Arizona Grand: Ahwatukee's 'staycation' destination

The Arizona Grand Resort, with its newly-renovated guest rooms and 7-acre water park, is a popular option for Ahwatukee Foothills families looking to indulge themselves without paying the high price of leaving home this summer.

"Arizonans and the Phoenix market is blessed to have so many wonderful opportunities to still give their families a vacation experience without having to spend $400 on gasoline or $1,000 to get the kids over to San Diego on an airplane," said Richard Behr, managing director for Arizona Grand Resort.

With rates starting at $139 per night, and packages beginning at $229 with a $40 food credit toward Rustler's Rooste, Aunt Chilada's or the Phantom Horse Grill, and kids eat for free, it could be the cheapest vacation you'll ever go on.

Located at 8000 S. Arizona Grand Parkway, Arizona Grand Resort will be celebrating all weekend long for the Fourth of July. At its Oasis Water Park, the resort will have a variety of activities from live steel drum bands to balloon artists, caricatures, magicians, performances from Top 40 band Capital Down and dive-in movies on their outdoor movie screen. Bee Movie will be shown July 4, High School Musical 2 on July 5 and Atlantis: the Lost Empire will on July 6. All dive-in movies begin at 8 p.m.

For the renovation, the Grossman Company scraped the guest rooms down to the concrete. Everything was taken out, including the olive green paint, the dark wood furniture and the dark carpet. It was replaced with white plantation shutters, a buttery yellow paint, thick mattresses and lots of pillows.

"When you walk in you feel like you're in a part of Arizona that is fresh and clean and bright," Behr said.

One of the unique things about the property is that every room is a suite. This extra space is advantageous for business travelers as well as families, Behr added.

"I'll walk meeting planners in rooms and they'll say, ‘This is very nice, but I'd like to see your standard room,'" Behr said, "and I get to say, ‘This is our standard room!'"

So far, 510 out of 640 guest rooms have been renovated, with the remaining 130 scheduled to begin renovation at the end of the month.

A new lobby is also in the works. The free-standing building is planned for the center of the property, right where Arizona Grand Parkway terminates.

Inside, there will be sitting areas, a bar, a three-meal-a-day restaurant, a coffee barista, gelato and retail. Outside the restaurant will be a huge veranda with fire pits overlooking the property.

The original lobby will still be used as a registration center for meetings and group business, which Behr said was very typical of Arizona resorts.

"The new lobby is going to be like the icing on the cake," Behr said. "That's what we're really excited about."

For more information, call (602) 438-9000 or visit www.arizonagrandresort.com.

Contact writer: (480) 898-7911 or ebehrendt@ahwatukee.com.