Villas of Cave Creek

WOW - every villa interior was refurbished in 2008 including furniture, carpeting,appliances, draperies, mattresses, 32" LCD TV with satellite, Bose Wave stereos & wireless internet. This friendly small resort is part of the Starwood Resort properties and was recently ranked #2, right below the St. Regis in New York. This place is a jewel.

We traded into the Villas in Nov 05. We thoroughly enjoyed the Villas, restaurants and golf course in Cave Creek. We spent our second week in Scottsdale and we both agreed Cave Creek was our favorite. This is not your normal timeshare exchange.

I went with my husband in February, 2004. We are senior types, from Montana.

The location is wonderful. You do hear coyotes at night, and you're away from the big city bustle. Cave Creek is a delightful touristy and artsy town, with art markets and great folksy restaurants, as well as the upscale kind. YOu have city proximity, but not pollution, whether noise or fear or smog.

The Villas are nicely appointed. The kitchen is very workable, and the master bedroom is great. The private courtyard and hot tub are the biggest pluses. That's really why we went. My husband picked that out. The privacy is terrific. You can mix or be left alone.

They have a free video library in the office, which is a nice touch. Minuses are just that this is really not a "swimming" pool -- but for cooling off. To me it's a minus because I love to swim for exercise, and it is warm enough -- and very sunny. The private patio was great for suntanning though.

For privacy, this is the place. I don't know another that gives you this privacy with peace and quiet. There is a fireplace in the master bedroom, and living room, for chilly desert nights. The units are really 3 br, as in 2 br plus a loft with fold out couch. You could take a little more family and still have your own space. For those looking for sunny desert warmth in their snowy springs, like us in Montana, this is terrific. -- Elizabeth

The resort staff were excellent. Everyone was quite friendly and when a minor problem arose they arrived within 5 minutes to remedy it. They do a mid week towel exchange only, no linen exchange.

The resort and the unit itself was exceptionally clean. The pebble paths were raked neatly each day. Another plus is the fact that there are only 25 units so it is not overcrowded as some resorts are.

Each unit is quite large with 2 bedrooms, one being a loft living area, 3 TV's, and a hot tub.

The property has 2 pools, a pool table, table tennis, health club and a good selection of free VHS movies.

The location is quite good as it is not in a built up city environment. At night you could hear the coyotes howl and during the day you could see rabbits near the property. And yet there were many good restaurants within walking distance or a 5 minute drive.

At the orientation breakfast they had several local activity/tour operators give a short overview of their services along with the cost and if you wished you could sign up for any one which struck your fancy. Activities for children were held 3 times during the week. Mid week they had an all you could eat pizza party along with beer/soft drinks for the low price of $4.00/person.

Also casually mentioned at the orientation breakfast was the chance to visit a nearby Starwood Property timeshare presentation of which we took advantage. We received a check for $75.00 and 2 coupons for 50% off a stay at any Starwood property in the continental USA for up to 5 days. The sales approaches were well done with no pressure to buy and took up about 90 minutes of our time.

We would definitely recommend this resort and would stay there again.

Just a wondeful place, southwestern style villas, roomy, nicely appointed, great grounds. Real nice location, away from the bustle of the Phoenix/Scottsdale area, but close enough to be either of those places in a half-hour or 40 minutes, and easy to get to Sedona etc. Terrific people, nice amenities, good selection of activities to sign up for.