I had two other reviews for this hotel and even though this has been Hard Rock for more than a year, apparently TripAdvisor removed reviews to give Hard Rock a fresh start, but regardless if its Cancun Palace or Hard Rock, this place will always hold a special place in my heart, when we return, if those employees that make us keep coming back are not there, then we will probably have to look elsewhere because yes, the resort is phenomenal in our eyes but the staff is really what makes us want to return, they have become part of our family. On to my review...
My husband and I arrived on July 1, 2012 and departed July 10, 2012. We had just visited November 2011 so everything was pretty similar but you could see now the major renovations going on. Check in was at the side of the building and went very smooth, we arrived around 1pm but we were able to eat lunch and we quickly went to look for our favorite people. Cesar and Jairo at the bar, you will never go wrong if you go with these guys! I had booked a manicure/pedicure appointment back home so we wouldn't run into booking problems when we arrived, so we did that on our first day, they had converted a floor in the hotel dedicated to spa services which you could imagine was very inconvenient but we didn't mind, we still enjoyed running into familiar employee faces in the hallway. Our room was just what we asked for, Concierge level and it did not disappoint, if you could get this room, we highly recommend it, best view and best service, we've requested this view every time we come! Elevator service was extremely horrible especially because we were on the top floor and it was just terribly slow and especially hot inside!
Our days have always consisted of having breakfast at El Mercado/Ciao (Thanks to Hector Enrique, Luis Manuel and Jovana Janet for being the best!), laying out at the beach, having lunch by the pool, hanging out at the swim up bar (Thanks to Cesar, Angel, Alex, Jairo, Hipolito, Clara, Suleyma, and Angel de Jesus), and then going to dinner which was always Zen! We would bypass the tables and sit at the bar because this has been and continues to be our favorite place to hang out, meet new people and interact and have fun with the employees! (Thank you immensely to Miguel, NICANOR, Isidro, Eleuterio, Gregorio, Carlos Manuel, Francisco, Juan Carlos, Julio Cesar, Julio Adrian, Jose Carlos, Miguel Angel, Everardo, Humberto, and Johnathan) Each and every one of these guys contributed in their own way to make our stay memorable and we like to take the time to write down and remember their names because they get so little recognition and this is the least we could do to not only never forget about them, but hopefully they know how important they are to creating an environment that is welcoming and all of them sincerely just want everyone to have a good time and enjoy their vacation and they have bent over backwards creating us special meals, bringing us food from the other restaurants, surprising us with awesome details and words will never express the gratitude we have and hopefully they know that they are the reason we continue to spend good money to return! Then at night we'd hang out at the lobby bar (Thanks to Claudia for always making us laugh!!) We would hang out there or just take a visit to the beach and wait for the turtles to come out at night which is an awesome experience if you have the opportunity! We were lucky enough to meet the head chef of the resort, Angel Ignacio and he allowed us to tour the kitchen which was so amazing because we had been here so many times and felt like it was our home that going to the back and seeing the kitchen and all the behind the scenes was GREAT! And thank you to Nelson, the Sommelier, your wine expertise is like no other and we enjoyed hearing about all the wines, he is one of the sweetest and most sincere men you will meet!
We really have no complaints about Hard Rock. We were there at probably the peak of renovation and even that did not stop us from having a good time, sections were closed, a part of the Mexican restaurant was being constructed, the Brazilian steakhouse had just opened and there was a terrible smell of smoke everywhere, painters were everywhere on site, the spa opened up during our stay and I wasn't too impressed but but hopefully by now they have straightened out all the kinks, and even so, we will still give anything to return ASAP! Hopefully on our next trip will be even better!