Travel Tips & Adventures

Over the years, we’ve stayed in many hotels.  Some were great; some were lacking.  We were fortunate to stay at the Prescott Resort & Conference Center in Prescott, Arizona recently.  In almost every aspect, our stay was superior.

The front desk service was efficient, genuinely cheerful and thorough.  None of that “whisk through the monolog, whew, on to the next check-in.”  And, there were several people in line.  Perhaps another front desk clerk at 3:00 PM check-in might have helped, but our wait was very brief. The hotel, owned by the Yavapai Indian Community, is managed by Grace Hospitality.

The Room

We had an end room on the third floor.  We opened the door and were astonished to see- one of the largest rooms we have ever had.  (Even more remarkable was the rate for the room – we had a special for $101.) While some of our view encompassed the workings on the roof, we did have some view of Granite Dells in the distance (more on Granite Dells on Monday) and the area east of downtown Prescott.

Our spacious King-sized room at the Prescott Resort & Conference Center

Our King-sized bed had walking room around it – you know how some rooms are crammed with almost no space between the foot of the bed and the opposite wall’s furnishings?  This room had room.

A giant credenza housed a small refrigerator, a room safe and a three-drawer dresser with a desk at the end.  There was a couch with an ottoman PLUS a single armchair.  Cozy, comfortable and spacious.

Each side of the bed had a night table – a large one with a full-sized lamp on it. One of the few criticisms we had – and we always have – is that with all of the lights on, it is still dim in the room.  Great environment for a romantic evening, but difficult if you’re planning to work in your room.  After all, it is a conference center with meeting rooms.

Facilities

Hotels are switching to LCD lights, which we commend, but the new and old lighting should be better.  (We’re mentioning that as a commentary on all hotels.  I know people who bring light bulbs to use to brighten up their rooms.  With security and luggage restrictions, that isn’t easy these days.)

The rest room had the dimmest lights of all and that is not good from a safety perspective.  Otherwise, the recent remodeling in the room and bathroom were understated and attractive.  A subtle Native American motif was restful, with earth tones, and followed a pattern in both the carpet and on the headboard.

The only other issue we had was a difficulty connecting to the wireless internet.  When we tried to log repeatedly on at 10:00 PM and couldn’t, we called the front desk who very emphatically said he couldn’t help us, that everyone with that expertise had gone home.  A little less emphatic and a little more apologetic would have been appropriate.  He also could have offered us a cable so we could connect with a wire, but he didn’t.  Amazingly, when I hung up with him and tried again, the connection worked. So, a little spotty on the wireless connection and how to handle that out of hours, but otherwise, good amenities.

Restaurant – Thumb Butte

The restaurant, Thumb Butte, has an eager young staff working hard to please diners.  They serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner, plus a Sunday brunch.  Unlike most hotels, their rates for a hotel meal were not astronomical.  My husband loves Egg Benedict and thought the $8 price tag quite reasonable for that, especially at a hotel.  I had the Steak and Egg breakfast for $10.50 that included a tender, properly cooked 8 oz. steak (I asked for medium rare and got it!) and eggs cooked to order along with hash browns and toast.  On probably the most expensive breakfast on the menu, I thought they did a good job.

Our waitress was appropriate in her checking back (maybe a little too eager, but she was working hard.)  Cami, who filled our water glasses and acted as back-up, was extremely friendly and competent.  We got into a discussion about folding napkins (she was setting up napkins at tables) and I found her very friendly. Since it wasn’t busy as the official breakfast hours were over, it was nice to have her chat with us.

In general, Prescott Resort & Conference Center was a great place to stay.  We recommend it for the value and accommodations.

Tomorrow… We visit some other restaurants in Prescott for good food and atmosphere.

Note: For those who check in early, my apologies for my late posting today.  Work commitments are crowding my schedule.  Starting in 2010, the blog will have three postings a week (or more, if time and inspiration allow.) If anyone cares to write for us – on a one-time basis or more often, we’d love to have some guest writers.

We thank you for your readership this year!

Please take a look at our SHOP tab and consider a purchase.  We do not have a charge for this blog, but the costs of our travels are not subsidized by any of the hotels, restaurants and locations we visit.  So, we could use a little help from our readers.  Isn’t it comforting to know that we are not corporate shills, paid to write our reviews?  Even if someone comps us to an admission fee, we write what we see and experience – objectively!

We wish our readers a very happy new year with health, prosperity, love and joy!

Tags: Arizona, Food, Hotels, Restaurant, Scenery, Southwest, Travel

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 31st, 2009 at 11:21 am and is filed under Arizona, Hotels, Native American, Restaurant, Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.