Pointe Hilton Squaw Peak Resort

As we did with choosing a rental car, we* did extensive research before deciding on our hotel accommodations. Having lived for some years in Houston I was aware of the marketing of “brand name” hotel accommodations located in neighborhoods that only the local people would warn tourists about, and so we relied on the advice of Ashley and Chuy, as well as the Phoenicians on Twitter.

Quick side-story: Upon arriving in Houston I stayed at a hotel in Greenspoint near the mall, grocery store , banks, and a Chinese restaurant. Rent was affordable, the demographics were neopolitan and I only moved because I had gotten a job across town which allowed me an apartment. As I met people, and shared my humble beginnings I was told that the locals called the area Gunspoint due to the high crime rate. It’s this type of honest assessment, granted it’s sprinkled with perception and peppered with opinion, but it’s still better than a relying solely on a sales pitch.

Pointe Hilton Squaw Peak Resort is located off of North US Highway 51or as the locals refer to it as Squaw Peak Parkway. It’s surrounded by suburban life of houses, dentist offices, Walgreens and Panda Express. We arrived a few minutes before our scheduled check-in time and was told that our room would not be ready for another hour. Not wanting our fatigue to ruin our fresh vacation (we took the red-eye from HNL to PHX arriving at 7 a.m., our check-in was scheduled for 4 p.m.), we asked for the nearest restaurant to have an early dinner.

With all of the paperwork completed, all we needed was our keys, directions to our room and we could all have a much needed hot shower. We thought wrong. The front desk clerk informed me that Lilinoe would need to show her identification card again, and he would need to run our credit card once more. Struggling to keep a positive attitude I walked out to the parking lot and waved Lilinoe over.

Keys in hand we found our first floor room, steps away from the pool, patio overlooking our rented Xterra. The room was clean, spacious and really leaned towards the luxurious side. The bedroom and living room were separated by the vanity and shower area with door partitions for privacy. The large living room had a couch with a queen sized pull out bed, wet bar, desk, sitting chair, end and coffee tables, and entertainment center with television set — and I still could have laid down in the open area with ample room!

The vanity area had only one sink, but enough room for me to brush my teeth, Lilinoe to apply her make-up and Chelsea to straighten her hair.

The bedroom had a large horizontal, eight drawer dresser with another television sitting atop. We requested two full-sized beds that had a comfy, round-shaped body length pillow. Pointe Hilton took the liberty of emailing Lilinoe a week before we arrived asking if we had any requests — more pillows, please. And they delivered, there were enough pillows for the four of us to have four pillows each.

Chelsea wasted no time reserving one of the two complimentary robes, and I began unpacking and organizing. Having traveled quite a bit before, and kept a messy room for most of my youth I was well aware of the importance of keeping everything in order.

We dined at the Hole in the Wall, spent the entire Easter Day at the River Ranch, and slept like babies in our beds.

Of course perfection is something one can strive for but rarely achieve. The day before our departure we discovered that our credit card had been maxed out by charges from the Pointe Hilton. We were told that it is their policy to hold the total projected amount of our stay plus an additional $50 – $200. This was acceptable, we had budgeted for possible room charges. What we didn’t expect, and they ran around in circles trying to define their policy, is that they also hold a total of daily charges for each day of our stay.

I couldn’t see the logic in holding approximately $1,700 which covered more than our total amount provided that we did not have any room charges, and yet charge approximately $500 per day for each day until check  out. Without incurring any additional charges, the Pointe Hilton would have over “held” almost $2,000 — more than my actual bill. This may have been acceptable, knowing that eventually their hold would be released, but we were traveling to Las Vegas the next day — someone else would want to be “holding” the money after our departure.

The front desk clerks were absolutely unmotivated, not one seemed chipper or excited to be working so speaking to them was out of the question. The General Manager, Terri Agosta was out sick and so I was referred to her assistant. I explained my situation to the Assistant GM and told her I was on my way to her office to resolve the issue. Upon arrival, I was told that I need to speak to the Front Desk Manager, but Lilinoe had informed them of her failed attempts. So, they directed us to Concierge Supervisor David Richardson.

By the time I spoke to David I was a bit irritated, but despite my tone and deliverance and his assertiveness my situation was resolved exactly the way I had wanted. I still cannot comprehend the Hilton’s logic in making a blanket policy to charge its guest additional deposits despite not having any additional charges during their stay.

The quick resolution we received from David saved us from labeling our experience a negative one. I believe the reason is, David a long-time resident of Arizona was born and raised in Hawaii. Not only that, but he is a cousin to my dear friend and fellow basketball coach Kahalepuna Richardson-Naki.

*DISCLAIMER: Lilinoe did all of the research and booking for this vacation, but my posts may will continue to read we. All I did was say, “Oh wow, sounds good.”