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| - Spent two nights here at the fourth of July and overall, it was a fine experience but there are several resorts in the Valley that I like better. The setting for this one, just north of Camelback Mountain, would seem to be great, but it's actually too close. Plus, the low-rise, multi-building structure of the resort blocks any expansive view of the mountain (or, indeed, of most any of the surroundings). So you just catch glimpses of either the head or the hump (sounds like a poorly shot porno, but you get what I mean). The only good full-on view is from the terrace at Joya Spa.
The rooms are very spacious and well-kept with absolutely amazing bathrooms--certainly the largest I've ever had in the Phoenix area and I've stayed at lots of places. The separate deep soaking tub and walk-in shower are great and the three frosted blocks in the shower letting in some natural light are nice. Also, the outdoor space with either a patio or balcony is quite generous and my patio had the hands-down best chaise lounge I've ever flopped on. (I tried to get it in my carry-on, but it didn't work. Sigh.) It's big enough for two cozy people or one spread-out person with room to spare. Phenomenal. Beds are very comfortable and there was a two-seater sofa and a pretty large desk, a trunk, and a dresser with plenty of walking-around room left over. There's also a good-sized entry-way. The decor is vaguely Moroccan in the shape of the mirror, the lighting fixtures, and the jewel-tone fabrics. That's fine, but call me crazy, when I go to Phoenix, I want desert/Southwestern/Frank Lloyd Wright-type design.
The restaurants are pretty decent. Crave has deli-style sandwiches and wraps which include the best turkey croissant ever. Centro Cafe is sort of a black-and-white retro-looking casual place with more sandwich and pub-food type grub. Prado (Italian) is the main restaurant and has a smaller selection of items. Mbar is located in the entry to Prado (it's really all one big space) and has its own menu as well as offering the Prado menu. Even for resort pricing, the tariff on the food is high here, but note that the portions are more than generous, so most entrees will easily make two meals unless you're a Sumo wrestler or a competitive eater. Mbar has a pretty good happy hour (Mon-Fri from 3-6) with some $5 cocktails (I liked the GT Lucia) and beer/wine specials and a small (4-item) choice of reduced-price appetizers. My problem with Mbar was more with the clientele: it seems to have a high quotient of douchebaggery. One "gentleman" came in at 6:10 and sat next to me while asking for a happy hour menu. When he was informed that happy hour ended at 6, he told the bartender to do something to himself that was not very nice. (I will say, the affable bartender showed great restraint in shrugging this off, when the miscreant really deserved to have a highball glass broken over his offensive noggin.) There were some other carousers who tended to get a little loud and overly expansive, so that limited the time I really wanted to spend in the bar.
The spa and the pools are meh. The spa has a confusing layout and a Moroccan theme, and the sauna/plunge pool areas are average at best. The terrace with the aforementioned Camelback view is the best feature. The pools have dull landscaping, not-quite-average lounge chairs and fairly slow service. They're also not quite large enough for the room count. And by the way, the adults-only pool seemed to attract something of a louder crowd, so it was really no quieter than the family pool.
Overall, even though there are some plaques up that tout the resort's ownership/design team traveling extensively in Morocco, etc. to gain inspiration, what came to fruition is oddly characterless, especially when compared to the historic Camelback Inn and Arizona Biltmore, the retro Hotel Valley Ho and the refined Phoenician. There's something of a calculated pre-fab feel to the place. Its best asset is its wonderful staff, all of whom were accommodating and knowledgeable.
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