TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

The service and food was 100 percent top notch amazing. Romero was amazing! He answered all of our questions. He was also very courteous. The cheesecake was absolutely wonderful, best way to end our meal. The atmosphere was great. Got seated just as the sun was setting. This restaurant was absolutely the best.

If you enjoy Ecoli then this is the place for you. This hotel is about as bad as they come. The food caused a few of our friends to become ill, when one needed treatment from the hotel doctor he was charged $600. Our room was filthy when we checked in and the maid had to come back in after we checked in. The walls and furniture are stained and dirty. Our SkyView terrace was unusable as it is in the middle of renovation and the hot tub was filthy and old. Our friends tried to use theirs as they were in a newly renovated SkyView terrace room and the water was bright yellow/orange. Our toilet was broken and needed serviced multiple times, our friends toilet overfilled multiple times over the weekend and flooded into their room. We had no hot water to shower and the air conditioning is almost non existent. The hotel staff left dirty laundry and plates throughout the hallway all day long. We had a strong stench of sewage outside our room multiple times. The food is terrible and again caused many of our friends to become ill and need antibiotics in order to treat ecoli. This hotel needs to start over.

Room: Our room had a very spacious bathroom with a double sink and a toilet separated by a door. The balcony had a hammock and two small chairs for lounging. The Jacuzzi tub in the main sleeping area was never used and only took up space. The two double beds could've easily been replaced by two queen beds if they removed the tub. I can’t imagine many people want to soak in a hot jacuzzi indoors in their sleeping area while on vacation in tropical Mexico. Lots of small light switches which made it difficult to figure out which controls which lights without daily trial/error. Housekeeping was good and cleaned well but repeatedly left only 2 bath towels despite there being 4 suitcases in the room and a note requesting 4 towels; I had to towel off with hand towels several times. We didn’t try the room service but were told it’s free and available. Food: Everything that we ate tasted really good. The selection wasn't extensive and didn't change significantly over our week there. We had breakfast at a few different restaurants and except for a select few differences were mostly the same. The fresh fruit selection was lacking IMO. Staple foods/toppings like guacamole, sour cream, and certain taco meats would often run out. They would be replaced after some time but this happened too often. It honestly felt like the food component of the resort was undersized for the number of people they served. Waiter service at the tables was hit or miss, regardless of how busy it was. Spoons were by request only. Ice cream selection across the entire resort was consistently lacking basic flavors like chocolate in favor of odd/unique flavors like lemon, mint, and blackberry. There were 2 specialty restaurants (non-adult only) that needed reservations which were by first come. The line would start an hour before the 11 am reservation start time, would only apply for the following night, and it took us 3 days of waiting 30-40 min each day before getting the only remaining slot at the steak house (despite being 5th inline). We didn’t bother with the hibachi for this reason. Alcohol was served freely and tasted good but never seemed to have any effect other than when I drank bottled beer. There’s a brick oven pizza near the main pool as well as poolside finger foods (nachos, fries, wings). Near the water park, there was indeed a free food truck; serving burgers, hot dogs, and supposedly wings (although they were always out). Facilities: The main pools were 3'6" deep and long, stretching about 2 football fields. Near one end was a sprinkler pad for the kids (with warm water) and a sizeable pool with about 1.5' of water perfect for kids under 4yo. On the other end was a waterslide surrounded by the pool and midway was a swim-up bar, volleyball net, and basketball hoop. The hotel provided balls but we couldn't figure out where. There was also a ping pong table with rackets that we too couldn't figure out where to get. We played with balls obtained or left by other guests. The pools were generally clean but palm leaves or other 'natural' debris did get inside. Sufficient effort was made by the staff to keep it clean. Music was played from the midpoint of the pools and this is where the entertainment for non-kids took place. Because everyone was so spread out, events were easily missed. The music was another issue for me. While the main lobbies (there are two) of the resort were decorated with tons of artists, few of them were played at all. Certain rock artists like Metallica, Pink Floyd, Linkin Park, etc were never played while plenty of EDM and pop was blasted on repeat. The beach was awesome. It was about a football field long and surrounded by a semicircle of rocks about 50 yards out and then a semicircle floating net. The two combined meant crystal clear, no-waves swimming and snorkeling (most of the time). Heavy surf and 20+mph winds clouded the water and brought in a bunch of seaweed but still useable and significantly better than if it was just open ocean. They rent kayaks and snorkel gear for free. Theres a ton of fish to see while being protected from the waves. A nearby zipline into the ocean was non-operational. Finding chairs at the pool was a chore. We (my wife) had to get up at 7 am and even then, only had 1 or 2 chairs to choose from. Many chairs were pre-reserved by the hotel staff for “VIP” guests. This program, in which we were heavily coerced into participating in the form of a time-share presentation (we did not go), also saved front rows to all the events; despite many of them not showing up on time and leaving early: making the general audience appear scarce. The last 3 days of our trip, there was a relatively strong wind and the pool umbrellas were not allowed to be opened. Despite the cloudless sky and sun beaming full strength from directly overhead, only the cabanas (reserved in advance for the VIP guests) and a few palapas (for those who woke up extra early) had any protection from the brutal sun. There was a sizeable waterpark within walking distance of the main lobby that opened at noon. 1 slide was closed the entire week we were there but the others were enjoyable for adults and kids alike. The 43" height requirement wasn’t enforced except for obvious outliers. A nearby fridge offered free refreshments. Adjacent was an indoor bowling alley (we didn't try), a gaming lounge (didn’t use), and an obstacle course that our kids loved. Golf carts shuttled people from one lobby to the other throughout the day. Entertainment: The nighttime shows took place at different locations and times each night. These details were never advertised anywhere except at the front desk by request of a printed itinerary. Most of the shows were interesting but, except for the rock show, were typical Mexican all-inclusive resort style rather than unique rock-n-roll themes as would be expected at Hard Rock Hotel. During the day, they had entertainment for the kids near the shallow pool until noon, and a few teen+-themed activities near the deeper pool. Both daytime activities were generally lackluster and had few participants, which is most likely due to the layout of the pool (see Facilities section). Nightlife was not experienced extensively by us due to being with young kids and early bedtimes. The few times we saw the live performances, the musicians were excellent but the accents of the Mexican singers performing English songs (Elvis, Bryan Adams) were enough to make me want to leave. A for effort but F for execution. The kids' club seemed like it was made for toddlers.

Another fantastic music experience from Cloud9 and the great people at HR Riviera Maya. Special thanks to all the amazing hotel staff for consistently delivering great experiences. Food and service quality here are exceptional - your vacation spend is treated with great respect and it is near impossible to not enjoy everything about the resort. Special mention to Eugene ( Eugenio the worlds biggest Judas Priest fan! much love amigo) Martine during our fun days by the pool, Christian and the whole team at Torro for bringing smiles and the best food you could want. Muchas Gracias! Mucho Gusto!

My wife, my adult daughter and myself were at the Hard Rock for 5 nights for the "Avetts at the Beach" festival, an event put together and "run" by another company, Cloud 9 Adventures, so I'm going to try hard to focus on the hotel rather than the special event (which had its own highs and lows). Because we were three in a room, we booked a room with two beds. These are full sized beds, not queens like you usually get in a two-bed hotel room. So my wife and I were pretty tight together in that bed! They do say "double bed" and they mean it. It's still surprising...there would easily have been room for two queens, particularly as there are no nightstands to the outsides of the beds. There is a TINY nightstand between the two beds and that's it. One USB outlet in the entire room. NO outlets near the sides of the beds. Overall the room worked okay, although weird locations for light switches and not always intuitive locations for which light was turned on at which switch. At the beds themselves, there is a small lamp hanging over the nightstand (ours did not work) and two little spotlights on goosenecks that shine that very annoying "book light" on your bed. Only one per bed, so even though they sell the room as accommodating 4 people, they really only have it set up to serve two. The bathroom is good size, with a double sink and a walk in shower that was quite large. (The tub, if you want it, is in the main living area!!) All drains ran very slow. The hot water worked, and if you turned it up even a little bit, it was scalding hot. My overall assessment of the room was that it was adequate at best, with tired decor and tiny beds being the most noteworthy. A special shoutout to the wifi. It was excellent. I had to work a bit while on this visit, and all my zoom calls worked flawlessly. And it worked throughout most of the resort, although in the evenings, when the concerts were going, it slowed down. Was everyone live-streaming? The checkin process was pretty bad. We arrived pretty late (11pm) and it took them forever to find our reservation. If found service at the front desk to always be slow. Why would it take 15-20 minutes to check-in during this day and age? Yet they seemed to be using some kind of spreadsheet to track reservations. Check out was a bit faster, but again, why have a requirement to go to the desk to check out at all?? Another shout out...with few exceptions, the staff was very friendly. Always smiles to be found. Language was a barrier more than once; that is NOT their fault at all, but there's no doubt it caused a little frustration and sometimes, we couldn't get our point across at all and had to give up. The grounds themselves are sprawling, and it's easy to point yourself in the wrong direction. This place is big enough to warrant TWO giant lobbies, and emanating from each are the rows of rooms. And each of these sections its own water recreation area, including pools and beach areas, with ocean water that they've allowed in to fill their semi-created lagoons. You don't get directly into the ocean here; it's far too rough. The facilities were okay, but everything has the feeling of having been constructed with cheap materials and there is no true design unity. This wall was made with brick because that's what you could get that day, while this one is stucco, because that day it was cheaper. I hate to say it, and I know I sound like a big baby, but overall I just didn't find this an attractive resort visually. Some part were great (parts of the lobby are over-the-top but cool) and others were quite shabby. But this all gets a review of 3 or even 3.5 stars from me. Why only 2? The food was quite awful. Everywhere we went, I struggled to find stuff that didn't look sketchy to eat. Baked goods felt stale, and "sweets pastries" were barely sweet. The bacon was horrendously fatty (and I like my bacon limp) and all stuck together. My New York steak at the steakhouse was 100% the worst steak I've ever had at any restaurant ever. I had a side of corn on the cob...what you get is one/fifth of a corn cob. No joke. It is more like a garnish that a side dish. The only passable food, to be honest, were the omelets you could have custom made in the mornings, so I looked forward to those. I know it's an all-inclusive, so they have to be careful to not let a bunch of over-eating Americans put them upside down on costs...but sheesh, this made the food I've had on mass-market cruise ships seem like culinary masterpieces. I would have killed to go to a Golden Corral!! The alcoholic drinks were sketchy too. It's possible this might have been facilitated by Cloud 9 and not the Hard Rock, but the booze they used is NOT the real deal. I wondered for a couple of days, so eventually I had a straight shot (neat, no ice or anything) of the "Johnnie Walker Black" and later the "Jack Daniels." Neither was the real deal. The Johnnie Walker didn't even taste like scotch; it tasted watered down Everclear. The Jack Daniels wasn't the right color, and didn't smell or taste like the real deal. It was all alcohol, it seemed, but I suspect it was not only falsely advertised as a brand it wasn't, but perhaps even watered down a bit. I never once felt tipsy, and I tried. The beer choices were Corona, Modelo, and Modelo Amber. That's it. Hope you like those choices. And their cola of choice is Pepsi. So that's my take on it. Needless to say, based on the current 4.5 star ranking, my opinion is in the minority. But I'll stick with it. It's my opinion, based on my experience, but I'll sure never spend another vacation day there.