2026 and were pretty underwhelmed. First, the hotel is pretty complicated to navigate and feels a bit dated. The pool was closed because it was a little windy.. but the worst part was that they locked all the gates around the pool, so it was an absolute pain in the butt to walk back from the park and not be able to cut through the pool. There weren’t very many signs and a lot of unmarked/hidden walkways that we had to guess as to where we should go only to find out it, led to another locked gate that would not even open up with our room key. The lady in the tiny food shop seemed miserable and we felt like we were inconveniencing her by placing our simple order of one coffee and one ice cream- where she proceeded to tell me at least seven times that they are not a full Starbucks when I asked for creamer. For what it’s worth, I’ve stayed at hotels that were half the price and half the hype, but they had a full Starbucks. We spent a good deal of time after returning to our room late at night trying to figure out why the light the TV and the fridge were not working. Before we left for the park, we put some sandwiches that we had just purchased in the mini fridge so we would have a snack when we got back late only to find out that the fridge was notso we would have a snack when we got back late only to find out that the fridge was not working and we can no longer eat those sandwiches because they were room temperature all day. .. what a waste of $40 in prepackaged sandwiches. We call for maintenance very nice where the breaker was so we could continuously reset it all night to keep our TV, lights and fridge working. What a pain! If I knew that was gonna continue throughout the evening, I would’ve asked to move room rooms before the kids fell asleep, but I also feel like the staff should’ve moved us to a new room proactively because they didn’t seem surprised by this ongoing issue. Also, we like the South Park because we don’t wanna have to wait for ballet every time the kids forget something in the car or we want to throw our luggage in there before we head to the park.. but there’s only one way to get to the ground floor South parking lot and that’s by going to the third floor and then walking up and down several flights of stairs with all our luggage and kids in tow (perhaps there was an elevator somewhere, but we looked and did not see one). And finally, the room I’m parking fees are absurdly astronomical and unnecessary, especially considering we got a resort fee, but literally nothing came with that resort fee. The water in the room was $8 dollars, the pool was closed, and everything was inconvenient. I have no idea how they justify charging people so much for literally nothing. And I know they like to say oh but you got Wi-Fi; however, many don’t connect to public Wi-Fi anymore. I could see charging people who are from out of the country and use Wi-Fi but those of us who live in the US can easily justuse our cell service. We should definitely get the option to pay for resort fees. Overall, the room mostly served its purpose, but we will probably stay at the Portofino again next time. I just think we learned too many lessons the hard way and they shouldn’t make it so complicated - it left us feeling like we were taken advantage of.

We didn't stay, but I want to give a shout out to the valet staff: Orlando and Gabriel took care of us. I needed to go into the Rock Shop to get my pin. I've been to 112 around the world and have been supporting the brand since they opened early 80's. I have approx. 350 pins. They were amazing with taking care of us and providing information.

It had been about 8 years since we stayed at the Hard Rock. Most recently we have been staying at the Portofino. After this last trip, I can proudly say it’s Hard Rock exclusively for us! The refurb rooms are outrageous. The bathroom and new shower design is on point. As we all know express is a must at the busy resort and the proximity to the original campus priceless. Even though we stayed for four days and included two days at Epic, staying at the original campus with this location is a much better option than being at the Helios without express. The bus to Epic was frequent, uncrowded, and just a 10 minute ride Now, for the best part of the trip, the hotel concierg. One of the days we wanted to eat at the Atlantic, but according to the app there were no reservations available. We called the hard rock concierge from inside Epic, asked if there were any tables available, and they were able to provide us an immediate set of options for dining. They even called back to make sure we got our reservations and if we enjoyed the meal. This level of service is unparalleled. We had an amazing time and felt like rock royalty!

Stayed for HHN, so close to studio's. Last thing you want after a long night is walking all the way to the transport hub, Hard rock is perfectly placed to save your legs!! Free fast passes were great during the day, but exploring the hotel and all the memorabilia was perfect during a rain storm. Nice pool along with good food and drink options. Stayed club level, but only used the lounge for breakfast as we were out every evening. Would definitely stay again. Don't know if the bed was comfortable or I was just knackered after the day in the parks then to all the Halloween houses but I did sleep like a baby.

Our family of 5 stayed at the Hard Rock for 4 nights to visit all 3 Universal Parks. We chose to stay on the Club Level Floor 7 and loved having the availability of the Rock Royalty Lounge! Breakfast started at 7:00am, which gave us plenty of time to enjoy a yummy breakfast before early entry to the parks. There was so much variety of both food and drink choices! Since the Hard Rock is only a 5 minute walk to Universal and a 10 minute walk to Islands, we were also able to take advantage of the snack time, dinner/drink time, and desserts that the club level provided us. We didn't spend one penny on food for those 2 park days! Being so close to the parks and City Walk was such a plus!!! The shuttle bus to Epic Universe was incredibly convenient and fast. The early entry and fast passes were also more than worth it to stay here. When we arrived we were greeted warmly by the bell hop and the front desk! They were all so nice and answered all questions that we had. Picking up our park tickets was also so easy! We were lucky to have gorgeous weather when we arrived so the kids couldn't wait to get to the pool! The pool area is beautiful and the kids enjoyed the pool (with an evening movie) the day of our arrival and we enjoyed the Beach Club area! The heated pool and water slide were so much fun for them! Our room was wonderful and was cleaned daily. It was perfect for our family of 5. The whole hotel and it's grounds were clean and meticulously maintained. We absolutely loved this hotel and would not hesitate to stay here again if we returned to Universal!