Another 5-Star Stay I try to stay at this Ritz-Carlton 1-2x/year and this time, I had brought my best friend (also a Ritz-guru). He thinks this is his new favorite hotel in the portfolio. It's always great to see familiar faces at this hotel. Further, everything was back up to 90% since Covid; service is back to being (almost) impeccable. The only thing that is missing is the 24 hour room-service and the evening turn-down services. Other than that, everything is fantastic. We had a lovely breakfast at CORE and were served by Ms. Dani Foster, who was delightful and spoke so highly of her job and how much she enjoyed working in hospitality. She made our morning. At the pool, Sean, Dahlia, and Shelby were wonderful to see again. Lexi at Cayton's had introduced herself to us as a new F&B manager from Florida. She recognized us as repeat guests and picked up a round of drinks for us. Thank you, Lexi. Elias & Loreto were always great to see at the front desk and made sure our room and suite upgrade was wonderful!!! Kayla, the night desk agent was fabulous. She was explaining to me how much she enjoyed working for the Ritz, and gave me her 'Credo Card' to explain how she was trained. It was so touching! Further, room service was closed, but I requested ice cream, and Kayla went to the kitchen to get me a cup from Ignite - talk about a 'Wow.' We didn't get to see Jonathan (bell) this time, but the front desk shared with me he said hello. Long story short, my friend can not wait for me to take him back to this hotel. The staff, as always makes this hotel.

A very special place When we arrived at the hotel the staff already upgraded us to a room with a view. Since we are ambassador level guests I asked for a better upgrade, which was immediately granted. We had a gorgeous casita with a magnificent view of the mountains. The setting at the ritz is beautiful. Lots of places to walk around and hike. The great service is constantly noticed. Everywhere you go someone from the hotel is asking if they can help, or if they can get you more water, etc. The room was extremely clean. Lupita cleaned our room everyday, but thoroughly! She vacuumed, washed the floors, and paid special attention to make sure everything was spotless. I wanted to take her home with me. And such a pleasant personality!! This Ritz stands up to its name. A true five star experience.

Unparalleled customer service in an unparalleled setting What a magical and amazing place the RItz-Carlton, Dove Mountain is. And as incredible as so much of the setting is (e.g., the mountains, saguaros, flowers, and property itself), it is the customer service and truly excellent staff that sets it apart. My apologies in advance for such a lengthy review -- the team here deserves this attention and feedback, and it didn't feel right to leave anything out. We celebrated my wife's birthday on this 4 night trip, and the team at the Ritz-Carlton could not have been kinder nor more generous. This was, without question, the best experience related to a special occasion we have ever had. Honestly, a new standard has been set for hospitality and customer service. Prior to our arrival, I responded to the email about anticipated arrival time, if we were celebrating anything special, and any requests. Loreto is an absolute gem -- what a star for this property (and the entire Bonvoy family of hotels and resorts). I have never received such amazing customer service in my life (and I travel a lot). Loreto is the best, and I could not be more grateful. We got recommendations on local activities (that would be do-able in Arizona in August), restaurant suggestions, and help reserving a poolside cabana from Kayla, who worked tirelessly to make sure everything was in place for our stay. I'm so appreciative of all Kayla did. On my wife's birthday, I went to Core To|Go, the takeaway arm of the flagship restaurant, to bring pancakes back to the room (because, come on, who doesn't want pancakes on their birthday?). Unbeknownst to me, Sonja and Carissa included a birthday note (and some treats) to get her day off to the perfect start -- the two of them were amazing to work with throughout our stay. We spent her actual birthday day at one of the upper pool cabanas. While the whole staff was easy to work with, Shelby pushed our experience over the edge -- her positivity, kindness, thoughtfulness, and enthusiasm was exactly what this world needs more of right now. Shelby is a star, and we can't wait to have the chance to work with her again. The valet team was amazing. From their enthusiasm about local food options to their timeliness with our car, they were outstanding. And they really do have good food recommendations (if you go to Cayton's, which you should, they'll tell you what burgers to order!). I booked a massage at the spa, I had the good fortune of working with Eddie. His professionalism and care was unmatched. We have only been home 24 hours and are already talking about what else we would do in Arizona if we had more time at Dove Mountain. We'll just have to come back. Just a side note -- as the world reopens, the narrative in many online articles about travel is to realize there may be some hiccups as restaurants, hotels, and other services get back-on-track (and to understandably be patient with any of these issues). Honestly, we were just so grateful to travel after the past 17 months, and entered our entire trip with the full understanding that we would go with the proverbial flow. We had no expectations of the perfection we experienced. There's no evidence, at all, that the Ritz-Carlton Dove Mountain has missed a beat or lost a step -- the rooms were immaculately clean, the customer service was out of this world, and this is a not-to-be missed destination. Thank you to the team at this outstanding property for providing us with the best four-night experience we could have asked for.

Expensive and uneven My husband I decided to do a massive splurge and book 4 nights at the Ritz Dove Mountain. I had stayed there in 2013 as a gift and remembered it was so very magical. We don't normally pay this much for a hotel but after this past year and a half, and feeling, looking at the recent reviews, that we could escape the kind of COVID fatigue we have seen in other hotels, we went for it. First the positives: the location is still gorgeous. Out of Tucson, on its own in the Arizona mountains, surrounded by saguaro, we felt so uplifted when we arrived. We were treated very well, the resort fee covers valet parking so, when we arrived, we were surrounded by attentive helpers, all eager to welcome us. Check in was smooth, questions answered. We were starting to relax already. We had booked a queen room on an upper floor, resort view. Actually our view was of the mountains, we could hear the soothing flute music from the spa; for us it was actually nicer than looking down on the pools. The room was generally very quiet but there didn't seem to be many people around anyway. One quibble is that the metal chairs out on the balconies--which are close together although thankfully not joined--scrape loudly on the concrete when moved. We did hear chairs moving back and forth but, thankfully, not late at night. Our first hint of noticeable problems was trying to get the door to the room open and closed. We have had much-needed monsoons in Arizona, making doors swell in the heat (we've had the same issue in our house.) I practically had to throw myself at the door to get it opened into the room and to open it to get out of the suite had to tug on it with both hands. When we notified the front desk, they sent someone up (the next day) and he worked hard to make it easier. It did become slightly easier, but humidity is humidity. Not the hotel's "fault" but perhaps someone should do a check on the doors to see that senior citizens can open them? Especially as it is a bit of a fire hazard--the way the door was at first it took me several tries to get it open; in a panic it would have been very frightening. I was looking forward to a nice cup of coffee after we settled into the room. The room itself was quite lovely and clean as was the bathroom. The coffee maker was an unfamiliar make and tucked into a drawer. I was uncertain where and how I was supposed to set it up. I tried to make it work--unsuccessfully. I thought perhaps it was me and wished there were printed instructions. Decided that I could go without coffee for now. The next morning, after asking a staff member, I tried again and succeeded in only getting 1/4 cup of cold coffee. I took it down to the desk and they offered to send another coffee maker up and also comp'd me a coffee. Which was nice as coffee is expensive if you buy it in the cafe or bar. Food is expensive period but we were expecting that; we'd looked at the menus before we arrived. We only ate breakfast there, once at the restaurant and once at the cafe. Breakfast was very good and the server was wonderful. ALL of the staff are wonderful, absolutely no complaints there! The pools were terrific, beautiful and well maintained. Because there weren't a lot of people around, I had the pools all to myself in the morning (they don't open until 7:00 am)--sheer bliss! Drinking water is available all over the resort and it, thankfully, is free. The fitness center is amazing; I didn't use the spa as it was, for me, super expensive. The third morning, I washed my hair after using the pool, picked up the hair dryer--it didn't work. At this point, between the coffee maker and the wonky door, I was starting to feel like a jinx! Again, the front desk was very apologetic and sent up another one. But it's those little things that change something from being a wonderful experience to a "very good all in all" one. When you pay what for you is a lot of money, you want things to be perfect or at least that the things that are common in average hotels--coffee makers and hair dryers--work. The staff work incredibly hard, they are so lovely, I really didn't want to have to complain. And that spoiled the stay for me a little bit, feeling that I was forever having to ask for something to be fixed. The staff, as I said, made it as "right" as they could but we won't be going back there, we can get a less expensive experience with nice hotel, nice pool and close to more reasonably priced restaurants, elsewhere in Tucson. I guess we're just not Ritz kind of people.

Great Escape This is a beautiful and peaceful property that successfully blends nature and creature comforts. There is plenty of outdoor activities including interesting trails to explore. Attentive service throughout the resort. Dinner in the private dining area is sumptuous, not rushed, and quite frankly delightful.