Arizona Biltmore

I want to start by saying that with my schedule and the fast-paced work I do, taking time off needs to be worth it. My staycation at Arizona Biltmore was more than worth it. The staff and management were extraordinary: warm, funny, attentive, deeply human, and genuinely committed to making guests feel cared for without ever feeling scripted. Please do not let your team lose that quality, because my God, it cannot be taught in any college. A special thank you to Sana Ivanovich, who also happens to be my baby sister. Bias aside, Sana was splendid. She went through the wringer to help make the weekend happen, answered every question we had about that massive property, and did it all with the charm and humor I know her for. Treat her well; she is a hard worker who clearly enjoys growing somewhere she feels valued. As her brother, it meant a lot to see how well she was treated. The bell, transportation, housekeeping, engineering, lifeguard, front desk, and concierge teams were all fantastic. Joseph was our first AZB interaction and set the tone immediately by helping us from the garage with warmth and ease. Justin kindly drove us back when I forgot my diabetes medication and made the whole moment feel human instead of stressful. Logan delivered my birthday gifts, gave great dinner recommendations, and even stocked our fridge with water. Ari helped us load everything on our last day and was bright, kind, and fun. Boris, my fellow Balkan, was amazing and helped us load the car before leaving. The housekeeping team kept our room beautiful, including one person who organized our toiletries into the cutest little setup, which genuinely delighted me. Predrag came to help with the AC and shared a moving story about his life and the Yugoslavian war; he is a good man and a rockstar. Emma and the other lifeguards on duty at the family pool and water slides on 09/04 and 09/06 were bubbly, safe, fun, and professional. Leilani was incredibly helpful at the front desk, Matthew surprised me with delicious chocolates, and Devin at concierge was so kind while helping me with a bag and water bottles. Also, Jewel of the Desert? If that fragrance comes as a cologne, I am asking genuinely. And then there was the food and beverage team, who deserves a standing ovation. Please do not ever close McArthur’s, because we ate there five times and not one thing missed. The breakfast potatoes deserve a Pulitzer. Huge thanks to Yaritza, who was attentive, down to earth, and made our first lunch so enjoyable; Addison, Jennifer, and the hostess staff for being so friendly and thoughtful; Tim, my musical theater buddy and an actual gem of a human; Averie, the sweetest angel, and long live cinema; Rose, who gave great recommendations and made dinner so fun; Sha My, who kept our table and drinks tended to with the nicest smile; Madison, who made brunch a hoot and fully understood the magic of those breakfast taters; Alex and Ramona at Cup & Cone, who helped us pick gelato and treats with patience and joy; Hector, who was cool, knowledgeable, and fun to talk with about soccer, sports, and movies; Maya, the kitchen expo, who was simply phenomenal; Kelsey, the manager on duty, who was kind, funny, and lovely to chat with; and Josh at The Wright Bar, who handled the bar beautifully and made a dangerously good Tequila Sunrise. It is clear AZB knows how to hire people who elevate the brand while keeping it authentic and individual. My husband and I experienced something genuinely divine: a space where even a control freak like me could finally relax. I will absolutely be back, and I will absolutely tell everyone how gorgeous, historic, and legendary this place is.

Amazing service. Amazing rooms. The pools. The architecture. The property. The gym. The location. The food. Did I mention service? Everyone helps and says hi. My sole criticism would be the bars/lounge. The service menu and drink selections in the lobby and spire bars didn’t quite hit the mark. But that wasn’t a big deal in the grand scheme

I rarely leave negative hotel reviews, especially over smaller inconveniences, but my stay at the Arizona Biltmore was disappointing enough that I felt compelled to share my experience. For a property carrying the LXR name and the reputation and price point of the Biltmore, I expected significantly better. I was staying at the property for a convention and was assigned a Villa that was about as far from the convention facilities as you could realistically get. I understand room placement can simply be luck of the draw, so I would not necessarily fault the hotel for that alone, but it became much more frustrating given the number of times I ended up having to walk back and forth to the lobby during my stay. I arrived after dark, and finding the Villa was surprisingly difficult because the signage around the property was poorly lit and not particularly clear. I’m willing to concede that part may have just been me being unfamiliar with such a large property. The room itself was otherwise very nice, but it had a connecting door to the room next door that provided very little sound insulation. You could easily hear through it, and even see light coming into the room from underneath the door. That became especially noticeable on my first night. Between roughly 9:00 and 11:00 PM, the neighboring guest was repeatedly running and restarting their dryer directly on the other side of that connecting door. I could clearly hear the Samsung dryer chime over and over. I contacted the front desk through the Hilton app chat and security was sent. Oddly, rather than contacting the room creating the noise, security knocked on my door and came inside my room so they could listen to it themselves. It was an unnecessarily awkward way to handle a fairly straightforward noise complaint. The following day, I came out to find the walkway and patio immediately outside my Villa covered in muddy standing water from an apparent leak. I’ve included a photo because it was considerably more than just a small puddle. Later that afternoon, I returned to find that the electronic lock on my room had stopped working. The property relies heavily on the Hilton mobile app/proximity key for room access, pool access, parking gates, etc. Since the app would not unlock my door, I had to walk all the way back to the lobby — which from my Villa was legitimately more than a quarter mile — in approximately 100-degree heat to get a physical key card. I walked back to the room and that key did not work either. At that point I insisted that someone come to the room rather than having me make another trip to the lobby. Maintenance eventually determined that the battery in the door lock was dead, and another employee then had to come out to replace it. Unfortunately, the key problems continued. When I later left the property and returned, neither the mobile key nor the physical key card would operate the parking gate. I ended up going back to the front desk two additional times and was issued replacement keys, none of which worked. Eventually security had to let me through the gate. Throughout my stay there was also consistent construction, maintenance, and landscaping noise outside the Villa during the day, including work related to the pipe or leak near my room. Another frustration is parking. Self-parking is $28 per day and valet is $35 per day, with essentially no realistic alternative nearby. At a resort already charging premium room rates, that felt excessive, particularly given how unreliable the parking access system was during my stay. My conference ended two days before my prepaid reservation did, so I had the option to stay and enjoy the property for another two nights. Given everything that had happened, I decided I would rather leave. I notified the front desk that I intended to depart, even though I was not asking for a refund for the remaining prepaid nights. I was then told I would be charged an early checkout fee on top of forfeiting the nights I had already paid for. I told them never mind and that I would remain checked in rather than pay an additional fee simply for physically leaving the property. Despite that conversation, the hotel proceeded to check me out anyway. Thankfully, I was ultimately not charged the early checkout fee. Any one of these issues by itself would have been relatively minor. The problem was the accumulation: poor sound insulation, late-night noise, water and mud outside the room, a failed door lock, multiple nonfunctioning key cards, repeated walks across a massive property in extreme heat, parking gate problems, daytime construction noise, and then the attempted early-checkout fee. The Arizona Biltmore is a beautiful and historic property, and the room itself was attractive and comfortable aside from the connecting-door issue. I was there because my conference was being held at the resort, and once the conference ended I had two fully prepaid nights remaining that I could have used simply to relax and enjoy the property. After the experience I had, I chose to leave instead. That probably says more about my overall stay than anything else.

We recently spent a long weekend at the Arizona Biltmore while in town for a conference. The resort is amazing; a definite oasis in the desert. The pools and grounds are beautiful and the staff attentive and helpful. Averie, our server at McCarthy's our last night created one of the highlights of our trip. She was friendly and took a special interest in us. When we told her of our reason for celebration, she sincerely congratulated us and brought a free glass of champagne. We also wanted to give a shoutout to our nameless room cleaners. Rather than receiving a cursory cleaning (or none at all) offered at other hotels, they provided us with a fresh, clean room each day that was as nice as that offered on only the first night at most resorts. Yes, it is expensive but I highly recommend this resort for those who can afford it.

There were so many dining and entertainment options on property. We loved being able to relax on at the resort on the days we weren’t exploring the area. As diamond members, we were upgraded to a suite, which was a lovely surprise. The architectural design throughout the resort was beautiful, and the history was interesting. Thanks for the hospitality. Looking forward to visiting again in the future.