Arizona Grand Resort (formerly Pointe South Mountain)

I stayed here at the end of April, beginning of May, which is their off-peak or shoulder season. Room rates were quite good at this time, around $179 a night. (Peak season is $399 and up).

The only thing to watch for when booking is to notice that they tack on an extra $20/night for a resort fee, as this hotel has a water park in it.

Suites were beautiful and comfortable. It had just re-opened under the new name when I stayed there, so it was crisp and clean.

Close to Sky Harbor but VERY far from Williams Gates Airport (Allegiant Air's primary airport and an $75 shuttle ride back to the airport).

The property is beautifully landscaped with water features in every direction. In addition to the water park there were a number of smaller pools; some family, some adult. Colorful with yellow umbrellas and bright bougainvillea flowers.

A lovely golf course was on site, the pro-shop and club house were under construction at the time but were not friendly to women golfers. They carried no women's apparel and did not appear to have women's clubs to rent for the day.

Four great restaurants on the property (at least). One was high end Japanese, one was Mexican, one was Barbecue, and one very high end gourmet, each a little bit of a hike from the hotel.

Signage to navigate the web of hotel pods was difficult, so I needed to ask for directions how to find the coffee cafe' in the morning.

The water park was terrific. Plenty of space to lounge, a large lazy river, waterfalls, and 2 huge water slides, one of which was 8 stories high!

Overall, this hotel scored very high for me as a wonderful place to thaw out from my long winter back home.