Friday, September 17, 2010

Four Seasons At Troon - The Pools

The Main Pool


While Judy was in her conference at this resort, I spent many hours at poolside. It was one of the sacrifices I made for our travel business :-)

The resort had recently completed a million dollar refurbishment of the pool area and it showed! There are three pools: a wading pool, a family pool, and an adults-only pool. The family pool shown at right is the largest of the three. The temperature of the water was refreshingly brisk, but not uncomfortably cold.There is also a hot tub which is nice for the cooler evenings.

The Wading Pool
The area is surrounded by several cabanas and lounge chairs. The cabanas are free to use and provide much needed shelter from the sun. As the day heats up, they turn on misters to cool the area down a bit. The staff there are available to help you set up the cabana to your liking and bring a pitcher of water. They make sure that everyone stays hydrated. Periodically throughout the day they bring around free treats like fresh fruit or sammples of smoothies. There is also food and drink available for purchase from the poolside restaurant. The staff is happy to take your order and bring your food to you.

Monday, September 13, 2010

Four Seasons at Troon - The Room



The view from our deck!



Sunset from our deck!

Our room was what they call a "Deluxe Casita". It was 500 Square feet and had a king bed. There was also a sitting area with a large screen TV and a gas fireplace. The room opened out to a very nice deck with a spectacular view of Crescent Butte. It was breathtaking. The desert came right up to our deck and we could see critters of all sorts scampering about. It is amazing just how much life there is in the desert.




 


North end of our room
We were about a five minute walk from the main building and lobby. It was very quiet there, we rarely heard our neighbors. The bathroom was pretty much the mirror-image of the one we had at the Venetian (no TV, though). The housekeeping had a policy that I had never encountered before. If you leave the do not disturb tag out, they will make up your room anyway at 2:00, unless you call them to make other arrangements. This is good for someone like me who sometimes forgets to take in the tag, but a bit of an inconvenience for someone who really does not want to be disturbed. Maybe they should have a second "I really mean it" tag to put out.

South end of our room
The room had a nice sized walk-in closet so our my junk was mostly out of sight :-) There were robes and slippers for us to use there, which came in handy for the journey to the pool.

The ice machine was in a little building adjacent to the building our room was in. Also in that building was a free washer/dryer as well as free soap and fabric softener. We really took advantage of that! I wish more places had that feature. 


All in all this was a very comfortable place to stay. I would highly recommend staying here.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

The Four Seasons at Troon in Scottsdale, AZ


While we were in Scottsdale, we stayed at the Four Seasons resort at Troon. This resort is outstanding, and, since we traveled in the off-season (also known as the monsoon season) we got a fantastic price. It is located about 30 miles North of the Phoenix airport. They have a shuttle, but as I mentioned in my previous post, a rental car would give you more freedom to explore the area. Not much is within walking distance...especially with triple-digit temperatures.

They have valet parking (for a fee) and plenty of self-parking (for a lesser fee). We did the self-parking to keep our car conveniently located by our room.

The Main Entrance with Pinnacle Peak in the background
It is designed to blend in nicely with its surroundings and there is an abundance of native plants surrounding the campus as well as critters running around. I had not seen quail since I was growing up in Eastern Washington...I had forgotten how cute they are. We also saw jack rabbits, lizards, and raptors. It is amazing how much life there is in the desert.
The view from the lobby
There was a $5 resort fee, which is quite reasonable compared to other places I have stayed. This covers the tips, which is makes it really worthwhile. The service here is outstanding. From the time we arrived to the time we got to the room, four people helped us out and it left a very favorable first impression with us.

It is located next to Pinnacle Peak State Park. They have daily guided hikes there from the resort. Take lots of water!

Our Room (the dark balcony just left of center)
Be sure to pick up an activity calendar from the front desk. They have several activities for adults and children. Some of the fitness activities have a fee. We went to the wine tasting, tequila tasting, and the Margarita demonstration. All those were free as well as informative and fun. I think I am becoming a tequila connoisseur. Unfortunately we missed the chocolate tasting.