I recently traveled to Sedona for a few days with my daughter. We were in town on our annual Girls Getaway. During theses trips, we squeeze a lot of adventure into 4-5 days. For this trip, we spent 2 days in Phoenix with friends and 2 days exploring Sedona. During our time in Sedona, we planned to hike, take a Pink Jeep Tour and perhaps make a quick jaunt to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.
The Resort
When selecting a hotel for the trip, I chose the Hyatt Residence Club Piñon Pointe for several reasons:
- It looked amazing
- I love Hyatt hotels
- it was near other things we would be doing
- I could book a Reward Night for only 15,000 Hyatt points (or approximately $207 per night)
- A decent review from my fellow bloggers at Your Mileage May Vary
Location
One great thing about the Hyatt Piñon Pointe is it’s location. The hotel sits on a hill surrounded by all the main roads. As someone who really likes to walk on my vacations, this was another big selling point. We merely had to walk out of the parking lot and cross the street to reach the Pink Jeep office for our tour, several nice dining options and tons of little shops.
Check In/Check Out
Check In time for this hotel is 4pm which I feel is on the late side. Especially if you are arriving to the area that day. Check Out time is 10am. If you are only staying for one night, you don’t get much time to enjoy this hotel.
We started our last day there with a big morning hike. It certainly would have been nice to be able to go back to the room and freshen up afterwards. But the early check out made that impossible unless I wanted to book another day without actually spending the night.
Parking
Parking is free at the Hyatt Piñon Pointe. When we arrived at our lovely pueblo style building after checking in, we were able to park right in front of our room. It was perfect for unloading our baggage. However, when we returned from dinner at 8:30pm, there was no parking whatsoever near our building. So I dropped my daughter off at the room and drove to a remote parking area used for campers and oversized vehicles. The main issue I have with this is that it was dark, and there was not adequate lighting to make me feel safe as a woman out walking alone at night. Although not having enough parking is a poor design of the hotel, the lack of lighting is due to Sedona regulations for a local dark sky environment.
Our Room
The standard option is a Studio room when booking a Reward Stay at this hotel. Our room had a nice little kitchenette as you entered the room. It was well equipped with a microwave, a coffee pot, mini fridge, toaster and an ample amount of siverware and dishes. The hotel provides Starbucks filter pods for the coffee makers. Oddly, the room has 2 dining room chairs, but no table or space to utilize them. Before reaching the bed, you pass through a small living area with a small pull out sofa, a coffee table and a dresser with a flat screen tv.
The Hyatt Grand Queen sized bed only gets a 5/10 rating from me. I base this on mattress comfort, the number of pillows and their quality. This definitely wasn’t the comfiest of mattresses. Plugs in this room were all in wonky locations which made charging our devices a challenge. The bench seat at the end of the bed was handy even though it created one more thing to navigate around in an already cramped room. The double door closet had plenty of space for your hanging clothes, plus contained a safe, and a luggage rack.
Our room also came with a partially covered patio. It was cute but compact with a table and 2 chairs. We didn’t spend enough time at this hotel to really enjoy the patio area.
The bathroom was clean, everything worked properly and it came with Hyatt Residence Club bath amenities. For two ladies travelling together, the double vanity area was perfect! There were 2 sinks and mirrors plus plenty of space to spread out all of our girl products. The shower had good pressure and was easy to use (at some hotels you need a manual to figure them out).
Pool With A View!
I was suprised for a Resort complex this large, that they only had one pool onsite. Of course, our room was about as far away from this area as possible. Still, we made the trek over and it was totally worth it. Views for Days! We absolutely enjoyed the service, our lounging space and the gorgeous views. I wished we would have had time to get in a swim before checking out, but the pool is only open from 10am to 7pm.
Due to Covid restrictions, only 40 guests were allowed inside the pool area at a time. You had to sign up on a waiting list to gain entrance to the pool and make a reservation if you wanted to use the hot tub. So that everyone gets a chance to enjoy this area, guests are asked to limit their stay to 2 hours or less. Before you are seated, the pool staff thoroghly clean the lounge chairs, put thick white covers over them and leave you big fluffy pool towels.
Another amenity at this resort were the outdoor patios located around the complex. Each patio had grills, tables and enough seating to accomodate several groups. Some seating at each patio was in the sun, but shaded areas were also available. If you were staying at this resort for several days or traveling with a group, these patios could be good spaces to utilize.
The Resort Vibe
The Front Desk Agents were not very friendly. They went through the room location, covid rules, and amenities speech as if they were speed reading. Even though I listened closely, when I asked a clarifying question, I was given a short and very snippy answer. That did not start my visit off on the right foot.
What we noticed during our stay was that the majority of the guests appeared to be retirees. Many of them came as groups of couples with the men playing golf during the day while the ladies lounged at the pool or visited the shops. So I would describe the vibe as a bit “stuffy.”
Final Thoughts
Although I really loved the location of this hotel, the pool and the amazing views, I probably wouldn’t stay here again. The hotel didn’t feel warm or friendly. Instead, we seemed like interlopers. I am certainly glad that I used rewards points to pay for our stay, because the late check in and early check out didn’t give you much time to actually enjoy the hotel.
When I asked my daughter for her thoughts on the hotel, they were pretty similar to mine. She liked the location and how easy it was to walk to a lot of places. She thought that the room size was fine, but agreed the outlets were a bit of an issue. Of course she loved the pool and the amazing views.
To be honest, if I were to return to Sedona, I would probably just look for an AirBnB with a nice pool. But that’s just my personal opinion. If you are thinking about booking this hotel, I suggest you read a few different reviews first to get an aggregate opinion.
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