The Phoenician, a Luxury Collection Resort, Scottsdale

I went for a conference but my husband joined me and we stayed a few extra days. HOtel and property are beautiful. Hotel staff were amazing, and the room was very large and comfortable. The pool area is not up to the same standards. The pool was not crowded and yet the staff were barely visible -- leaving used towels and food (which attracted birds) around the pool area. Otherwise a great trip.

Anniversary Trip For years, we’ve been intending to go to The Phoenician when we had an opportunity to celebrate and so we decided to go on our 32nd wedding anniversary. Upon arrival, the staff was certainly nice but seemed like there weren’t enough of them. After flying from the East Coast and a pretty long travel day, I think there were four people in line to be checked in and only one of the six registration desk in operation. We did not arrive at a weird time. It was in the middle of the afternoon about the time check-in’s were starting. Our room was as expected very nice, clean pretty contemporary. The amenities in the bathroom were very nice. During our stay, we ate at multiple of the food outlets the pool bar and the fast casual alternative were unremarkable. Fine but not necessarily what you might expect at one of the nicer hotels. We did eat at the steakhouse and it was a fantastic experience. The service was what you would expect and the food was even better. Our primary purpose for this trip was just to enjoy the Scottsdale weather and sun and so the pool was the focus of our trip and we were very disappointed. We did not use the upper pool. It was mostly family oriented, and there seemed to be a lot going on and everybody having a good time, we focused on the adult pool and then what they call the mother of pearl Pool the mother pearl pool was all ages pool and early in the morning was very nice and mostly clean, we spent the bulk of our time at the adult pool, which was very lacking. The pool itself was very old and dated the tiles had a thick layer of scum on them and the pool felt just generally dirty. The water was cloudy and it seemed as though wasn’t being very well cared for. To be fair the pool deck service people did an excellent job keeping you hydrated offering new fresh towels, willingness to help you move your chairs and keep yourself covered under umbrellas. It was more of facilities problem than a service problem. If you were going to this hotel for a pool experience, I would choose another. I cannot speak to the golf tennis and spa facilities. They all look very nice and people seem to be having a very good time but as for a pool trip, we were disappointed.

Absolutely avoid unless you are going to a conference or convention. This is no longer a luxury hotel- it’s a mega conference venue. We were there a week and had a conference outside our deck every night. My daughter couldn’t sleep. We’ve stayed at a lot of nice places- and thought this was one- but would not go back. In addition to the non stop noise or construction literally outside our balcony, we did cabana day for excessive charge to watch a guy right in front of us -clean the pool (which was filthy) until about noon when we could finally swim. The pool water is freezing. I suspect this used to be a great hotel - but it is one percent a convention center now. AVOID AT ALLCOSTS. I would have had more fun and relaxation at the Holiday Inn.

Great location, close to shopping and restaurants. Beautiful views of Camelback from rooms and pool. The best way I can describe this experience is just fine. The resort grounds were well maintained and service was overall fine. Rooms are somewhat dated, on par with a Westin or standard Marriott. There were no amenities or special touches that would make this a five star resort experience. In room coffee is Keurig, no complimentary amenities or special turndown amenities. Having stayed at other luxury properties within the Marriott portfolio such as the RC, this was nowhere near that level.

1 - Many areas are showing wear/age. 2 - Extremely crowded pools, all of them, with looooong wait times for drinks and need for skimming through-out the day. 3 - If not there with young kids, may want to think twice. There are A LOT of young kids. 4 - Very expensive food for what you get. NYC prices w/o NYC quality. 5 - Outdoor dining areas have multiple sources of music creating a cacophony of noise. 6 - Rooms and bathrooms are nothing to write home about but not much to complain about either. 7 - $45 a night for valet parking seems a bit much. 8 - Gym is nice with great views/light and open 24 hours. 9 - Location is convenient to shopping/dining, but it does not feel as "remote" or "immersed" in the desert as The Boulders or the Four Seasons. 10 - Friendly and professional staff, though on two nights the room was not serviced until we called past 6pm (rather disappointing). Overall would rate it a 7/10.