lmaccaro

Stayed here this last weekend. Update on a "covid stay" if you are considering it.

Booked on points as a diamond. Resort fee waived, upgraded to a suite. Suite is a king bedroom with a walk-in closet and a sitting area at the foot of the bed, with a small balcony. Decor is in that in-between period where it's no longer new, but also not quite old or run-down.

Called before booking to ask what was closed, was told the spa & gym were closed.

Upon arrival, what is actually closed is the spa, no bike rentals, no hot tubs, no kids pools, normal pool closes early, gym closed, no drinking water available in lobby, no paper and pen in the rooms, no spa. I'm sure I'm missing things but it was quite a bit.

Visited the 10 minutes away Hilton golf course for an hour on the driving range, as included with the resort fee we didn't pay. Excellent service and fantastic views. Very busy on a Saturday AM.

Generally fewer people working. Alarm sounded from one room for more than 24 hours before being shut off. Trash and food sitting beside the (outside) trail for more than 24 hours. Grass was long, needed to be cut.

Less traffic seems to mean more wildlife. No shortage of birds, bees, toads, rabbits, bats, coyotes on and around the property, which is welcome.

Breakfast options seemed to be cut back. A la carte only, or "honors breakfast" which is yogurt, bowl of melons, toast, + drink

Weekend crowds were less than normal for this time of year, of course. Weekday crowds were nonexistent, I would say there were 10-20 guests census Monday AM.

Lots of hand sanitizer, all employees masked, mask rules for indoors. Only saw one group of guests flaunting mask rules. This property is primarily outdoors so you can be fairly distant from others here. We are pretty far on the conservative/safe side in terms of Covid behaviors and we felt comfortable all weekend save about 10-15 minutes of the whole weekend. If you are also still staying mostly distant, I would recommend a weekday stay and you'll likely have a whole wing to yourself.

Overall enjoyable vacation in these weird times. It's not what we are used to, but I would still recommend desert southwest resorts like the Hilton for their somewhat unique level of relative safeness this winter.

Kacee

Just completed an overnight, weekend road trip to Tucson (and last chance to burn my Amex resort credit). Originally booked a casita, expecting it to be similar to other casita-style rooms at Arizona properties (e.g., Camelback Inn, FS Troon). Wow what a disappointment - casita was a dark cave with only view of dirt and rock wall about six feet away, 70s style furnishings, connecting doors on both sides, and loud music coming through one of them.

Asked for something with light and a view. Wound up in a Jr. Suite on 2nd floor of Building 3, with a view of the housing development to the north, and same 70s-ish fittings and furnishings. This was definitely an improvement on the casita-cave, but oh my, is the construction here low quality. It's like a Motel 6. The floor literally vibrates when you walk on it. Door slams and conversations loud and clear from the hallway and golf carts running about eight feet from the glass slider. Sounded like the folks upstairs were moving furniture for hours on end.

Got the $24 breakfast credit, which we burned on grab and go (2 yogurt parfaits and two pastries = $24). We did enjoy hanging out on the outdoor patio beyond the lobby and above the pool, which boasts a stunning view of the Catalinas. What a huge design fail that literally only a handful of rooms at this very large resort enjoy this amazing view.

Would not return.

AJC724

Stayed here in November 2021 for the weekend before Thanksgiving on 4 free night certificates. Pre-arrival I requested an upgrade and was given a casita suite. It was the on the row furthest away from the lobby, but as we were travelling with a ~1 year old the extra room/space was well worth the trade off. While not useful on this trip, it was very close to the adults only pool & hot tub.

The geographic location is great and the views of the mountains from the pool are fantastic, but it is by no means a 5 star resort. Overall, well worth it for a quiet long weekend spent by the pool and around Tucson.

Pros: good location to Saguaro NP, spacious casita suite, easy parking, clean pool area and attentive pool staff, friendly front desk staff
Cons: Age (furnishing & linens were well past expiration), on site dining quality, front desk service (pre-check in issues with reservation, F&B credit not applied, pre-arrival requests not in room)

doss1

Wonderful getaway for the week of February 9 2022. We had been there before and liked it so much we returned a few years later. Booked standard room with points and was upgraded to King Junior Suite on arrival. My wife thought the rooms are starting to look dated, but we both agreed that the room was very clean and cozy. Resort did not feel crowded despite 2 tournaments going on for the weekend (disco golf and tennis). Although we had a rental car, we did not use it at all during our 4 nights there -- there is a fantastic hiking trail within walking distance from the resort's tennis courts (Linda Vista Loop) that is about 2-3 miles long and we walke it every day as it was such beautiful weather, temps, and scenery. After that, we sat by the resort's pool mostly and enjoyed a lunch from the bar and then happy hour dinner a little later. We did have access to the F&B daily credit ($24 total but sometimes they would give us $30-36 on weekends) which we used each day for breakfast at the Sundance Cafe (a bit expensive -- we averaged $40-45) . We used the free mountain bikes (part of the resort fee, but since we booked on points, we were not charged these fees) for a short ride around the hotel grounds. Wonderful staff (a little short staffed still) and invisible housekeeping that somehow always knew when we were gone and stocked and cleaned up our rooms. All the staff wear masks and about 90% of the guests did not. Tip: If you do go for a hike at the nearby Linda Vista Loop trail, stop at the Resort's tennis shop on your way and buy snacks there -- they are cheap! Water bottles are $1 and cliff bars are $1.25. Much cheaper than what you would even find at Walgreens.

Loved our visit and we made sure to let the hotel staff they were appreciated. By the way, we surveyed the pool staff, the front desk staff, etc and we all agreed that visiting mid to late February is the best time to go (other options are November) as ths is before the sprint break crowds, the hot weather, etc and temps are cool in the mornings and warm in the afternoons (40-45 mornings / 68-73 afternoons). With the $250 hilton resort credit, 190k+ points, our bill at the end of the stay was only $100 (covered all of our meals).

TheTravelPlaybook

The resort is a favorite of our family- first time back in a number of years. Definitely showing her age, but overall lovely resort and great staff. Food at resort was stellar, and we managed to score two breakfast vouchers since one of the rooms in our party wasn't quite ready at check in time. Did a full resort tour "as is" right now as well as a few shots of what we did on property.

SkyTeam777

Is the garden for butterflies and hummingbirds still open to visit?
I know that the tennis courts and horse stables have closed. Are the other recreational amenities still open?

gregorygrady

I'm pretty sure the tennis courts are still open here.