Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya - Hacienda

I spent last week at the Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya with my wife and two young daughters as part of a large wedding group. While the property has a lot to offer—especially for families—our experience was marred by one of the worst check-in experiences I’ve ever had in all my years of travel. The Good: • Family-friendly amenities: Our girls loved the pools, the water park slides, and Vibe City’s trampoline park and obstacle course. It was great having an arcade, bowling, and laser tag on-site—even if we didn’t make it to all of them. • Solid dining: Toro delivered an excellent ribeye, and the hibachi experience was fun and flavorful. The buffet breakfast was fast and had lots of variety. Room service was prompt and tasty. • Excellent staff (mostly): Mauricio at the Concierge desk was outstanding—friendly, helpful, and professional. Housekeeping was top-notch throughout the stay. And restaurant staff were consistently kind and attentive. • Vibrant lobby: We loved the energy. Cafetto was perfect for coffee, snacks, and ice cream (special shoutout to the toasted ham & cheese croissant). My kids also got a kick out of the lobby bar foosball table. The Just OK: • Rooms: A bit dated but functional. The large tub in the bedroom was awkwardly placed, and black residue from the faucet made it unusable. • Linens: Strangely, washcloths were consistently unavailable. We had to ask daily—and still didn’t always receive them. • Entertainment: There was mention of nightly shows, but we struggled to get a clear schedule. We did catch the Michael Jackson show, which was excellent. • Towels at pool: On our first evening, towels ran out by 4:30pm and no one offered a solution. • “Resort credits”: The advertised $1,000 credit came with a 25% service fee and lots of limitations. We used them for the spa (which was lovely), but the whole program felt misleading. The Bad—And Why I’m Writing This Review: Our check-in was a disaster. After a long day of travel, I arrived expecting a smooth process—especially for a prepaid booking made nearly a year in advance. Instead, I was aggressively upsold by a front desk agent who offered an upgrade to a Rock Star Suite for an additional $1,100 per night—on top of the ~$500/night I had already paid. I asked if the $1,100 was total or additional; he said additional. I checked the Hard Rock website and saw the room listed for $950/night total. I pointed this out, and after disappearing for long stretches to “check with his manager,” he came back multiple times with confusing and still-inflated prices. After nearly 45 minutes of back-and-forth, I asked to speak directly with the manager. That’s when I met Karen—and the experience went from frustrating to downright insulting. Karen was dismissive, combative, and condescending. She told me I didn’t “understand how hotels work,” refused to honor the online rate, and said her manager was unavailable—unless I wanted to go find him myself across the property and wait another hour. Ultimately, she told me the upgraded room had been sold to someone else, so the conversation was over. No apology. No accountability. No basic courtesy. And when I asked for help adjusting my daughter’s too-tight wristband, we were made to wait another 20 minutes—after having already spent over an hour at the front desk. The tone and treatment were shocking for a resort of this caliber. Final Thoughts: We stayed only because we were attending a family wedding. But this was, without question, the worst front desk experience I’ve ever had. If this hotel cares about service and guest satisfaction, I hope a senior manager reads this and takes a serious look at the behavior of Karen and how guests are treated upon arrival. I would love to return because the property itself is great for families—but I would think twice unless the guest services culture sees serious improvement. Read less

For our wedding, we worked with Victor from JJ Studios for our photographs. He and his team were easy to work with. Their prices were fair & they had many packages to choose from. José Insunza was our photographer for that day & he captured the special moments just as we remembered them. He was fun and professional. I would highly recommend contacting them & working with JJ Studios. Read less

Horrible hotel. We arrived here on July 9th and are leaving on July 19th. So far, we've had nothing but trouble, as we haven't even found a spot at the pool (they're always reserved for someone else), and we arrive at 7:00 a.m. every day! The hotel is under construction, so we have construction workers at our room doors all day, banging sledgehammers and turning on machines in our ears. We can't even get a seat at the special restaurants because there are waiting lines that stretch for hours! They want to sell memberships at any cost! My advice is: Don't come here! Davi Gomes dos Reis Read less