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18 reviews for JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort and Spa
My BF surprised me with a weekend here for our 7 year anniversary on the 4th of July weekend and wow! Did we have a great time!
There's a lot to cover so I think I will try Tom L.'s approach.
Parking: Valet and Self Park are offered. We self parked and boy was the walk to the front desk long, I mean really long! A couple minutes into it I thought to myself that this was just like a giant Vegas hotel. But even so, we never had to walk back there so it didn't matter...which makes for a nice transition into commenting on the...
Location: Out in the middle of nowhere....it makes for gorgeous views but you've got a long drive ahead of you if you want to leave the premises, esp if you self parked!
Food: Pricey. We ate at Primo, Signature Grill, Plunge and Catalina. Catalina is not in the hotel, it is located in the country club a short complimentary shuttle drive down the road, it was my favorite. Primo for dinner was also very good. Both were on the more elegant side and were about $150 for the two of us, which may sound like a lot but we also spend nearly $50 on quesadillas, a beer and margarita at Plunge. The drinks wherever we went were pretty expensive, $12-$15 for mixed drinks and $5-$8 for beers and it's hard to say no when you are enjoying a float in the lazy river! Signature Grill for breakfast was delicious! We ate there twice.
But the other reviews were right, its very pricey for what you get and the drinks are really expensive, the money we spent on food and drinks was about 70% of our total bill - so careful!
Room/Hotel: We had a standard room which was completely nice and fine, nothing fancy and nothing to complain about either. The beds were very comfy, we had a nice view of the lazy river, everything worked, and everything was clean.
The hotel is huge and you walk a lot. Its very nice though, great views everywhere you look. The service was great also, everywhere you went you'd hear, "How are you?" "How is your stay so far?" "I'm so glad to hear it!" "Have a wonderful time!"
Pool and Lazy River: Yes I have to dedicate a separate bullet just for this because I loved the lazy river so. Now I must say that on the weekend of the 4th it was tough finding a lounge and a tube but it was worth it !
4th of July: This is definitely worth a mention. They have their very own fire works show! That means no driving around, parking etc. We sat out on the patio at Primo and watched the show, it was great! Whats not great about 4th of July weekend? It was a little like Disneyland and Cancun all wrapped into one. Tons of kids running around and tons of drunk 20 somethings hanging out in the lazy river, drinking beers for hours and amazingly enough never needing to get out and pee! Gross!
All and all, we had a great time and plan to come back, we hear that on any other weekend the place is deserted...sounds nice! I would definitely recommend this hotel for a fun filled weekend!
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I did not stay at this resort but i enjoyed a $25 wine class which included 6 generous pours, an antipasto plate and a bread basket. The class starts at 3:30 and is taught by sommeliers. Participants can get as much or as little information as they want, since after a brief description for each wine, the sommeliers mingle asking for input or answering additional questions.
The wines were delicious for our Argentinian tasting and retailed from $10 - $50 a bottle.
Following the wine class, our group moved to the patio for the complimentary sundown tequila toast. Small shots of white tequila were passed out to all "of age" visitors and the story of Pancho Villa is told prior to a group toast.
We enjoyed some appetizers (the chicken chilequilles are super soggy nachos, as described) and dessert (that brownie layer cake is out of this world!), were graced by the chef's presence and enjoyed excellent, courteous service even as our group of 9 moved from outside, to inside, to outside because of rain.
It was a great weekend activity and I can't wait to go back!
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I went here for a conference a couple of years ago and was blown away by the hotel, location and excellent service. It was the only business trip I've ever been on that felt more like a vacation than work.
Watching the sun go down from poolside, drinking a cocktail from their inside/outside bar, or sitting around the firepit gazing at the stars- it was amazing. Nice big clean room, with a gorgeous bathroom. Probably the best customer service I've received by anyone, anywhere. The staff was always courteous and said hello when passing.
Not great for business travelers!
Recently stayed here. Hotel and grounds were beautiful. Bathroom was luxurious, but the room was not what I've come to expect from a JW. Beautiful desert location! This is a conference center hotel, and if you're not attending events at the hotel, it has its drawbacks:
-not near anything (if you want to go out for dinner then you have to drive far)
-no concierge lounge or free breakfast for Marriott Rewards Elite Members. This was my biggest beef with this hotel.
The room service menu is short and barely adequate. There are several restaurants onsite. I ate at Primo twice since it was near my room and enjoyed both experiences, once in the dining room, and the other time I took back to my room.
The Spa Gym is fairly nice with a newer selection of equipment. TV selection at cardio equipment in Gym was disappointing.
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I stayed here while I stayed in Tucson, and I might not be the biggest fan of Tucson but I really enjoyed my time at this hotel. It really made my time in Tucson even better. It was placed in a great area and has an awesome view from the hotel rooms and surrounding areas. It was the highest rating areas in Tucson so myself and my girlfriend decided to stay there.
POOL: Great pool.. we stated at the lazy man pool all day and had tons of fun. Great for kids and awesome slide! Tons of fun and reminds me of the lazy man pools in Vegas resorts. Though, becarefull, i didnt see a place to order sun screen and im red as a tomato right now and its not from blushing :)
HIKING: Well the weather in Tucson is either hot or its raining. But at the time we went hiking it was hot and if you know the Arizona weather its a hot beaming dry heat. Almost feels like your flesh is falling off. heh, but we had a great time walking around and looking at the greens and finding all types of wildlife. We took pictures of deer, rabbits, quail and other creatures, including myself. :) Its a good hike so keep it on your list of things to do.
FOOD/BARS: I must admit the drinks and the food is kinda expensive but what resort food and drinks arent? So if you are looking for a place to save money, I dont recommend this place But for me, I knew it was going to cost and i was ok with it. I got some chicken fingers at the pool they were great and had some fruit with some crazy salt they serve and i fell in love with it. The pricky pear rita was great! I highly recommend that! Other than the bad sun burn i got, i think the food is grade A! The service was excellent too.
ROOM: So I like the rooms because its your great Marriott comfortable rooms but its almost Vegas style where you can close your blinds and its PITCH DARK. But the room service was great and we had our private balcony and it was very romantic to sit out there and watch the stars. Not that we did it to long with out reaching the bed (Sleeping get your head out of the gutter) to long but you get the idea. :)
GROUNDS: I think the grounds are gorgeous! I know some people dont like how it looks and think the ground are a tad bit odd looking but I loved the layout. Perhaps even the cleanest part of the area. It felt like a resort and i felt very relaxed. The bar area was awesome, at night they open the outside doors and allow you to sit outside to over look the city lights and mountains. Then with some good low beat house music playing on the sound system and the friendly wait staff getting me drunk with great drinks from the bar!
PARKING: Well i didnt have a hard time with parking mainly because I did valet. They were awesome and very happy to see that they were fast to get the car down from the parking lot. I did notice if you are doing self parking, its going to take a while as the parking lot was on the other side of the complex. But over all it was fast for us!
Been to many events here and went to one just this weekend. I can't get over the service of everyone there. They are all very nice, at least in event planning. Stayed here a few times too. I love it. Well, except for the waitress who racially profiled a group of people I was with and then had to apologize to us because we told the manager on her. Even then that didn't kill my feelings for this place. Don't get a pedicure here, it's too expensive and it kinda sucks.
Stay here though and host an event here, you will be treated very well.
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Scenic view is amazing, one of the best I've enjoyed at a hotel anywhere in the Southwest. Food was good in the restaurants, as were the drinks, but very pricey for the on site dining. Rooms were clean and it felt like a huge Vegas hotel that you could easily find yourself lost within.
Faults are quite notable though - the parking is frustrating, and a LONG distance from your room. It's as if they want to trap you there and discourage going out elsewhere for dining. The location is isolated and a good distance from the freeway, so there's yet another incentive to just stay put and pay the higher prices for on site dining.
If you don't mind staying at the resort 24/7 and you can afford the higher prices, then this place will be a good experience for you.
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This place is truly magical. I loved every second of it, whether I was lounging out by the pool or hiking in the desert! They have quite a few great restaurants and Starbucks on site.
Omg, talk about a great great hotel. Went here for the graduation party of the class before mine since my year the budget was cut. Great atmosphere, great location, romantic setting (well, does not help in a graduation event), and great food. Truly an extremely nice hotel.
The greatest thing is the valet service, they literally run to your car, like literally. Wonder if they have to run a 6 minute mile as part of the interview.
Still, amazing location for any event. Have never stayed here, but for some reason if I ever go to Tucson and need to stay in a hotel this would be the default choice.
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This is a beautiful gem in the Tucson area! We stayed only one night and had an executive suite, which was just gorgeous. The room was decorated beautifully, none of the tacky southwest style stuff I grew up seeing. The patio was set up with 2 tables and chairs and we had access to a small walking trail feet from our back door.
The lobby was huge with beautiful windows overlooking the pool area and the city of Tucson. The website states every room has some sort of great view, whether it be the mountains or the city.
Room service was top-notch, everything we asked for was provided and people were super-friendly and helpful.
While we didn't indulge in any spa stuff, we can't wait to go back!
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I'm a lifetime Marriott Platinum member and as Marriott's go, this is a great one. My wife and I just returned from our "Baby Moon" there - our last vacation before our first child comes. We REALLY enjoyed ourselves here.
We normally opt for a slightly more adventurous surrounding, like Costa Rica, Italy, Mexico, so I was nervous about Tucson. Instead, this turned out to be the perfect mix of relaxation, adventure, and culture.
HIKING: You can head out the back of the hotel into the Park and follow a few different trails. If you stay to the right, you can go up and over a mountain and come back around the other side of the hotel. That takes about 75 minutes. It's steep in a few places, but nothing my 6 month pregnant wife couldn't handle. If you head left, you head out to an old stone house about 40 minutes. You can either turn around there or keep going through beautiful desert mountains until you eventually end back up at the golf course. That takes a couple of hours and we made it take longer by exploring some of the other trail offshoots. Bring Water!
SPA: My wife got the "Mother to be" massage and loved it, then had a facial which she also raved about. I never got around to getting a massage but I'm sure it would have been a good one. If you are a Marriott elite member, you get access to all the spa facilities. This was the key to a relaxing time. There is a private pool and hot tub for the spa members and NO KIDS in there. This was wonderful as the main pool had some noisy children playing in the fountains. The spa also has it's own workout room which we used a few times. Very nice since it was never crowded.
FOOD/BARS: The hotel food is on the expensive side, but very good. The Signature Grill has a great Sunday Brunch for $22 which we thought was a good deal. The outdoor restaurant, "Plunge", had a decent fish sandwich and fries. The marquee restaurant is called "Primo" and focuses on local and organic cooking. They grow as many of their own vegetables as they can, right out in front of the hotel, and seafood is flown in daily. We didn't have dinner there but went twice for YUMMY gelato that they make on site. From what I could tell, the food easily lived up to it's price tag. They also have a nice wine and liquor list. The wine is poured in 1/3 bottle portions, so it can be pricey. But you get a huge glass which is always nice. I enjoyed a spectacular 20 year Port for $8. The lobby bar makes a killer top-shelf margarita, but for $15 you won't want to have too many.
GOLF: I'm one of those avid but awful golfers. I thought I'd come down here and play every day or every other. Forget that. Unless you plan on joining the tour some day, don't plan on a lot of holes here. First off, it's about $200 for 18 holes. If you didn't bring your own clubs (I didn't) you have to fork over another $70. Then you'll probably need about 48 balls because the course is a monster. It's mostly set in the desert foothills and you have to leap frog over gorges, avoid the cactus, and hit the razor-thin fairways. If you somehow manage to hit the green you better hope you land it in the hole because the dry desert air means the ball aint stopping for anything else. I opted to just hit the driving range once. That was $25 for unlimited balls, and the clubs were free.
ROOM: Standard Marriott room with the new bedding and all. You should really try and get a room on the front of the building looking out over the pool, golf course, and a view of the city. Some of the rooms have balconies, others just have a kind of "Romeo and Juliet" balcony which you can lean out over and peer around. The balconies on all but the top floor are shaded, the top balconies are fully in the sun.
GROUNDS: Upon first sight, the hotel is a tad obnoxious looking. It's just a little bit too big and slightly off color for the gorgeous surroundings, and the golf course is a wee bit out of place. Something about watching the carts maneuver around the cactus was a little Benny Hill'ish To their credit they kept the rest of the landscape intact. The Saguaro cactus is protected by Arizona law and there are hundreds of them all through the property. There is a 2nd wing of the hotel attached only by a walking bridge. They did not build a solid connection in order to keep the creek bed in place that feeds the area. It's really beautiful.
TUSCON - We found several good restaurants in town. Wildflower, El Charro, and Tacqueria Pica de Gallo (local) were our favorites. And the Desert Museum is amazing - go there on your first day so you'll know what you're looking at on your hikes. That's how we knew what a Javelina was when we came face to face with one behind the hotel!
PARKING: Use the guest parking. Follow the sign to the service drive. Park for free, walk a little bit more, save your tip money for the margaritas!
OVERALL: We loved it and would do it again, next time with company....
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I had an overall nice experience at the Starr Pass Resort and Spa.
The decor and scenery was Southwestern style, but reserved and tasteful. On the way up I was amazed at all the cacti lining the hills. It didn't hurt that it was a gorgeous sunny day!
The customer service was excellent. Every question was answered with "of course!" and all the services and amenities were explained clearly. I never felt in need of anything. Dirty towels were emptied and replenished almost magically!
My massage was excellent. Michelle had perfect pressure and professionalism. I was sooo relaxed afterward.
In addition, if you purchase any service you can use their amenities all day. This includes - a potpourri bar, outdoor lap pool and jacuzzi, indoor whirlpool and steam room, gym facilities, and free classes! I took the yoga one...very cool. The locker/bathroom/shower area was very clean and well supplied.
Why the minus one star? My pedicure. It was not good at all. Probably one of the worse pedicures I've ever had, sorry, but it's true. Here in San Diego I pay $32 for a european pedicure. This includes the normal cleaning, massage, nail painting, with additional massage for the sugar scrub and foot mask. Probably about 30 mins total for the process. So when I saw the Starr Pass pedicure for 50 mins costing $65 I figured, hey 20 mins more massaging, that's worth it! No...
I got zero massaging. Zero! The scrub was just swiped on my legs then rinsed off. The 50 mins? Soaking my feet in the tub before the process....and having my foot in plastic bags with the mask. In addition, the painting job wasn't that great and I was left with really oily feet from the cuticle oil being dribbled on last minute.
Don't let the pedicure review deter you from trying the Starr Pass Resort and Spa. Their spa services are great and my girlfriends said they thoroughly enjoyed their facials as well...just avoid the nail salon.
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This is a resort, another success of the JW brands for Marriott. The hotel is tucked away in between some mountains, there was a review I read where someone mentioned it doesn't reflect true Tucson? What is there to reflect on?? The city is minutes away, we use the valet to park our car and hired some drivers when we needed to get into town for dinner and a concert. If you are coming here for that and want to go to the Rialto like we did, it is great. The rooms are nice, all have great views.
We didn't have the best experience in the Restaurant. The service was definitely lacking, but we felt the food and the response from the Service Director who complimented our breakfast because of the terrible waitress, to be a great thing. Remember this is a resort not some quality inn, you need to understand that you will spend money on tips so if you don't like that there are plenty of hotels in the area.
This is a great resort. Stay Classy
If you are planning a trip to Tucson- this is the place to stay. Situated on the side of a mountain overlooking the Tucson Valley, this hotel is absolutely exquisite and the service is second to none. It is new, clean and built to accommodate both the business traveler as well as the vacationer.
The guest rooms are spacious and most have a private balcony overlooking the desert, mountain or golf course. You can rent a party suite (we watched the Super Bowl here) which is an amazing experience. It was a corner suite with a private deck overlooking the valley and had every amenity that you could want.
One of my favorite parts of the hotel is that that the entire back is open to the outdoors and they have firepits and chimeras with seating groups clustered about- a great place to end your evening with a cocktail taking in the lights of the valley below or the stars above.
The Spa is top notch -try the Petals and Leaves 100 minute treatment. It starts with a walnut body scrub, followed by a detoxifying wrap, warm oil scalp massage and ends with a full body massage. Ahhh- I could barely get off the table at the end of the service!
There are also all the other activities to enjoy- from golfing to hiking in the desert to bike rides in the desert , a full workout facility and a beautiful outdoor pool area. If I had a wish- it would be that the Internet was free instead of being charged a $9.95 per day.
The thing that set this resort off from others for me was the level of personal service each and every employee provides. You are acknowledged whenever you pass an employee, and they step in to assist you before you even know you need assistance. I had one waitress so concerned that there was no one working my section that she came over, served us lunch and then followed us out to the pool to make sure that we had someone to take care of us there. By the way- the Prickly Pear frozen margaritas out at the pool are great!
As one who travels alot for work- it is a real pleasure to stay at a place where taking care of the customer seems to be their only mission. Travel comes with it's own set of unique challenges and any place that alleviates those is top on my list. I have a choice when I travel and this will be one of those that make it to my "must return" list.
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This Marriott is one of the best getaways for people who live in Tucson. Whenever you're there, it seems like your on vacation far away from your home, when in reality, you're just a few miles away from downtown Tucson. The mountains surrounding the JW Marriott are extremely beautiful, which make the drive up to the resort breath-taking and enjoyable. My absolute favorite part about the resort is the pool. It has a lazy river and a pretty awesome water slide that will keep the whole family occupied all day long. Another great feature is that it has a built in starbucks for those who seek quality coffee in the morning. All in all, the JW Marriott is a perfect way to escape the stresses of everyday life and instead come to a place where you can just relax and have fun.
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The spa is frou frou and really way over priced. Not a unique experience by any means. I paid $150 of a one hour masage and it was just okay.
I suggest that you try some of the local day spas closer to the city, notably Spa One or Tredici. The services are BETTER and the cost is 1/2 to 1/3.
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We loved this resort, and were we able to find a similarly amazing deal, we would love to stay there again. We were here just for a weekend to watch our young friend take part in a gymnastics competition. I mention that because we weren't planning to lounge at the pool, use the spa, play golf or take advantage of any particular resort amenities - and it meant this whole experience was done w/ an 8 year old.
We knew it was a bit outside of Tucson, and we thought it was a great opportunity to see it from another side. It was really amazing. Driving there, we went through the downtown Tucson area, through residential areas, into a more desert area into and then suddenly you could just tell you were approaching the resort. Suddenly out of the desert there were nice homes, spread thinly, with patches of golf course in the distance. As the road twisted and turned on our approach, we took several pictures (that I'm including here) as it really shows you how separated it is, how it's directly up against the mountain and how amazingly large it really is!
If we tried to self park I don't even know where we would have gone. I never bothered to try. We pulled up and the valets swarmed our car with politeness. There was one at each side and one waiting for us to open the back of the car to get our things. They waited patiently as we had to become accustomed slowly to their politeness the way you become accustomed to the bright sun when walking out in the morning. Stunned, then slow, then able to function normally. The 8 year old was a bit extra groggy from the ride, and they handled it quite well in how they interacted with her.
The lobby was simple in it's beauty. With it's immense windows, it really let the view Tucson and the other mountains speak for it. Service was impeccable and our keys were ready and waiting. Rooms were very nice. Not as large as I've seen in some smaller hotels, but everything was of a great quality. And we weren't there for the rooms anyhow.
We had nothing but excellent experiences with the car valet service. We would call from our room when we were headed down, and it was generally there by the time we got there. I think we may have waited a minute or two once or twice, but in the 3 days we were there, coming and going on 2-3 different trips through the day - I think it's a pretty good average.
My final great thing to mention goes back to their service. Everyone was just wonderful. One night, after the competition was over our 8 year old wanted to hop in the pool. So we all headed down but it was too cold for anyone but her. After getting her out and showered, it was getting quite late for dinner. So we took a tired and wet girl into the lobby thinking we'd need to leave the resort as we normally did for food as we figured all their five star restaurants may be great for adults - but not exactly 8 year old friendly. Before we got to the door, I asked an older Bellman by the elevator if there was anything in the hotel he could recommend for dinner. I showed him the tired, wet haired 8 year old being carried by her mom and emphasized that it would need to be child friendly. With the most reassuring smile he recommended a place there at the resort, said we didn't need to worry about that, they had a full child's menu and he was sure she'd just love it. He interacted with our 8 year old a bit to sell her on it, and it absolutely worked. The restaurant folks were just as understanding - even when she whined a bit more than usual and eventually fell asleep in her chair (luckily it had arms) before finishing her dinner.
One member of our trip said that although she'd visited other high end resorts in the past, this was the first one where she felt she was truly treated as a VIP by every member of the staff. We all shared her sentiments - and I'd hope that you had a similar experience during your stay.
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I really don't like this resort. In the spirit of full disclosure, let me preface this review with my personal bias. I used to mountain bike out here. Yes, the park is still there, but access is more difficult, and the hotel and golf course is like a big ugly scar in the once pristine beautiful desert. Now, I have stayed here several times (not by choice) for work "retreats" and so I can honestly say that I don't enjoy the resort itself. Sure the rooms are nice. Yes, the lobby/patio/pool etc are beautiful if you are into antiseptic generic southwestern decor. But if you stay here, you will not get a feel for the real Tucson. Another problem is that it is outside of town and they literally try to trap you in the hotel by making you park your car so far away that you have to take a 5 minute shuttle to the resort or you have to valet and every time you leave the valet takes 20 minutes to fetch your car... If you are looking for the kind of vacation where you just want to sit by a pool and golf then you might enjoy it here. The hiking trails around Starr Pass are a bonus as well. I would never spend my own money to stay here.
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