Hilton Vacation Club Sedona Summit — Hotel in Sedona

This trip started off rough to say the least. We reserved the 3 bedroom sunset suite which at first glance is a BEAUTIFUL unit. We were in Unit 418 of Building 35. The first night I tried using the in-room safe and discovered it was locked and I called guest services to come and open it, no one ever came. So I gave up with that and instead locked my valuables in my luggage. Not ideal and something I shared with the front desk. I expected this would be remedied while we were out and about the next day. It wasn't with the reason being we needed to be in the room when it was opened to protect our personal items. Mind you, the safe was locked so the reasoning of opening the safe only in the presence of the owner of the contents was ridiculous as the previous occupants were long gone. So yeah, we never had the safe available to us. Then in one of the bedrooms the ceiling fan was extremely wobbly to the point you didn't want to use it at a high speed. That was made more unfortunate by the lack of air conditioning in the unit. Let me clear that up, this unit has 2 a/c units, one specifically for this bedroom and the adjacent family space. I called guest services and in 10 minutes had someone there who "unlocked" the thermostat. He told us it will reset in 5-9 minutes. Twenty minutes after that I called to advise them that it was still not on and was told, they're on their way. And twenty minutes after that I called again and asked, where are they? almost an hour after the first call, someone arrived and advised that they were not able to go to the roof and resolve the issue due to the darkness. They provided box fans for the room. The next day we spoke to the front desk and was told it would be fixed by the time we returned from our day's activities, it was not. Another visit to the front desk the following day and the manager on duty was very empathetic and apologetic as the ticket had been closed out without the problems being corrected. She promised it would be fixed by the time we returned and this time, it was. So the trip started bad but finished strong. We're not owners of this property and declined the sales presentation, which the earlier experience is a prime reason why, I don't want to be inconvenienced while on vacation. Let the experience become a great one and afterwards I will consider it, but this start nearly had me erasing Hilton Sedona Summit off of our options when visiting Sedona. Instead the bounce back has us keeping it on the list of properties we'd consider staying at. I'd would have loved to give it 5 stars but the earlier issues cost 1 star. In the interest of full disclosure I edited this review to include the fixes and increase the rating from 3 to 5 stars. Some tips for travelers looking for things to do in and around the area Red Rock Balloons absolutely ROCK! Mariposa is the must eat restaurant but reservations need to be made months in advance. Some other restaurants we enjoy, The Hideaway House, Creekside American Bistro, Cucina Rustica, Pisa Lisa, Butterfly Burger, Dahl & DiLuca and Tortas de Fuego (the Village of Oak Creek location). The Coffee Pot is great for breakfast. Pink Jeep Tours and their Broken Arrow Tour will provide great views with a bumpy but not necessarily uncomfortable ride. Favorite trails to hike for moderate hikers, "Slim Shady, Templeton & Bell Rock Pathway" and the "Tea Cup, Thunder Mountain and Andante". "Devil's Bridge" is a good hike from the Mescal Parking Lot BUT be there before 7AM to avoid crowds and heat. WATER...

Positive's we experienced:

The grounds are beautiful with many activities to offer a range of ages. The room, although dated, was CLEAN. My number one compliment is for housekeeping. We also enjoyed the Dive in Movie night and although the pool is on the smaller side, it was not crowded.

Negatives: Unfortunately, service wasn't wonderful. In reading some of these reviews I shared similar issues that other guests have and I'm sure it gets old hearing the same issues be brought up, so staff is a bit...short. It started with what was labeled a concierge, but actually a salesman, telling me I had a welcome gift and then asking us our plans. He seemed interested in detailing our stay and although I did not particularly need a concierge for this trip, I thought to ask about a family friendly dining option in the area since he seemed eager to assist. He named Tlaquepaque, which to begin with is barely family friendly, and then highlighted a Mexican restaurant. We aren't strangers to Sedona and I knew this was far from family friendly. That's when it all turned into a scheme to give me $100 off at the restaurant if I sit into a timeshare presentation. After I said I wasn't interested, I was sort of met with a bit of attitude. Very uncomfortable way to start the stay.

We get into the room and you immediately see the carpet is raised and carpet staples exposed. Honestly, nothing I'd complain about. (Either of these two things at this point) Then we go to turn on the blue ray, which does not work. I called to have it swapped out and after two separate maintenance men went to the room, it was determined to be an outlet issue and they were unable to repair. Disappointing, but still nothing to complain about. We were there for one-night, all good we will watch TV.

The next morning is where I felt, this is way to many issues for a one night stay. While trying to use the microwave to heat egg whites on a normal plate, the inside of the microwave started visibly sparking and everything smelt like burning electronics. I called the front desk to ask for a manager, Ashely, I believe assisted. She seemed to not necessarily believe me and questioned why maintenance wouldn't just swap out the blue-ray and that it's surprising something as serious as the microwave hadn't been reported previously. This was all about 9:15AM with checkout being at 10AM. The manager sent engineering but did not ask if it was an alright time, or even if she could send them. Only sent them while we all scrambled to get dressed.

The maintenance guy looked at the microwave and outlet to the blue ray and said he'd need to swap the microwave when we left or maybe there was an electrical issue.

The resolve was to take off the $25 resort fee, sending engineering without prompt, and offer an 11AM checkout.

Removing the resort fee was a nice gesture, but an apology for the time taken from our stay, or for our experiences would have gone further.

It was a surprising approach that lacked care.

Location is beautiful and housekeeping did wonderful. That is no easy property to clean. I also witnessed the housemen delivering everything in clothing bag sacks. Not an easy job, but he was working hard. Hats off to your...

First and foremost, this place is expensive for what little you get. With the price I expect a high-quality of service and amenities that this place simply does not offer.

Due to my flight, I arrived early to the hotel, in which I called days in advance, and every day they would tell me to call the morning of to ask if I could check in early. When I called the morning of check-in, they said I had to come in and ask. When I arrived, they were unable to check into a room but Allowed me to go by the pool which was honestly cold, but at least I had something to do.

They told me they would text me when my room is ready and after hours of waiting I never got a text and I had to go to the desk and ask and miraculously when I asked the room was FINALLY ready. What a coincidence, right?

I have nothing bad to say about the room. It was beautiful and perfect everything I needed. Until my final few nights….. I was just about to head out and it smelt like acetone. I chalked it up to someone nearby, removing fingernail polish. I was gone for five hours or more and when I came back the room reeked of acetone. Instantly gave me a headache when I walked in.

I called the front desk, and the only thing they did was have a really nice maintenance man bring two box fans to help air out the space. I had to sit outside in the cold for a few hours to allow a bit of ventilation to happen. We had to prop open the door with our suitcases. if I didn’t have such a massive headache, I may have complained and asked for a new room but I hate being a bother, especially considering it took me so long to get a room when I first checked in.

So this hotel lost a star for bad customer service (and bad communication in general), a bad night in the room, and the final 2 stars were lost due to the lack of amenities. I can stay in a cheaper hotel room and get room service every day if I wanted yet, this hotel doesn’t even allow the thought of room service if you’re not there for more than FOUR days. On top of that my reservation got separated so I had two reservations for four days each and even though I told them at check-in that they should be linked, they gave me a hard time when I asked for room service. I specifically told them it needed to be done before 12:30 and I scheduled it with them. The day of it was 10:30 and I was getting nervous and I had a gut feeling something went wrong because nothing had gone right since arriving. I called the front desk and they confirmed that I was scheduled to have my room cleaned at 12:30 not before 12:30.

Thankfully, after correcting them, they were able to send someone over right away but it’s still some thing that just shouldn’t have happened.

Going back to the amenities. This place doesn’t have a restaurant, doesn’t even have a small store to buy any snacks, the gym is also ridiculously tiny for how large the resort is. They only thing you get is room temperature water (maybe this is where I mentioned that the ice machine in the room didn’t work either) and coffee.

The ONLY reason I left one star is because the room was nice with a big bathtub and the resort does have nice views when...