JW MARRIOTT STARR PASS RESORT & SPA
3800 W. Starr Pass Blvd., Tucson, AZ 85745, 520-792-3500,
Rates: Standard rooms with one king or two double beds start at $199 a night. Overnight parking is $20 per night. Winter Wonderland Weekend packages Dec. 19-21 start at $179 per night and include lodging, photos with Santa, sledding, water slide activities and some meals. Check online for details.
Stay here if you: golf, love a great spa treatment, are looking for a Tucson getaway that isn’t right on the highway and has killer views.
It’s close to: Tucson Mountain Park, which is just out the back door, and Saguaro National Park and the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum are about a 15-minute drive away. Downtown Tucson is 10 minutes away, the airport about 20 to 30 depending on the time of day.
The rooms are: pretty and warmly decorated despite their modern, slightly corporate feel, with leather chairs, thick comforters and dark woods. Each room boasts a decent view — of the golf course, the city lights, the pool or the mountains — as well as flat-screen TVs and mp3 player-compatible radios.
They put all of the money into: answering critics miffed at the fact that the resort sits on pristine desert, and so the JW Marriott has repeatedly donated land (330 acres thus far) to the Tucson Mountain Park, as well as contributed funds toward wildlife research and protection programs, participated in environmental-impact efforts such as the “corn cups” used in the hotel instead of plastic, the reclaimed water for golf irrigation, and the recycled fill dirt for building material. But there’s no shortage of money being spent at this property — the Hashani spa is a multi-story shrine to rejuvenation, with its own pool, relaxation nooks and crannies and top-notch therapists. And then there’s the golfing — three courses, each one nine holes with stunning views and its own set of challenges. The series of pools set off to one side of the hotel offers yet another option for relaxing away the better part of a day — or a few, depending on the Tucson temps — with a “lazy river” for lying in a tube and floating, a water slide and kiddie pool, a series of adult-oriented reflection pools and enough chairs for everybody, along with a burger joint for lunch and cocktails.
The bottom line: Starr Pass is set up to be its own vacation haven, so that if you don’t want to leave once you get here, you really don’t have to. Hiking and biking trails into the mountain park leave right from the hotel (a free sunrise guided hike heads out daily, and you can hire a private guide, as well), and there are several excellent choices for dining, along with an in-house Starbucks. And if you can’t stay at the hotel, it’s worth a drive up the hill to eat at the romantic Primo (ask for a banquette) to try one of chef Melissa Kelly’s impressive, Mediterranean-inspired dishes.
Kyle Wagner
