Hard Rock Hotels takes one of the world's most recognizable entertainment brands and turns it into an actual vacation experience. City hotels, casino resorts, beaches and massive all-inclusives all share the same basic promise: music matters, entertainment matters, and the hotel itself should give you something to do. If W is #1 because it makes the hotel part of the trip, Hard Rock comes dangerously close to beating it by making the hotel the entertainment. That's why it's #2.

And forget the assumption that Hard Rock means walking around staring at guitars that belonged to somebody's favorite 1970s rock band. The brand is much bigger than that. Music is the language Hard Rock uses to build the experience, but depending on the property, that can translate into DJs, concerts, nightlife, huge pools, casinos, beach parties, family activities, restaurants and bars. At its all-inclusive resorts, that formula gets turnt all the way up.

Hard Rock Punta Cana alone currently advertises 13 restaurants, 23 bars, nightly entertainment and the Caribbean's largest casino as part of a massive all-inclusive resort experience. Then you've got Hard Rock Los Cabos, Riviera Maya and the refreshed Cancun and Vallarta resorts in Mexico. Hard Rock also stretches into places like Bali, Maldives, Marbella, Madrid, New York and Atlantic City. That range matters to BlkTravel.

Because Hard Rock can be: The Punta Cana birthday trip. The Cancun family vacation. The Downtown Atlanta turn up weekend. The Maldives honeymoon. The Bali trip. The New York weekend. And the common denominator is that Hard Rock generally isn't expecting you to create all of the energy yourself. Something is happening. Hard Rock understands something that matters enormously to our traveler: We can want upscale accommodations without wanting a quiet vacation.

A resort can have a beautiful room, spa and good restaurants and still give us somewhere to go after dinner. A family resort can entertain the children without making the adults feel like they accidentally checked into summer camp. A couples trip can have relaxation during the day and a function at night. Hard Rock's all-inclusive properties are particularly strong here. The brand includes food, drinks, daily activities, nightly entertainment and live entertainment at resorts such as Riviera Maya and Los Cabos.

And music isn't merely decoration. Hard Rock's Sound of Your Stay® program lets guests borrow Fender guitars, request Crosley turntables with vinyl and access curated playlists. That's branding that actually turns into something the guest can use.