Episode 555: Review of Senna House

[00:00:01] Allow me to welcome you to Drea's Point of View. I am your hostess, Drea. And in the next 10 minutes or less, I will be offering you a perspective on a topic that I feel passionate about. So make sure that you're following the show at Drea's Point of View on IG, Pinterest, Threads, and Facebook. You can also follow me on XandSpill at Drea's Point and at BlueSky at Drea'sPointofView.BlueSky.com.

[00:00:31] You know, I thought about all the reviews that I've done and I don't think I've done one. I may have done one on a hotel. And I find that interesting as much as I travel. Not many hotels really stick out to me. But one I stayed in recently has so I just wanted to, I had to talk about it.

[00:00:56] And that is one in a place that I hardly go. And that is in Arizona, Phoenix. And that it is a Hilton, Senna House, Scottsdale, Arizona. It's fabulous. It really is. And I've heard about the hotel. I was like, okay, everything is subjective, right? What's nice to one person isn't so nice to the next. I'm like, okay, big deal, a nice hotel.

[00:01:24] This one is very much like home. As soon as you pull up to it. First off, it's not too far from the airport, which is always nice. 15, 20 minutes. And it's in a good part of town. It's an old town.

[00:01:39] And it's very nice. Of course, you have the bellman there who opens the door once you get out. And you once you open the door, I stayed around the holidays. And once you open the door, not only do you get a very, very nice smell, you know, every hotel lobby has that smell to it. This makes you the smells and the sights are like being in someone's home.

[00:02:04] It doesn't give you that typical hotel lobby vibe. You don't even feel like you're in a hotel, really. It's like you're in someone's living room, like maybe your grandmother's living room. That's what it reminded me of. My coworker was impressed as well. And neither one of us really are Arizona fans. No offense to anyone who's from there, but it was just a beautiful experience.

[00:02:28] We were taking pictures because the decorations, the aesthetics were just beautiful. Not your typical tree either, our decorations. It was just so welcoming and warm. I was shocked.

[00:02:44] I really was. I was pleasantly surprised. I kept my expectations low, but I was pleasantly surprised. The staff was nice. The, I don't even know if there, I'm sure there was music. I don't even remember it, but everything was just so comfortable looking. There was a marketplace that was in the lobby. It's open 24 hours. If you have, if you're a Hilton member, you can use your points.

[00:03:08] I went to my room, which was on the same floor as the pool. So the pool is outdoor rooftop and there's cabanas there and tons of comfy seating. I think half the hotel can stay there. That's how much seating there was. I believe there was a fire pit. I'm not sure it wasn't on, but I do know. And I didn't see what I didn't see was a jacuzzi. Usually where there's a pool, there's a jacuzzi.

[00:03:34] I didn't ask about it, but it was just very, everything was done so nice. The sculptures on the wall, the paintings, everything was just beautiful. The TV was huge because I remember watching a game there. It was huge. One of those huge screen plasmas TVs. Like you don't even have to leave the room. The bed was the shower. Let me tell you, it was, it was one where you didn't have to step in the tub to take a shower.

[00:04:04] It was glass covered the whole shower. Not one of those where the glass covers half a shower. What's the point of those showers anyway? I don't waste a glass. Anyway, it was just, everything about it was just like you were at home. I promise you, you have to go here.

[00:04:23] Now I can't tell you about the food. I didn't try the food there. I had other places in mind to go. Plus you got to figure most restaurant hotels are going to cost a pretty penny. That one was no different, but I did hear that was nice. And I hear they had great coffee.

[00:04:43] It's walking distance to a lot. My coworker walked, because this is an old town district, which is a well-to-do area. And she walked for hours. Boutiques, high-end boutiques, she said, and restaurants. I said, well, that's not my speed. So I didn't need to be walking. Especially a place that I'm not familiar with. I mean, I like to walk, but I like to feel comfortable as well. She felt comfortable.

[00:05:03] So, I mean, she's a minority too. And that's, you have to, you have to think a little differently when you're a woman of color walking anywhere. But yeah, I took short rides where I needed to go. Short rides to some Black-owned places. And yes, there are Black-owned places there. There's a hat store. There's also a couple of restaurants. Matter of fact, one of the restaurants I went to

[00:05:33] is a franchise to one that I reviewed in Vegas some months back. And it was like night and day. That service was, yeah, it was one of the best services I got. So I'm glad that I went to that location. And you can look it up, what restaurant it was that I reviewed.

[00:05:57] But yes, the one in Scottsdale was hands down one of the best. And there's, it's about a 10 minute walk to this huge mall. I believe it's Fashion Square Mall. I mean, you've been to one mall, you've been to a mall, right? I don't see anything great to talk about that.

[00:06:18] But it's in a nice area, this hotel. And yeah, I know, I can't sing its praises enough. It's just impressive. They do have a refrigerator in the room. If you need a microwave, they'll send it up to your room.

[00:06:37] And what else? Yeah, that's it's just it got very good reviews to us reading the other reviews about the place. And yeah, you can check in through the Hilton Honors app as well.

[00:06:56] And everything was that oh, they also have a robe and I almost forgot. They also have a robe and slippers for you in the room. You know, most places don't have that. Now the slippers don't have the name on it. But just in case you want to take them or give them to someone, you can. They're not plush.

[00:07:16] You know, slippers, but they're good slippers for you. Or if you just want to have them or give them as a gift them as a souvenir, you can do so. And the gym is nice. I didn't access it, but I saw it.

[00:07:35] It was, I mean, it looked decent. I didn't really have any issues there. But I was told it gives Tulum vibes. I've never been to Tulum in Mexico.

[00:07:50] But yes, let's see, there's a wardrobe closet. And they have a Nespresso maker. And it's dog friendly.

[00:08:07] I know a lot of people care about that. Oh, I forgot to mention, they also rent bikes for you. I'm not a biker, but they do rent bikes for you to go around the city. So I definitely recommend this hotel if you are in the area. If it's one of my, I don't know, I guess it's one of my favorite Hiltons, but I never really had any complaints about any Hilton that I've stayed.

[00:08:33] If you have stayed here or have a favorite hotel of yours, I would like to hear about it at Drea's Point of View at yahoo.com.

[00:08:44] And I do have a positive news story for you. This is from Detroit, actually. Talk about the Detroit Public Schools. And they have a new approach to getting their, working on their high school attendance.

[00:09:10] They have a Perfect Attendance Pays initiative that will be starting after winter break. It will allow students to earn a $200 gift card for keeping Perfect Attendance over two weeks. And those cycles will continue through March 21st, giving students across the district the chance to earn up to $1,000. So I would love to hear how that's going to work out. But good for them for implementing that.

[00:09:37] Feel free to leave a review at thedreahspointofview.com as well as subscribe to my free weekly newsletter at dreahspointofview.substack.com. As always, I thank you for listening. This has been Drea's Point of View.