Complaint Review: Hard Rock Hotels

U.S. Travel Warning - Hard Rock Hotel Cancun

In January I planned a trip to Hard Rock Hotel in Cancun. I never imagined it would be the employees at the Hard Rock Hotel that put my safety at risk.  When planning a vacation you assume the hotel staff are there to help you out.

I also assumed staying at a Hard Rock Hotel, an American hotel chain based in Orlando Florida, that I would be safe as an American.  After having my safety put at risk by the Hard Rock and being ‘shaken down’ I realized I was not as smart as I needed to be.  What I learned below was after I returned back to the U.S. but wish I had known before.

Source: U.S. Dept. of State

'U.S. citizens have been victims of violent crime, including homicide, rape, kidnapping, carjacking, and robbery…'.

https://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/alertswarnings/mexico-travel-warning.html

48-hours in at the Hard Rock Hotel and trouble started.  Ana Victorina at the front desk showed me Orange ID tag bracelet and said I had to wear it.  I asked why, she said “so people know you are Hard Rock guest”.

I asked “what people… who”.  I didn't understand.  I strolled off to my room tagged with an Orange ID band like a zoo animal.

That evening my fiancé and I decided to go to the tourist shopping and restaurant area of Cancun.  Sitting at a cocktail table across the street from Coco Bongo a gentleman sitting at a table nearby said “I see you’re staying at the Hard Rock Hotel, how do you like it”.

I was concerned, how did he know where we were staying.  So I asked, “how did you know where I was staying”.  He said “you both have Orange ID bracelets; everybody knows where you’re staying”.  He asked rhetorically “do you think the Hard Rock Hotel at $500 to $600 a night doesn’t know who their guests are”.

The ID bands help locals know ‘how much’ you can afford to pay and makes you easy target for criminals.  Their staff don’t know you… they don’t care what happens to you.  He suggested taking them off to minimize risk of being ripped off, set up, mugged-assaulted or worse her being raped by a local.  She took her Orange Hard Rock ID tag bracelet off.

These things made sense, they weren’t outrageous and they were logical.  Not wild claims, things you hear that sound like urban legends.  I thought nothing of the new found information until we arrived back at the Hard Rock Hotel.

When we got back, a brutal dose of reality hit us.  The Hard Rock Hotel employees Gerardo Esterrio and Julio Banelos interrogated us about my fiancé’s Orange ID bracelet.  I didn’t understand what the big deal was, we were both registered guests of the hotel.  We both had U.S. Government Issued ID on us.  We explained she removed the Orange ID bracelet out concern for her safety.

They didn’t care.  They wanted money, they demanded we pay a penalty on the spot of $75 USD. Total criminal shakedown.  They also told us we would need to continue paying them $75 USD day for her.

I paid the fee and said I would pay the other fees tomorrow.  Being mugged or raped or pay the Hard Rock Hotel employees $75… not really a choice.  I told her I didn’t feel safe at the Hard Rock and was going to leave.  When I did leave the hotel staff attempted to physically restrain me from leaving.  They wanted money and told me they were going to take my U.S. passport.  I escaped but my HP laptop was broken in the altercation.

There are plenty of other great hotels; don’t stay at the Hard Rock Hotel.  Mexico can be a great vacation if you have the right people helping. That starts with your hotel staff.  That is your ‘home base’ while you are on vacation.

Choose wisely…