sc flier

In addition, you have to follow the link "See our resorts offer." (My link was to the Hotels offer."

Yes, the search would have to be for the actual location of the property in this case. If the Kierland were in the promo (which it isn't since this is a Sheraton promo), then the search would have to be for Scottsdale.

You can ignore all that city specific stuff, though, if you just search all of Arizona and leave the city blank. The date that I had checked out, by the way, was for July 5 - 8 or July 4-7. If you're okay with the heat, $112 is a nice deal for the July 4th holiday period. I'm sure other dates are available at that rate, too. IIRC, the AAA rate then is only $119, though, so don't feel limited by the 3 day stay rule of this promo.

Tanic

Which is odd, since the Westin Kierland is actually in Phoenix. (I know the website says Scottsdale)

Wilbur

FYI on the Kierland in the summer: They appear to retain only a portion of the staff for the summer, so if you visit in July, you may feel like the service is not as fantastic because of the limited number of staff around.

This is my perception only, I have no insider knowledge, so YMMV.

On the other hand, it is a blast for the kids to have the run of the place if you happen to pick a time when the occupancy is very low. There is less need for them to use their "inside voices" all the time, etc. etc.

aloha12

Family and I (wife, 4 teenage kids) will be staying at the Westin Keirland in a couple of weeks. We have 2 rooms and I am at Platinum status. This is our first stay here and was wondering which type of room(s) would you recommend. I have read some about the suites and casita rooms. Do they have a suite with a connecting reg. room? What are the casita's like (enough for our group) and are they located in the main hotel? Can I expect any of this as an upgrade (including club floor)? Any other suggestions you have to make it a fun trip?

kevinsac

We've got a group of 17 going the week July 8-15 for a 50th b'day. Some staying at hotel; some of us at the villas. Yesterday, I just booked another 1-bedroom villa for a late-minute addition to our list; she is only staying during the week, but I booked her villa at $109++ a night. $122 all in.

TTT103

I have no knowledge of the suites, but really enjoyed the casita's. They are not located in the main building, but rather between the pools and golf course. They are just a short walk to the hotel. Mine overlooked the lazy river/pool area and was very convenient to the pools. They are two story facilities. Mine was a one bedroom King casita. It had a living room with fireplace and small kitchenette. Through the doorway was the bedroom and bathroom. They are themed in a southwest motiff and mine had some sort of name on the door (don't recall). Although the club level in the main hotel is more convenient to the restaurants and club lounge, I would definitely opt for the casita over a typical hotel suite/room. BTW, you do have access to the club lounge.

sc flier

This is in regards to several of the most recent posts...

1. I once got a first-floor suite upgrade that consisted of two connecting rooms of equal size -- each with an entrance door from the hall. One room was a bedroom, and the other was a living room layout. I don't remember if it had a sofabed or its own bathroom, but I would guess so. This was about 4 years ago, I'd guess. At the Sheraton NY, they call this layout a Parlor Suite. I'm not sure what they call it at the Kierland.

2. IME, Platinum guests at the Villas do NOT have access to the Club Lounge at the hotel. Only once did I get them to work that out for me at the hotel front desk after it had been promised to me at the Villa front desk, and it was a lot of hassle. Maybe this has changed since I used to go there, but I kind of doubt it. Tragic because I REALLY liked that lounge; they used to have fantastic food.

3. Reminder about the distance of the villas vs the hotel: To walk it is almost twice the distance from the Planet Hollywood to its self-parking. And with temps over 105 at this time of year, that's probably longer than most folks want to be walking outside during the day. As someone mentioned above, there is a free shuttle service.

sc flier

It's true that Kierland is on Phoenix land on the outside border of Scottsdale. But they can charge more if they call it Scottsdale, and their extremely close proximity to Scottsdale puts them into a Scottsdale ZIP code for the USPS routes. To get there, most visitors from out of town will drive though Scottsdale and then drive less than a half mile outside of the Scottsdale city limit to get to the hotel.

gfowler-ord-1k

Looks like the promo is gone. The best rate I can find now is $145++ (refundable) for AAA members.

Steffo

I clicked the link and the Kierland rate was gone, but just below it showed a $99 rate for the Wild Horse which we prefer, checked availability for my dates, it went direct to Starwood site to book, and my dates were there. Thanks!

BlissWorld

I had a reservation issue with the hotel a few weeks ago. I told Platinum Concierge about it and they opened a file.

The hotel called me personally to sort out the issue on the 5th day.

After I explained to the manager what the problem was, the manager, without even questioning or arguing with me about the issue and responded:
This is excellent customer service IMHO. The customer is always right, no question asked. ^ to SPG. This is why I will continue giving my business to SPG.

kevinsac

We had a wonderful trip! We ended up with just over 20 guests, some for the whole week, some for a few days. Regardless of where the rez were (even for hotel guests), they put us all together at the villas. :-:

Pros:

The 2-bedroom villas (or the 1-bedroom premium) have everything you need. Kitchen comes well stocked. 1-bedroom lockoff only has small kitchenette and only queen bed, but still a nice room.

All of the people with whom we dealt (service staff) were quite helpful and very friendly. Cabanas at the pool were only $45 a day, with some morning and afternoon food baskets thrown in. Food in the Market Place was reasonably priced.

Quick grocery shopping 2 blocks away (Safeway). Great shopping and food at Kierland Commons. We had the birthday dinner at Mastro's Ocean Club, and my credit card was burning hot after they ran that charge thru!

Only a few cons:

The concierge staff was extremely pushy. Even tho we were not there on a timeshare "promo," when I went to simply ask for an area map, the concierge staff wanted me to "sit down and talk" about the property. They wanted me to sign some forms.....and suggested it was not necessary to read them first. It seems they wanted to reel me in and send me over to the timeshare folks. They called several times during the week to encourage me to come down and chat with them for a while. Sorry bucko--I had my friends with me; I was not looking to make new friends to "chat."

Concierge staff does not return phone calls. I called three times with specific questions, and the message said calls made between 7 am - 9pm would be returned that same day. Each time, between 5:30 pm and 7:15 pm, I called and asked for recommendations for dinner that evening. Never heard back from anyone, even the next day.

Staff does not return email queries. I called SPG and was given the e-address of two people at the property. One, I was told, was the "Elite guest coordinator" (or similar title). NEver got a reply from either email. When I got to the property, I asked someone at front desk if those people existed and if I had their e-addresses correct. I was told yes to both questions....and, as it turns out, the one person to whom I sent email was the General Manager.

I would recommend the property to friends.

WindyCityBrother

We have 2 more days here and my opinion probably will not change. We are quite disappointed with our stay. Among the reasons:

A) Maid service extremely slow. They didn't show up the 2nd day we were here.

B) Housekeeping service extremely slow: On three separate occasions we requested extra towels and each time they were VERY late, in one case over an hour late

C) We called the general manager to voice our concerns. We never received a return phone call.

D) We were having a problem with our in-room washer. We had to make SEVERAL calls to get someone to ANSWER the phone then show up to fix.


E) Guest services takes forever to answer the phone (when they do).

F) We were here to attend a "follow up" presentation to our prior visit to review a timeshare presentation. Our representative was extremely nice up to the point we informed her we were passing on the timeshare offer for personal reasons. We told her we liked the property and the program; however, the timing just was not right for us to purchase. However I left the door open that we would probably revisit the issue in the future. She stated "You won't be back. No one who says no has ever come back." I thought that was classless and reflective of the lack of attention to service at the villas.

However, she was right. We won't be back. It looks like they are understaffed, but that is no excuse for inattentiveness. Fortunately we have choices of where to spend our travel dollars and it wont be a the Kierland Resort. They won;t get my recommendation. Quite a disappointment.

liztexas

Thanks for this thread and the great information. We are planning a trip to this property in the next 6 months and invaluable "scoop"!

kevinsac

As a foillow-up to what WCB said.....maid service. You (and we) were at the villas. There is no daily maid service unless you pay for it. On the forms given us at check-in and in the villa living room, it indicated that maid service could be requested for an additional charge. It's $35/day for the one bedroom lock-off, $40/day for the premium one bedroom, and $75/day for the 2 bedroom villa. However, we were told they will come in on Wed and tidy up, which they did.