Arizona Biltmore, A Waldorf Astoria Resort

My wife and I just returned from a marvelous 3-night stay at the Arizona Biltmore (AB), in part to celebrate our wedding anniversary. As a lifelong Frank Lloyd Wright fan, I’ve been looking forward to bringing Mrs. T here for a number of years. It was originally built in the late 20’s, so has a very interesting past that’s worth reading up on. AB is centrally located in Phoenix, so is close enough to the airport, shopping, and Scottsdale. Property - The AB grounds are very well-manicured, with native flowers, shrubs, and mature trees. The property is very expansive (39 acres), and includes the (older) main building, wings, cottages, and villas. We enjoyed checking out all the cool FLW design elements, both inside and out. Also great to visit are AB’s two beautiful bars - Spire and Wright. Spire is located outside at the property center, between main building and Saguaro Pool. Food & Spa - During our stay, we ate at Renata’s (Pan-Latin) and McArthur’s, for breakfast and two dinners. When we weren’t at the pool or eating, Mrs. T and I enjoyed the award-winning Tierra Luna Spa. She enjoyed a full-body massage, which I was able to enjoy the relaxation areas, hot tub and wet sauna. They provide lockers, showers, gowns, and slippers while you’re there. Make sure to book treatments well ahead of your arrival, to ensure you get a spot. Alternatively, a day pass can be purchased when you arrive, if you just want to enjoy the hot tub and sauna. Rooms - We booked a King Resort Room with patio, which ended up being in the Yellow Wing (adjacent to main building). All buildings & room categories are very much in keeping with the FLW design, inside and out. Rooms definitely have a wow factor, are nicely-appointed, luxurious, and quite spacious. We would give high marks for our King bed, oversized chair, desk area, and shower. In-room dining is an option at AB, so food & drinks can be ordered almost anytime. Some resorts & hotels still don’t offer full in-room dining, which is crazy to me. Pools - We loved the fact that we had many pool options at the AB. In addition to a large family pool w/ slide, AB also has a large adult (21+) pool, with its own food & beverage facility (i.e., quicker service), plus a handful of small pools spread out across the property. It should be noted that the F&B service at the adult pool was better here than we have seen at comparable resorts. Parker was our waiter and did a very nice job taking care of us. Read less

This is our second time staying here and we will be back again! Phenomenal hotel! First class all the way! The flowers and landscaping is so beautiful! So many places to take pictures and the rooms are clean and well maintained! We have stayed in the main hotel attached to the lobby and in one of the villas. The villas offer a patio and privacy and the hotel attached to the lobby is super convenient to all the restaurants and pools! The gym is the best I have ever seen and the pools are great but get crowded fast so get out there early. The overall service is excellent!! Read less

I went to Phoenix for the Jazz Festival and to attend a Suns game. I was extremely excited to stay at the Biltmore as I love historical sites, and I'd booked a room with a fire pit on the balcony. I'm also a YouTuber and I couldn't wait to film some videos on the balcony. When I checked in, I noticed that the person checking me in, didn't pay as much attention to me as the other person checking in the "doctor" next to me did. I wasn't informed about some of the highlights of the property, nor was I even offered water. The doctor next to me was offered "room temperature or chilled", and given an amazing presentation about the property-I was not. When I got to my room, the balcony was facing a street and several cars went by. I was told it was a "private street" and hardly any cars pass by. See my video, where not only are cars going by, they're cutting the grass and it's extremely noisy. I requested a different room as I was there to relax and film. I was told that I was getting moved to the exact same room on a different floor. When I arrived at that room, guess what, no balcony. I was informed that all of the fire pit rooms were facing that street. Imagine my surprise when the next morning, as I was walking around, I saw other rooms with fire pits facing a garden. Why wasn't I offered one of those rooms? Then, at valet...I waited over 20 minutes for my car and when I went to inquire about this, the valet hadn't even told them to get my car. The next day, when I got my car, the valet smelled so bad, a mixture of arm pit funk and weed, I had to drive around for 20 minutes with the windows down in order to clear the smell. The next time, I dropped y car off with the valet, he sat in it with the car running for about ten minutes while he had a conversation with his coworker-you'd have thought it was his car, and not mine he was running the gas out of. I sat in the lobby and watched him. While at the pool, no one served me, I had to get up and get my own drink. I hate to bring race into anything, so I started talking with other brown guests in order to see if they'd experienced the same treatment. Well, 3 out of 5 did. I think the staff needs better training or cultural sensitivity classes. When I complained, I was told someone would get back to me. Well, a manager called as I was on my way home. He was supposed to call me back yesterday, but I'm still waiting. Needless to say, the resort is nice, and had I had a better experience, I'd definitely stay there again. I'm disappointed as I didn't get what I paid for, and I feel like the resort staff doesn't really care, as nothing was done about it. Apologies were offered, but you ruined my vacation. I've stayed at resorts my entire life and I own a timeshare, so I'm well aware as to how I should've been treated. I'm very disappointed and needless to say, I won't be recommending this resort to my clients. FYI, I'm also a travel agent. Be careful how you treat people, you never know who you're treating badly. I was going to feature this hotel on my social media, where I have over 30,000 followers, but I refuse to give them that attention. My friend stayed at the Residence Inn Mayo Clinic, and she had a much better time-not to mention she paid about half of what I did. I felt like Dorothy Dandridge when she dipped her toe in the pool and they drained it. Read less