Met my modest expectations
I'd been to the AGR twice before when it was the Pointe at South Mountain. I wasn't overwhelmed either time; based on recent reviews here, I wasn't expecting a lot when I attended a professional meeting there recently. The facility is in decent shape for its age. The grounds are lovely, full of interesting animals and birds early in the day. The "banquet" food was excellent. All the rooms are suites. Yes, the 2 TVs in my room were quite old and shared 1 remote. The carpet needs cleaned. My feet were filthy after walking barefoot in my room. I couldn't turn my AC lower than 72 degrees ... not a huge issue, but I like it a little cooler (70) when I sleep. I noticed that after a couple days my throuat was sore and I was sneezing a lot ... which seemed odd for Arizona. Then I happened to look up and see that the ceiling vent in my room was COVERED with dust. It looked like a dryer went that hadn't been cleaned in a year. That's a good example of the resort not tending to the little things. When I made my reservation, I received an email from the AGR stating that the resort fee was included in the room rate. The email had a link to a list of what the resort fee covered. When I checked in, I was told that the $15 daily cost of the health club was NOT included, contrary to the email list. All the reaction I got from the staff on this was "I hate it when they do this." My room didn't initially have a coffee maker in it. When I asked for one, they brought it & coffee quickly. One afternoon my electronic room keys stopped working. The replacement key I got from the front desk didn't work either. At that point someone nearby from housekeeping stepped in, called Security. They showed up quickly, let me in the room, and delivered 2 working keys a few minutes later. My second-to-last day there, housekeeping left me with 1 roll of toilet paper with about a quarter-inch of paper on it ... REALLY? Again I called, and they brought 2 full rolls within 15 minutes. At a resort or hotel that pays attention to detail, none of these issues would have existed. The health club fee would have been covered as promised, my room would have had a coffeemaker when I checked in, the room keys would have lasted my 4-day stay, I'd have had ample toilet paper all the time. This is not a bad place to stay. I enjoyed being there despite the minor aggravations. I believe it'd be a good place for families. But the Arizona Grand Resort could do so much better!