Step Inside Tucson’s Westin La Paloma Resort

The city of Tucson is located in southern Arizona, about 1.5 hours north of the Mexican border. Many high-end resorts can be found nestled in the Catalina Foothills on the northern end of the city. It can be hard to decide which one is best for your resort vacation. We invite you to step inside Tucson’s Westin La Paloma Resort for a taste of what it has to offer.

The Westin La Paloma is an upscale resort on the northern edge of Tucson, Arizona. Nestled near the mountains and in a higher-end area of town, this is a great place to plan a vacation. Step inside Tucson’s Westin La Paloma Resort to see what all the fuss is about.

Booking

No doubt, this resort is relatively expensive – especially in peak season. During these prime times, rooms start at over $500 per night. By booking this hotel 5 months in advance, we were able to reduce our costs by more than half of the normal nightly rate at the time. We stayed over a popular holiday weekend, which meant last minute room rates were through the roof. Keep in mind this resort also has a daily resort fee.

During booking, I upgraded our room because I wanted to ensure we had a patio or balcony space. Upon arrival, I realized this wasn’t necessary as all rooms have nice outdoor spaces. It would have been nice to know this in advance to have the additional savings on our nightly rate.

The property is composed of several buildings surrounding the main lobby and pool area. Our room was in the Building “B” and we found this location to be ideal. It is quiet yet near the lobby and pool. If you are able to request a location when you book, I would recommend Building “B” because of this.

Arrival and Check In

We took an Uber from Tucson International Airport. It is a good distance, and the ride took nearly 45 minutes. Check in at the hotel was quick and efficient. We were surprised to also receive valuable Marriott Bonvoy points at check in, even though we booked through a third-party website.

The property is expansive and the directions to our room seemed more complicated than it actually was. Thankfully, Building “B” is in direct proximity to the main lobby building. We only had to do a short walk on the path to get there. The lobby is large, grand in fact! It is filled with restaurants, bars, conference space, and a gift shop.

The Room

Our room was on the first floor, which meant we had to go down a flight of stairs from the property’s main walking path between buildings. The room itself was fine, but not something that was worth $500/night.

Our patio was on ground level directly adjacent to the property’s secondary walking path to the pool. The nice thing about Building B is that ground level patios are fully enclosed, giving guests privacy. Many of the other buildings do not offer this.

One of my biggest criticisms of the room itself was the lack of restocking on amenity products. As an example, I am a big tea drinker and they provided one tea bag. Coffee was replenished the day after we arrived, and every day thereafter, but tea was not. I called the front desk to ask for more and one more tea bag was delivered. The next day I stopped at the front desk to ask for more tea and some lotion to combat the Arizona desert and begrudgingly was given one of each. I realize this isn’t that big of a deal on the surface, but when you are paying $250/night (or more) plus a $23/day resort fee, I just felt it was a poor practice on their part.

The Food

The Westin La Paloma has many different restaurants and dining options on site. This is great as it is so much more isolated than many of the popular areas in Tucson.

After we had checked in and got settled in our room, we went to spend some time at the pool. We were hungry, but it was too early to eat dinner, so we decided to order a snack from Sabino’s Pool Bar. Our food came out quickly, but the chicken tenders were cold. I realize that should have been a sign to send them back, but I decided to eat them anyway and I paid for the rest of the night. A few days later we had nachos at the pool bar, and they were very good! Drinks here are also quite expensive.

Guests at the Westin are given access to the La Paloma Country Club which is adjacent to the property. We ate at the country club several times and the food was very good! The atmosphere and golf course views here were also enjoyable. More on this later so keep reading!

We also had a wonderful Mexican meal at Contigo, which is one of the nicer restaurants on site! The resort has a coffee bar, piano bar, and a few other restaurants that we did not try. If guests wish to eat off the resort property, there is also a free shuttle service that will take you to many of the nearby restaurants and the La Encantada area. Just make sure to have some cash on you to tip the drivers.

There are other restaurants on the property which we didn’t eat at, but just know there are several options.

The Grounds

Again, this resort is vast. There are multiple buildings surrounding each side of the main pool. There is a walking path that takes you around the resort. As you make your way down the path, take the opportunity to appreciate how pretty and well-maintained the grounds are. The Catalina Foothills provide a dramatic backdrop. Not only will you see a variety of desert plants, but you may run into the occasional desert critter too. There are also a few sculptures or other art pieces installed throughout the area as well as fountains and fire pits.

The Pools

The pool area at the Westin La Paloma is quite nice. In fact, there are two pools, a water slide, hot tubs, and some smaller natural mineral pools complete with a waterfall. One thing we enjoyed is that there is a separate adult only pool from the main pool. It is quieter and a great place to relax a little.

There is a staffed cabana at the pool where you can pick up as many towels as you need, as well as cold bottled water. There are also ample umbrellas in the area, so you don’t have to worry as much about getting burned in the hot desert sun.

The Country Club

The Westin La Paloma is part of the La Paloma Country Club. As mentioned earlier, this means guests are able to stroll down the walking path to the country club to eat at the restaurant. But there’s more! Hotel guests have access to the country club’s tennis courts and fitness center. You can also play on their Jack Nicklaus golf course for an additional fee.

Checking Out

We checked out early in the morning and no one was immediately at the front desk. Quickly after ringing the bell, we were assisted, and our invoice was emailed. When possible, we recommend express checkout.

Transportation

Again, this hotel is a good distance from Tucson International Airport. Ridesharing is readily available, except for early weekend mornings. Because we didn’t want to chance it, we elected to pre-schedule a ride with VIP Taxi. This was guaranteed to get us to the airport on time for our return flight.

Keep in mind the Tucson airport is relatively small. You may not need to be there quite as early as some larger airports like Phoenix, Arizona’s Sky Harbor Airport.

And, if you don’t want to rent a car, the Westin La Paloma offers free shuttle service within a 3-mile radius of the resort. This will get you to several restaurants, hiking trails, and other area hot spots.

We enjoyed our stay at Tucson’s Westin La Paloma Resort. It was a quiet and restorative time away. Now tell us… would you book a stay here?

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