June 2, 2025 • 37 mins
[WAITLIST] 1:1 Points Travel Strategy Session - get on the waitlist here!
And make sure to follow us on Instagram! @travelpartyof5
In this episode we take you through our recent stay at the Arizona Grand Hotel in Phoenix, exploring their impressive water park and sharing our experience as a family of five.
• All-suite hotel with space for families of all sizes
• Water park features three thrilling water slides, wave pool, and lazy river
• Numerous lifeguards stationed throughout the water park
• Food options include poolside service, breakfast restaurant, and Starbucks
• Multiple smaller pools throughout property offer quieter alternatives
• Hotel located on 164 acres at base of South Mountain
• Tips for saving money on food and drinks during your stay
• Room rates around $299/night include four water park passes
• Can be booked through travel portals or American Airlines Hotels
• Earns a solid four out of five stars for family-friendly amenities
If you're interested in learning how to maximize your points and miles for family travel, we're opening up one-on-one consultation sessions. Get on the waitlist through the link in our show notes for an exclusive discount.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Today's episode is the second episode in our Summer
in Phoenix staycation series,where we visit some of the most
recommended hotels in thePhoenix area for families that
are bookable on points.
Today we are all about theArizona Grand Hotel, so if
you've been planning a trip tothe Phoenix area or looking for
a fun staycation, listen in.
Hi, I'm Raya.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
And I'm Dwayne.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
And we are your hosts of the Travel Party of Five
podcast, where we share how wetravel as a family of five
around the world we travel as afamily of five around the world.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
We will also share how we use points and miles to
travel as affordably as possibleand sometimes even completely
free.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
So if you're wanting to travel more with your family
but you're not sure how, we'dlove for you to listen in.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
So welcome to our podcast, where we hope you learn
a thing or two to get youcloser to your next trip.
Welcome back, hello.
Thanks for tuning in again.
(01:15):
Welcome back to Travel.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
Party 5.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Or if it's your first time, thank you.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Yes, welcome and hi.
Nice to meet you.
My name is Rhea.
This is my husband, dwayne.
We're the little hosts of thisfancy podcast.
Before we jump into today'stopic, which is a staycation
that we just did like, literally, we got home three hours ago, I
think, and so it's very fresh.
Also, we're a little tired,just as a side note, a lot, yes,
(01:43):
um.
So okay, before we jump in, I'mgoing to ask you this question
that has absolutely nothing todo with anything, um, travel
related.
Okay, would you rather be acowboy, a samurai or a pirate?
samurai and why is that?
Speaker 2 (02:04):
because no one can f with me if I'm a samurai oh,
lord okay, it's some.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
It's some kind of personality test you're supposed
to ask your husband I don'tknow what each.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
Also, I grew up in japan, so okay, fair, definitely
gonna pick a samurai okay.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
Well, I don't know what each of them means, so, so,
like I don't know, if you saysamurai, no, no, I'm sorry, I
know what a samurai is and Iknow what a cowboy is.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
No, I'm saying, you ask me this question and then
you don't know.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
No, I'm saying like I don't know, like what it means.
Like okay, if you say you're asamurai, then that says this
about your personality, like Idon't looked into it yet.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
So what was your point of asking this question?
Speaker 1 (02:47):
I just wanted to see what you would say.
Yeah, Okay, we looked it up.
Okay, if you're a samurai, itmeans you're an honorable guy.
Stick to the rules and upholdsthe rules, Think lawful and good
.
If you're a cowboy, rougharound the edges, stands for
what he believes in, doesn'tmind speaking his mind and a
pirate would be, you do what youwant when you want.
(03:09):
Maybe not so great, Well that'sgreat.
You're an honorable guyaccording to this personality
test.
Yeah, Good to know.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
But I break some rules Like what kind of rules?
I mean whatever rules need tobe broken.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
I mean, I don't know how true that is, because, like
you, you, you like can't sendfood back at a restaurant or
anything that causes any kind ofconflict I mean, I snuck beers
into the pool today.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
That's true, that's true um, also duane, duane.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
We were looking at the final bill and I was like,
wow, is this right?
It seems high.
And duane was like, well, wewould have saved 21 if you would
have gone up and got all thefood and drinks, because all
these little charges are all thetips that I left, and I I mean,
if I'm getting the food myself,I don't see a reason to tip.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
I mean, they weren't great tips, I just you know.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
I mean, I was a server and a bartender for a
long time, so I'm definitely a20% tipper when you know we're
sitting down and eating.
But anyways, okay, let's, let'sget into the hotel.
So we stayed at the ArizonaGrand Hotel.
This is not a hotel that'sbookable direct with points, so
(04:20):
it's not like a Hilton or aMarriott or anything like that.
There are a couple ways thatyou can use points to book it,
and we'll talk about that at theend and I'll also walk through
how we booked it.
But first a little bit aboutthe hotel itself.
So this hotel opened in 18 I'msorry, no 1987.
It was rented, last renovatedin 2009.
(04:42):
So it's definitely not supernew or modern.
Last renovated in 2009.
So it's definitely not supernew, or modern.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
It is set on 164 acres at the base of, at the
base at the base of the base ofsouth mountain, um which I don't
did.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
You know that that's the largest municipal park in
the united states, southmountain.
I didn't know that I had no ideaall of the rooms in this hotel
are suites, which is perfect forfamilies, so you can't just
book like a basic.
Well, I mean, you can book abasic room, but the basic room
is a quote-unquote suite and soI had no idea.
(05:16):
By suite, we mean like there'sa little living room area with a
pull-out couch and then aseparate bedroom area, and I
think that the bedroom area caneither be two queens or one king
.
We booked a one king bed suite,but there's 744 suites in this
hotel and they have both one andtwo bedroom options, so
(05:37):
definitely a good option if youneed a little bit of space.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
I want to guess there's more rooms than that.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
It looks it's very big, Like.
It's a very, a very likesprawling property.
There's also a golf course andyou looked up the prices and you
said they weren't too bad.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Not not too bad right now, Cause in the summertime
prices drop drastically yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
Because it's so hot.
Um, they also have, like,access to hiking and biking
trails right from the property.
We didn't do any of that.
So we this trip originated withus deciding to do this because
our all of our kids are now donewith school.
So we were going to, we wantedto take them as a tree, you know
, they are our last kid finishedschool earlier this week and so
(06:20):
we wanted to take them, becausethere's a water park at this
hotel and we've never beenbefore and I thought that would
be super fun.
And we mentioned it at one ofour son's football practices to
another family.
And then they ended up textingus later and they were like I
think we're gonna do the samething.
Do you mind if we like crashyour party?
And I'm like no, absolutely not.
(06:40):
Like that would be great.
And then they also invited acouple of other families.
So we ended up having fourfamilies all with kids who
graduate or not graduated but goto the same school and, yeah,
finished, like the school yearand how many kids were there?
Speaker 2 (06:55):
There was what eight?
Speaker 1 (06:57):
Let's see we have three, four, five, six, seven,
eight.
No, there was ten.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Oh yeah eight.
No, there was 10.
Oh yeah, 10.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
Yeah, so 10 kids and seven adults.
So we had a a fairly largegroup and we didn't have rooms
like near each other or anythinglike that, but like the we, you
know, hung out at the pool, thekids swam all day and had just
the best time.
So, um, let's go back to theroom really quick.
So, like I said, we booked aone king bedroom suite.
(07:24):
The vibes here were verysimilar to the last hotel that
we stayed at, to the point wherewe were kind of wondering if
they were designed by the sameperson or people.
I would almost guarantee it was.
It was just very similar.
Even the layout of the room wasthe same.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
Yeah, but this one was way nicer.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
It was definitely nicer.
It didn't have that like amusty smell.
Um, the pool area was much moreuh, appealing, let's say, and
fun because of the water park,which we'll we'll go into detail
about that here in a fewminutes, um, but so, yes, so you
walk into room and again, I'llmake an Instagram reel about
(08:07):
this sometime this week if youwant to see what it looked like.
But you walk into the room,there's the couch with the TV
and kind of the little mini bararea, and then there was, you
know, you walk through the doorand there's the king bed in the
bedroom and the bathroom.
I will say the bathroom.
I will say the bathroom wasless than desirable.
The sink was outside of, likethe sink was in the bedroom, and
(08:29):
then the toilet and shower werewere separated by a door, but
like you couldn't sit on thetoilet without and close the
door at the same time, likethat's how tight it was, so you
had to, like, pretzel yourselfaround the door to shut it
before you could go to thebathroom or take a shower I mean
, wasn't a horrible bathroom byany means.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
I mean, still, it was fine.
I'm surprised that 2009 wastheir last upgrade.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
I would have guessed later than that, more recent
yeah, um well, yeah mean, but itwas fine, it was completely
fine, the kids slept great, weall slept great, um, so, in
addition, like to the water park, so they have a full on water
park with like three prettylegit water slides and a wave
(09:18):
pool, um, a fairly big hot tuband also a pretty small like
kids splash pad area, likereally small like I think there
were maybe six or seven likespouts of water that shot up and
there was a little kiddie poolthat was about a foot and a half
deep I mean this is by far themost legit water park I've been
(09:40):
to stateside, I mean at at ahotel.
Yeah, I didn't go down any ofthe slides.
Do you want to talk about theslides and what that was like?
Speaker 2 (09:51):
Oh yeah, for sure, Like I said, these were the two
most legit slides I've been on.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
I think the website says it's an eight-story slide.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
I could easily believe that they're legit.
I mean, my booty hurts stillfrom going down these slides.
I was getting air off theseslides, yeah, and hydroplaning
at the end there.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
Our two boys went down them one time and then they
were like no, we're traumatized.
Dwayne did convince our oldestto go down a second time.
He bribed him with ice creamand so he did it a second time.
But other than that the kidsdidn't really have interest in
the slides because they'redefinitely for like an older
demographic.
Or if you have a kid who'smaybe like just super
(10:38):
adventurous, ours were just kindof like no, that hurt.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
Yeah, I mean it's legit.
First of all, this is, I mean,the water park.
I thought was great it wasgreat I also thought it was
great plenty of seating, not alot of shade.
But I don't think you're gonnaget a lot of shade in arizona,
like it's just they should havemore umbrellas, without question
they should it's just anaesthetic thing, I'm pretty sure
like it's stupid, but still agreat water park, like she said
(11:06):
there was.
There's a wave pool yeah um.
There's a section of the poolwhere there's a volleyball and a
basketball hoop um a lazy riveroh yeah, the lazy river.
I forgot about that yeah, Imean this was the most legit
water park I've been to in along time.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
And definitely the only one we've ever been to in a
hotel.
Yeah, so with your room thatyou reserve, you get access.
Well, I reserve for two adultsand two kids, because I couldn't
do it for five, and it comeswith four wristbands to the
water park.
So if you have five, like wedid, I had to buy an extra one.
(11:47):
No one blinked an eye that Ineeded a fifth one.
No one was concerned about theoccupancy of our room at all,
and we certainly had more thanenough room for all five of us.
All three kids slept on thepullout sofa, and then Duane and
I had the king bed.
The cost of the extra wristbandwas $50 a day, so it was a
hundred bucks.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
Oh, was that in the price today that we paid?
Speaker 1 (12:11):
I don't know, probably not, because I think I
paid it at check-in, so I don'tthink it would have been on the
bill.
I don't know.
I did so.
The cutoff is three.
So if you have a kid who'sthree or younger, they can go in
for free.
Um, so probably what that meansis if you have a kid that's
(12:31):
four or younger, you just needto tell them they're three and
they could go in.
I said my daughter and I wentup to check in and I said I
didn't know the.
I didn't know what the cutoffwas.
So I said if she is four, do Ineed to buy a fifth wristband?
And the girl said yes, thecutoff is three.
(12:51):
And my daughter said mom, I'mfive, she is five, I know that
she's five.
I just was kind of.
You know, I was fibbing alittle bit to hopefully not have
to pay the $100.
But no, we paid it.
Yeah, you got to set that upbefore you go in there, I know,
I just so when we left I saidhey, I said mommy knows how old
(13:15):
you are, but if you ever hear mesay that you're younger, you
just don't say anything until weget like outside and then you
can ask me about it.
She was like okay, but she saidthree times but mom, I'm five,
like pulling on my arm, I'm fiveand I'm like waving at her,
like just stop, just stoptalking.
Oh, yes, bless her heart.
Um, so if you are a family offive, like we are, that's the
(13:37):
way to do that.
Um, I do think you can just buylike a day pass to the water
park, but at 50 a pop for theday you're.
I mean you might as well justget the room, because the room
only costs like 250 or 299, Ican't remember, but I mean for
not much more.
You can just spend the night andyou get access to the water
(14:00):
park the day that you check inand the day that you check out
yeah, that's definitely the wayto go yes, um, okay, so let's
talk about we spent most of ourtime at the pool, so we ordered
quite a bit of food at the poolfor the kids and you know it's
your basic chicken tenders,french fries like burger.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
You know, incredibly expensive, $20 alcoholic drinks
nachos $12 freaking dipping dotsthat totally overpriced.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
Oh yeah, that were very small, very small, um, so
the food is pricey, like there'sjust no way around that.
For dinner, though, what weended up doing was one of the
moms went and picked up littlecaesar's pizza and I'm, and we
had six pizzas for all 17 of us.
That ended up being more thanenough, and I'm pretty sure they
paid $40 for it.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
I think I heard Little Caesars.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
But it was not bad pizza, it wasn't bad.
It wasn't bad pizza, it wasn'tbad at all.
I ate it and I was like, wow,this is surprisingly good.
Actually it's not bad.
It's not the best, no, but Imean for $40 to feed 17 people,
you can't go wrong with that.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
Yeah, can't be bad.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
And so the location of the hotel.
There are definitely optionsthat you could either door dash
or run out and grab so that youdon't have to pay the hotel
prices run out and grab that,you know, so that you don't have
to pay the hotel prices.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
Oh, as a matter of fact, we were at the pool the
first night and one of thecouples we were with brought a
lot of beer and drinks and wedidn't bring that many.
So the first night I went tothe lobby, to the gift shop, to
go get some.
And I'm like you much are the.
You know the high noons.
She said eleven dollars a can.
Oh my god.
And I said I'm sorry, you saideleven dollars a can.
She said yes, and then she goes, but the bellman can take you
(15:54):
to fries.
It's right down the street.
So the bellman took me to friesoh, is that how you?
I didn't, I thought you drovethey took me to the grocery
store that was right down thestreet.
I didn't even know that, yeah,in an executive Tahoe.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
Fries is like if you're not from Phoenix fries is
like the Kroger.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
It's a grocery store, yeah, I didn't know that so the
bellman took me to the storeand I grabbed an eight-pack of
High Noon and a 12 pack ofMickey.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
Ultra, and the reason that you got those is they
serve both of those at the atthe, not the Ultra.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
But I bought the Ultra because that's what the
couple had.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
Okay, yeah, well, the High Noons we got, because you
could buy a High Noon there.
Yes, and so if we were walkingaround with a High Noon, like
they would just assume we boughtit there.
But we didn't.
And no one was like.
Occasionally they were checkingbags when you walked through,
but they didn't check.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
I don't think they honestly.
If you like, just hide them onthe bottom.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
They don't like go through it, they just like peek
but also one time that duane andhis buddy passed a like thermos
through the fence.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
Yeah, we like went to the his car to make a drink,
which was funny because therewas other dads out there doing
things of the same nature.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
I thought that was hilarious, oh yeah so there are,
like the food at the hotel isexpensive, but there are just
like any other hotel I mean yeah, yeah, I know we did eat
breakfast at the hotel.
It was not a buffet, it was inlike the lobby bar and grill.
It was a menu.
It was good actually.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
I thought it was pretty good actually, the coffee
was good.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
They also have a Starbucks in the lobby where you
can get like legit Starbucksdrinks.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
Again, you're paying hotel prices, though.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
Oh yeah, it's, though .
Oh yeah, it's more expensive,for sure, yeah, but I was able
to get like a, you know, likethe latte I normally get.
They also had cold brew, whichI also get a lot.
So, um, and yeah, I mean, thebreakfast was good.
We had pancakes, bacon, youknow all the basics.
It's a basic breakfast menu, butit was good and you get to
watch the golfers tee off fromthe whole hole number one there
(18:01):
yes, there is a nice view of thegolf course from breakfast, and
Duane was getting a chuckle outof watching these golfers
because it made you feel betterabout your golfing.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
Well, I'm horrible at golf and there were some
horrible, I would have fit rightin.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
Yeah, okay, we've talked about they also have a
spa at this hotel and you cangolf.
We mentioned that already.
Did not experience the spa, butI would imagine it's pretty
nice, like the hotel in general,like the service was good.
Let's talk about how we bookedit.
So you can book this through atravel portal, like at the Chase
(18:38):
portal or the Amex portal, andyou can use your points that way
.
Like we've talked about before.
That's not going to really belike the best value for your
points, but it's.
It would get you the room forfree and it would be fine.
Um, you also could book withyour capital one card and then
erase the um charge and thatwould also be an option for how
(19:02):
you could book this charge andthat would also be an option for
how you could book this.
The way that we booked it wasactually through American
Airlines hotels.
So we are on a or I am on aquest to earn American Airlines
status, mostly as like a test tosee if there's value in it for
(19:22):
a family.
Because a test to see ifthere's value in it for a family
?
Because I, admittedly, am alittle bit skeptical about
whether or not we'll see thevalue in doing so or in having
the status.
But I'm currently at gold andthe next one up is platinum, and
my goal is to hit platinumstatus by the time we go to Cabo
(19:44):
, cause I want to see if we'llget some kind of an upgrade to
first class for our two hourflight.
I have no idea if we will, Idon't know.
I don't know how many peoplefly to Cabo and I don't know.
But that's my plan, because Iwould like to maybe see if I
could get us an upgrade, ifpossible.
As far as, like, what level ofstatus am I aiming for?
(20:09):
I think I'll just have to waitand see.
Definitely I want platinum andthen potentially the one above
that.
I don't think I'll get to thehighest status level because it
needs like a lot of points, butwe'll see.
And in the in the meantimewe're just earning a lot of a
miles, you know, as we kind ofget to get to the status level.
(20:29):
So that's always helpful aswell.
So that's how we booked it andso technically this is like
booking through a third party,so like if you are going to do
like a Hilton or whatever, likewe talked about last time, you
may not get your status benefits, but for this hotel in
particular there is no status oranything like that.
(20:49):
They're not part of any majorpoints program.
So I had zero qualms aboutbooking through the AA hotels.
So I think we I'm pretty sure itwas $299 we spent for the night
, and again, that included fourpasses to the water park on both
Saturday and Sunday, and thenwe just paid the extra for the
(21:12):
fifth person and we will earn2300 AA miles on top of that,
and I was able to use my chaseSapphire card, and so we'll earn
also like 900 Chase points.
And then we I put down my Amexbiz platinum the second one for
(21:33):
the incidentals, so any likefood and stuff and drinks that
we bought will go towards theminimum spend for that card.
So I will say, though, likewhen I was looking at the bill,
I was like wow, like this is alot of money, and normally when
we booked with points, I worryless about the cost of it
(21:54):
because the hotel itself wasfree, you know.
But this time it was like we'vehad paid for the hotel and we
paid for the food and the drinks, and I was like wow, I was like
this is like not sustainable.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
And we typically get free breakfast.
Because of your globaliststatus Also true.
Speaker 1 (22:12):
Yeah, also true, I mean we probably should have
gone out and like done likeMcDonald's or something, but I
wanted to have a good kind ofidea of the food so that I could
report back to everyone.
So I mean it is what it is, butI definitely felt the like oh
feeling when I looked at thebill, knowing that we paid for
(22:35):
both of the room and the likeyou know, all the food, that I
don't normally feel that waywhen we use points, points or I
feel it less, I guess.
But yeah, I mean I mean if youwere going to go for like a four
or five night vacation andspend that like every day yikes,
it's a lot, um.
(22:56):
So I mean, I just I love how thepoints give us the freedom to
to not stress about, you know,the cost of a hotel breakfast or
whatever you know pool food,whatever it may be.
I really like, I really doappreciate that and I'm grateful
for that, and I feel like it'ssomething you don't even really
realize until you're like payingcash and you're like, oh, my
(23:17):
God, okay.
So, before we wrap up, I think,like one we should, we should
give, like, our final verdict onthis.
And also, to who do you thinkthat this hotel would be good
for?
I'll tell you what I think andyou tell me your thoughts.
I think this would be super.
This is a fantastic hotel forfamilies, especially if you have
(23:37):
older kids, like our kids.
Our two boys were a fine age forthis they're 11 and 8 and they
were off with their friends.
Each of them had a couple offriends that were like in their
their age group, because our, asa background, our two boys go
to different schools, but ouroldest used to go to the same
(23:59):
school as our as oureight-year-old, and so he still
knows some of the people fromthat school and that's who was
on this like weekend trip withus, so they each had friends in
their age group to play with,and there would be times where
we wouldn't see them for 3045minutes and then we'd have to go
like, look for them and justverify like yep, they're still
fine, because they were in theriver and they were playing
(24:20):
volleyball and they were in thewave wave pool and they were,
you know, going down the slideand they were doing all the
things.
Speaker 2 (24:26):
Yes, I would agree with that.
Um, also, we we didn't mentionthis at all there are lifeguards
at this pool and I mean thereare, they're everywhere.
Yes, um, in the wave pool alonethere was two um the slides.
There are lifeguards everywhere.
There's lazy river.
There were like stationguardseverywhere there, just lazy
river.
There are like stationlifeguard stations throughout
(24:46):
the lazy river yeah, so yeah asa parent that's good yeah, no, I
mean, that's what I was gonnasay as a parent.
It eases your anxiety a littlebit, not yours though, but for
other parents nope, not mine.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
um, so for our five-year-old I made her wear
her little floaty most of thetime, unless a grown-up was in
the water with her, like staringat her, and she didn't love
that.
But even the wave pool, I meanthe waves were pretty big for
someone her size.
Speaker 2 (25:19):
Like I wasn't opposed to it for this resort.
I mean because the wave pooldid get really busy.
I mean at one point it waspacked.
It was packed but like thismorning when we went this
morning it was not anything likeit was yesterday and I was
totally fine with her not havinga floaty on.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
But that's me, not you but that's that's me, not
you.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
I just am very aware of how quickly a child can drown
.
It is literally seconds and,mind you, just so you know, we
were front row seats, so I meanwe were right there but I mean,
all you have to do is getdistracted for just a minute,
you know it's not worth it myanxiety level is not
Speaker 1 (26:02):
I know they're not the same as yours, yes, um.
So, yes, there are lifeguards.
I will say, like, for ourfive-year-old, there was less
for her to do because wewouldn't let her run free with
her brothers, and nor did herbrothers want her to be playing
with them either, becausethey're they play super rough
(26:24):
and she just can't hang likethat because she's she doesn't
swim like they do yet she will,but she's not there yet.
So there she was a littlelimited in what she could do
without a grown-up.
So we, you know, we took her tothe little kiddie pool.
She likes to go in the hot tub.
So we took her in the hot tub.
But it was like you can't, wecouldn't just sit and let her,
(26:45):
like, go, you know.
So I do think if you have olderkids, this would be fantastic.
We also did.
They had a movie at the poolnight.
I'm not sure if it's Fridaysand Saturdays or just Saturdays,
but they played a movie at thepool.
It was completely dark.
I think it started at 8 PM andwe went for that, which we
normally wouldn't because thekids had already been in the
water for like a solid eighthours.
(27:07):
But we went for that, had agreat time, and the slides were
still open then too, and youwent down the slide yes, I took
advantage of that because therewere no lines yeah, when it was
busy the lines were long and ittook forever.
Speaker 2 (27:24):
They just weren't efficient running these slides.
But it had something to do withthe water levels of the slide
and whatever they had to waitfor the water after each person
would go down.
Speaker 1 (27:33):
They had to wait for the water levels to return to a
certain level before they couldsafely let someone else go down.
But I mean literally.
Speaker 2 (27:40):
It took like not even exaggerating probably seven
minutes after someone went downthe slide like yeah, so the
lines were were long when it wasbusy.
Speaker 1 (27:51):
But I think if you're coming to phoenix and you are
like wanting to kind of go outand do stuff during the day,
especially if you're coming inthe summer, you'll be able to
get a cheaper cash rate for sure.
And then, if you have olderkids, you can come back to the
hotel and they can.
You guys can go to the pool fora couple of hours and still, if
you have older kids, you cancome back to the hotel and they
can.
You guys can go to the pool fora couple of hours and still
enjoy, you know, the waterslides and all that.
(28:13):
They still have lifeguards onduty, like everything.
So I mean I think, yeah, thatwould be a great way to kind of
end the day and then start allover 100.
Speaker 2 (28:22):
Come back to this hotel.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
Yes, so, okay.
So last time we rated it likeon a you know scale of one to
five, like stars, and the lastone was a, we said was a three.
So what would you give this one?
Speaker 2 (28:36):
I mean, this was a solid four.
Speaker 1 (28:38):
Yeah, I think that too.
Speaker 2 (28:40):
Yeah, it was definitely way better than the
last hotel we were at, theTapatio.
Speaker 1 (28:46):
Yes, I do think the service was kind of similar,
like no one was up our buttsright and like there were no
Bellman.
Was there Bellman?
Speaker 2 (28:54):
Yeah, there was a Bellman.
Oh, there were Bellman, but wejust didn't use them.
They drove me to the store.
Speaker 1 (28:57):
Oh yeah, okay, I take it back, I take it back.
Speaker 2 (29:12):
Okay, yeah, in the hotel was I thought it was great
.
It was great.
Yeah, we weren't in there for along.
The bellman were the ones thathelped me the most.
Um, we've been hotels wherethere's cocktail servers that go
, you know, walk throughout thepool.
Speaker 1 (29:15):
They didn't have that , which I thought was weird.
They had qr codes on the chair,I know, but there's still.
Speaker 2 (29:19):
I mean well, I mean, I know, I just thought that was
weird, but I mean it allowed meto sneak in some drinks, so that
also saved a lot of money.
Yeah, a lot yeah.
Speaker 1 (29:33):
So, yes, I think, families, especially if you have
older kids, this is a greathotel for that.
Also, like a multi-generationaltrip, like if you have, like
you know, the grandparents andthe and the you know, the kids
and the grandkids you know, andand the maybe I'm going to be
kind of this is like a littlebit of a stereotype, but grandpa
and dad want to go golfing and,like you know, mom and grandma
(29:55):
hang back with the kids and takethem to the pool, like I could
see that, you know, being athing too.
I do not think this is a goodhotel for couples or a couples
getaway.
There were kids everywhere,everywhere, and in the hot tub.
We were laughing because therewere some couples in the hot tub
(30:17):
and then we were there withlike all 10 kids and plus other
people's kids were in there andwe were just kind of laughing
that like this is not the placeto come if you want to relax in
the hot tub, because there'sliterally children everywhere.
Speaker 2 (30:32):
But you know what we didn't mention.
There are other pools on thisproperty, oh yeah, that's true,
that are way less busier.
So I mean, if you are a couple,you can probably just hang out.
I mean, mind you, there's stillstill gonna be kids there, just
not yeah, so they're okay.
Speaker 1 (30:50):
So there is the water park, and then there are other
pools.
Speaker 2 (30:54):
The other pools are not fancy, like they're
literally rectangles, just apool with a hot tub, some seats
yeah that are within the wallsof the hotel.
Speaker 1 (31:03):
Yes, yes, and there seemed to be at least two or
three that we saw.
Speaker 2 (31:10):
So we were in the Camelback building yeah, wing or
whatever and there was twopools alone for that.
Speaker 1 (31:18):
Yeah, and it wasn't a very big building.
And there were several otherbuildings as well that also had
their own pools.
Speaker 2 (31:24):
Yeah, our friend stayed at another building and
they also had two pools, so Imean yeah, so that's true.
Speaker 1 (31:31):
That's a good point.
If you want to get away fromthe kids, there are other pools
that you could go to but have noservice.
So I mean yeah, I mean, yeah,it would be fine, um, but yeah,
I would 100% go back.
I really thought it was areally fun time for the kids.
Speaker 2 (31:49):
And the kids had a great time.
Speaker 1 (31:51):
I mean so exhausted.
They are so exhausted they'relike literally falling asleep as
we record this, which is great,because my goal as a parent is
always to exhaust my children.
So love that.
Okay, anything else that weforgot or didn't talk about?
Speaker 2 (32:11):
No, I think this was a quick uh stay great, stay.
Part two of our series.
Speaker 1 (32:18):
If you've never like, if you're in Phoenix or you
know the Phoenix area and you'venever been to this hotel, I
would definitely recommend it.
I think yeah, for sure a reallygood like a weekend trip.
Staycations are great becauseyou don't have to pay for
airfare and you're.
It will definitely occupy yourkids and if you are from phoenix
, it's right down the on um thetenon vaseline okay um, we are
(32:43):
heading to yosemite and LakeTahoe in the next few weeks, and
so our next couple episodes Iwill actually be recording
before we leave, and so thosewill be out next week and the
week after Also it'll just beher.
It will just be me, because Ihave to record them this week
and Duane will be working.
(33:03):
Oh, actually you're off.
Speaker 2 (33:04):
No.
Speaker 1 (33:05):
I'm building stuff.
Oh yeah, duane will be working,so oh, actually, you're off.
No, I'm building stuff.
Oh yeah, we're.
We decided, as part of the waywe're going to meet this minimum
spend is we need to do somefurniture reorganizing for the
kids and, like our daughterneeds a bed and we're gonna.
It's a whole long thing, butwe're ordering a bunch of
furniture that duane is going tobe assembling this week, so
yeah, anyways but no freakingjet skis no jet skis.
(33:26):
If you listened to last week'sepisode, that was how Dwayne
wanted to meet the minimum spendon my second Amex Biz Platinum.
Sadly, the poll sided with meand we are not getting jet skis.
It's not sad, though, because Idon't want them.
Speaker 2 (33:40):
Thank you to the listeners out there that voted
for jet skis.
You were appreciated more thanyou know.
Speaker 1 (33:45):
There were a few who messaged me and were like yes to
the Jess keys and I'm like, yes, but no, thank you, oh goodness
, um.
One last thing.
Um, I opened up a waitlist lastweek for um a basically a
one-on-one consultation slashsession with me for an hour
(34:08):
where if you have points andyou're just not sure how to use
them or you don't want to usethem, like wrong, even though
there's really no way wrong wayto use them.
But if you don't want, if youwant to make sure you're getting
the most value for your points,I am going to be opening up
sessions.
It's probably going to be asolid two weeks before the
waitlist like ends or whatever,so you have some time.
(34:30):
But I'll put a link to that inthe show notes if that is
something that might beinteresting to you.
I know there's a lot of peoplethat listen, that like to do
their own kind of hunting andgathering and figuring out which
and that's fantastic, becausethat's how I am too.
But if you're new and you justneed, like someone to hold your
hand and say, like these are thepoints that I have like and I
want to go to Hawaii or I wantto go to Europe or I want to go
(34:51):
to wherever I will.
You can schedule time with meand I will show you like how I
would recommend that you usethem and give you some different
options.
So that is going to be openingup in the next um, likely two to
three weeks.
So if you want to get on thewait list, you will get a an
extra discount for being on thewait list and so I will put a
(35:12):
link to sign up to that in theshow notes as a side note.
Like the way that I can set upthe wait list, it like I have to
send you something and so I'mjust sending the link to the
podcast.
So like if you get the link tothe podcast, so like if you get
the link to the podcast andyou're like what is this for?
It's because the way that thebeacons, like link tree, is set
(35:33):
up is like I have to sendsomething.
So, anyways, just as a sidenote, that's what you'll get
until the waitlist actuallyopens and it's like an actual
thing.
So, okay, that is all we have.
I hope that you enjoyed comingalong with us to the arizona
grand with the water park andall the fun family activities.
Speaker 2 (35:54):
Um what's the next staycation series?
Speaker 1 (35:58):
I actually haven't booked it yet because I need to
figure out when we can do itbetween slacking.
I know well we have twovacations in the next month, and
so it's just a matter offinding the time but I mean it's
gonna be like desert ridge oryeah, desert ridge is gonna be
one of them, for sure that it'sa jw marriott.
Um, the other like.
(36:20):
So our kids have a very shortsummer break, so by mid-july
they will all be in school.
So it's like we have to cramall the, all the summer
vacations into like a six weekwindow, and so that is like kind
of challenging.
So yeah, and then, yeah, wehave the Grand Hyatt coming up
in August, so we've stayed therebut we haven't been with our
(36:44):
kids since the remodel.
Yep, so we'll probably doDesert Ridge and then one other
one.
That's my plan, okay.
Speaker 2 (36:51):
Anyways, we appreciate you guys listening.
Speaker 1 (36:53):
Yes, thanks for tuning in.
We appreciate you.
Yes, leave us a review, thankyou, love you.
Bye, have a good one, bye,thank you.
Today's episode is the second episode in our Summer
in Phoenix staycation series,where we visit some of the most
recommended hotels in thePhoenix area for families that
are bookable on points.
Today we are all about theArizona Grand Hotel, so if
you've been planning a trip tothe Phoenix area or looking for
a fun staycation, listen in.
Hi, I'm Raya.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
And I'm Dwayne.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
And we are your hosts of the Travel Party of Five
podcast, where we share how wetravel as a family of five
around the world we travel as afamily of five around the world.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
We will also share how we use points and miles to
travel as affordably as possibleand sometimes even completely
free.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
So if you're wanting to travel more with your family
but you're not sure how, we'dlove for you to listen in.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
So welcome to our podcast, where we hope you learn
a thing or two to get youcloser to your next trip.
Welcome back, hello.
Thanks for tuning in again.
(01:15):
Welcome back to Travel.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
Party 5.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Or if it's your first time, thank you.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Yes, welcome and hi.
Nice to meet you.
My name is Rhea.
This is my husband, dwayne.
We're the little hosts of thisfancy podcast.
Before we jump into today'stopic, which is a staycation
that we just did like, literally, we got home three hours ago, I
think, and so it's very fresh.
Also, we're a little tired,just as a side note, a lot, yes,
(01:43):
um.
So okay, before we jump in, I'mgoing to ask you this question
that has absolutely nothing todo with anything, um, travel
related.
Okay, would you rather be acowboy, a samurai or a pirate?
samurai and why is that?
Speaker 2 (02:04):
because no one can f with me if I'm a samurai oh,
lord okay, it's some.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
It's some kind of personality test you're supposed
to ask your husband I don'tknow what each.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
Also, I grew up in japan, so okay, fair, definitely
gonna pick a samurai okay.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
Well, I don't know what each of them means, so, so,
like I don't know, if you saysamurai, no, no, I'm sorry, I
know what a samurai is and Iknow what a cowboy is.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
No, I'm saying, you ask me this question and then
you don't know.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
No, I'm saying like I don't know, like what it means.
Like okay, if you say you're asamurai, then that says this
about your personality, like Idon't looked into it yet.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
So what was your point of asking this question?
Speaker 1 (02:47):
I just wanted to see what you would say.
Yeah, Okay, we looked it up.
Okay, if you're a samurai, itmeans you're an honorable guy.
Stick to the rules and upholdsthe rules, Think lawful and good
.
If you're a cowboy, rougharound the edges, stands for
what he believes in, doesn'tmind speaking his mind and a
pirate would be, you do what youwant when you want.
(03:09):
Maybe not so great, Well that'sgreat.
You're an honorable guyaccording to this personality
test.
Yeah, Good to know.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
But I break some rules Like what kind of rules?
I mean whatever rules need tobe broken.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
I mean, I don't know how true that is, because, like
you, you, you like can't sendfood back at a restaurant or
anything that causes any kind ofconflict I mean, I snuck beers
into the pool today.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
That's true, that's true um, also duane, duane.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
We were looking at the final bill and I was like,
wow, is this right?
It seems high.
And duane was like, well, wewould have saved 21 if you would
have gone up and got all thefood and drinks, because all
these little charges are all thetips that I left, and I I mean,
if I'm getting the food myself,I don't see a reason to tip.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
I mean, they weren't great tips, I just you know.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
I mean, I was a server and a bartender for a
long time, so I'm definitely a20% tipper when you know we're
sitting down and eating.
But anyways, okay, let's, let'sget into the hotel.
So we stayed at the ArizonaGrand Hotel.
This is not a hotel that'sbookable direct with points, so
(04:20):
it's not like a Hilton or aMarriott or anything like that.
There are a couple ways thatyou can use points to book it,
and we'll talk about that at theend and I'll also walk through
how we booked it.
But first a little bit aboutthe hotel itself.
So this hotel opened in 18 I'msorry, no 1987.
It was rented, last renovatedin 2009.
(04:42):
So it's definitely not supernew or modern.
Last renovated in 2009.
So it's definitely not supernew, or modern.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
It is set on 164 acres at the base of, at the
base at the base of the base ofsouth mountain, um which I don't
did.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
You know that that's the largest municipal park in
the united states, southmountain.
I didn't know that I had no ideaall of the rooms in this hotel
are suites, which is perfect forfamilies, so you can't just
book like a basic.
Well, I mean, you can book abasic room, but the basic room
is a quote-unquote suite and soI had no idea.
(05:16):
By suite, we mean like there'sa little living room area with a
pull-out couch and then aseparate bedroom area, and I
think that the bedroom area caneither be two queens or one king
.
We booked a one king bed suite,but there's 744 suites in this
hotel and they have both one andtwo bedroom options, so
(05:37):
definitely a good option if youneed a little bit of space.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
I want to guess there's more rooms than that.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
It looks it's very big, Like.
It's a very, a very likesprawling property.
There's also a golf course andyou looked up the prices and you
said they weren't too bad.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Not not too bad right now, Cause in the summertime
prices drop drastically yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
Because it's so hot.
Um, they also have, like,access to hiking and biking
trails right from the property.
We didn't do any of that.
So we this trip originated withus deciding to do this because
our all of our kids are now donewith school.
So we were going to, we wantedto take them as a tree, you know
, they are our last kid finishedschool earlier this week and so
(06:20):
we wanted to take them, becausethere's a water park at this
hotel and we've never beenbefore and I thought that would
be super fun.
And we mentioned it at one ofour son's football practices to
another family.
And then they ended up textingus later and they were like I
think we're gonna do the samething.
Do you mind if we like crashyour party?
And I'm like no, absolutely not.
(06:40):
Like that would be great.
And then they also invited acouple of other families.
So we ended up having fourfamilies all with kids who
graduate or not graduated but goto the same school and, yeah,
finished, like the school yearand how many kids were there?
Speaker 2 (06:55):
There was what eight?
Speaker 1 (06:57):
Let's see we have three, four, five, six, seven,
eight.
No, there was ten.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
Oh yeah eight.
No, there was 10.
Oh yeah, 10.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
Yeah, so 10 kids and seven adults.
So we had a a fairly largegroup and we didn't have rooms
like near each other or anythinglike that, but like the we, you
know, hung out at the pool, thekids swam all day and had just
the best time.
So, um, let's go back to theroom really quick.
So, like I said, we booked aone king bedroom suite.
(07:24):
The vibes here were verysimilar to the last hotel that
we stayed at, to the point wherewe were kind of wondering if
they were designed by the sameperson or people.
I would almost guarantee it was.
It was just very similar.
Even the layout of the room wasthe same.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
Yeah, but this one was way nicer.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
It was definitely nicer.
It didn't have that like amusty smell.
Um, the pool area was much moreuh, appealing, let's say, and
fun because of the water park,which we'll we'll go into detail
about that here in a fewminutes, um, but so, yes, so you
walk into room and again, I'llmake an Instagram reel about
(08:07):
this sometime this week if youwant to see what it looked like.
But you walk into the room,there's the couch with the TV
and kind of the little mini bararea, and then there was, you
know, you walk through the doorand there's the king bed in the
bedroom and the bathroom.
I will say the bathroom.
I will say the bathroom wasless than desirable.
The sink was outside of, likethe sink was in the bedroom, and
(08:29):
then the toilet and shower werewere separated by a door, but
like you couldn't sit on thetoilet without and close the
door at the same time, likethat's how tight it was, so you
had to, like, pretzel yourselfaround the door to shut it
before you could go to thebathroom or take a shower I mean
, wasn't a horrible bathroom byany means.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
I mean, still, it was fine.
I'm surprised that 2009 wastheir last upgrade.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
I would have guessed later than that, more recent
yeah, um well, yeah mean, but itwas fine, it was completely
fine, the kids slept great, weall slept great, um, so, in
addition, like to the water park, so they have a full on water
park with like three prettylegit water slides and a wave
(09:18):
pool, um, a fairly big hot tuband also a pretty small like
kids splash pad area, likereally small like I think there
were maybe six or seven likespouts of water that shot up and
there was a little kiddie poolthat was about a foot and a half
deep I mean this is by far themost legit water park I've been
(09:40):
to stateside, I mean at at ahotel.
Yeah, I didn't go down any ofthe slides.
Do you want to talk about theslides and what that was like?
Speaker 2 (09:51):
Oh yeah, for sure, Like I said, these were the two
most legit slides I've been on.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
I think the website says it's an eight-story slide.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
I could easily believe that they're legit.
I mean, my booty hurts stillfrom going down these slides.
I was getting air off theseslides, yeah, and hydroplaning
at the end there.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
Our two boys went down them one time and then they
were like no, we're traumatized.
Dwayne did convince our oldestto go down a second time.
He bribed him with ice creamand so he did it a second time.
But other than that the kidsdidn't really have interest in
the slides because they'redefinitely for like an older
demographic.
Or if you have a kid who'smaybe like just super
(10:38):
adventurous, ours were just kindof like no, that hurt.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
Yeah, I mean it's legit.
First of all, this is, I mean,the water park.
I thought was great it wasgreat I also thought it was
great plenty of seating, not alot of shade.
But I don't think you're gonnaget a lot of shade in arizona,
like it's just they should havemore umbrellas, without question
they should it's just anaesthetic thing, I'm pretty sure
like it's stupid, but still agreat water park, like she said
(11:06):
there was.
There's a wave pool yeah um.
There's a section of the poolwhere there's a volleyball and a
basketball hoop um a lazy riveroh yeah, the lazy river.
I forgot about that yeah, Imean this was the most legit
water park I've been to in along time.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
And definitely the only one we've ever been to in a
hotel.
Yeah, so with your room thatyou reserve, you get access.
Well, I reserve for two adultsand two kids, because I couldn't
do it for five, and it comeswith four wristbands to the
water park.
So if you have five, like wedid, I had to buy an extra one.
(11:47):
No one blinked an eye that Ineeded a fifth one.
No one was concerned about theoccupancy of our room at all,
and we certainly had more thanenough room for all five of us.
All three kids slept on thepullout sofa, and then Duane and
I had the king bed.
The cost of the extra wristbandwas $50 a day, so it was a
hundred bucks.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
Oh, was that in the price today that we paid?
Speaker 1 (12:11):
I don't know, probably not, because I think I
paid it at check-in, so I don'tthink it would have been on the
bill.
I don't know.
I did so.
The cutoff is three.
So if you have a kid who'sthree or younger, they can go in
for free.
Um, so probably what that meansis if you have a kid that's
(12:31):
four or younger, you just needto tell them they're three and
they could go in.
I said my daughter and I wentup to check in and I said I
didn't know the.
I didn't know what the cutoffwas.
So I said if she is four, do Ineed to buy a fifth wristband?
And the girl said yes, thecutoff is three.
(12:51):
And my daughter said mom, I'mfive, she is five, I know that
she's five.
I just was kind of.
You know, I was fibbing alittle bit to hopefully not have
to pay the $100.
But no, we paid it.
Yeah, you got to set that upbefore you go in there, I know,
I just so when we left I saidhey, I said mommy knows how old
(13:15):
you are, but if you ever hear mesay that you're younger, you
just don't say anything until weget like outside and then you
can ask me about it.
She was like okay, but she saidthree times but mom, I'm five,
like pulling on my arm, I'm fiveand I'm like waving at her,
like just stop, just stoptalking.
Oh, yes, bless her heart.
Um, so if you are a family offive, like we are, that's the
(13:37):
way to do that.
Um, I do think you can just buylike a day pass to the water
park, but at 50 a pop for theday you're.
I mean you might as well justget the room, because the room
only costs like 250 or 299, Ican't remember, but I mean for
not much more.
You can just spend the night andyou get access to the water
(14:00):
park the day that you check inand the day that you check out
yeah, that's definitely the wayto go yes, um, okay, so let's
talk about we spent most of ourtime at the pool, so we ordered
quite a bit of food at the poolfor the kids and you know it's
your basic chicken tenders,french fries like burger.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
You know, incredibly expensive, $20 alcoholic drinks
nachos $12 freaking dipping dotsthat totally overpriced.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
Oh yeah, that were very small, very small, um, so
the food is pricey, like there'sjust no way around that.
For dinner, though, what weended up doing was one of the
moms went and picked up littlecaesar's pizza and I'm, and we
had six pizzas for all 17 of us.
That ended up being more thanenough, and I'm pretty sure they
paid $40 for it.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
I think I heard Little Caesars.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
But it was not bad pizza, it wasn't bad.
It wasn't bad pizza, it wasn'tbad at all.
I ate it and I was like, wow,this is surprisingly good.
Actually it's not bad.
It's not the best, no, but Imean for $40 to feed 17 people,
you can't go wrong with that.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
Yeah, can't be bad.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
And so the location of the hotel.
There are definitely optionsthat you could either door dash
or run out and grab so that youdon't have to pay the hotel
prices run out and grab that,you know, so that you don't have
to pay the hotel prices.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
Oh, as a matter of fact, we were at the pool the
first night and one of thecouples we were with brought a
lot of beer and drinks and wedidn't bring that many.
So the first night I went tothe lobby, to the gift shop, to
go get some.
And I'm like you much are the.
You know the high noons.
She said eleven dollars a can.
Oh my god.
And I said I'm sorry, you saideleven dollars a can.
She said yes, and then she goes, but the bellman can take you
(15:54):
to fries.
It's right down the street.
So the bellman took me to friesoh, is that how you?
I didn't, I thought you drovethey took me to the grocery
store that was right down thestreet.
I didn't even know that, yeah,in an executive Tahoe.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
Fries is like if you're not from Phoenix fries is
like the Kroger.
Speaker 2 (16:14):
It's a grocery store, yeah, I didn't know that so the
bellman took me to the storeand I grabbed an eight-pack of
High Noon and a 12 pack ofMickey.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
Ultra, and the reason that you got those is they
serve both of those at the atthe, not the Ultra.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
But I bought the Ultra because that's what the
couple had.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
Okay, yeah, well, the High Noons we got, because you
could buy a High Noon there.
Yes, and so if we were walkingaround with a High Noon, like
they would just assume we boughtit there.
But we didn't.
And no one was like.
Occasionally they were checkingbags when you walked through,
but they didn't check.
Speaker 2 (16:51):
I don't think they honestly.
If you like, just hide them onthe bottom.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
They don't like go through it, they just like peek
but also one time that duane andhis buddy passed a like thermos
through the fence.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
Yeah, we like went to the his car to make a drink,
which was funny because therewas other dads out there doing
things of the same nature.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
I thought that was hilarious, oh yeah so there are,
like the food at the hotel isexpensive, but there are just
like any other hotel I mean yeah, yeah, I know we did eat
breakfast at the hotel.
It was not a buffet, it was inlike the lobby bar and grill.
It was a menu.
It was good actually.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
I thought it was pretty good actually, the coffee
was good.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
They also have a Starbucks in the lobby where you
can get like legit Starbucksdrinks.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
Again, you're paying hotel prices, though.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
Oh yeah, it's, though .
Oh yeah, it's more expensive,for sure, yeah, but I was able
to get like a, you know, likethe latte I normally get.
They also had cold brew, whichI also get a lot.
So, um, and yeah, I mean, thebreakfast was good.
We had pancakes, bacon, youknow all the basics.
It's a basic breakfast menu, butit was good and you get to
watch the golfers tee off fromthe whole hole number one there
(18:01):
yes, there is a nice view of thegolf course from breakfast, and
Duane was getting a chuckle outof watching these golfers
because it made you feel betterabout your golfing.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
Well, I'm horrible at golf and there were some
horrible, I would have fit rightin.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
Yeah, okay, we've talked about they also have a
spa at this hotel and you cangolf.
We mentioned that already.
Did not experience the spa, butI would imagine it's pretty
nice, like the hotel in general,like the service was good.
Let's talk about how we bookedit.
So you can book this through atravel portal, like at the Chase
(18:38):
portal or the Amex portal, andyou can use your points that way
.
Like we've talked about before.
That's not going to really belike the best value for your
points, but it's.
It would get you the room forfree and it would be fine.
Um, you also could book withyour capital one card and then
erase the um charge and thatwould also be an option for how
(19:02):
you could book this charge andthat would also be an option for
how you could book this.
The way that we booked it wasactually through American
Airlines hotels.
So we are on a or I am on aquest to earn American Airlines
status, mostly as like a test tosee if there's value in it for
(19:22):
a family.
Because a test to see ifthere's value in it for a family
?
Because I, admittedly, am alittle bit skeptical about
whether or not we'll see thevalue in doing so or in having
the status.
But I'm currently at gold andthe next one up is platinum, and
my goal is to hit platinumstatus by the time we go to Cabo
(19:44):
, cause I want to see if we'llget some kind of an upgrade to
first class for our two hourflight.
I have no idea if we will, Idon't know.
I don't know how many peoplefly to Cabo and I don't know.
But that's my plan, because Iwould like to maybe see if I
could get us an upgrade, ifpossible.
As far as, like, what level ofstatus am I aiming for?
(20:09):
I think I'll just have to waitand see.
Definitely I want platinum andthen potentially the one above
that.
I don't think I'll get to thehighest status level because it
needs like a lot of points, butwe'll see.
And in the in the meantimewe're just earning a lot of a
miles, you know, as we kind ofget to get to the status level.
(20:29):
So that's always helpful aswell.
So that's how we booked it andso technically this is like
booking through a third party,so like if you are going to do
like a Hilton or whatever, likewe talked about last time, you
may not get your status benefits, but for this hotel in
particular there is no status oranything like that.
(20:49):
They're not part of any majorpoints program.
So I had zero qualms aboutbooking through the AA hotels.
So I think we I'm pretty sure itwas $299 we spent for the night
, and again, that included fourpasses to the water park on both
Saturday and Sunday, and thenwe just paid the extra for the
(21:12):
fifth person and we will earn2300 AA miles on top of that,
and I was able to use my chaseSapphire card, and so we'll earn
also like 900 Chase points.
And then we I put down my Amexbiz platinum the second one for
(21:33):
the incidentals, so any likefood and stuff and drinks that
we bought will go towards theminimum spend for that card.
So I will say, though, likewhen I was looking at the bill,
I was like wow, like this is alot of money, and normally when
we booked with points, I worryless about the cost of it
(21:54):
because the hotel itself wasfree, you know.
But this time it was like we'vehad paid for the hotel and we
paid for the food and the drinks, and I was like wow, I was like
this is like not sustainable.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
And we typically get free breakfast.
Because of your globaliststatus Also true.
Speaker 1 (22:12):
Yeah, also true, I mean we probably should have
gone out and like done likeMcDonald's or something, but I
wanted to have a good kind ofidea of the food so that I could
report back to everyone.
So I mean it is what it is, butI definitely felt the like oh
feeling when I looked at thebill, knowing that we paid for
(22:35):
both of the room and the likeyou know, all the food, that I
don't normally feel that waywhen we use points, points or I
feel it less, I guess.
But yeah, I mean I mean if youwere going to go for like a four
or five night vacation andspend that like every day yikes,
it's a lot, um.
(22:56):
So I mean, I just I love how thepoints give us the freedom to
to not stress about, you know,the cost of a hotel breakfast or
whatever you know pool food,whatever it may be.
I really like, I really doappreciate that and I'm grateful
for that, and I feel like it'ssomething you don't even really
realize until you're like payingcash and you're like, oh, my
(23:17):
God, okay.
So, before we wrap up, I think,like one we should, we should
give, like, our final verdict onthis.
And also, to who do you thinkthat this hotel would be good
for?
I'll tell you what I think andyou tell me your thoughts.
I think this would be super.
This is a fantastic hotel forfamilies, especially if you have
(23:37):
older kids, like our kids.
Our two boys were a fine age forthis they're 11 and 8 and they
were off with their friends.
Each of them had a couple offriends that were like in their
their age group, because our, asa background, our two boys go
to different schools, but ouroldest used to go to the same
(23:59):
school as our as oureight-year-old, and so he still
knows some of the people fromthat school and that's who was
on this like weekend trip withus, so they each had friends in
their age group to play with,and there would be times where
we wouldn't see them for 3045minutes and then we'd have to go
like, look for them and justverify like yep, they're still
fine, because they were in theriver and they were playing
(24:20):
volleyball and they were in thewave wave pool and they were,
you know, going down the slideand they were doing all the
things.
Speaker 2 (24:26):
Yes, I would agree with that.
Um, also, we we didn't mentionthis at all there are lifeguards
at this pool and I mean thereare, they're everywhere.
Yes, um, in the wave pool alonethere was two um the slides.
There are lifeguards everywhere.
There's lazy river.
There were like stationguardseverywhere there, just lazy
river.
There are like stationlifeguard stations throughout
(24:46):
the lazy river yeah, so yeah asa parent that's good yeah, no, I
mean, that's what I was gonnasay as a parent.
It eases your anxiety a littlebit, not yours though, but for
other parents nope, not mine.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
um, so for our five-year-old I made her wear
her little floaty most of thetime, unless a grown-up was in
the water with her, like staringat her, and she didn't love
that.
But even the wave pool, I meanthe waves were pretty big for
someone her size.
Speaker 2 (25:19):
Like I wasn't opposed to it for this resort.
I mean because the wave pooldid get really busy.
I mean at one point it waspacked.
It was packed but like thismorning when we went this
morning it was not anything likeit was yesterday and I was
totally fine with her not havinga floaty on.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
But that's me, not you but that's that's me, not
you.
Speaker 2 (25:50):
I just am very aware of how quickly a child can drown
.
It is literally seconds and,mind you, just so you know, we
were front row seats, so I meanwe were right there but I mean,
all you have to do is getdistracted for just a minute,
you know it's not worth it myanxiety level is not
Speaker 1 (26:02):
I know they're not the same as yours, yes, um.
So, yes, there are lifeguards.
I will say, like, for ourfive-year-old, there was less
for her to do because wewouldn't let her run free with
her brothers, and nor did herbrothers want her to be playing
with them either, becausethey're they play super rough
(26:24):
and she just can't hang likethat because she's she doesn't
swim like they do yet she will,but she's not there yet.
So there she was a littlelimited in what she could do
without a grown-up.
So we, you know, we took her tothe little kiddie pool.
She likes to go in the hot tub.
So we took her in the hot tub.
But it was like you can't, wecouldn't just sit and let her,
(26:45):
like, go, you know.
So I do think if you have olderkids, this would be fantastic.
We also did.
They had a movie at the poolnight.
I'm not sure if it's Fridaysand Saturdays or just Saturdays,
but they played a movie at thepool.
It was completely dark.
I think it started at 8 PM andwe went for that, which we
normally wouldn't because thekids had already been in the
water for like a solid eighthours.
(27:07):
But we went for that, had agreat time, and the slides were
still open then too, and youwent down the slide yes, I took
advantage of that because therewere no lines yeah, when it was
busy the lines were long and ittook forever.
Speaker 2 (27:24):
They just weren't efficient running these slides.
But it had something to do withthe water levels of the slide
and whatever they had to waitfor the water after each person
would go down.
Speaker 1 (27:33):
They had to wait for the water levels to return to a
certain level before they couldsafely let someone else go down.
But I mean literally.
Speaker 2 (27:40):
It took like not even exaggerating probably seven
minutes after someone went downthe slide like yeah, so the
lines were were long when it wasbusy.
Speaker 1 (27:51):
But I think if you're coming to phoenix and you are
like wanting to kind of go outand do stuff during the day,
especially if you're coming inthe summer, you'll be able to
get a cheaper cash rate for sure.
And then, if you have olderkids, you can come back to the
hotel and they can.
You guys can go to the pool fora couple of hours and still, if
you have older kids, you cancome back to the hotel and they
can.
You guys can go to the pool fora couple of hours and still
enjoy, you know, the waterslides and all that.
(28:13):
They still have lifeguards onduty, like everything.
So I mean I think, yeah, thatwould be a great way to kind of
end the day and then start allover 100.
Speaker 2 (28:22):
Come back to this hotel.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
Yes, so, okay.
So last time we rated it likeon a you know scale of one to
five, like stars, and the lastone was a, we said was a three.
So what would you give this one?
Speaker 2 (28:36):
I mean, this was a solid four.
Speaker 1 (28:38):
Yeah, I think that too.
Speaker 2 (28:40):
Yeah, it was definitely way better than the
last hotel we were at, theTapatio.
Speaker 1 (28:46):
Yes, I do think the service was kind of similar,
like no one was up our buttsright and like there were no
Bellman.
Was there Bellman?
Speaker 2 (28:54):
Yeah, there was a Bellman.
Oh, there were Bellman, but wejust didn't use them.
They drove me to the store.
Speaker 1 (28:57):
Oh yeah, okay, I take it back, I take it back.
Speaker 2 (29:12):
Okay, yeah, in the hotel was I thought it was great
.
It was great.
Yeah, we weren't in there for along.
The bellman were the ones thathelped me the most.
Um, we've been hotels wherethere's cocktail servers that go
, you know, walk throughout thepool.
Speaker 1 (29:15):
They didn't have that , which I thought was weird.
They had qr codes on the chair,I know, but there's still.
Speaker 2 (29:19):
I mean well, I mean, I know, I just thought that was
weird, but I mean it allowed meto sneak in some drinks, so that
also saved a lot of money.
Yeah, a lot yeah.
Speaker 1 (29:33):
So, yes, I think, families, especially if you have
older kids, this is a greathotel for that.
Also, like a multi-generationaltrip, like if you have, like
you know, the grandparents andthe and the you know, the kids
and the grandkids you know, andand the maybe I'm going to be
kind of this is like a littlebit of a stereotype, but grandpa
and dad want to go golfing and,like you know, mom and grandma
(29:55):
hang back with the kids and takethem to the pool, like I could
see that, you know, being athing too.
I do not think this is a goodhotel for couples or a couples
getaway.
There were kids everywhere,everywhere, and in the hot tub.
We were laughing because therewere some couples in the hot tub
(30:17):
and then we were there withlike all 10 kids and plus other
people's kids were in there andwe were just kind of laughing
that like this is not the placeto come if you want to relax in
the hot tub, because there'sliterally children everywhere.
Speaker 2 (30:32):
But you know what we didn't mention.
There are other pools on thisproperty, oh yeah, that's true,
that are way less busier.
So I mean, if you are a couple,you can probably just hang out.
I mean, mind you, there's stillstill gonna be kids there, just
not yeah, so they're okay.
Speaker 1 (30:50):
So there is the water park, and then there are other
pools.
Speaker 2 (30:54):
The other pools are not fancy, like they're
literally rectangles, just apool with a hot tub, some seats
yeah that are within the wallsof the hotel.
Speaker 1 (31:03):
Yes, yes, and there seemed to be at least two or
three that we saw.
Speaker 2 (31:10):
So we were in the Camelback building yeah, wing or
whatever and there was twopools alone for that.
Speaker 1 (31:18):
Yeah, and it wasn't a very big building.
And there were several otherbuildings as well that also had
their own pools.
Speaker 2 (31:24):
Yeah, our friend stayed at another building and
they also had two pools, so Imean yeah, so that's true.
Speaker 1 (31:31):
That's a good point.
If you want to get away fromthe kids, there are other pools
that you could go to but have noservice.
So I mean yeah, I mean, yeah,it would be fine, um, but yeah,
I would 100% go back.
I really thought it was areally fun time for the kids.
Speaker 2 (31:49):
And the kids had a great time.
Speaker 1 (31:51):
I mean so exhausted.
They are so exhausted they'relike literally falling asleep as
we record this, which is great,because my goal as a parent is
always to exhaust my children.
So love that.
Okay, anything else that weforgot or didn't talk about?
Speaker 2 (32:11):
No, I think this was a quick uh stay great, stay.
Part two of our series.
Speaker 1 (32:18):
If you've never like, if you're in Phoenix or you
know the Phoenix area and you'venever been to this hotel, I
would definitely recommend it.
I think yeah, for sure a reallygood like a weekend trip.
Staycations are great becauseyou don't have to pay for
airfare and you're.
It will definitely occupy yourkids and if you are from phoenix
, it's right down the on um thetenon vaseline okay um, we are
(32:43):
heading to yosemite and LakeTahoe in the next few weeks, and
so our next couple episodes Iwill actually be recording
before we leave, and so thosewill be out next week and the
week after Also it'll just beher.
It will just be me, because Ihave to record them this week
and Duane will be working.
(33:03):
Oh, actually you're off.
Speaker 2 (33:04):
No.
Speaker 1 (33:05):
I'm building stuff.
Oh yeah, duane will be working,so oh, actually, you're off.
No, I'm building stuff.
Oh yeah, we're.
We decided, as part of the waywe're going to meet this minimum
spend is we need to do somefurniture reorganizing for the
kids and, like our daughterneeds a bed and we're gonna.
It's a whole long thing, butwe're ordering a bunch of
furniture that duane is going tobe assembling this week, so
yeah, anyways but no freakingjet skis no jet skis.
(33:26):
If you listened to last week'sepisode, that was how Dwayne
wanted to meet the minimum spendon my second Amex Biz Platinum.
Sadly, the poll sided with meand we are not getting jet skis.
It's not sad, though, because Idon't want them.
Speaker 2 (33:40):
Thank you to the listeners out there that voted
for jet skis.
You were appreciated more thanyou know.
Speaker 1 (33:45):
There were a few who messaged me and were like yes to
the Jess keys and I'm like, yes, but no, thank you, oh goodness
, um.
One last thing.
Um, I opened up a waitlist lastweek for um a basically a
one-on-one consultation slashsession with me for an hour
(34:08):
where if you have points andyou're just not sure how to use
them or you don't want to usethem, like wrong, even though
there's really no way wrong wayto use them.
But if you don't want, if youwant to make sure you're getting
the most value for your points,I am going to be opening up
sessions.
It's probably going to be asolid two weeks before the
waitlist like ends or whatever,so you have some time.
(34:30):
But I'll put a link to that inthe show notes if that is
something that might beinteresting to you.
I know there's a lot of peoplethat listen, that like to do
their own kind of hunting andgathering and figuring out which
and that's fantastic, becausethat's how I am too.
But if you're new and you justneed, like someone to hold your
hand and say, like these are thepoints that I have like and I
want to go to Hawaii or I wantto go to Europe or I want to go
(34:51):
to wherever I will.
You can schedule time with meand I will show you like how I
would recommend that you usethem and give you some different
options.
So that is going to be openingup in the next um, likely two to
three weeks.
So if you want to get on thewait list, you will get a an
extra discount for being on thewait list and so I will put a
(35:12):
link to sign up to that in theshow notes as a side note.
Like the way that I can set upthe wait list, it like I have to
send you something and so I'mjust sending the link to the
podcast.
So like if you get the link tothe podcast, so like if you get
the link to the podcast andyou're like what is this for?
It's because the way that thebeacons, like link tree, is set
(35:33):
up is like I have to sendsomething.
So, anyways, just as a sidenote, that's what you'll get
until the waitlist actuallyopens and it's like an actual
thing.
So, okay, that is all we have.
I hope that you enjoyed comingalong with us to the arizona
grand with the water park andall the fun family activities.
Speaker 2 (35:54):
Um what's the next staycation series?
Speaker 1 (35:58):
I actually haven't booked it yet because I need to
figure out when we can do itbetween slacking.
I know well we have twovacations in the next month, and
so it's just a matter offinding the time but I mean it's
gonna be like desert ridge oryeah, desert ridge is gonna be
one of them, for sure that it'sa jw marriott.
Um, the other like.
(36:20):
So our kids have a very shortsummer break, so by mid-july
they will all be in school.
So it's like we have to cramall the, all the summer
vacations into like a six weekwindow, and so that is like kind
of challenging.
So yeah, and then, yeah, wehave the Grand Hyatt coming up
in August, so we've stayed therebut we haven't been with our
(36:44):
kids since the remodel.
Yep, so we'll probably doDesert Ridge and then one other
one.
That's my plan, okay.
Speaker 2 (36:51):
Anyways, we appreciate you guys listening.
Speaker 1 (36:53):
Yes, thanks for tuning in.
We appreciate you.
Yes, leave us a review, thankyou, love you.
Bye, have a good one, bye,thank you.
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