Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City — Hotel in Atlantic City

I am writing to express my strong dissatisfaction for my experience at your facility in Atlantic City. On June 11th, 2019 me and my partner Timothy Matthews decided to visit this casino because we were given a great suggestion that the buffet has great food. When we initially arrived in the parking lot a woman asked if we had reservations or players cards, my partner said no that we were members somewhere else and she explained to us that if we were to sign up for a players card at the Hard Rock that our parking would be comped which sounded great. We entered the hotel going straight to member services with our parking receipt to sign up the Hard Rock program. While in line we seen the marketing that the Hard Rock has a tier match program which a lot of the casinos do as well. While standing in the extremely long line we signed up with an Asian gentleman and he proceeded to tell us that he had to make copies of our identification cards and players cards from the Ceasar Rewards which were Diamond Status. I asked him why he needed to make copies when he was typing in our information, he explained that it was procedure. Every place of business is different, so I didn’t think to question it a second time now. Before we left the counter, the Asian gentleman explained that we were now signed up with Rock Royalty cards and began to explain all the perks of the program. In addition to the perks, he let me know that $10 dollars I spent on parking would be added to the card immediately and that $100 dollars free play would be added within the hour. We left the line and went to the machine to check to see if my $10 dollars was on there and it wasn’t, but the free buffet was already loaded which was told to us would be added later. We decided to use the buffet and check back regarding the other offers when we were done with our meal. When I went up to the window, I explained to the gentleman that my credit for parking was not on my card and neither was the free play that was promised either. The man explained that he had to go get his manager to fix the problem. A lady came out (SARAI or SARAH) and asked what our problem was I told her, and she said she would take care of it. The supervisor was gone for at least 30 minutes before I became restless, all this for a parking Comp. I then seen the lady running back and forth not saying anything to us, VERY UNPROFESSIONAL!!!!!! Then a short gentleman with a name tag that read “JEROME” asked if the Id’s he ours had were we replied yes; he then said your player cards are fake. I immediately was upset because I knew this was not true. Jerome very rudely said that he had called the Caesar’s security to verify that our cards were fake. He then told us that we would have to have someone call them to verify our accounts which didn’t make sense because Jerome just said that he verified with Caesar’s security. Shortly after two cops walk up and explain to us that the Hard Rock is asking that we be escorted off the property. At this point I am beyond livid because when we asked who they verified our accounts with, management (Jerome and Sarai) kept saying they verified with Caesars security. My question was then how anyone could have verified anything with “security” and not the actual representatives with Caesars rewards. My partner than pulled up his Caesar Rewards app on his phone and the managers then said that was not enough. When I called the Caesar Rewards number, they asked to speak to someone, and Jerome then said we don’t have a direct number. He just kept repeating that he wanted us to leave the property because me and my partner were “frauds” and printed our own Caesar reward cards. We were also told that there was an open investigation against Caesars from the Hard Rock brand. Not one manager on duty conducted themselves in a professional manner, NOT ONE!!!!!!! The police then stated that because they had to listen to the managers that we had to leave until the investigation was over, and if we were seen on the property that we would be trespassing and locked...

Unfortunately, my stay here started off grand, but ended on a sour note.

My cousin and I planned this weekend to get my mom and aunt away on a mini vacation. We thought that this trip to Atlantic City would be great and would bring back many memories we had as children making the same trip.

I immediately signed up for the Wild Card rewards so that we could get points and do this every other month. Our first night was great. We spent most of it on the boardwalk, the ocean, and even got on the wheel for old times sake.

The second day is when it went downhill.

We planned a day at the spa. I decided to go to the pool and sundeck instead. Upon making the spa appointment, we asked what the “Service Charge” was and the lady on the phone explained that it was the tip included (my mom was not in on this phone call). My mom, aunt and cousin went to the spa and spent well over $500.

Anyway, I had explained to my mom what the lady said over the phone. However, when she went to pay, she was confused. She asked the lady at the desk if the tip was included and the lady never responded Yes or No, she just told her the name of the person that performed her massage. So, my mom tipped 20% on top of the 18% that was already included.

The lady never stopped to explain to my mom that the “Service Charge” included the tip and if she wanted to tip additionally, she could. Instead, she let my elderly mom tip on the total price including the service charge and not the original price of $139.

This really upset me.

Why would you not take the time to explain to an elderly person that is confused about the pricing. My mom was looking for the word “Gratuity/Tip” and thought the service charge was an additional fee that they just tagged on.

When I asked to speak to a manager, Anthony Adams claimed he needed to do an investigation. When he came back, he said that the “Service Charge” included a “Commission” and not a “Gratuity” and that my mom left a “Gratuity” on her own.

Now, he must have thought I was stupid. I know we used the word “tip” in our phone call and the lady explained it was included, NOW it’s a “Commission” which is separate from a “Tip/Gratuity”. So the person who performed the massage go an 18% commission and a 20% tip based off the total price including her commission………38% profit.

They knew what they were doing with my mom. Had my mom known, she still would have left a tip on top of the commission to make it a 20% profit.

If this is a high-end salon, you explain to people what they are paying for and you don’t take advantage. Its not the money, it’s the principle.

“A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both” Dwight D. Eisenhower.

My other complaint:

When finally sat down to gamble, my $25 promotional money was gone from my Wild Card. When I went to talk to the Loyalty Club, they said you must use it the same day, which they never told me. They asked me to wait 5 minutes and they would add it back on. I waited 40 minutes before I had to leave and NOTHING. I had no time to wait back in line. So, my family spent thousands of dollars in food, stay, and the spa and we loss our $25 promotional money because we didn’t gamble the same day, nor did we accumulate any points. The Wild Card is not good if you are visiting for a show, spa, or simply a getaway. It’s only good for gambling. You could spend more or just as much money and you will get no points to move up the tiers.

I explained all of this to the “hotel manager” which was the “front office shift manager” Edson Segarra. He said he contacted the customer service team and they would reach out. They never did.

So, what I concluded is this…..

They don’t care about you if you’re NOT gambling,

They have poor communication.

They lie.

They tell you what you want to hear instead of correcting the problem.

Well, now I have cancelled our trip back at the end of September and October to see Nas and Keith Sweat. We will now stay at Oceans which is right down the...

I'll preface my review with: I am not a fan of Atlantic City overall... I think it's a grimy, tired, little town that grasps desperately onto what made it "great." I've always vacationed at shore towns much further south...and it always amazes me how I can get out of the car at a place like the Hard Rock Casino, barely a 100 yards from the sand, and I can't "smell" the ocean, just car exhaust and cigarette smoke.

I did not stay at the hotel, so I cannot speak to that. We took a day trip from our home in the Philly burbs to see a show at the Hard Rock Live Etess Area. All employees we encountered were super friendly, from the parking garage attendant to the ushers in the arena. I can't say as much for the clientele, but that's not Hard Rock's fault. It was super crowded because it was Labor Day Weekend. And the sheer number of people who were just standing around staring blindly into space like they didn't know where they were and/or moving along a snail's pace taking up all walking areas (a pet peeve of mine) got my blood pressure way up. If this is how the casino always is I'd personally skip the next visit... I wanted to say to people, "Get where you're going or move aside!"

The casino is elegant without the usual casino-type tackiness I recall from visits to other places. The abundance of music memorabilia all around is great. I'm a music fan-girl and enjoyed everything from seeing Frank Sinatra's tux, to Elvis' Rolls Royce Phantom, to Kurt Cobain's junk mail. The music theme runs everywhere from the guitar pick floor tile to the guitar-shaped crystal chandelier. There was a live cover band playing at the far side of the main floor, not sure if that was a weekend special or a daily occurrence. It was loud in there but not unexpected considering... We perused the gambling floor but did not gamble as we had limited time that evening.

I will say I am a fan of the Etess Arena. It's small enough to feel intimate, but large enough to allow great viewing perspectives from all seats. The seats were roomy... which is sounds like such an old-person thing to say, but both my fiance and I noted that there was enough space to not have to stand up to let people walk down the aisle past you as is the norm in so many arena seating set-ups. The show was great, sound was excellent. The exit from the parking garage at the end of the night was lacking, my recommendation to the business would be to have someone directing traffic to prevent confusion and backup, perhaps at each floor. It took us over an hour to get out of the garage.

My biggest complaint about the place was the HEAT. It was like there was no air conditioning on in the casino at all. Granted, it was one of the hottest days of the summer, but it was horrible, and I would think that such an upscale place would better manage comforts like this. We both made the comment "Well maybe that's how they get the gamblers to buy more drinks..." The arena was fine. Like another world, perfectly comfortable air conditioning.

Overall I wold 100% see another show at the Etess. It is super convenient to Philly for the experience and I would recommend it to anyone considering it (I would recommend over shows at The Met or Franklin Music Hall The Filmore in Philly). I would consider extending my stay for a weekend at some point, not on a 100 degree weekend for sure and absolutely not on a holiday weekend again. I suspect my experience is clouded by both those factors, and like I said, being a music fan I would like to see more. Should I ever do that I will certainly expand...