A Gem in the Middle of the Desert
Near the mountains in Tucson, Arizona, there lies a resort that is a great getaway from the hustle and bustle of city life. Whether you’re coming from the city or out of state, you’ll enjoy the great scenery and remote location, yet not too far away, as well as the nice amenities and dining available. Our most recent stay was booked through American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts program, and the extra perks you get are worth every penny of your hard-earned cash. Now, in order to book the stay using the American Express program, you must be an American Express Platinum Card holder. It does have a $550 annual fee, but the yearly fee can be negated rather easily (we’ll talk about that in an future article).
The Resort
The Resort
Located in the northeast section of Tucson, Arizona near the mountains, the resort has an enjoyable drive through some curvy streets and great scenery. There are plenty of places to dine, relax, and enjoy the resort here.
The luxurious lobby greets you with a friendly and knowledgeable staff who informed us of the activities for the evening as well as the next day which included a hike to the small waterfall as well as stargazing in the evening.
Our dining for the evening was at Bill’s Grill, an outdoor bar and seating. I had the burger with wedge fries and she had the shrimp tacos, paired with some chips and salsa with guacamole. Overall, the food quality was top notch, with a perfectly cooked burger patty and delicious sides. Decently priced dinner, wasn’t too expensive but just to know, they do add a 20% gratuity to the check automatically. Once the sun started to settle, the wire-hung lights turned on which gave the ambiance a firefly effect.
After our meal, we headed outside to check out the koi pond and the walk up the base of the mountain (it really isn’t as large as it sounds) where we were able to see much of the desert landscape and eventually the waterfall. Overall a nice, short and paved walk up the hill, and ended the walk with a little game of ping-pong by the pools.
In the morning, we headed down to Canyon Cafe for breakfast as it was included with our perks with the American Express Fine Hotels & Resorts. There, we had the breakfast buffet for $22 per person (we were allotted $35 per person through the program), and the quality was what you’d expect from a resort style buffet which included freshly made oatmeal, cereal/yogurt bar, eggs, sausage, bacon, french toast, fruit, and a made-to-order omelette chef. All in all a good breakfast value.
The Room
The Room
There are lots of rooms to choose from, but beside the suites, the rooms are pretty much the same - only difference is the view. One could argue that the view does make a huge difference and I would agree with that; our room facing the mountain skyline was pretty amazing during our stay and beautiful at night against the city lights.
We were initially greeted with some mini-Fiji bottles of water and a box of truffles waiting for us next to the flat screen, and greeted once again when we returned later in the afternoon with some mini-water bottles. A nice touch, if not a little frequent.
The king bed that is available in all rooms was also quite nice - not too firm and not too soft; I appreciate the bed quality since my hips and back are old-man style and instantly scream as soon as I get into an uncomfortable bed. Four down pillows accommodate the bed - they were soft yet supportive as well so that my head isn’t level with the bed with some down pillows.
The bathroom was quite spacious, with a giant bathtub/shower. I’m not sure what size it was but the bathtub could probably fit 3-4 people, or a couple pretty comfortably. Towels were a plenty and soaps, shampoos, conditioners, and lotions were readily available.
A small section for getting ready (in case the bathroom is occupied) had a small coffee maker and some $8 Fiji water bottles for if you were that thirsty or if money was no object to you. The rest of the space is nicely laid out, you can relax out in the balcony to self-reflect, sit on the couch and browse the internet, or get some work done on the provided desk.
The Perks & Benefits
Now that we’ve discussed the property, let’s look at the extra perks and benefits that are included when you book using the American Express program which includes the following:
Minimum $100 credit towards anything on the property (credits vary by property)
Free breakfast per person per stay
Early check-in and late check-out (when available)
Upgraded room (when available)
We’ll tell you up front that booking the stay through the site does have a higher cost, however - the benefits and perks outweigh the cost easily. For example, our stay through another travel site was only $10 cheaper per night.
The $100 credit that we got for this stay cannot be understated. We used the credit to have our dinner, got some much needed drinks occasionally, and even had some left over to get myself a Redbull and a fruit cup for the road.
The free breakfast value at our property gave us $35 per person to spend for the breakfast, which we ended up using for our breakfast buffet which only ended up being $22 per person. There were other options on the menu, but most of the items that were on the menu were available at the buffet.
As for the early check-in, we were able to check-in at 11:30am and used the late check-out at 4pm. Since we were not leaving that day until 5pm, I was able to relax in the room and work a little bit in the comfort of the hotel room rather than trying to find a public place to work.
We did not use the upgraded room because we needed to get into a room early this time. The resort was rather full mainly because there was a family seminar going on the weekend.
Final Thoughts
The overall quality and cleanliness of the resort and rooms were definitely top notch, and booking through the American Express program enhanced the stay that much more. Since dinner, breakfast, and snacks were included with the perks, it also saved us quite a bit of money. While this is our first article and review of this hotel and resort, I hope that you enjoyed this write up and maybe will be taken into consideration the next time you visit Tucson, Arizona.
