Travel Party of 5 | Points & Miles for Family Travel

Phoenix Staycation: Hilton Phoenix Tapatio Cliffs (Summer Staycation Series Pt 1!)

• Raya & Duane

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Discover our first episode in the Summer in Phoenix staycation series where we visit the Hilton Phoenix Tapatio Cliffs to determine if it's worth your points or dollars for a family getaway.

• Hilton Phoenix Tapatio Cliffs is nestled in the mountains about 20 minutes north of Phoenix airport
• Property features five pools plus "The Falls" water feature with a water slide that kids love
• Resort is showing its age despite renovations, with rooms that feel dated and slightly musty
• Service levels align more with a three-star property than the four-star rating it claims
• Food and beverage options are adequate but expensive, with drinks running $20+ each
• Points value ranges from reasonable (40,000 points in summer) to poor (up to 117,000 in spring)
• Property works well for families on a budget, especially those using Hilton points during low season
• Location requires a car as there are no walkable restaurants or attractions nearby

Don't forget to apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred card with its limited-time 100,000 point sign-up bonus - only three days left when this episode airs! Check our show notes for our referral link.


Speaker 1:

Today's episode is the first episode in our Summer in Phoenix staycation series where we visit some of the most recommended hotels in the Phoenix area for families that are bookable on points. Today we are all about Hilton Phoenix Tapatio Cliffs. So if you've been planning a trip to the Phoenix area or looking for a fun staycation, listen in. Hi, I'm Raya.

Speaker 2:

And I'm Dwayne.

Speaker 1:

And we are your hosts of the Travel Party of Five podcast, where we share how we travel as a family of five around the world.

Speaker 2:

We will also share how we use points and miles to travel as affordably as possible and sometimes even completely free.

Speaker 1:

So if you're wanting to travel more with your family but you're not sure how, we'd love for you to listen in.

Speaker 2:

So welcome to our podcast, where we hope you learn a thing or two to get you closer to your next trip.

Speaker 1:

Hello friends, Welcome back to Travel Party of Five podcast. Good.

Speaker 3:

Yes, welcome back.

Speaker 1:

Hello, I'm back. Yes, dwayne is joining us today. We have made the kids be quiet and he set up a booby trap in front of the pantry in case they try to sneak any snacks, like they usually do. So TBD, yes, they will definitely try and sneak.

Speaker 1:

They will, but we will know. Now we have a kind of new series we decided to kick off for the summer where we are going to be visiting some of the most recommended hotels in the Phoenix area that are bookable on points in one way or another and we're going to report back to you on those. So today is the first part of that. But before we jump into like the main topic, thought we could do some quick updates on cards and all that fun stuff. As a side note, when this episode airs you will officially have three days left to take advantage of the Chase 100,000 points sign up bonus on the Chase Sapphire preferred card.

Speaker 1:

If you are anywhere in the points and miles atmosphere, you have probably heard about this card 1000 times, but the reason is this is the highest offer that has ever been on this card and the the highest it's been in like four years. I think it was 100k four years ago and's typically 60 000 points. So would highly, highly, highly recommend applying for this card. If you're new to points and miles, we will link our referral link in the show notes. If you do not already have someone that can refer you, we would absolutely appreciate it if you would use our link did you mention the card?

Speaker 1:

yeah, yeah, the Chase Sapphire Preferred yeah.

Speaker 3:

Before we begin, happy Mother's Day to all those mothers out there.

Speaker 1:

Yes, happy Mother's Day. We are recording this on Mother's Day, where Dwayne and the kids all brought me nice cards and Dwayne brought me breakfast in bed. It was very nice. Our 11-year-old attempted pancakes. Who cleaned up the mess in the kitchen, by the way?

Speaker 3:

Who do you think cleaned up the mess in the kitchen? By the way.

Speaker 1:

Who do you think cleaned up? Well, I told him four times that he needed to do it.

Speaker 3:

He didn't do it, it was me.

Speaker 1:

Well, you should have made him do it Anyways. Okay, so let's talk about cards. Because you just got denied for a card, like roughly 25 minutes ago. So I applied you for a Chase Inc and you you didn't get declined, you got the will. Let you know in seven to 10 days and generally in my experience, that means a decline or a denial is coming. So unless you get a random email in the next 24 hours that says congratulations on your new card, we're probably going to have to call the reconsideration line, and by we I mean you with me in the background so, which I've done many times a few times, a few, not many, yeah, but I'm just a little confused about your denial because, well, again, let me be clear, it's not technically a denial, right, it's a.

Speaker 1:

We'll let you know in seven to 10 days. But you only have to chase business accounts open. One is the ink preferred and one is a united business card. You have not had a new card from any issuer since December of 2024. So I am just confused about the denial. I well, again, I'm sorry, it's not technically a denial, but I applied for you about 45 days ago and we got this same rejection, well, we got the same notice, which ended up becoming a rejection. So at the time I thought maybe they were viewing you as being at 524 because you're an authorized user on my Capital One Venture X, but that would have since fallen off, and so I don't know what the reason is. So we're going to have to wait until you get the letter and then we're probably going to have to call. But it's just so strange because in the meantime I have had seven new cards since January of this year and you've had zero. It's a lot of cards, it is a lot of cards, but I just I don't know. So I'm just sharing kind of that. We get denials too, and if you are getting denials, just hang in there, keep going. You know there's plenty of other cards that you could apply for, but I we need to be working on some more chase points. So I think right now we have roughly 200,000 chase points, which is not very many in my eyes. So, um, that is where we're at with cards and I guess, because people are probably going to ask on Instagram, I will briefly tell you these seven cards that I have been approved for since January A Chase Inc Business Unlimited.

Speaker 1:

A City Advantage Business. A Chase Inc Business Preferred. A Chase United Business. You see why I'm confused about why you're getting declined. An American Express Blue Business Plus. That was not a very good offer, but they kept targeting me and so I did it because we are doing a shower remodel and I could easily meet the minimum spend in one swipe.

Speaker 1:

A second Citi Advantage business card because I'm attempting the Citi AA double dip Still TBD on that and if that is still working, so I don't want to say I'll say more if it does work. And then the Amex Hilton Aspire card. I was able to get approved for that after being in pop up jail for at least six months on that card, so that is exciting. I don't know if I'm truly out of pop up jail or if I just used a link that wasn't giving the pop-up. Sometimes Doctor of Credit or other websites will post links that basically say you shouldn't get the pop-up when you apply for this. But I also spent $3,000 on my Amex card buying flights to Thailand, and so that could have also gotten me out of pop-up jail. Dwayne is just staring at me blankly like you did anything that I said just make sense.

Speaker 3:

I mean, yes, it makes sense. It's just a lot of moving parts right there.

Speaker 1:

So many moving parts at all times? Yeah, but that's just how my brain works and my brain likes that. My brain gets bored when things are routine. Yeah.

Speaker 3:

And my brain is the total opposite.

Speaker 1:

Dwayne's brain is always routine. You know how they say like people, like some people were shocked to learn that other people have like a voice in their head, like narrating things. And like Dwayne has no voice, I think it's just silence going on in there.

Speaker 3:

I mean there's a voice sometimes.

Speaker 1:

My brain is just constantly like you should do this, and what about this? And don't forget to do this. And blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. It talks to me all day long, all night long too, and I think Dwayne's.

Speaker 3:

Dwayne's brain is just like just quiet in there, yes, or telling me there's the basketball game on or a baseball game or football game something.

Speaker 1:

Priorities, priorities. So anyways, um, that's where we're at with credit cards and I will update next week if we're able to get him approved for this Chase Inc. I applied him for the Chase Inc cash, so currently what you have is a Chase Inc preferred. And I opted for the Chase Inc cash because I consistently use my Chase Inc cash to buy gift cards at Staples roughly once a month and we use those gift cards when we go to Costco. So we're earning 5x on our Costco spend because the Chase Inc cash specifically earns 5x on spend at office supply stores. So when you buy gift cards that are fee free, then you're not paying any additional fee for the gift card and you're earning 5x on your purchase. So I wanted the ink cash because eventually I'm going to have to close my ink cash as it. I will have had it more than a year. I may have already, I may already be at that point TBD, but then we still need an ink cash so we can continue to do that. So that was why I chose the ink cash. If anyone is curious, okay, let's jump in.

Speaker 1:

Hilton Phoenix Tapatio Cliffs. So this hotel on Google is considered a four star hotel. It is located roughly 20 ish minutes north of the Phoenix airport. We're gonna. We stayed there for one night, we hung out by the pool, quite a bit, we experienced like some of the food on property, and so we're going to go through all the details of that.

Speaker 1:

Do you want to start? I'm sure, or sorry, hold on. So this hotel is a Hilton and it is bookable with Hilton points. Generally in the summer in Phoenix, hotels tend to be cheaper because it's so hot here that nobody wants to come here, and so it's kind of the opposite of other parts of the country where summer is like the very busy season. For us, summer is definitely the slow season. So on the website I was looking up points costs and for the summer For this hotel you're roughly looking at around 40,000 points give or take, but in peak times, which would be generally like spring for us, so think like February, march, april I mean it's averaging around 70,000 points a night, hilton points, but it gets as high as like over 100,000 points a night.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, does that say 117,000 points. Yes, yes, for one night. Does that say 117,000 points.

Speaker 1:

Yes, yes, For one night. Definitely not do that? No, and we'll. We'll get into why he says that in a minute, but, um, I would say that this is one of the cheaper hotels you could book with points in the Phoenix area. That is still going to be decent for kids and families. They had a good amount of like amenities, I would say, and a fun pool. So, okay, let's start from check-in, so we drive there and you can go, yeah so we pull up.

Speaker 3:

Well, first of all, I don't know what it is with our look. We've been to hotels before and there have been dance competitions.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 3:

Both times we say that the Grand Hyatt, Manchester in San Diego. There were dance competitions going on, which means families, kids, parents everywhere. So we pulled up to this place and it was crazy packed. Parking lot was full and of course there's a dance competition going on. Yes, so we pull up. We don't even know where the lobby is. It's kind of hard to navigate through this place. There was no bellman, no valet outside.

Speaker 1:

The hotel is kind of like nestled in the mountains, so it's like and there are, there's like a main building and then there is a bunch of different like side buildings and depending on where you, where your room is, you could be really far from like the pool, like yeah, like maybe almost have to drive, depending on your walking capabilities.

Speaker 3:

We don't know about that. There was five pools and the falls right, so six total.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, but like I don't know if you looked at the map, but like I didn't look at the map, like where we were at in the main building was like right next to the pool, but there was like a whole other like area, like way over here. Yeah, yeah but there were no pools over there.

Speaker 3:

No no, no, anywho, yeah, so we pulled up. We have to park to check in. We can't find parking. Yeah, we can't find parking.

Speaker 1:

So I mean we literally had to find a parking spot there's no bellman to like direct you or whatever first hotel I've been to it also wasn't super clear, like even where the lobby was, but I'm like I'm pretty sure it's in there.

Speaker 3:

So yeah, so anyway, confusing at first. Then we we check in, we asked for an upgrade.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so Dwayne has um Hilton Diamond status, so I booked the hotel under his name for that reason he has it through the Hilton Aspire credit card.

Speaker 1:

At the time I didn't have the Hilton Aspire yet, had not been approved technically, but I didn't book the hotel directly with Hilton, so I booked it through the American Airlines hotel portal. Actually, I did that because I am also on a quest to earn American Airlines status this year. So instead of booking direct with Hilton because number one we were going to we paid cash and number two, I don't care about the elite qualifying nights through Hilton, it doesn't matter to me. So I wanted to get as many AA points as I could for this stay, so we paid cash through the AA hotels portal, which is considered a third party. So I I did attach his like Hilton number and it did show up in his Hilton app. But when I asked if they had any upgraded rooms, she was kind of like, oh, like, because you booked through a third party. We don't normally do that, but I'll go ahead and make an exception. I don't think she actually.

Speaker 3:

I don't think she. She just moved us closer to the, to the pool, yeah.

Speaker 1:

So I had booked a one King bedroom suite which was supposed to have like the King bed in one room and then a pullout queen sofa in kind of the living area, and that's exactly what we got. So I don't I mean with a bathroom in the middle. I don't think we, yeah, I mean with a bathroom in the middle. I don't think we, yeah, I mean, unless the closer to the pool was an upgrade. But I did check our receipt and as a Hilton Diamond member, I believe you get a $15 daily food and beverage credit that can be applied towards breakfast or whatever you want, and they did apply that to our receipt. So it seems like they did actually give you the benefits, even though they weren't supposed to Nice.

Speaker 3:

Thank to Nice, thank you.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so that's good to know.

Speaker 3:

Okay, so back to the resort.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, well, okay, so talk about the. So we check into the room.

Speaker 3:

We check into the room. First of all, the hotel is old. Yeah, it's been here a while and you can tell it's old. Um, didn't you say they last renovated in what? 2019? Is that what you?

Speaker 1:

said um, I'm pretty sure I read 2016, but I would have guessed much longer than that but it's. It's definitely in in need of another renovation yeah, we were on the first floor and our room was just you. It was kind of dark. It smelled a little bit musty to me. I mean spoiler alert we wouldn't return to this hotel.

Speaker 3:

No, I mean I wouldn't be mad if I never went back, but I mean the pool, but it's great for kids.

Speaker 1:

Yes, and I think like if you are a family on a budget coming to visit Phoenix, this could be a good option because it's pretty cheap in terms of points like Hilton points, especially in the summer. So there's like five plus pools. They have a water slide. Our kids loved the pool. We hung out at the pool both the night we checked in and the morning we checked out. We only stayed one night, so we were there about 24 hours. We did get an early check-in and a late checkout, and so that gave us almost a full 24 hours at the property, which was good.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, enough time to.

Speaker 1:

Yes, we had breakfast on property. We ordered food by the pool several times. Yes, we had breakfast on property. We ordered food by the pool several times. I will say it was really nice to like. One of my favorite things about summer is sitting poolside with a nice beverage while my kids exhaust themselves in the pool, and this was really the first time we've gotten to do that this season, so that was very nice.

Speaker 3:

And you know pool food is pool food.

Speaker 1:

it wasn't bad no, it was fine, you know quesadillas burgers quesadilla was actually really good chicken fingers for the kids like fries. You know, it was all fine pina coladas the pina coladas were very good actually.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so, yeah, so, yeah. So we checked in. Our son actually had a football game, so we went to the pool for about an hour. Then we had to leave to go to his football game and then we came back and we hung out by the pool until close. We had dinner by the pool. I do love a good dinner or lunch by the pool. Moment it just screams vacation to me, yeah, you. Moment it's just screams vacation to me, yeah, you don't have to worry about your kids making a mess, like they eat and they go right back in the water. You know, I, I really like that.

Speaker 2:

So it was a good time and yeah.

Speaker 1:

So then we just went to bed. I will say there oh, in addition to the dance competition, there was a prom yes, there was a high school prom, which was held directly behind our room.

Speaker 1:

Yes, and so here's what I will credit this hotel for. I'm a light sleeper. I travel with earplugs because hotels are loud sometimes and I don't expect other people to, you know, be quiet because of me. Obviously it's my responsibility. I've traveled with earplugs. I got out my earplugs, I put them next to the bed because I was anticipating for sure I'm going to need these earplugs with this music bumping next to us, but you really couldn't hear it when everything was closed and I did not need the earplugs and we were in bed at like 845.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, it was early.

Speaker 1:

And so I was like this party is easily going till 10 or 11, so like I'm for sure gonna need the earplugs. But I didn't, and it was not. It was not bad. So I guess there's something to be said for an old building and the soundproofing. Yeah, because it was good. The other thing that I'll say about the pool is I don't know if they have more umbrellas that they set out in the summer, but I mean it's already fairly warm here. It's May. We visited there the first week of May, so very recently they only had umbrellas in like the first row of chairs and there were maybe three other rows of lawn chairs behind that with no umbrellas. And I'll remind you that this is Phoenix, arizona, where it gets to be 115 in the summer. So that was concerning to me and I like I would not. I mean I wouldn't be able to sit by the pool without being under an umbrella.

Speaker 3:

I didn't even pay attention to the umbrellas.

Speaker 1:

I know, because you have brown skin and you don't burn and it's fine for you. You're not concerned, but I had. For anyone who doesn't know, I had a stage one melanoma removed from my leg like a year or two ago, and so sun protection and being under, being able to be under the shade, especially here in phoenix, is super important to me, and so if that is important to you, as it should be, I would just forewarn you that they didn't have a lot of umbrellas or shade at this pool other than the front row, so so I mean, our room had a pool directly in front of it was the family pool.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, um room had a pool directly in front of it. It was the family pool. Yeah, um, small, I guess it was smaller way, smaller like a fourth of the size anyway, or any who? If there's no umbrellas for you at the main pool?

Speaker 1:

that I'm assuming, that's yeah, there's a plan for you to go to a different there's a bunch of other small pools around the grounds. However, duane Dwayne was like we should come back and go to this pool when we come back from the football game, and our kids were like we don't want to go to this pool, it's just a very basic pool, right? Whereas the other one has a water slide and a little water fountain and it's just more fun.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, it's definitely more fun for the kids and there's no service or any like like food service or drink service by the smaller pools that we saw, which mean you can save money and bring your own, I guess that's true.

Speaker 1:

Drinks were expensive. They were expensive. A pini colada was 20.

Speaker 3:

Well, your margarita was with a special tequila was like 24 bucks.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that's wild to me, Wild so prepare yourself for that. Pack your credit cards. Okay, we also woke up and had breakfast the next day. They had a breakfast buffet In full transparency. I do not know how much the breakfast cost for five of us, but we did get the $30 credit applied. We have several charges on our bill and I'm not sure which one was the breakfast. So do you know?

Speaker 3:

um, I do not.

Speaker 1:

I hope it wasn't this one, because that's a lot no, that was, that was lunch one day, that was.

Speaker 1:

That was the day we got those drinks and lunch well then I mean the all the other charges are $45 or less. So I actually don't know. Maybe they didn't even charge us for breakfast, I don't know. Anyways, whatever, don't know how expensive the breakfast buffet is, but probably would assume it's not worth the money we ate there. It was fine for the kids. I didn't love it. Everything was just kind of blah. I don't know. What did you think I mean?

Speaker 3:

I wasn't anything special, but I didn't think it was bad it wasn't bad.

Speaker 1:

They had an omelet like made made to order eggs station, yeah, which is good I just bacon sausage it was fine they had waffles.

Speaker 3:

I didn't try the waffles. They had juices, yogurt they had. I mean it was a robust buffet.

Speaker 1:

I mean I've we've had worse buffets we have yeah so that's true, okay, so overall, again, I mentioned at the beginning this is a four-star hotel on google. We think this is a solid three to three and a half star hotel, because the grand hyatt scottsdale is also technically a four-star hotel on Google.

Speaker 3:

Yes, and that property blows this property out of the water.

Speaker 1:

Yes, there is no comparison whatsoever, no, none. And the service, like the service is just way better. At the Grand Hyatt there really wasn't any service here, you know. I mean like there are no bellmen, like it's just like no one offered to take our bags, like nothing, and so this is not a four-star property.

Speaker 3:

No.

Speaker 1:

I think three to three and a half.

Speaker 3:

I would give it a solid three.

Speaker 1:

However, again, if you are visiting Phoenix On a budget. Yes and are on a budget or looking for a staycation that are on a budget. The cash rates for this property are not that bad if you don't have Hilton points, and I do think it could be a fun little one or two night getaway if you live locally, to take your kids and have them enjoy the pool. For sure they also have golf. They have a spa. We didn't try either of those things, but I mean mean, I'm sure they're fine.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I mean I'm sure the golf course is really nice it is located.

Speaker 1:

So the other thing is, if you are coming from out of town, you are likely going to need to rent a car. Oh for sure, it is in the middle of nowhere and so, unless you want to to pay to Uber 20 minutes in any direction, I would suggest renting a car. Parking on property is free, so you don't have to worry about that expense. And yeah, it's just not close to anything Like there's no restaurants or anything. It really is kind of in the mountains. I mean, it's still in Phoenix, so, but it's. It's not near anything. There's definitely nothing walkable. So keep that in mind too, if you're not local and planning to stay here.

Speaker 1:

If you're curious to see a little bit more about what this property looked like, I also filmed an Instagram reel that I'm going to post, likely the same day this episode airs. So feel free to go and check it out on Instagram at Travel Party of Five and I know sometimes it can be helpful just to get a visual, to kind of go with everything that we're saying so do that, and if you have any questions or anything, feel free to DM me on Instagram as well. Anything else for you, free to.

Speaker 3:

DM me on Instagram as well. Anything else for you? No, just stay tuned for our staycation summer series.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yes, our next hotel that we're going to do here in a bit is the Arizona Grand and that is like it has like a full water park. We've never stayed there and it's actually not bookable with points but it is bookable through a portal. So we'll talk about that on the next episode in a few weeks and we will catch you then. As always, if you get any value out of this podcast whatsoever and enjoy listening to us ramble, please leave us a rating or review wherever you listen. That helps more people find the podcast.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, we would appreciate it.

Speaker 1:

We would so appreciate it and we appreciate you. Remember, get that Chase 100k offer applied for if you don't already have the card link is in the show notes and find me on Instagram if you have questions. Okay, we'll catch you on the next one.

Speaker 3:

Thanks for tuning in. Have a good one. Bye, thank you.