Adam B.
Yelp
Thoroughly enjoyed a three-day getaway here over the 4th of July. This is a first class operation about 30 minutes from the Tucson airport, north of the city. It does feel a little remote -- it would be tiresome, I think, to trek back and forth to the city, so this should probably be viewed more as a destination in itself than a base for exploring Tucson. I solved this by staying in the city for a couple of nights and seeing the sights, then retreating to the RC to be pampered.
Just about every aspect here I found to be top-notch. Check-in was a lovely and efficient experience. I sprang for the reasonable extra cost and booked a canyon-view room which overlooked the pools and cactus-studded mountains in which the resort is nestled. Other view options would still give you a desert-scape, but would also overlook the resort entrance and parking areas.
The room itself was a nice sanctuary. The entrance is set off from the hallway by a small exterior foyer to reduce passer-by noise, and inside the room there is another little entry foyer with a privacy screen separating it from the room. The bathroom entrance is at the end of the foyer, rather than right inside the door. The space is plenty large with contemporary desert colors and faux beams on the ceiling to give some dimension and a little lodge vibe. Bed and linens are comfy and there's a nice reading chair with ottoman. The bathroom is huge, with an extra-deep soaking tub and expansive countertops. Each room has a balcony. They aren't screened from the neighbors, but they are a good size for taking in the surroundings.
The lobby is a wide passageway stretching the length of the resort with soaring ceilings and groupings of chairs and sofas with artwork situated at intervals.
The spa was a very relaxing experience and has an outdoor hot tub plus a sauna in the changing area. I got the standard relaxation massage and was indeed very relaxed when it was over. The spa pool is a wonderful place to while away an afternoon following a treatment, with great loungers, good drink/snack service, and a close-up view of a desert hillside just beyond the fencing.
Repeat after me: "I will do the mixology class at this resort." It's offered most afternoons and is an hour of good social vibes with a limited number of fellow guests. It costs $45 and one of the resort's polished bartenders leads you through making three different cocktails. This was a highlight of the trip and a wonderfully fun experience.
The only area that could probably stand a little tweaking is the restaurant selection. First off, yes, they are fairly expensive, but it's a top-end resort and the only game in town, so get over it. Schlepping back and forth to town for dining outside the resort would eat up a considerable amount of time and effort, so you are probably going to be doing most of your eating here. The good news is that the food is tasty, and particularly in the case of Core, very creatively presented. The other primary option is Ignite, which offers a gamut of options from sandwiches to pub grub to tacos to sushi. The offerings are generally geared to the something-for-everyone approach, which I suppose makes some sense. But it would be nice if one of the outlets was more of its setting, with a focus on Southwestern or Native American cuisine. As they are, they are fine but not that memorable.
What is memorable is the array of nice little touches that abound. There's a resident tortoise that comes out for a little afternoon viewing most days. There's also a Native American flutist who plays in the patio area for a half-hour every day in the late afternoon. It's a magical little interlude. There are desert hiking trails threading through the mountains around the resort, and a short "hotel spur trail" takes you to a place that links up to many of them. I wasn't quite that adventurous, and just doing the spur trail out and back was plenty for me. Along the walk, I saw cactus wrens, hummingbirds, roadrunners, javelinas (including babies), and my first rattlesnake. I could have done without the last one, but it's the desert and it's their home.
The icing on top of the stay was the staff. I was there in off-season, so while it wasn't slow by any means, it also wasn't very crowded. Every service team member I encountered was attentive and very social and many remembered names even from short interactions. All in all, this was one of my very favorite resorts in the Southwest that I've ever visited.