While attending a conference in nearby Phoenix, I decided to spoil myself with a stay at the Phoenician Resort. At the time of booking, there was no availability at the Canyon Suites at the Phoenician, so I booked an award stay in a 2 Bedroom Residence for 3 nights at the Phoenician Residences--for a mere 60,000 points/night Category 7 price at the time. The same redemption now would be 85,000 points/night with the new Category 8 pricing. And it still would be a steal!

The Residences are just a small 7 unit group of "casitas" (as everyone on property referred to them) at the front of the Phoenician Resort property. Guests at the Residences are able to access all of the services, facilites, and amenitied of the larger Phoenician Resort. I will post a more thorough review of the Phoenician Resort under that separate thread. (I also will post a thorough review of the Canyon Suites at the Phoenician for anyone interested.)

The Residences are entered even before you reach the main gate guardhouse of the overall Phoenician Resort. It truly felt like I had my own house near the resort as opposed to feeling like I was at a hotel.

There was plenty of parking for any guests or their guests, in fact.

The golf course just in front of the casitas (towards the back right of the photo):

Check In

Check in is at the Phoenician Resort's main hotel lobby registration desks, just as if you were a regular hotel guest. 

I had previously spoken with a guest relations agent several months before my stay to upgrade my Residence to a ground floor Residence with a private plunge pool. That was a mere $95 charge, which I thought was incredibly inexpensive. 

In the end, due to my Ambassador and my Ambassador status, I was pre-upgraded several weeks before my stay to a 3 Bedroom Residence with Private Plunge Pool, Ground Floor, Golf View. This was highly entertaining to me since it was only going to be me! 

There was a snafu pre-arrival where the hotel accidentally took another 500,000+ points out of my account and charged me $900+ for a first night's deposit. Needless to say, I was pretty peeved. One call to the general Ambassador service (mine was sick) and a follow up to the hotel had it resolved--as well as getting the original $95 plunge pool upgrade fee waived. 

Check in therefore was quite smooth. The front office manager came out to say hello, as he'd been involved in fixing those pre-arrival errors. He also gave me an extra 2 bottles of water and a very nice water thermos. The extra water bottles seemed strange to me (I always ask for extra water, but it's usually just left in the room for me) but I appreciated the gesture. 

A valet drove a golf cart back to the Residence with me following him in my rental car. Because you self-park at the Residences, there is no parking fee. (Reminded me of how we avoided the parking fee at the RC Half Moon Bay by staying in the Guest House suite.)

Room

The Residence was extremely impressive. I think this may be the most impressive accommodation I've ever enjoyed--anywhere!

My Residence was the end casita, offering a bit of view onto one of the nearby greens and offering a great deal of privacy. Though, to be honest, I barely saw anyone else or heard anyone else at all during my stay!

Yes, that's my personal golf cart to use whenever I want to go anywhere within the resort property. 

Even from outside the front door, you couldn't miss how impressive this stay was going to be:

Walking in, you knew it was going to be an amazing stay.

To the right was an entry closet and powder bath:

The dining room and living room areas were spectacular:

The kitchen/bar area was wonderful:

The central "courtyard" area was a bit odd in that I can't imagine who would want to sit there versus the main deck with the pool. But it did let in some natural light.

There was an office/den:

Walking out from the kitchen/great room doors or the front door brought you to the pool deck/terrace. It was pretty impressive on its own!

Back indoors...

The long hallway had the 3 bedrooms off it: the first doorway on the left led to a queen bedroom with bath, the doorway on the right led to the king master bedroom and master bath, and the doorway on the left at the end of the hallway led to a double queen bedroom with bath. There also was laundry (washer and dryer) off the hallway.

Laundry:

MASTER BEDROOM SUITE:

The little courtyard off the master felt foolish and akin to a security risk, as it led to the front parking lot. I kept that sliding door locked and had the shades drawn for my entire stay. Biggest design faux paux of the Residence in my opinion.

Walk in closet was very spacious.

But the almost 2 story master shower area was inspired:

QUEEN BEDROOM:

The window looked out onto the entryway and to the golf course, but I kept the shades drawn since I wasn't using the room.

DOUBLE BED BEDROOM:

The end window crazily looked right out onto the driveway, so I made sure the blinds/shades were drawn for my entire stay for security. A curious design choice.

The air con was sublime--though it's not the most efficient, as there is only one unit for each Residence. I was able to get it down to 61 F without much effort, though it was unusually cool (mid to high 70s F) for May in Scottsdale. (Finally, some cooler weather karma for me.) Considering this is crazy hot Phoenix, it seems they made sure the air con will do its job very well. 

WiFi was fine at 20 Mbps up and down. A little slower than I'd have expected for the premium accommodations, but I had no issues at all streaming the (most disappointing) Game of Thrones finale. 

Shower pressure was outstanding. The master shower was so strong I couldn't even turn it to full blast without causing me some undue discomfort!

All in all, I was extraordinarily comfortable for my stay. I could have stayed for weeks and been truly comfortable. 

Service

Service was overall good, though there were some curious oddities.

I didn't get a welcome amenity, something I would expect at any luxury property for an Ambassador guest. After returning from dinner the first night and still not getting anything, I mentioned that to a guest relations/public relations contact from the Canyon Suites. In the end, it didn't come until the next afternoon--because of hotel miscommunication and perhaps not the best initial service action. The welcome note also apologized for the lack of welcome amenity, as if it were an apology for my not having received it in the first place. Oddly done.

Housekeeing was pretty much perfect. They didn't miss a thing. I tipped well.

Room service was also surprisingly prompt every day, though they did once miss my hot milk for my coffee. They ended up comp'd the coffee. 

All around, I thought service was to a very good standard. 

Dining

Dining I will leave to the Phoenician Resort report. But my room service orders were all good. 

Location

It's a nice location in Scottsdale, perhaps the best for any of the many golf resorts.

Overall

I loved it. Even after touring the impressive Canyon Suites, I'd have to say the 85,000 points is better spent for me at the Residences. 

I despise Phoenix/Scottsdale. But I didn't want to leave my Residence after my 3 nights. It was an extremely comfortable retreat and almost perfect stay. If ever my circumstances put me back in Phoenix, I know I will be staying here at the Residences if at all possible.