Felt Like Spring Break
I'll start this off by saying that this was partially my fault for not realizing how large this resort was prior to checking in. My wife and I were seeking a relaxing resort weekend, and this property has over 500 rooms and the weekend we went (Memorial Day weekend) the hotel was booked full. From the moment we arrived chaos surrounded us. While checking in, we were given wristbands for pool access. I would expect this if we were in Cancun on spring break, but not at a supposed 4 star hotel. We had several nights of nice dinners planned, and had no intention of wearing them out on the town. They were going to allow us to cut them off each day and bring them in for a new wristband. Decent compromise, but not a good start.
Next, the hotel room mgr asks us to follow him in his van with our car to our room. After searching for a parking spot near our room for 10 minutes he suggests we park down by the spa and he will take us to our room. I agree with another user's review in that the layout of the resort gives the appearance of multiple motel units strewn together. We had an upgrade to a FallsView king suite which overlooked the main pool. Normally this would be a perk, but upon looking at the pool it appeared that we were overlooking a water park. There were at least 300-400 people at the pool and it was loud as hell. I will say that the hotel room mgr was excellent.
We debated our situation and decided this was not the place for us. I went to the front desk, checked us out of our room, and booked us for 3 nights at the Doubletree Paradise Valley Resort - Scottsdale, and by doing so I'm very confident that we saved our trip. The Doubletree was literally a 1 minute drive from Old Town Scottsdale, the pools were serene, and the complimentary breakfast buffet (for Gold and Diamond) was phenomenal.
If you are looking for a mega resort with a great waterpark for your kids, and you do not care about proximity to Scottsdale or downtown Phoenix, this resort may be for you. If you are looking for a relaxing vacation, look elsewhere.