JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge Resort & Spa reviews
3492 TripAdvisor reviews
These people are greedy AF!
Steve O on Mar 21, 2026
We had a pretty frustrating experience here. We fully understood going in that this is a large resort with premium pricing, and we didn’t complain about paying $30 for cocktails or $26 for burgers poolside — that’s expected in this type of setting. What didn’t sit right with us was what happened on our third night. After spending a significant amount of money at the resort over several days (well over $1,000), we decided to order food from a local restaurant and brought it to a patio area near the entrance. Almost immediately, we were told this wasn’t allowed and that we had to leave. That felt excessive and unnecessary. After being loyal, high-spending guests for multiple days, it was disappointing to be treated that way simply because we chose to eat something off-property for one meal. It came across as more focused on enforcing rules to capture every dollar than on creating a positive guest experience. Overall, the resort feels more concerned with maximizing revenue at every turn than with customer satisfaction, which left a bad impression.
Poor service and ridiculous costs
Erik K on Mar 21, 2026
I am a capitalist. But I’ve never seen such a money grubbing business in all my life. You pay $1,200 a night for a suite, is it to much to ask for some fresh towels and sheets. Our lounge chairs, which we paid nearly $100 per chair for, were taken from us when we left the pool for 35 minutes. The staff took our belongings and gave the chairs to someone else. Why let a chance to double book and maximize revenue go to waste? By the way, we only left to have lunch in the room because we didn’t want to spent $30 on a greasy, disgusting quesadilla. When we came back, they gave us a new spot under a tree with no umbrella. In short, paying $1,200 a night won’t get you even decent service. I guess you either have to pay more, or else yell and scream and cause a scene. This is my last experience with Marriott resorts. I’ll pay slightly more to stay at the 4 Seasons, but at least they’ll pretend to care. On the bright side, at least every future hotel experience will seem better after this experience.
Bait and Switch Business Practices. Do not book this hotel on points.
SparkRun on Mar 20, 2026
I went all in for my husband’s 50th bday. 475,000 points for a stay for a stay from Wed to Sun—Mountain view room with club access. My husband loves the Sonoran desert and I wanted him to be able to wake each day, looking out from our balcony at the mountains with the Saguaros. Arrived to find that they overbooked the mountain view rooms and would only offer us a resort view. Resort view is of palm trees and a pool. We live in Florida and have palm trees and a pool in our backyard. Used a ton of points, plus $300 tax to bring hubby here for his bday to look at the same thing we have in our backyard. Also, we brought our two boys with us. The room I originally booked had two beds. Instead, my 16 year old, 6 foot 2 son was stuck sharing a pull out with his 10 year old brother...FOR 457K POINTS!!! I booked this room on July 5, 2025. When I asked the individual at check in "Please help me understand how I booked this almost a year ago and it is now unavailable when I show up? His apathetic response was "I don't know. What do I need to do to make you happy?" This is classic bait and switch. We were initially offered a $150 credit for our trouble. Which is laughable, given the nightly rate right now during spring break. After an unnecessary amount of negotiating, they gave us a $300 credit and 100k points back. Unfortunately, none of that recaptures the entire intent of coming to this property and this part of the country for my husband's milestone birthday.
Beautiful property, lackluster service
andrewrC8080XB (Houston, Texas) on Mar 15, 2026
The resort is a beautiful property with multiple pools, water slides, lazy river, pickleball courts and a golf course. That’s about the end of the positive. The jacuzzi was broken for the duration of our stay. The staff seem like they don’t want to work here. At check in our reservation was lost in the central reservation system not the property so that took 30+ mins to check us in. Then our room was fine, but it was by the hospitality suites for the hotel, which was hosting multiple conferences during our stay. Every morning the conference attendees woke us up as they enjoyed their breakfast outside of our room. Housekeeping did not supply us with extra towels the two times we asked for our room to be made up. There was no availability for late check even for elite Bonvoy members due to high occupancy, which is fine I guess, but in all my travels I’ve never had a Marriott not give me at least an extra hour. Staff just didn’t seem to care that it made traveling with my family more complicated. Hospitality is a tough job, you deal with crabby travelers all the time, but this resort didn’t do itself any favors. I do not recommend for the price go stay at one of the other resorts in the PHX area.
Gorgeous but pool construction/ drilling happening now
kmm1077 (Franklin, Tennessee) on Jan 15, 2026
5 stars for the check in staff this morning . They went over and beyond! However JW Marriott should have a warning for people booking rooms they are doing construction at the pool and there is loud drilling noises. I splurged on a room here for the pool and pool bar. It just would’ve been nice to know ahead of time. I understand maintenance needs to get done but just give your guests a heads up before they choose to spend a lot of money for a room, otherwise everything else is five stars! Also, bellhop was five stars.