Description: This is a vast hotel property of more than 40 acres. The central building includes the restaurants, check-in desk, conference rooms, and J D's Bar. The accommodations are scattered around the acreage in one- and two-story buildings and casitas. There are many sports facilities, including five heated pools, several large spas, five tennis courts, a lush putting green, and over a mile of walking paths through desert gardens. Several golf courses are nearby.
The two-story buildings do not have elevators. If climbing a steep flight of stairs is a problem for you or a member of your party, be sure to reserve a ground-floor room. All "handicapped" rooms are in building 100. Some of the suites and casitas are also two stories.
This is a world where traditionally winter visitors stay for a long time--several weeks of the season. All of the bedrooms are large with plenty of closet and drawer space. However, many of the two-bedded rooms have beds much smaller than king size. I believe ours were doubles. All bath products come in generously sized containers in the "Sonoran Breeze" scent exclusive to the resort.
Fair warning. Your bill will include a mandatory daily charge of up to $2 for the housekeeping staff and a frequent charge of $8 for the bell staff. On my bill, that was on day of arrival and also departure. I have never encountered this anywhere else in the world, and I didn't care for it.
Not fancy, posh or heavily decorated, I would say that the style of this resort is a couple levels above Holiday Inn so far as the bedrooms are concerned. The public areas have traditional furnishings with a slight touch of the Southwest.
I am only giving this resort a "recommended" rating due to the mandatory tip policy and strange problems with service, and the restaurants, which were mostly unavailable. Most of the guests seemed to vacate the resort for dinners elsewhere. Chicken-or-the-egg argument on this. Did they go elsewhere because the resort restaurants were not good, or did the restaurants become poor because they were little used? I will leave the decision to you.
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