As long as one is in beautiful enchanting Sedona where one stays is somewhat secondary. The Summit has an almost perfect location from which to jump off to all the great places in the area. The resort staff is first rate, but the property is getting a bit older. Noticeable road noise from busy Hwy 89A. I still like it nonetheless. $25 daily amenities fee is absurdly high as Hilton uses it to leverage attendees for it's vacation sales and marketing presentations.
As always with Hilton, front desk made the experience memorable. Front desk representative Venessa gave us a room occupied by other guests TWICE at check in. I had to leave teenagers by themselves with our suitcases and run back to the lobby with a toddler in tow to try and resolve TWICE. First time I came back she did not even believe me! She was extremely skeptical and said it was impossible and she would have to go check herself. OMG. Thankfully a couple walked in and complained their keys were not working, they were the residents of the room she gave us. Then she gave me keys to another room. Went back, the keys were not working. A maintenance guy showed up, opened the room with his key, and what do you know - someone's suitcases inside. Had to run back to the lobby again, where she claimed someone JUST moved into that room, what a lie! It was right next to the other room. We asked to take a photo of the keycard for our records, and she tore it up right in front of us. We asked for a manager, she said she was the manager (which she was not). This is after an 8 hour long trip to Sedona, what a start to our stay. I am still in shock from the whole experience. The only reason I am not giving this resort a 1 star is the property itself, which is actually quite nice and has convenient amenities. But would we ever come back? God no! Not here not any other Hilton. This is the third Hilton property we book, and the front desk rep is unprofessional and unpleasant. Never again. There is a Hyatt right in downtown, which we stayed at before with no issues, and it's a walking distance to everything in Sedona center.
We stayed in the 2 bedroom sunset suite. The pictures online do not do it justice. This unit was so spacious and immaculately clean. The kitchen, appliances, and cooking utensils looked brand new. The beds were very comfortable. The patio was huge and the view from the patio was spectacular! The check in was quick and easy and we felt very welcomed. We were provided with a schedule of daily activities at the resort. We decided on candle making. Megan in the activities center was so welcoming and kind, we had a lot of fun and ended up with some beautiful and great smelling candles. I hope I have the chance to return here one day.
We checked into our property on the first day and learned that our $25/day "resort fees" covered "basic guest internet, DVD rentals, 10% select local area dining, self-parking, video and board game rentals, sports equipment, cultural activities." Of these amenities, basic (very) and self-parking were all that applied to our visit. We wanted to know about the 10% dining discount, so we were ushered to check in with the concierge, who let us know to receive those discounts, we would need to attend a 90 minute "presentation." We who own timeshare properties know what that means. Not only would we realize the dining discounts, but also be refunded the resort fees. My friend with whom I was traveling didn’t understand fully, but I was ready to just pay the $198 (there is tax on these resort fees!) and be done with it. However, we ended up attending what turned out to be right at 3 hours because the program they were revealing to us sounded intriguing. In the end, I was refunded the fees and we were able to have TWO meals discounted. You see, you had to choose from their limited list of participating restaurants, decide approximately how much you might spend, PREPAY for gift certificates to the restaurant IN $25 increments only and purchase them at the HILTON property! This was not a fluid process and I would NEVER do it again.
On top of the hassle with which we began our visit, the room was decently clean except for every drain in the room. The kitchenette sink was not draining, and there was well over an inch of water sitting in the bottom of the supposedly clean dishwasher! We asked for that to be addressed and it was, however, we hand-washed every dish we used. The drains all needed to be cleaned more thoroughly, as they ALL had a brown scum around them and the shower drain had a wad of hair hanging down/through it! This tells me the shower drain had not even been wiped over, let alone cleaned!
This property is apparently undergoing renovations, but our room was not one that had been addressed. Maybe that is why there was not as much attention paid to the detailed cleaning. However, the property was very convenient to the attractions/dining/activities of the Sedona area, the grounds were well-taken care of, pools and hot tubs were very nice, laundry facilities was clean and we felt safe staying at this property. It was a good landing pad for our hiking/ exploring/ sight-seeing adventures.
As usual, check-in was easy, but the concierge misrepresented the truth – in this instance insisting that we had new benefits that had to be activated by the agents at the sales center. Not only did we have no benefits that needed to be activated, but the sales agents also informed us that we are losing benefits. And the “one-hour” meeting lasted an hour and a half – with three different agents trying to sell us something. Worse than useless! So much for respecting “owners” who have spent many thousands of dollars for “membership.”
Despite my supposedly high level of membership, I was assigned to a room adjacent to the area where the resort deposits old refrigerators. On the other side of the unit was a parking lot and dumpster – frequented too early in the mornings buy the garbage truck. While the resort has a few rooms with excellent views, those rooms are rare!
Our unit was also just across the wall from the highway and associated noise. Not ideal. My membership supposedly allows me to choose a room (with no guarantee), but one has to know the property to wisely choose a room. My request for a “quiet location” was not sufficient.
Inside the unit was clean, comfortable, and functional – mostly. The sink faucet and bathroom faucet both need attention, and the kitchen needs more mixing and storage bowls.
The fireplace is for show only – It throws no heat – but the HVAC system is pleasantly quiet – proving that other resorts in the system could do as well.
Overall, a decent stay, but for the deceitful practices.
