If I could give this place zero stars I would. When I arrived the only person who showed any signs of hospitality was the first valet I encountered. I asked him how much valet was and he told me it was free so I gave him $10 and he said he was going to keep my car close. When going into the resort to check in I waited in line for about 15 minutes and when It was my turn to go to the front deck, the lady behind the front desk just stared at her computer screen and finally said "next" with out even looking up from her computer. When I walked up she did not say" hello" or "welcome to the resort" she just simply said" credit card and ID" i've been in the hospitality industry for seven years. If you don't make eye contact and greet your guests when they arrive, you already know what kind of experience you are gonna have the rest of your stay.... And the Talkingstick resort definitely delivered the kind of service I was expecting from my check in process. everyone from the bartender to the man who asked for my keys before I can enter the hallway to get to my room was extremely rude and I tried to even joke with them and they wouldn't even crack a smile. I went to top golf with some friends and when I returned I was smoking a cigarette and the hallway guard told me I need to extinguish it before entering the hall to my room. I placed a cigarette into the half empty drink I was holding and continued on to my room. When I checked out the next day I received a statement saying that it had my normal room rate that I was expecting to pay.One month later I see on my credit card statement they charged me $300 for a cleaning fee because there was a cigarette butt inside a glass in in my room. They said it was evidence I was smoking in the room. Of course my room smelled like smoke, my friend and I were in your cigar bar for the evening and bought cigars. Of course our clothes are going to smell like smoke and I was asked to put my cigarette out on my way to my room and what was I supposed to do? Refuse? The manager I spoke with, was very polite in a passive aggressive manner about not refunding the $300 cleaning fee and was very defensive about the matter.
When leaving the resort, I gave my valet ticket along with a $10 bill to the valet attendant. (which was a man with long hair and kind of shabby, not what you would expect from a resort that claims to have as many diamonds as they do) when the ballet attended came back with my keys he simply pointed at my car on the far end of the drive which was literally about 100 yards away and said"there's your car".. Dude, I just gave you a $10 tip.. When I was a valet 10 years ago, if somebody gave me $10 I would make sure they saw me running! On a positive note the rooms were beautiful the hotel was very nice, but something has to be done with management and the overall morale of the employees at the Talkingstick resort. I personally believe they are all union and don't care because they know that there's no way they'll ever get fired. If you enjoy nice rooms this is a great resort but if you're looking for outstanding service I highly suggest you go to another resort..