Omni Scottsdale Resort & Spa at Montelucia — Attraction in Paradise Valley

I stayed at Omni on Mon April 18 and Tues April 19 of 2022. I was extremely disappointed with my stay. Before covid, I used to come to your resort all the time. I understand times have changed and things had to adapt to the new normal. However, I find it unacceptable that on the booking website I was not made aware that on Monday and Tuesdays there would be NO food at the pool and no room service. The whole reason why I booked the resort is to be able to have drinks and snacks at the pool. That was not available to us. We had a server who was incredibly kind and warm, we loved her. She was doing EVERYTHING. She had no help. She was running around from very early all the way till the afternoon. The same server was cleaning, arranging things, taking care of towels, guests, orders, etc. Seemed you were understaffed. I understand Monday/Tuesdays may not be as busy but we paid FULL PRICE for the room. Another incident was that I paid for a room that showed a hammock on the website. I assumed because the room I wanted had photos of a hammock, the room included a hammock. Not the case. Lastly, the staff kept giving us conflicting information. We called for Room Service for dinner and they said they don't do room service on Mondays, only breakfasts. OK so we call in for breakfast (starving) on Tuesday and they tell us they don't do room service AT ALL, until Thursdays. Again... I understand the changes made with Covid but that crucial piece of info should've been on the website while booking the room. I would've booked in a different resort that actually HAD room service and food in the pool. That's literally all we wanted. The hotel itself seemed a bit rundown, corners were dusty, and debris, and calcification on the fountains. Overall this was not a $1000/night experience. I've stayed in resorts for $500/night that actually have room service, all-inclusive experiences, and fully staffed hotels. I paid $1300 for the 1 night and we had to order Postmates AND pick up our own breakfast from the restaurant on the resort. Overall it felt understaffed and unorganized. You need to be transparent on what amenities are available for Mon-Wed. The wildest thing that happened is that I did not plan on writing a Google review. I gave them the benefit of the doubt and wrote them separately explaining what happened, sharing my experience and giving them feedback for the future. Instead, I got a call on a weekday at 7pm from a woman asking me to talk about my stay. Immediately, she gave EXCUSES as to why things were not the way I expected them to be. Her tone was never apologetic or even empathetic to my experience. The whole call consisted of us going back and forth, her explaining why what I felt on my experience wasn't valid... instead of just admitting it was not what was disclosed to me when I booked the room. The main issue is THEIR WEBSITE. Nothing wrong with being short staffed, not having room service a few days a week, and not having food at the pool... but DISCLOSE THAT on the site before we book the room. There is zero transparency on the web page as to what the amenities will be that day of the week. Also, the photos of the hammock are misleading, I thought my room had a hammock when in reality there was 1 community hammock that was for the entire hotel. Whoever is managing this hotel is missing the most important thing about hospitality: when you mess up, try to make it up to the guest instead of trying to invalidate their concerns. When they said they would not refund me for my (mediocre) stay, I told them I would have to write a Google review to let everyone else know what is going on Monday-Wed. The employee responded with: we don't give in to threats. THREATS? Ma'am, I'm a web designer for a living... I'm giving you FEEDBACK on how to make your website clearer and more transparent for guests and writing this review took time out of my day. Writing is a service to others, not a threat...

I would give this rating zero stars if I were able too! My husband and I stayed here last year as a wedding gift from my mother-in-law. She gave us a $400 spa credit to use. We went to the spa so excited to use it and they told us they were booked and we could come back the following week during the weekday. Not very romantic considering we were newly weds. We ended up using the money for food and drinks. The dinner at the "high end" restaurant was mediocre. Definitely not worth the price AT ALL. Waited at the bar for a good 30 minutes because the bartender was MIA. We assumed it was them being short staffed. Fast forward to several months later, we kept hearing how Omni/Joya was the best spa "in the valley." I wanted to gift my best friend something good for her planning our couples shower. So I drove down there and spent $400 on a gift card to give to her and her husband to use at the spa. They booked ahead and went today to use their spa credit. The front desk was incredibly rude to them because they did not have the physical card but only had the paid for receipt. She called me and I told them I could pull up the statement if the receipt wasn't sufficient enough. The girl at the front desk rudely told them to just go to the spa because they were cutting into their massage time. I call the front desk and speak with a man about the situation trying to ensure they would be able to redeem the credit. The man was of course rude and told me they had to do twice as much work because all they had was the receipt to go off of. I again said I would drive down there and show them a statement if the receipt showing my card number, name, date and money spent wasn't enough. He said he would call me back. Meanwhile, my friend messages me from the spa and tells me she had her deep tissue massage but her husband was still waiting. Fast forward again - they messed up and took a different guy back instead of her husband. So her husband waited over 30 minutes to start his massage. He gets a different lady who told him she couldn't give him the deep tissue massage he wanted because her "doctors orders won't allow her" !!! If you aren't able to do what you are hired for - go somewhere else. Her husband got a mediocre massage that he did not want on top of waiting over 30 minutes. Then at the end they tried charging for 2 deep tissue massages! The entire situation for them was far from relaxing, unprofessional, stressful and down right embarrassing. I could've spent half that cost and sent them to a dang Massage Envy and they would've had a better experience! NEVER AGAIN will I spend money at this place. To add to it - I called the spa and asked to speak to a manager about the situation and the girl wouldn't hand the phone over. Real professional. I am so beyond disappointed with the front desk and the spa. I will ensure all of my clients, friends and family stay FAR AWAY from this place...

I'll start with the positives: The grounds are second to none. Everything is kept beautifully, and the Spanish vibes make you feel like you're not even in the U.S.. The view from our room was beautiful, the room itself was gorgeous (including the bathroom!), and the amenities at the spa were very high-end.

This place has the big picture nailed. However, I care more about the details and here is where it goes to 3 stars.

The negatives: The staff and service do not even come close to what my expectations were given the price, as well as the experience we had days before at another resort in the Scottsdale area. Right off the bat, the resort makes self-parking a nuisance. They clearly want you to pay for valet and make it a chore to leave the resort for any outings. We booked a couple of services at the spa which is when things really went downhill. My husband had to hunt down a male attendant to get into the lockers and be shown around -- which the person didn't even end up doing. Apparently they were having issues with their system so the masseuse didn't know my husband was there so again, had to hunt someone down so he could have his $350+ service. We then spent time at the pool in the spa, where we again had to flag someone down to place a food order. When we were done eating, we stayed at the pool for a couple hours and never received a bill. We gave up and checked out of the spa where we were told we had to go back up to the pool area and continue waiting or go next door to the restaurant to pay off lunch. Unfortunately, the lackluster service doesn't end at the spa. We went to the coffee shop on grounds a couple of times. The first day, the person working clearly did not want to be there. The second day, the gentleman helping us was very friendly however they didn't have the milk/cream out yet (the shop had been opened for almost 2 hours at that point) so we had to ask and wait for it. And, they got our order wrong (not to mention, it was almost $50 for two coffees and a couple breakfast items).

A couple of exceptions to the service -- Heather G at the spa was fantastic and provided a great massage. I connected with her and am glad I met her. And the first gentleman who brought us to our room upon check-in was very friendly and helpful.

And I will add -- we made our issues known while at the Omni and management was responsive and provided us a couple of discounts and free lunch and coffee vouchers.

All in all -- Omni Scottsdale definitely provides the ambiance that one is looking for on a luxury getaway. However, for me, that was all erased by the overall lackluster service. Would I stay here again? Likely no. There are plenty of other resorts in the area to choose from that will provide the level of service expected at this...