The hotel is in a nice location. The grounds are nice, the pools look inviting from a distance. The hotel is older and an attempt was made to give it a modern facelift. Modern furniture that is dusty, creaky floors, dingy drappery and the new-age "stuff" does not disguise the smell, the aging cooling system and the rude, poorly informed staff. Had the room been nicer, I would have been able to overlook the rest. How would I describe this establishment? Lipstick on a pig...you know the rest.

We stayed for three nights in a mountainview casita. We had a lovely view of Mummy mountain and could watch the sunset over Paradise Valley. This resort is truly a sanctuary. The grounds were beautiful and lush with desert plants. The resort is built up the side of Camelback Mountain with brick paver stairways and paths throughout that lead you to wherever you want to go. This is not a place to take your children. It is a very romantic couples resort. We did not see one child during our entire stay.

The room was large and comfortable. The bathroom was spacious with a seperate travertine shower and soaking tub. Some of the nice little touches that we didn't expect were candles all around the room, the bar area complete with crystal wine glasses and corkscrew, his/hers flip flops to keep, and the bath salts/loofah sponge. Housekeeping even lit all of the candles as part of the turndown service. A patio area would have been nice, but they were only included with some of the higher priced suites. A couple of downsides: The King bed was really two seperate beds pushed together with two seperate frames, mattresses and headboards. There also was no topsheet, so you either used the comforter or nothing.

The infiniti pool was a wonderful place to soak up the Arizona sun. The pool area was clean and spacious with very nice chaise lounges, rafts and comfortable towels. The pool staff always made sure that you had cold water and they even handed out popsicles throughout the day.

The food at Elements was outstanding. We ate breakfast there every morning, ordered room service a couple of times and also had luch at the pool.

Stayed for 4 days /4/12-4/16/, after itiali screw-up with my reservation, which they handled very professionaly,were upgraded from spa casita to spa casita suite/extra room and somewhat better location/
Positive
Exc location, very close to Phoenix/Scootsdale attractions and very private and upscale area.
Terrific spa and treatments
Nice pool and service/ while we were there Beyounce and JayZ were visiting resort for there h-moon, therefore service were super
Good contemporary rooms with a loot of space,great shower and fireplace. Huge terrace with a view of Camelback
Negatives or so-so
Restaraunt food good but not exquisite
Some of furniture and floors in need of replacements
Pretty expansive/ suitearound 800-900 Usd/
Overall very good place but not the best
For the best read my review on Royal Palms

My husband and I stayed at the Sanctuary for a belated anniversary vacation, and to recover from our hectic lives.
Our room was fabulous; a suite with a small kitchen, balcony, LR, dining area and big bed and bathrooms. The decor was great, it was a great place to be.

This place is so QUIET, no car noise. Just birds. It was really peaceful.


The staff was very nice and the property is impeccably maintained, including the fitness center. They have very nice equipment although the gym is small.
We booked a mountain bike excursion and were guided through a preserve by Melissa, who was awesome. It's not so easy to bike through rocks in the heat with a hangover when one is inexperienced, but we had a blast. I'd recommend booking her for anything fitness related; stretching, personal training, hiking etc.

We had one dinner at the restaurant, very nice, and one served room service from the restaurant's menu. The delivery guy waited even though we were across the property when we arrived, and then set up our meal outside so we could dine with the sunset view. He even lit candles. I'm not kidding, i usually have a dozen gripes and everyone at this place was nice.
We also had a meal at Sea Saw. If this kind of restaurant is your thing, you must go. It is really spectacular!

The spa at Sanctuary was....well, it was above average and looks very nice. The sitting areas are well designed, all very cool. The services I'm not so sure about. I got a Watsu massage, out of curiousity, and it was actually an experience I recommend if you don't mind forking over the dough. This (duh) very nice woman was the massage therapist, and it's an interesting modality. She attached floaties to my legs and then swirled me around in this warm little pool for an hour in defined patterns and rhythms. It really worked on my lower back and hips, relaxed and stretched everthing, and the sensation was really beautiful. It's the closest thing to sensory deprivation I've ever been; a feeling something between being on nitrous at the dentist and floating on an air mattress in the Caribbean.
I also got an Espresso Mud Wrap which was pretty much 100% lame. The espresso mud smelled good, so maybe it was only 95% lame. She was nice, of course. She just kind of swiped the grainy scrubby mud stuff on, so it didn't feel good or exfoliating or anything. Just kind of patted it on and then wrapped me up in the plastic for a few minutes. Then, I had to get up and put a robe on and take a shower which was kind of awkward, and come back for the massage portion of the treatment. Ok, she used less pressure than I do putting on my body lotion after a shower. It was so useless, but I can't say unpleasant. It totally seemed like she had no idea what she was doing. Lame. For $180! Maybe read some other reviews and book with someone who's been specifically reveiwed well.

The crowd here was definitely more the older set, the pool scene was pretty sedate. Nice pool, by the way.
The bar at the restaurant is totally happening, a good little scene there.

5 stars for Sanctuary.