Tom Hard Rock Hotel Desaru Coast was our next hotel stay after visiting Westin Desaru and Anantara Desaru. Besides having the usual frills of an Hard Rock Hotel such as the hard rock guitar at the entrance as well as rock star memorabilia sprinkled throughout the hotel, Hard Rock Desaru Desaru Coast actually has an advantage over all other Desaru hotels – a private entry into Adventure Waterpark Desaru.
Book with Agoda Here: Hard Rock Desaru Desaru Coast
Book with Klook Here: Popular Activities in Desaru
Arriving at Hard Rock Hotel Desaru Coast
As we were at Anantara Desaru, there were a couple of ways to head to Hard Rock Hotel Desaru. From Anantara Desaru, we could either walk back towards Westin Desaru (the way that we came from) or just wait for the shuttle bus that takes us there. During this transit, we had to wait for quite a bit because reception somehow did not get the latest bus schedule and advised us on the wrong timing. Therefore, ALWAYS check out the bus schedule at the lobby personally. Also, because of the wrong information, we took the other bus route that circles to the Desaru Ferry Terminal before heading to Hard Rock Desaru. A longer ride but a cooler ride…
As the Desaru Ferry Terminal was not operational as yet, there were no one else on the shuttle bus. We sorta had a private tour of Desaru Coast. It was rather nice to pass by Desaru Town as well as Els Club Desaru to catch a view of the golf course. After about 40 mins (including a 10 minutes stop at Desaru Ferry Terminal), we eventually arrived at Hard Rock Desaru…
Also, to avoid a repeat of our mistake, here’s the bus schedule we took at the lobby of Hard Rock Hotel…
The Hard Rock Desaru hotel lobby is very spacious. The area that over looks Adventure Waterpark Desaru was probably one of our favourite spots to hang out…
After a prompt check-in process, it was time to check out our room…
Book with Agoda Here: Hard Rock Desaru Desaru Coast
Book with Klook Here: Popular Activities in Desaru
Hard Rock Hotel Desaru Coast Superior Room
At 42sqm, the Hard Rock Desaru Superior Room was admittedly very spacious. It checks out in all the “Hard Rock” styles including a beautiful art work on the wall as well as some hard rock music on TV as we entered the room. But what caught our attention was the verandah. The “balcony” opens up directly to the waterpark itself.
There’s also a nice sofa where you can chill as well. Of course, we can only imagine how great the view would be on the higher floors. Within the room, the rest of the amenities were pretty standard. No bath tub though in the Superior Room of Hard Rock Desaru…
When we booked with Hard Rock Desaru, the room comes with complimentary tickets to Adventure Waterpark Desaru. The really really cool thing about staying at Hard Rock Desaru is the private access to Adventure Waterpark Desaru. In addition, as guests, you’ll be able to get a wristband that allows you to have unlimited entry/re-entry to the premise – a really cool option to rest a little when it gets too hot in the middle of the day and come out again a little later…
Adventure Waterpark Desaru Coast opens from 10am to 6pm. With over 20 wet and dry rides, slides and attractions, Adventure Waterpark Desaru Coast is the perfect attraction for the entire family…
You may also like: Anantara Desaru Coast Resort & Villas Review: Hotel with the Best Beach Access in Desaru!
Book with Agoda Here: Hard Rock Desaru Desaru Coast
Book with Klook Here: Popular Activities in Desaru
Adventure Waterpark Desaru Coast Review
Despite having visited Aquaventure in Dubai, we still think that Adventure Waterpark Desaru is quite a decent attraction and here’s why…
We started off the day with some mini golf, which Kate won as usual. If you have read our posts, you would know that Kate’s the mini-golf queen, winning at mini-golf on cruises as well as this ridiculous putt at Sierra Nevada Resort & Spa.
After the game, we had some lunch, which was surprisingly decently priced at a theme park. We dined at Kelong and had a drumstick chicken rice (23.9RM) and a root beer (6.9RM)…
We also wanted to try the waffles with peanut/chocolate for 6.9RM but the queue was just too long and when we eventually returned, it was sold out 😭 We also found that you can rent a cabana by the wave pool as well…
Our favourite ride was probably Kraken’s Revenge rollercoaster – which is the first rollercoaster that we could go on, barefooted. Sat next to a kid who went 5 times and we had a little challenge – no change of facial emotions throughout the ride. That was fun as well. 😆 The Swinging Ship (Viking) was rather scary too – accelerating both upwards and downwards. A new modification to its predecessors. We spent alot of time going round and round the lazy river, pushing each other under the waterfall and splashes. During which, we noticed that the floats were all very new. Hence, the steep price (if you entered by paying the admission fees), does pay for the higher quality experienced in the waterpark.
Tidal Wave was quite fun but be careful about abrasion especially at the shallower end of the pool. Overall, Adventure Waterpark Desaru Coast is actually quite fun and not that crowded as well. Enjoy!
After the waterpark closed, we adjourned to our room and watched the Eternals – which was unfortunately a bad choice. But the great thing is that movies-on-demand at Hard Rock Desaru are complimentary. We also found the room to not be that sound-proof. We were able to hear most of the conversations next door and in the middle of the night (i.e. 11pm), we were abruptly woken up by shouts of “goal!” next door. If ambience noise does affect your sleep, perhaps Westin Desaru would be a better option.
For dinner, we had the famous Penang Kway Teow (18RM) and Pizza Hut Kari Pizza (45RM) by ordering through Grab. Unlike Westin Desaru, it was quite common for people to order Grab to dine at the hotel or simply drive out to town to tapao. Zero embarrassment here. 😁
You may also like: Westin Desaru Coast Resort Review: Probably the Best Hotel in Desaru!
Book with Agoda Here: Hard Rock Desaru Desaru Coast
Book with Klook Here: Popular Activities in Desaru
Breakfast at Hard Rock Hotel Desaru Coast
Not to get your expectations too high. The breakfast at Hard Rock Desaru Hotel is not that good…
Unfortunately for us, the chicken inside and at the buffet outdoors was uncooked and super tough. Even the sambal was not as good (quite watery) as compared to Anantara and Westin Desaru. The only bright side was hash brown that went well with greek yoghurt.
Overall, the breakfast at Hard Rock Desaru was terrible – at least on this day that we visited. The other bright side for us was the coffee machine and on that note, there are several at the drinks station. So walk around and locate the free one instead of joining the long queues.
After breakfast, we returned to the room and caught more movies including Shang Chi (which was rather good) and Encanto. New movies such as King Richard was also available. As our ride back was planned for 8pm, after check-out at 12pm, we still had several hours to chill at the hotel – a tip for travellers out there 😉
After “settling in” (i.e. finding a spot by the pool), we took a quick stroll around the hotel premise as the water was still a little too cold at that point in time…
After coming back, we started to swim for a while but were asked to leave the pool, because apparently, a kid got too excited and vomited in the pool. The cleaning took about an hour. During which, we ordered some stuff to eat for lunch…
As Elephant and Butterfly have their own herb garden, the herb-based cocktails were pretty good. Enjoyed the gin-based Basil Punch by the pool while munching on the nachos. Yum!
At about 3pm, we left the pool to the hotel lobby to have the afternoon tea for 80RM…
The afternoon tea was rather decent. Comes in a 3-tiered presentation plus fried items and selection of tea (we had Earl Grey). The prawns were rather fresh and the clotted cream and jams went quite well with the sweet items. No scones though. More like a biscuit. The cakes were all quite good and the fried stuff went well with the happy hour beer (18RM). Super full by the end of the afternoon tea! On that note, do check out the promotions available daily all around the hotel.
We went back to the pool thereafter, chilled and watched the sunset colours on the clouds. It was beautiful. At 8pm, our ride came and it was about 2.5 hours before we eventually got back home. Met with a little jam that evening.
Check out this video coverage of Hard Rock Desaru!
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All in all, we had a relaxing trip in Desaru. The easy access to the waterpark from Hard Rock Desaru was definitely the highlight of staying at Hard Rock Desaru. In our next post, we will talk about which are our favourite hotels in Desaru and why. The only hotel that we have not stayed at was One and Only Desaru. If you have stayed there, let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
Book with Klook Here: Hard Rock Hotel Desaru Coast
Book with Klook Here: Popular Activities in Desaru
Related Posts
Westin Desaru Coast Resort Review: Probably the Best Hotel in Desaru!
Anantara Desaru Coast Resort & Villas Review: Hotel with the Best Beach Access in Desaru!
Hard Rock Hotel Desaru Coast Review: Best Access to Adventure Waterpark Desaru
One and Only Desaru only has Suite rooms, at 1k+ per night, so it will be quite a pointless comparison.
Hey Tom,
That may be true but Hard Rock is the only hotel with direct access to Adventure Waterpark Desaru and that may appeal to those traveling as a family with kids. We have also heard the O&OD have a stretch of beach that may not be as good as the stretch at Anantara – for readers who have visited O&OD and Anantara, do share your trip report as well!
Enjoy the next trip to Desaru everyone!
Tom & Kate,
2bearbear.com
Hi Tom,
May I check the complimentary water adventures park ticket, is booked through Klook or the official website of hotel? I was intend to book through bookings.com but can’t seem to find such offers.
Hey Boon Wei,
Just checked the HR Desaru website and they are still offering this deal. Enjoy the time with the kids!
Tom & Kate,
2bearbear.com