This was an unexpected stay. I normally stay to the north of Phoenix near Scottsdale at the resorts like the Camelback and such. This was my first stay south of Phoenix near Chandler at the Gila River Resorts and Casino. The Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort and Spa is nearby and we spent some time there too, a big hotel with the Whirlwind Golf Club as part of its facilities.
It has a simple and easy to remember website. PlayatGila makes you want to go there! Looking at different dates the average price for a room is about $270 per night.
Check in at Gila is great. The staff were friendly and helpful, providing us with water and making us feel very welcome.
There is an absolutely gorgeous entrance hall to the hotel. A magnificent statue and very impressive light fixture make for an imposing welcome.
The room:
This was the first view of my room. Twin beds, a relaxing chair, a nice wide counter containing drawers and facilities and a tv on the wall.
A resort like this invariably has an expensive snack tray out for purchase. Wine, water, trail mix, Pringles and other snacks.
A standard coffee machine with lovely Twinings tea bags provided, and an ice bucket as well as a small fridge.
A standard cupboard with ironing board and iron and a safe. A comprehensive phone and alarm were next to the bed. And look! Even the light fittings have power adapters.
Here is also a desk and chair as well as the comfy chair. There is another full size phone at the desk with pad and pen. The size of the unit/counter below the tv provides a lot of space and storage and more than enough place to work.
The bathroom:
Smallish bathroom with the shower in the bath, not as a separate unit. Nice toiletries provided including mouthwash and there are 2 proper glasses, always a pleasure.
Very basic shower with no wand and a plastic curtain. Nice tiles though.
The hallway outside my room. Nice carpet and elegant dark wood features.
Hotel facilities:
This is an interesting pool area. A lot of loungers, a bar area and snacks available. There is also a second pool down to the left. Perhaps for adults only, I did not get to access it.
This is a sunset shot from the 12th floor restaurant of the pool area and beyond. You can see the Sheraton golf course in the background.
This is a nice coffee shop with a lot of different options. We enjoyed it a lot.
The requisite gift shop so you can buy a Gila t-shirt, as well as water and snacks.
There are a few Shula steak houses around the US. This one is on the top floor of the hotel with views over 3 sides of the hotel. It is an impressive venue and it was busy all the time I was there. A tad expensive but nice steaks.
Of course seeing as it is a Resort and Casino facility this is the entrance to the casino. Didn’t spend much time there this trip but it was busy and looked like fun could be had there.
A nice gym with some fancy machines available. An enjoyable space.
This is one of the hanging out / waiting areas downstairs in the hotel. It is elegant with really nice styles of chairs.
Conclusion:
Now this was a fine stay. The hotel is rather nice, it has aspirations of upper class which it definitely achieves regularly. Nice service, nice coffee shop, nice steakhouse, nice pool, nice casino. Not a lot going against it. Stay here and pop over to the Sheraton to enhance your stay. That has a magnificent waterpark and the golf course.
Enjoy this stay.
