Manic: The last frenzied days of school.
Managed: Ahhh….school ending! The calendar suddenly opens up and isn’t filled with commitments from top to bottom! Oh how I love summer! To celebrate, I took my girl and her buddy to check out the Arizona Grand Resort & Spa. We stayed one fun-filled night and day, and for the most part, we loved it. Read on for my review because if you are looking for an active resort that is super kid-friendly, you have to know about the Arizona Grand.
The resort’s website describes the property like this…
AAA Four Diamond Arizona Grand Resort is the leading Arizona family vacation getaway and Southwest meetings destination. The 740 suite hotel and conference center offers an 18-hole golf course, athletic club, spa, salon, a 7-acre water park, seven unique dining venues and 117,000 sq. ft. of indoor and outdoor meeting space.
That is all right on and the 7-acre water park will have your kids entertained all day long, but do beware of our powerful sun rays here in the Valley of the Sun. I recommend not letting your kids play all day at the water park because even with sunscreen, they can finish the day sporting a bad sunburn. So come and play at the resort’s Oasis Water Park, but do proceed with caution and with a healthy dose of sunscreen that needs to be reapplied throughout the day.
Our personal experience with the resort was very good. I did have a few complaints that included outdated and small TVs in the room and an $8.50 room charge fee for a hot cocoa order that turned out to be a pot of hot water and several Swiss Miss packets. However, upon calling a very nice manager named Darrell, he let me know that updated flat screen TVs were on order and he refunded my hot chocolate charge. He told me that he appreciated my feedback and would share my request for real hot cocoa, complete with whipped cream on the side and minus the lumpy powdered packets, as a potential future menu change. I greatly appreciated his ear and quick response, so kudos to the resort’s management!
To share the rest of our experience, take a look at our pictures…
One thing I love about the resort grounds is the layout of the rooms. Most areas have ample parking right outside your room, so valet parking is not needed, which saves money.
Here the bellman takes the girls to our room. I followed in my car and found a nice spot close to our room entrance. We never needed my car again since the property is nicely laid out with attractions in walking distance.
Guests can also be shuttled over to the property’s restaurants, spa, golf course and more. So getting around, while not needing our car, was nice and easy. The resort offers so many activities and delicious dining that there is no need to leave the Arizona Grand which really means that you truly get away from it all. I like that!
The exterior of the rooms are shown behind the girls.
The Arizona Grand website describes the rooms like this…
At Arizona Grand Resort, luxurious over-sized, two-room suites provide intimate, residential-style comfort. Each of the 740 suites at our Phoenix hotel has been designed to reflect the natural comfort of the warm Arizona desert.
I found that to be true and I love how every room includes two rooms. Many resorts require an upgraded room rate for a spacious 2-room suite, but this is standard at the Grand, which is nice for families who need a little space.
Our room included nice french doors that lead right out to the Oasis Water Park. For families that want to partake in the pools and slides, this is a great option.
This is our view on the other side of the french doors. The building pictured is the entrance to the water park, so the close proximity was terrific! If you want a room close to the water park, ask for the Camelback building when booking your reservation.
Pretty view of the Oasis Water Park pool area with a healthy amount of tubes for all.
With a lazy river and exciting slides, of all of the local resorts, we vote the Arizona Grand's Oasis Water Park as the #1 resort pool area!
Fab fish tacos for me!
The Oasis Water Park offers a good menu with lots of kid-friendly choices.
I highly recommend the Prickly Pear Margarita for a refreshing Mom drink! Plus the gift shop has sunscreen, lip balm, hats and more if you forget any of your sun-protection items.
As far as good food and fun goes, the resort's popular western-themed restaurant called Rustler's Rooste is a great experience!
The super fun slide that runs down the middle of the restaurant and close to the country music stage is great fun for the kids!
With steaks, fabulous fried chicken, even fried rattle snake (not for me, though!) the food is plentiful and although not gourmet, it is satisfying.
Complimentary cotton candy was a nice surprise for dessert!
We also tried the appropriately-named "Cow Pie" dessert which houses coffee ice cream under a scrumptious hard-shelled layer of chocolate and on top of a yummy cookie crust. My girl enjoyed the classic hot fudge sundae.
We left with the girls adorned by the balloon figures that the restaurant's talented balloon artist made for them and we stopped by the eatery's gift shop to purchase two darling stuffed horses that sold for under $10 each.
We loved our fun and tasty experience at the Rustler’s Rooste!
On Day 2, I surprised the girls with a spa treatment because the Arizona Grand Resort & Spa offers a fun treatment for girls aged 6 to 11 called The Pretty Princess Package.
Surprise spa services for the girls!
For $80 your little girl gets a manicure, a pedicure and a beautiful hair style that includes curls and a princess tiara. I think $80 is a good value for three different services.
The girls loved it, but if I do this again, I will ask to skip some of the pedicure steps since the girls found that part to be long, tedious and a little uncomfortable on their tender feet. In the future, I would ask that they bathe and massage the feet, and paint the toenails, but skip the trimming, filing and buffing. Take a look at the pictures to see the spa fun they had and to see their after photos once the very talented hair stylist named Cheryl finished the styles…
Hair stylist pro working her magic on my girl. This is the before shot...
After and both the girls leave with stunning styles! Thanks Cheryl!
The girls leave the spa happy and so very pretty princess-like!
And if you come to spa for some mom alone time, without the princesses, there is a nice deck for total relaxation.
And a nice fire pit for the cooler winter nights we get in Phoenix. Come, relax and enjoy!
Overall we were very impressed with our stay at the Arizona Grand and the resort has some great summer rates right now like the Summer Splash family rate with rooms starting at $179 a night that include a $50 nightly credit. There are rules and restrictions, so be sure to visit the Arizona Grand website for all of the details. I also saw a rate for as low as $149 per night on the resort’s website, so check that out for rules and restrictions. Happy Summer everyone!
***No compensation was provided for this travel piece. The opinions are 100% mine and 100% of our resort room stay was paid for by my hubby 
Thanks hon!***
