Royal Palms Resort in Phoenix (Unbound) REVIEW - MASTER THREAD
 

The beautiful Royal Palms Resort in Phoenix to join Hyatt's Unbound Collection.

http://newsroom.hyatt.com/062016-Roy...ction-by-Hyatt

Interesting.

I found this place seriously overrated. Many of the rooms front directly on Camelback, one of the busiest thoroughfares in the entire valley.

Not in the same league as Sanctuary IMO.

(and btw, this property is definitely not in Scottsdale. It's a very nice part of Phoenix.)

Too bad... Not our style at all. Will continue to stay at the HR Scottsdale or the new Andaz.

Would prefer to see more Hyatts in cities without any presence at all...

Interesting. I really like Royal Palms and do not care for Sanctuary at all. I've also been very tucked back at RP. Sanctuary I've found to be no sanctuary given the tremendous amount of off-property guests/groups who overtake the restaurants and pool. The spa seems mostly for the use of locals as well.

Very interesting indeed. I think this is a really underrated part of the Valley. You're close to the airport which is nice, and also an easy drive to Tempe and Scottsdale but also to the nicer, more hidden parts of Phoenix. The Arcadia area is really underrated and you're away from the parts of Scottsdale infested by "douchey" types.

Be a nice place to stay for those visiting.

I guess it's all about timing!

They did tell me at Royal Palms they were redoing some of their casitas, including the awful one they stuck me in.

Has anyone stayed here since it's become a Hyatt property? Any recognition/upgrades for Diamond?

Thank you!

I stayed here this past week. For Diamond recognition, there is free breakfast ($29 per person at the restaurant). There's no club. They have free iced tea and water in the lobby, if they hadn't had that I probably would have requested free waters sent to my room. It seemed like there was a bit of an upgrade but it wasn't extravagant-- just a couple levels up to a nicer room with a patio (not a suite).

The hotel is very beautiful and peaceful, with lots of lush foliage, pretty fountains, and gorgeous 1920s architecture. People who prefer brand-new places probably wouldn't like it, but if you enjoy history and vintage style this is a fantastic hotel.

Definitely agree with your review. Just stayed here a couple of days ago, and we were really wowed by the place. Booked a P+C basic room as a Diamond, and got upgraded to a spa suite with a nice balcony. Room was very nice, and grounds were incredible! Preperty reminded us a little of a desert version of the Hotel Bel-Air in terms of the feel of the grounds and rooms. They were mostly familiar with Diamond benefits: gave us the choice of breakfast in the restaurant or room service, choice of points amenity or bottle of wine plus item from mini bar, and received 4pm late check out. Great addition to Hyatt and will definitely return.

Has anyone tried to apply a DSU here?

This had been on my radar for years, but moved up a notch or two when it became a Hyatt, so I gave it a try on a recent trip to Phoenix.
I like old and historic, but the casita I was given as an upgrade felt frumpy to me, and there seemed to be a problem getting hot water. As it was a hike from my room to reception, I was surprised not find a bottle or two of water in the room (it IS the desert, guys). I was even more surprised not to receive turndown service. Housekeeping was generally bad--the maid knocked on my door at an unacceptable hour on the day I was checking out to see if she could clean the room, and when I said no, demanded to know when I was leaving.
I'd heard very good things about the restaurant, T Cook's, and had a good, but not great, dinner there.
Over the years, I've probably stayed at 6 or 7 resorts in Scottsdale/edges of Phoenix. I'd rate this one on the low end of that scale.

Warning-- I stayed last week as a Globalist and they insisted on charging the resort fee even though resort fees are supposed to be waived. Eventually I got them to remove it but it was unpleasant. Not sure if the clerk was misinformed (many World of Hyatt front desk clerks I've dealt with since the change seem to have incorrect information about the program) or if the hotel is trying to claim a special status where Globalist terms don't apply.

I was thinking about staying there at the end of this month but your review is making me wonder if I should.

The thing is, the front desk clerk was definitely in the wrong about the resort fee not being waived for Globalists, and if I weren't already so annoyed with the property after that I would email the GM and let him know what his clerks are doing to Globalists (the reason I haven't is that it just seems like more work I have to do to help WOH do its job, which isn't my job). If you do want to stay there, I would email the GM first and confirm that the resort fee is waived (the GM of all people should know how World of Hyatt works by now). Then, if the clerk tries to pull the 'this is a resort so it's different and you have to pay the resort fee' thing you can pull out your email and show them what the GM confirmed.

But it really shouldn't be this hard.

Upgrade?
 

Anyone know the levels of the rooms? We booked a designer casita through Amex Fine Hotels and Resorts, and we were "upgraded" to the Valencia Casita. The website makes it seem like these are the same tier. We know they have a suite because we asked about it, but they wanted to charge us an additional $150 for it. Thanks!

So far other than that the resort seems nice though if we eat at the fancy restaurant dinner we will blow through the $100 credit in no time.