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| - The Montelucia has no soul.
I have been hesitant to review this resort, but after reading a few other Yelpers gush over it... I felt it needed to be done. I am not a "20 Something"... or a "30 Something"... just barely still a "40 Something" reviewer. I have experienced the best of the best and seen the worst. I am not easily wowed by a new pretty face. My husband and I have traveled around the world several times and enjoy all that life has to offer. Needless to say, we have stayed at more than a few 5 star resorts. The InterContinental comes up a few stars short.
Our first exposure to the Montelucia was our 22nd Wedding Anniversary. Now, let me preface this with, we always stay at the Royal Palms for our anniversary, but since the leader of the free world and his entourage had just stayed there, we thought we would break tradition and give it a try. Royal Palms need not worry, we will be back next year.
Our 2nd floor room was nice, in a very expected, yet corporate way, bed, table, chairs, nothing special. Large bathroom with big tub (dissecting the bathroom from the open shower in a strange way), view of Camelback from our small balcony overlooking a cart path and more rooms beyond. Nothing special at all. Overall it had a dark feeling.
We had dinner reservations, but decided to first go down and enjoy the pool and some cocktails. Unfortunately, there were several large groups (corporate groups) doing the same thing. The noise level was high as every surrounding surface was concrete. I would hate a room that was by the pool. Which leads to my biggest complaint about this resort. It has no soul.
The architecture is trying to be Moorish, but misses the mark and comes across more as mid 2000's boring, let's slap up a few arches, some stucco, lots of concrete, ochre paint and pass it off as such. Once past the reception area, all of the buildings look alike, with cart paths intertwined. Which brings me to my next complaint. You can either call for a golf cart to pick you up.... and wait... and wait.... and wait... or you can walk across the grounds, lost among the look alike buildings trying to locate the pool, spa or restaurant. Umm, no thank you, not very good customer service at 5 star resort.
We had dinner at Prado. No complaints, excellent dinner service and food. Returning to our room, we settled in to enjoy the evening. Unfortunately, the 2nd floor elevator was not far from our our door. Countless times we heard and were awakened by the "BING!" as the elevator reached the 2nd floor. WTF???? You would think that some genius would have figured out that the "BING!" maybe was not necessary on a two floor building in the middle of the night. Woke us up every time. In addition, a party of young men were staying in the "Presidential Casita" just across the cart path from our room and had a wild party that broke up at 2 AM. Needless to say, security had to be consulted and our sleep was again interrupted.
The next morning we decided to have breakfast at Prado and check out early to enjoy the day. We were seated inside, decided to have the buffet and were horrified by what happened next. As we stood waiting for the chef to cook our omelets, the waiters rearranged and moved our table from one area of the room to another, all in an effort to accommodate another large group. At this point, my husband, very mild, non complaining and easy gong, had had enough. The manager immediately responded (where was she when the waiters were playing musical chairs with our table??) profusely apologized and comped our entire bill. It was almost embarrassing how she fawned over us at that point. Even brought us desert after our meal. (It was breakfast!)
Shortly after, we checked out, weary, needing a nap after our "relaxing Anniversary stay". Needless to say, we both agreed, we would never stay there again.
Since then we have attended several charity events at the Montelucia. Food and beverage have always been well handled. Valet service is seriously lacking each time.
Would I schedule an Event there? Possibly, if the price and terms were right. Would I stay there again as a guest? Definitely not. There are many more wonderful resorts in the Valley that truly understand what it means to be a 5 star resort.
The InterContinental Montelucia just lacks substance.... and quite possibly a soul.
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