Got back on Tuesday 26th after another great stay at the Hard Rock Hotel.
I am not a big fan of long trip reports, so I will try to keep it as brief as possible and let the photos do most of the talking.
Day 1 of 12. (Wednesday 13th)
We arrived in Orlando after an 8.5 hour flight into MCO from London Gatwick. Our daughter (Hannah-3.5 yrs) was very well behaved on the flight and even got to make friends with the captain mid-atlantic.
We took a different route than the usual one to Canada and down the eastern seaboard.
This time we went across Bermuda to avoid the bad weather.
Flights with Virgin PE in the upper deck were great as usual. Only a handful of people were in the cabin, so we were very well looked after.
We were off the plane first and to Homeland Security first. The bags came off the carousel within 5 minutes. Customs then stopped us and put our bags though the x-ray machine. Onto the monorail, another baggge pick up and we were then at the empty Dollar desk.
We managed to get through the airport in under 40 minutes, mainly because we had a head start on the 250+ other people on our flight. We picked up our rental from Dollar (Chysler 300M) and were on our way to the Hard Rock. On the way we stopped at Walgreens on the corner of I-Drive/Universal Boulevard to pick up some water and other provisions. Unfortunately the light switch was faulty on the rental car, so I contacted Dollar who said they would send someone out to the HRH.
On arrival we used valet and luggage services. The valet guy informed us that it was the hotels 5th anniversary this weekend and they had a lot going on, including the Go-Gos for Velvet sessions and battle of the bands poolside. Valet is $18.00 per night + taxes ($19.17) + tips. Self Park is $12.00 per night + taxes ($12.78). At no point was there any pressure to use these services.
Check-in was a breeze. No wait. Had my LoewsFirst Platinum card, credit card, Driving Licence, Bell boy receipt and Valet ticket ready. Asked what Loews First gift we would like and how much to hold on my card for charging back to the room. I opted for $750 plus whatever the room would cost. Check-in was completed within five minutes.
We were allocated 4085, a kids suite, one floor up from the lobby. 4085 is a 'garden view' that faces the boat transportation area. Unfortunately most of the rooms at the Hard Rock, including the first four and some of the 5th floors of the pool side are now obscured by palm trees. The good news was that the room was very close to the elevators and the laundry room.
On entering the suite the first thing that we noticed that was different from our previous King suite accomodations was the hallway and the walk in wardrobe
. We also had two connecting bathrooms. The master bathroom has a walk-in shower and two sinks, with a large mirror. The kids bathroom has a toilet, low sink and a bath. The suite has two bedrooms. The kids bedroom has two single beds, TV &VCR, table and chairs, huge yellow duck looking thing and it's own window. The main bedroom had a King Bed and the usual furniture you get in a Hard Rock room. The kids suite was in great shape for five years old and there was nothing that would warrant a complaint to the front desk. BTW The hallways and all the other public areas were great condition. The other good news is that during the day we could hear the rooms getting refurbished one floor up on the 5th and they are working their way down, so get your room requests in for floors 5 and above
Comparing the Kids suite to the King suite there was no large dining table and one air-conditioner controller serviced the whole suite, rather than the two in the King suite. If I had to choose between the two, I would probably go back to the King suite because I prefer it's 'open plan' design, but there really isn't that much between the two. They are both great, but the kids suite would probably be more suited towards a family of four (2 ad 2 ch) with older children than my daughter who is three and a half.
Within a few minutes of being in the room our luggage arrived. We had eleven bags in total (most of it Walgreens groceries). A few minutes later a movie package, compliments of Mark Shouger (Rooms Division Director) was delivered to the room. This consisted of a round metal box with candy, popcorn, soda, water and a free movie voucher. This was a great touch and just added to the great VIP hospitality feeling that you already get with staying on-site at Universal/Loews property.
After a long day travelling we decided to order room-service and chill out for the evening. This took around 40 mins to arrive. The food and service was fantastic.
I then recieved a call from a guy from Dollar rental who was sat on the HRH drive with a tow truck and another car to swap with our broken one. We swapped cars in the car lot, then I went back to to the room to get some rest.
We never did receive our LoewsFirst gift (milk & cookies) but this was no big deal and the movie package more than made up for it.
Hannah living the Rock and Roll lifestyle
More to follow..................
I am not a big fan of long trip reports, so I will try to keep it as brief as possible and let the photos do most of the talking.
Day 1 of 12. (Wednesday 13th)
We arrived in Orlando after an 8.5 hour flight into MCO from London Gatwick. Our daughter (Hannah-3.5 yrs) was very well behaved on the flight and even got to make friends with the captain mid-atlantic.
We took a different route than the usual one to Canada and down the eastern seaboard.This time we went across Bermuda to avoid the bad weather.
Flights with Virgin PE in the upper deck were great as usual. Only a handful of people were in the cabin, so we were very well looked after.
We were off the plane first and to Homeland Security first. The bags came off the carousel within 5 minutes. Customs then stopped us and put our bags though the x-ray machine. Onto the monorail, another baggge pick up and we were then at the empty Dollar desk.
We managed to get through the airport in under 40 minutes, mainly because we had a head start on the 250+ other people on our flight. We picked up our rental from Dollar (Chysler 300M) and were on our way to the Hard Rock. On the way we stopped at Walgreens on the corner of I-Drive/Universal Boulevard to pick up some water and other provisions. Unfortunately the light switch was faulty on the rental car, so I contacted Dollar who said they would send someone out to the HRH.
On arrival we used valet and luggage services. The valet guy informed us that it was the hotels 5th anniversary this weekend and they had a lot going on, including the Go-Gos for Velvet sessions and battle of the bands poolside. Valet is $18.00 per night + taxes ($19.17) + tips. Self Park is $12.00 per night + taxes ($12.78). At no point was there any pressure to use these services.
Check-in was a breeze. No wait. Had my LoewsFirst Platinum card, credit card, Driving Licence, Bell boy receipt and Valet ticket ready. Asked what Loews First gift we would like and how much to hold on my card for charging back to the room. I opted for $750 plus whatever the room would cost. Check-in was completed within five minutes.
We were allocated 4085, a kids suite, one floor up from the lobby. 4085 is a 'garden view' that faces the boat transportation area. Unfortunately most of the rooms at the Hard Rock, including the first four and some of the 5th floors of the pool side are now obscured by palm trees. The good news was that the room was very close to the elevators and the laundry room.
On entering the suite the first thing that we noticed that was different from our previous King suite accomodations was the hallway and the walk in wardrobe
. We also had two connecting bathrooms. The master bathroom has a walk-in shower and two sinks, with a large mirror. The kids bathroom has a toilet, low sink and a bath. The suite has two bedrooms. The kids bedroom has two single beds, TV &VCR, table and chairs, huge yellow duck looking thing and it's own window. The main bedroom had a King Bed and the usual furniture you get in a Hard Rock room. The kids suite was in great shape for five years old and there was nothing that would warrant a complaint to the front desk. BTW The hallways and all the other public areas were great condition. The other good news is that during the day we could hear the rooms getting refurbished one floor up on the 5th and they are working their way down, so get your room requests in for floors 5 and above
Comparing the Kids suite to the King suite there was no large dining table and one air-conditioner controller serviced the whole suite, rather than the two in the King suite. If I had to choose between the two, I would probably go back to the King suite because I prefer it's 'open plan' design, but there really isn't that much between the two. They are both great, but the kids suite would probably be more suited towards a family of four (2 ad 2 ch) with older children than my daughter who is three and a half.
Within a few minutes of being in the room our luggage arrived. We had eleven bags in total (most of it Walgreens groceries). A few minutes later a movie package, compliments of Mark Shouger (Rooms Division Director) was delivered to the room. This consisted of a round metal box with candy, popcorn, soda, water and a free movie voucher. This was a great touch and just added to the great VIP hospitality feeling that you already get with staying on-site at Universal/Loews property.
After a long day travelling we decided to order room-service and chill out for the evening. This took around 40 mins to arrive. The food and service was fantastic.
I then recieved a call from a guy from Dollar rental who was sat on the HRH drive with a tow truck and another car to swap with our broken one. We swapped cars in the car lot, then I went back to to the room to get some rest.
We never did receive our LoewsFirst gift (milk & cookies) but this was no big deal and the movie package more than made up for it.
Hannah living the Rock and Roll lifestyle
More to follow..................
