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Phoenix Getaway travelog #14
Retrospective
Our relaxing weekend in Phoenix last week Saturday through Tuesday was enjoyable. We didn't get out for the hiking we'd originally intended. Hawk's broken less than a week earlier put the kibosh on that. But just taking it easy at the resorts with the splashy pools for 3-4 days was more fun that I thought. Here's the sad thing, though. For one of those splashy resorts, an old favorite, our visit there last week may have been our last hurrah with them, forever.
The Hilton Resort at the Peak has been going downhill for several years. We've noticed the compounding effects of deferred maintenance on return visits year after year. The facilities have all been getting older and parts of them haven't been kept up. For example, I haven't seen the swim-up pool bars open in several years. And the rot on their window frames shows management has simply let them go. This trip the hot tubs were broken, too. One's heater was busted, the other's jets were busted.
One of the hotel's two wings was closed on this visit. I knew that when I booked our stay several weeks ago as the rooms in that wing were all marked unavailable. Hooray for renovations, right? The place would certainly benefit from an update. And once that wing is open— which might be within a few weeks— they're closing down the other wing, the one we stayed in, for renovations. I allowed a certain about of forbearance on things like the busted hot tubs and the long-closed pool bar, figuring they'll fix those in the imminent renovation.
The renovation had drawbacks, though. Perhaps because they only have half the rooms to rent, or perhaps because the reno— or the property's declining state— is scaring guests away, they had shorter hours on various things in the water park. "We can't afford the staff right now," one manager told me. I repeated that phrase to another manager when we checked out on Tuesday. "If you can't afford to staff the facilities, I don't like that I was asked to pay full price for them."
To his credit, the manager I spoke to at checkout acknowledged the problem and gave us a discount on the bill. I was ready for them to put up a fight about that and had prepared my arguments, but the manager offered the discount immediately. His quick agreement told me he gets such complaints a lot.
With the good service recovery I would be willing to try the hotel again once renovations are complete. As I was discussing the plan of those renovations with the manager, though, it became unclear whether we'll want to stay at the renovated hotel.
It sounds like the owners are trying to push the property more upscale, with fewer splashy pool and more posh event spaces, like for weddings and company sales meetings. The property moving a bit upscale per se wouldn't bother us; especially as it's become rough around the edges in so many places through deferred maintenance. But we like the splashy pools! Nicer rooms with fewer pools is not a tradeoff we'd appreciate. And it looks like the rates will being going up, too. Fewer pools and substantially higher prices is definitely not a combo we'd return for.
So it seems like the Hilton Phoenix Resort might have to drop off our list of places to return to every year or two. That's sad because we've been going for over 12 years now! At least there's another splashy-pools resort in Phoenix we've found. It's actually got a slightly better water park... though it's always more expensive. This trip, for example, it would've cost us $150/night more to stay there than the Hilton. I'm not sure if that's worth it.
Retrospective
Our relaxing weekend in Phoenix last week Saturday through Tuesday was enjoyable. We didn't get out for the hiking we'd originally intended. Hawk's broken less than a week earlier put the kibosh on that. But just taking it easy at the resorts with the splashy pools for 3-4 days was more fun that I thought. Here's the sad thing, though. For one of those splashy resorts, an old favorite, our visit there last week may have been our last hurrah with them, forever.
The Hilton Resort at the Peak has been going downhill for several years. We've noticed the compounding effects of deferred maintenance on return visits year after year. The facilities have all been getting older and parts of them haven't been kept up. For example, I haven't seen the swim-up pool bars open in several years. And the rot on their window frames shows management has simply let them go. This trip the hot tubs were broken, too. One's heater was busted, the other's jets were busted.
One of the hotel's two wings was closed on this visit. I knew that when I booked our stay several weeks ago as the rooms in that wing were all marked unavailable. Hooray for renovations, right? The place would certainly benefit from an update. And once that wing is open— which might be within a few weeks— they're closing down the other wing, the one we stayed in, for renovations. I allowed a certain about of forbearance on things like the busted hot tubs and the long-closed pool bar, figuring they'll fix those in the imminent renovation.
The renovation had drawbacks, though. Perhaps because they only have half the rooms to rent, or perhaps because the reno— or the property's declining state— is scaring guests away, they had shorter hours on various things in the water park. "We can't afford the staff right now," one manager told me. I repeated that phrase to another manager when we checked out on Tuesday. "If you can't afford to staff the facilities, I don't like that I was asked to pay full price for them."
To his credit, the manager I spoke to at checkout acknowledged the problem and gave us a discount on the bill. I was ready for them to put up a fight about that and had prepared my arguments, but the manager offered the discount immediately. His quick agreement told me he gets such complaints a lot.
With the good service recovery I would be willing to try the hotel again once renovations are complete. As I was discussing the plan of those renovations with the manager, though, it became unclear whether we'll want to stay at the renovated hotel.
It sounds like the owners are trying to push the property more upscale, with fewer splashy pool and more posh event spaces, like for weddings and company sales meetings. The property moving a bit upscale per se wouldn't bother us; especially as it's become rough around the edges in so many places through deferred maintenance. But we like the splashy pools! Nicer rooms with fewer pools is not a tradeoff we'd appreciate. And it looks like the rates will being going up, too. Fewer pools and substantially higher prices is definitely not a combo we'd return for.
So it seems like the Hilton Phoenix Resort might have to drop off our list of places to return to every year or two. That's sad because we've been going for over 12 years now! At least there's another splashy-pools resort in Phoenix we've found. It's actually got a slightly better water park... though it's always more expensive. This trip, for example, it would've cost us $150/night more to stay there than the Hilton. I'm not sure if that's worth it.
The Companion Pass allows my designated companion (Hawk) to join me on any flight for a nominal fee. It doesn't matter who pays for the flight, or even if it's purchased with award points. My companion can join me cheaply.
