I've stayed at the Hard Rock on several occasions for work. This last trip reminded why I despise it. \n\nIt's not a terrible hotel, especially for a hotel that was originally conceived as a concert venue with some rooms, rather than a full-fledged resort. I've only stayed in the Paradise tower, where the rooms are nice, but nothing special. The overall decor theme (which was originally leopard print and purple) of grays and reds just feels dingy and dirty. I get that they're trying to channel a nightclub/rock lounge feel, but it gets old rather quickly. \n\nI find much of the clientele to be classless. The young, party-seeking crowd that the hotel and several of its venues (Rehab, Body English) attract seem to care less about little things like manners, decorum, and hygiene. Should you think that I'm an old fart with a bias against 20-somethings (Full disclosure: I'm 39), let me assure you that I'd be equally annoyed by bands of 50-year olds walking through the hallways shouting obscenities, starting drunken brawls and doing things like leaving a 40-foot trail of puke in their wake because they chose to vomit and walk and vomit and walk rather than stay outside and hurl in the bushes. \n\nWhich leads me to the cleaning staff. While there are a few a exceptions, I find the crew at the Hard Rock to completely inept. Whether this is due to poor training, understaffing or horrible management, I cannot tell. \n\nExhibit A: The aforementioned 40-foot trail of vomit took nearly an hour to be cleaned up. That was after the twenty minutes it took for a staff person to say, \"we should probably get this cleaned up.\"\n\nExhibit B: I stopped by my room at lunchtime on a Sunday, and noticed a discarded room service plate of chicken wings that my next-door neighbor had placed outside their door. They had obviously been in quite a rush, because wings were strewn across the hallway in front of their door. When I went to bed that night...the plate was still there. When I got up the next morning...it was STILL there. The last sighting was sometime after 10am Monday, probably an hour or so after some staff person saw it and thought, \"we should probably get this cleaned up.\"\n\nExhibit C: My room got passed over for cleaning one day. When I called down for service, three maids appeared to service the room (well done!). They made the bed, refreshed the towels...and then left the room with all of the trash and dirty glasses untouched. Oh well. One coworker performed an experiment by leaving her Do Not Disturb sign on the floor a few feet inside her room. It stayed there for 4 days. \n\nThe Hard Rock does have a few redeeming qualities: Culinary Dropout and 35 Steaks, comfortable beds, and bars that serve well-poured drinks for decent prices. The convention staff was helpful and fun to work with work. And Pilot, the super-helpful security guy that went out if his way to make my friends feel welcome and cared for on a handful of occasions.\n\nI will probably end up staying at the hotel again for work, but I definitely won't choose it for a personal stay -- that is, until new management comes in and decides, \"we should probably get this cleaned up.\"
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