Palm Creek Resort & Residences — Hotel in Casa Grande

This was our third year to escape the winters up north. South TX, Tucson, and then Palm Creek. We chose Palm Creek because it is relatively close to the Superstition Mountains for a new area to hike and it's pickleball.

We found the grounds to be well kept. Golf isn't our game yet the green space was nice. The park models in the park are well maintained. RV sites are nice sized with cable included. Internet at the site was an additional charge as expected and electric was an additional charge for extended stays as expected. They do charge $30/mo for garbage and sewer. That seems like a "got ya" charge because it is required and should be included in the site rental.

A few days after we arrived we received a written citation. We didn't know that our RV sewer line couldn't be touching the ground. A pleasant, verbal reminder would have been fine. A written citation, really...welcome to Palm Creek.

The biggest disappointment was the pickleball. All skill level play was scheduled round robin. You have to sign up for the round robins a week in advance because they fill up quickly. There wasn't a specific time when the sign up sheets were to be posted for the following weeks play so we found ourselves having to frequently return to the court area to sign up for the next week's play. Scheduled round robins are throughout the day so it can take a big chunk out of the middle of the day/afternoon to play. If you were going to be gone on the day the sign up sheet for your event came out, good luck because it may be full by the time you get back.

There are challenge courts that cater to 4.0 and above. There is no organization to that play, you show up at the courts, assess all courts and all players to see if you want to "challenge" into their game when they are done. No sheet to sign up, no 4 on, 4 off...very disorganized and uninviting to a new arrival to the park.

It doesn't appear that the tennis courts are used even close to capacity and would be better served to convert some of them to non-scheduled, skill level based pickleball courts such as 4 on, 4 off. I think they would quickly become popular courts and may take some pressure off of the round robins.

Later in our stay the Pickleball Club sent out a survey to get feedback on court utilization. They specifically requested that if you were not going to return the following year that you do not respond to the survey. We had already decided not to return so they clearly didn't want the input.

Because of our schedule we wanted to extend our two month stay by one day. They were going to charge us their full rate for a single day. There was no discount or prorated rate because we had already stayed for two months. I found that policy to lack good customer service and insight. Needless to say we didn't stay. I would rather stay at a Walmart or truck stop than pay their full day rate under those circumstances. Again, welcome to Palm Creek, hope you come back again.

Another insult added to injury...on the day we were to leave it was raining. Because of how traffic is routed in the park the only way to get close to the office is to loop back around like you are just arriving at the park. There was a craft fair at the park that did not affect traffic flow. One of the park Rangers said I wasn't suppose to loop through the entry (new arrivals could) and that I would probably get a lot of dirty looks and that he would probably get in trouble from his boss. He said that he'd let me drive through anyway...I couldn't believe he was winning so much and just said thanks. There was no congestion what so ever and we were verbally welcomed like a new arrival. Again...welcome to Palm Creek, hope you come back again.

Oh, if you are sensative to environmental smells, just know that there are dairy farms in the area.

If you really want to try Palm Creek, I would recommend you stay a week or 2 to see if it works for you. For Jan and Feb there were always open RV sites, no...

My wife and I arrived at Palm Creek in Casa Grande on April 1, 2024.  We decided to give this a try after a recommendation from a friend who lives across the street from your facility.||||Tami Deeks, thier Leasing Coordinator, made it very pleasant to check in and obtain our unit.  She is an asset to your community - Palm Creek.||||After check in, my wife and I went over to the Activities center to see if we could obtain an April 2024 Activities sheet.  We were told by Cathy Watson (who appeared to be in charge there) that the sheet would not be available until the next day (which was fine).||||The next day my wife and I went back to the activities center in the morning and we were told that the sheet would be in our mailbox.  We explained that we were there for 10 days only and that we had no mail box.  At that time they were in fact folding the April Activities sheets on the counter.  It would have been a simple matter to simply hand us one of the sheets that were in their hands but she would not do that and told us to come back in the afternoon.  That same day (as instructed by Cathy Watson) I went back to the Activities Center to get the sheet.  Please understand that we came to Palm Creek due to the activities that were available.  We were there for a short time so it was important to us to find out about the activities that were available.  Cathy Watson told me there were no more April Activity sheets to give me.  She was quite rude about this.  I found out later on that this was a lie.||||I said nothing but proceeded to go back to where we checked in and talk to Tami Deeks about the situation.  Tami was quite upset (as she should have been) and said to follow her and that she would see that I received an Activity Sheet.  When she approached Cathy Watson, Cathy told her there were no sheets (which was again a lie).  Tami actually proceeded behind the counter (with Cathy following her) and grabbed a sheet.  She must have known where they were kept.  At that time I found out that Cathy Watson posted an Activity sheet behind glass in the hallway but she never told me that she had done so.  I don't know what the big secret was.  Tami gave me the sheet and I could see that she was very upset with this lady.||||I have been an attorney and Judge over a 43 year period and just retired a few years ago.  I believe that I have acquired some sort of an ability to judge people and their character.  Cathy Watson IS NOT and asset to Palm Creek and should not be in a position where she interacts with the guests that come there.  She was rude to us (first time paying guests) and was rude to Tami Deeks.  She lied to both of us about a sheet of paper that probably cost 10 cents to produce.  For some reason she simply did not want to part with an Activity Sheet perhaps because we were not there for months on end.  I really don't know the reason.  I was never rude to her.  My wife was never rude to her.  She has a very large chip on her shoulder.  I got the impression that the people that work with her were afraid of her also.  They never spoke up about any of this.||||Palm Creek and Sun Communities advertise "Commitment, Intensity, Accountability, Service, Empowerment.  We got nothing of the sort while visiting the Palm Creek Activity Center.||||||I WROTE THE ABOVE TO MR. GONZALES, MANAGER OF PALM CREEK AND NEVER HEARD A WORD FROM HIM. I QUESS THIS IS WHAT YOU SHOULD EXPECT...

We stayed at this resort for 2+ months, from mid-Nov thru Mid-January, in our 35' motorhome. The park is impressive with 2000+ sites which seem to be about 50/50 RV sites and homes. This review is primarily from the RV perspective.

Pros: Fabulous infrastructure including: 4 beautiful pools with hot tubs, onsite bistro next to the main pool, 36 new pickleball courts, impeccable lawn bowling green, shuffleboard area, horseshoe area, large baseball field, tons of facilities to support tons of clubs (woodwork shop, stained glass shop, sewing room, etc.) The woodwork shop is worthy of its own bullet in this review. It's better equipped than most high school wood shops! Super-large and level RV sites (these are actually future home sites) with 100% gravel coverage and a concrete pad. Beautiful greenbelt walkway for walking dogs (see below for more). Easy access to Phoenix (45 minutes) and Tucson (70 minutes). At about a mile from I-10, you don't notice any traffic noise.

Cons: No wifi included with our stay. We could have purchased wifi service from Dish, but that would have also required us buying a modem, which we didn't feel was worth it for only a 2-mo. stay. Verizon cell signal averaged about 2 bars most of the time. This was important, as we needed to run hotspots. Over our 2-month stay, we believe we saw a decline in quality. For example, the Bistro dropped items off their menu. The greenbelt was beautiful when we arrived (Nov), but was filled with patches of dead grass by the time we left (Jan). I assume this is tied to COVID impact on the business. When I took trash to the dumpsters near the baseball field, all four dumpsters were overflowing. This was on a Saturday morning, so it probably got worse before the service emptied them the next week. Rangers lead you to your site, but don't provide any help backing in. Not a lot of tourist attractions in the area.

Overall we were happy here, and will probably return...