Sheraton Grand at Wild Horse Pass, Phoenix [Master Thread]
Nov 1, 2002, 5:54 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: Bethesda, MD
Programs: AA PLT (1MM), MR Gold, SPG Gold, HH Gold
Posts: 219
Sheraton Grand at Wild Horse Pass, Phoenix [Master Thread]
Hi, everyone --
Just wanted to know if anyone had first-hand information on the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort and Spa in Phoenix. Looks nice from the Web site, but have been fooled before based on just looking at the pretty pictures, so any insight is greatly appreciated.
Anything specific I should be asking for regarding room types, views, and the like?
Thanks!
Andy
Just wanted to know if anyone had first-hand information on the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort and Spa in Phoenix. Looks nice from the Web site, but have been fooled before based on just looking at the pretty pictures, so any insight is greatly appreciated.
Anything specific I should be asking for regarding room types, views, and the like?
Thanks!
Andy
Nov 1, 2002, 7:51 am
#2
Join Date: Jul 1999
Location: Land of 10,000 Upgrades
Posts: 9,465
Feb 17, 2003, 5:07 am
#4
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Programs: UA PM, DL PM, Bonvoy Titanium, HH Gold
Posts: 1,293
Sheraton Wild Horse Pass questions
Good morning,
After doing a search, we have read nothing but good things about the new Wild Horse Pass resort.
For those who have stayed, a few questions come to mind:
1) How comfortable were the beds?
2) If Platinum, how were you treated?
3) Did they have poolside service (i.e. if lounging in the sun, do they have roaming waiters for drink orders)?
4) Was there a great place to eat and watch the sun set?
5) Do you have any other advice/information you can give?
Thanks so much in advance!
After doing a search, we have read nothing but good things about the new Wild Horse Pass resort.
For those who have stayed, a few questions come to mind:
1) How comfortable were the beds?
2) If Platinum, how were you treated?
3) Did they have poolside service (i.e. if lounging in the sun, do they have roaming waiters for drink orders)?
4) Was there a great place to eat and watch the sun set?
5) Do you have any other advice/information you can give?
Thanks so much in advance!
Feb 17, 2003, 9:06 am
#5
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Las Vegas, NV, USA
Programs: AAdvantage EXP/1mm/Admirals,United Silver+Club (life),Marriott Titanium,Hilton & Accor Gold
Posts: 5,061
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by DawgmanOH:
...5) Do you have any other advice/information you can give?</font>
...5) Do you have any other advice/information you can give?</font>
Feb 17, 2003, 6:56 pm
#7
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: Bethesda, MD
Programs: AA PLT (1MM), MR Gold, SPG Gold, HH Gold
Posts: 219
Oh, where to start...
Yes, the property is physically very nice, but I have to stay the nice things about the stay stop there.
I was there for a fairly large conference, and was absolutely amazed how little the staff actually cared about its guests.
- No recognition of Platinum status until I asked -- I walked back to the desk to ask about my PLT amenity, and was greeted with, "Oh, you again?"
- Too little staff -- it's obvious this hotel opened before it was ready to, and I'm sorry, I shouldn't have to call housekeeping at 6 pm to ask when my room (empty all day) would be made up.
- Innumerable problems with conference services, and again, the head of conference services didn't seem to care much. I certainly wouldn't hold a function there again.
- The restaurants were OK -- not great. Service slow (though the wait staff was quite friendly and professional, the one saving grace).
- Correct me if I'm wrong, but hot room service food shouldn't arrive cold, and I shouldn't have to call after an hour (with a half-hour guarantee) to see what happened to my order.
- The hotel is sprawling -- if you're far from the center core, it's a hike to get to the lobby, restaurant, etc. Parking lots are not placed in a logical fashion near the rooms.
- It's just way too far from anything.
Regarding the beds, they're nice and firm -- one of the few things I can point to as a "plus."
I honestly can't recommend the property. I can't stand it when the hotel management doesn't care about its guests, and in my mind, you should take your dollars and stay somewhere where they DO care.
Feb 18, 2003, 1:08 am
#8
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Honolulu,HI, USA
Programs: UA 1K 3MM
Posts: 839
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">
1) How comfortable were the beds?
The beds were the new comfy ones with all the pillows. I wondered if these were the new Sheraton beds that are supposed to be like the heavenly Westin beds.
2) If Platinum, how were you treated?
They presented me with the Platinum amenity choices right away at check-in. I needed t have connecting rooms with someone with no status so I declined the upgraded room.
3) Did they have poolside service (i.e. if lounging in the sun, do they have roaming waiters for drink orders)?
The people attending my meeting ordered lunch right at poolside. However, one couple reported that they had their order lost. The hotel made up for it by offering free food.
4) Was there a great place to eat and watch the sun set?
Didn't eat in the restaurant so I can't answer this. I did see that you can order food and drinks in the patio area which has a sprawling view.
5) Do you have any other advice/information you can give?
The drive into the hotel is quite long, but pretty. There is a water taxi and golf cart shuttle service to take you around the sprawling property. I had no problem with the staff or services.
When I held my meeting at the hotel last November, I had wonderful service from the staff. Everyone raved about the food and service.
TF
</font>
1) How comfortable were the beds?
The beds were the new comfy ones with all the pillows. I wondered if these were the new Sheraton beds that are supposed to be like the heavenly Westin beds.
2) If Platinum, how were you treated?
They presented me with the Platinum amenity choices right away at check-in. I needed t have connecting rooms with someone with no status so I declined the upgraded room.
3) Did they have poolside service (i.e. if lounging in the sun, do they have roaming waiters for drink orders)?
The people attending my meeting ordered lunch right at poolside. However, one couple reported that they had their order lost. The hotel made up for it by offering free food.
4) Was there a great place to eat and watch the sun set?
Didn't eat in the restaurant so I can't answer this. I did see that you can order food and drinks in the patio area which has a sprawling view.
5) Do you have any other advice/information you can give?
The drive into the hotel is quite long, but pretty. There is a water taxi and golf cart shuttle service to take you around the sprawling property. I had no problem with the staff or services.
When I held my meeting at the hotel last November, I had wonderful service from the staff. Everyone raved about the food and service.
TF
</font>
[This message has been edited by TropicalFlyer (edited 02-18-2003).]
Feb 19, 2003, 12:20 pm
#9
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Broadalbin, NY
Programs: US Airways CP, Starwood Gold
Posts: 128
This post is long overdue......stayed at the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort and Casino just before Thanksgiving. This is a great facility, which I look forward to revisiting again. Had a number of interesting things occur.
First it appears that management of this hotel is targeting it as an upmarket facility, with emphasis on quality and upscale amenities.
I am gold preferred and at check-in was given an executive suite. Since at the time the facility was only a month young, the furniture and facilities seemed to "sparkle".
The hotel is located along a "created" water expanse that weaves in the back of the hotel with views of the water from all rooms(with balconies). The "river" is right next to the multiple pools and jacuzzis in the rec area.
Two restaurants. I did not eat in them but viewed both, and chatted with guests that had. High accolades for both food quality and ambiance. I did have room service and was pleasantly surprised at the quality and speed.
Had a small glitch the first day/night. The "alarm" clock was part radio, part cd player, part clock. I am not unintelligent, but could not figure out how to set the clock or the alarm. Tired from an east coast flight, I went to bed, but found myself having to turn on a light to check my watch to check the time. In the morning called at 7:30am and mentioned my inability to deal with the alarm clock and asked for a replacement. In less than 5 minutes an "engineer" appeared.
He being about the same age as me also was unable to conquer the alarm and went to an adjoining room and brought me a standard alarm clock. A little later, I went for a morning walk and when I returned there was a beep on the telephone. It was the Service Manager apologizing for the inconvenience, and asserting Starwood's satisfaction gaurentee offered me $50 off the room rate or 2,500 starpoints.
In my travels, my experience is that ordinary hotels just apologize (see a thread I am going to post later on the Hilton thread re: Woodland Hills Hilton and Towers...fits this category), but make no effort to soothe or compensate, no matter how troubling the problem. It seems the higher the quality perspective of the facility, the more important it is to the hotel and its management to make things right. Clearly, to my mind, especially considering that it was only a minor inconvenience, the effort to me belied the attitude of managemnt. It left me very impressed.
My stay was excellent. Good food, quality facilities, nice jogging trails. Despite what was said in a previous post, I believe the location is good. Approx 10 miles out of town, accessible to the highway, yet once there, lots of privacy.....
The delay on posting this was due to a glitch on checkout, possibly due to the newness of the facility. I checked out at 4am sunday morning to catch an early transcon flight. Called the front desk 40 minutes before departure asking the clerk to divide my record; one half for room and tax, the orhter half for incidentals.
On checkout took a too quick look at my two bills, returned to the airport returning the rental car, and then as I relaxed on the return flight as I examined my bills, the one with room and tax did not show my SPG #.
Eek! Since this was a "new" facility with bonus points for the days of stay, I was concerned that points wouldn't post.
This has gotten long...sorry. To shorten the story, there were several calls from me over the next two weeks to the front desk, the service manager and the front desk manager. The "bugs" had not been worked out of the system.
The front desk manager Rachel was not only very apologetic, but said she had called her spg contact directly and tried to put some extra miles into my account for the inconvenience. In fact, she had tried this on three different days, and still nothing related to that second half of the bill posted!
Yes, there was a happy ending. The points (inclusive of the service gaurentee and the front desk managers efforts did post).
Two personal comments. First, I attribute the posting of the points problem to the newness of the facility and the fact that they and spg had apparantly not worked out the transmission process correctly up to that time.
Second, was very impressed with the management and their consistent best effort for things to be just right for their guests.
My hope is to revisit this facility again.
First it appears that management of this hotel is targeting it as an upmarket facility, with emphasis on quality and upscale amenities.
I am gold preferred and at check-in was given an executive suite. Since at the time the facility was only a month young, the furniture and facilities seemed to "sparkle".
The hotel is located along a "created" water expanse that weaves in the back of the hotel with views of the water from all rooms(with balconies). The "river" is right next to the multiple pools and jacuzzis in the rec area.
Two restaurants. I did not eat in them but viewed both, and chatted with guests that had. High accolades for both food quality and ambiance. I did have room service and was pleasantly surprised at the quality and speed.
Had a small glitch the first day/night. The "alarm" clock was part radio, part cd player, part clock. I am not unintelligent, but could not figure out how to set the clock or the alarm. Tired from an east coast flight, I went to bed, but found myself having to turn on a light to check my watch to check the time. In the morning called at 7:30am and mentioned my inability to deal with the alarm clock and asked for a replacement. In less than 5 minutes an "engineer" appeared.
He being about the same age as me also was unable to conquer the alarm and went to an adjoining room and brought me a standard alarm clock. A little later, I went for a morning walk and when I returned there was a beep on the telephone. It was the Service Manager apologizing for the inconvenience, and asserting Starwood's satisfaction gaurentee offered me $50 off the room rate or 2,500 starpoints.
In my travels, my experience is that ordinary hotels just apologize (see a thread I am going to post later on the Hilton thread re: Woodland Hills Hilton and Towers...fits this category), but make no effort to soothe or compensate, no matter how troubling the problem. It seems the higher the quality perspective of the facility, the more important it is to the hotel and its management to make things right. Clearly, to my mind, especially considering that it was only a minor inconvenience, the effort to me belied the attitude of managemnt. It left me very impressed.
My stay was excellent. Good food, quality facilities, nice jogging trails. Despite what was said in a previous post, I believe the location is good. Approx 10 miles out of town, accessible to the highway, yet once there, lots of privacy.....
The delay on posting this was due to a glitch on checkout, possibly due to the newness of the facility. I checked out at 4am sunday morning to catch an early transcon flight. Called the front desk 40 minutes before departure asking the clerk to divide my record; one half for room and tax, the orhter half for incidentals.
On checkout took a too quick look at my two bills, returned to the airport returning the rental car, and then as I relaxed on the return flight as I examined my bills, the one with room and tax did not show my SPG #.
Eek! Since this was a "new" facility with bonus points for the days of stay, I was concerned that points wouldn't post.
This has gotten long...sorry. To shorten the story, there were several calls from me over the next two weeks to the front desk, the service manager and the front desk manager. The "bugs" had not been worked out of the system.
The front desk manager Rachel was not only very apologetic, but said she had called her spg contact directly and tried to put some extra miles into my account for the inconvenience. In fact, she had tried this on three different days, and still nothing related to that second half of the bill posted!
Yes, there was a happy ending. The points (inclusive of the service gaurentee and the front desk managers efforts did post).
Two personal comments. First, I attribute the posting of the points problem to the newness of the facility and the fact that they and spg had apparantly not worked out the transmission process correctly up to that time.
Second, was very impressed with the management and their consistent best effort for things to be just right for their guests.
My hope is to revisit this facility again.
Feb 19, 2003, 3:13 pm
#10
Suspended
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: USA
Programs: HH Diamond, SPG Gold, PC Platinum Ambassador, Marriott Silver
Posts: 15,249
Their signature restauarant - "Kai" - received a 5-star rating in today's local rag:
http://www.arizonarepublic.com/food/...0219kai19.html
http://www.arizonarepublic.com/food/...0219kai19.html
Mar 17, 2003, 11:26 am
#11
Suspended
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: USA
Programs: HH Diamond, SPG Gold, PC Platinum Ambassador, Marriott Silver
Posts: 15,249
Just completed a 5-night stay at Wild Horse Pass using SPG points (Category 3 - 28,000 points). Overall had a fairly good experience. On the positive side:
A few negatives:
I will definitely return. It will only get better with time. Although this resort may not be for everyone, it is an attractive alternative to the other SPG properties in the Phoenix area. Also, at least during high season, a real bargain as a Category 3 property.
- Resort is nice and new, with a very casual and relaxing feel. Interesting lobby and Southwestern architecture. Rooms are well-appointed.
- Restaurants are quite good, particularly the Kai restauarant. Room service was also good.
- Spa is first class.
- Nice, large pool area with water slide for the kids.
- Service was, for the most part, helpful and friendly.
- Two championship golf courses.
A few negatives:
- The property needs to mature, both physically (the landscaping is brand new and therefore is a bit stark now) and service-wise (there seem to be a few kinks to work out).
- On several days drink and food service around the pool was spotty.
- Use of the gym (at the spa) is $15/day.
- Access to the parking lot is inconvenient.
- Bathroom vanity is very small.
- No recognition of SPG Gold status.
- The casino/Indian gaming is, IMO, not an attraction.
- There appears to be a heavy emphasis on conference/convention business (which may be a detraction to some).
I will definitely return. It will only get better with time. Although this resort may not be for everyone, it is an attractive alternative to the other SPG properties in the Phoenix area. Also, at least during high season, a real bargain as a Category 3 property.
Jul 27, 2004, 4:53 pm
#12
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Chicago, IL
Programs: AA EXP
Posts: 61
SHERATON WILD HORSE PASS RESORT & SPA...Any good?
I have booked a room for the Thanksgiving weekend and I am wondering how this resort compares to the other Starwoods and other premium resorts in the Phoenix/Scottsdale Area. I am gold and I am wondering if any upgrade would be given also? Any input would be appreciated.
Jul 28, 2004, 8:46 am
#14
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: New York, NY
Posts: 544
I've stayed at the Phoenician, the Wild Horse and the Kierland. I loved the Phoenician as they upgraded me to a beautiful suite which was huge. It was not in the main building I didn't mind. The Phoenician is a billed as a luxury property and it surely is.
I stayed at the Kierland for 2 nights when they were near the end of their construction phase. The view of the golfcourse was very nice and the pool area is great fun especially if you have kids. I was given access to the lounge and I recall that they had the best food of any lounge I've been to such as shrimp (large) and free alcohol (if I recall correctly). There is also a nice outdoor shopping complex next to this hotel, which makes for easy dining.
The Wild Horse was a nice property but as I would probably categorize this as a level 3 not a level 4. If I had to choose between the Kierland or the Wild Horse, I would go with the Westin Kierland. The Wild Horse is off the highway but it seems like a 10 minute drive after exiting. There is no lounge and the pool seems nice but not overly impressive. The casino is nothing to rave about. It's very basic and won't entertain die-hard gamblers. For instance I don't believe they had roulette or craps. I am not a gambler but I did go just to take a look.
I've never been to the Wigwam but you will find many threads on this.
I stayed at the Kierland for 2 nights when they were near the end of their construction phase. The view of the golfcourse was very nice and the pool area is great fun especially if you have kids. I was given access to the lounge and I recall that they had the best food of any lounge I've been to such as shrimp (large) and free alcohol (if I recall correctly). There is also a nice outdoor shopping complex next to this hotel, which makes for easy dining.
The Wild Horse was a nice property but as I would probably categorize this as a level 3 not a level 4. If I had to choose between the Kierland or the Wild Horse, I would go with the Westin Kierland. The Wild Horse is off the highway but it seems like a 10 minute drive after exiting. There is no lounge and the pool seems nice but not overly impressive. The casino is nothing to rave about. It's very basic and won't entertain die-hard gamblers. For instance I don't believe they had roulette or craps. I am not a gambler but I did go just to take a look.
I've never been to the Wigwam but you will find many threads on this.
Aug 26, 2004, 1:10 pm
#15
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: DEN
Programs: AA- EXP 1.7MM, UA - PE, SPG - PL
Posts: 172
PHX Surprise - Wild Horse Passes the Phoenician
I have just returned from one of the best PHX stays ever. The Sheraton Wild Horse Pass sits on a reservation at the far east end of Chandler. A less expensive option than the Phoenician or Kierland, the WHP was absolutely delightful. This is not a new hotel, nor is it opulent. The service, however, was absolutely World Class! From a phone call to the operator for directions, to the bellmen, to the front desk, each and every interaction with hotel staff was cheeful, helpful and extraordinarily welcoming. The Spa was no less enticing. This was a top-notch facility with fantastic co-ed and separate areas. As a PL, I found myself in a fantastic suite with a great view of the sunset. This is a terrific bargain spot that won't feel like a bargain. Hint: The casino on the property might help you pay for the trip!
Michael
Michael