The Ritz-Carlton Dove Mountain

I came across the Ritz-Carlton Dove Mountain when we were avoiding the Caribbean due to the Zika virus. I had never been to Arizona before, and a good friend of mine had moved to Tucson, so we decided to book a quick weekend getaway all paid for by our Chase Sapphire Reserve card (see blog post here).

The Ritz is located in Marana, AZ and is the only 5-star hotel in Southern Arizona. It’s about 20 miles from Tucson and 90 miles from Phoenix. We flew direct into Phoenix and rented a Tesla Model S on Turo for the 1 hour and 30-minute drive into Marana. The ride is super easy, but the Tesla made it even better. We had a great experience renting on Turo. The car was waiting for us at the airport so we didn’t have to drive anywhere, and the car was picked up from our hotel at the end of the trip.

The hotel is situated in the heart of the Sonoran Desert. It’s nestled against the Tortolita mountains, making it the perfect secluded spot for a sanctuary like getaway for everyone.

Our room overlooked the mountains, and it was impeccably clean and spacious. Fresh fruit infused water was available daily throughout the hotel. We had access to several activities on site: desert golf, mountain bikes, escorted hikes, scorpion hunting, roasting s’mores, stargazing and many more. There is a daily resort fee of $50 which includes the majority of these activities as well as valet parking, WIFI, fitness classes, mixology classes, and daily newspapers.

The hubby and I enjoyed the main pool daily. Hotel staff provided complimentary ice water and sunscreen at the entrance, as well as small fruit popsicles throughout the day.  Each afternoon they rolled out the ice cream/sorbet stand with freshly made flavors like Oreo, hazelnut, passion fruit, etc. available for purchase. We ate lunch at the pool a few times, while the food was pretty good, I wouldn’t say it was spectacular, especially for the price. We ate dinner at both the bar and the main restaurant, and they were good, but nothing special. The bar did offer a great happy hour though!

For families, the hotel also has a second pool with a waterslide, perfect for little kiddos. There are so many other activities to partake in on the grounds as well. We enjoyed hiking and biking around the beautiful desert trails. The Ritz sits on 20 miles of property and also offers ranger-led tours!

The Ritz-Dove Mountain has a top-rated spa that offers a wide variety of services but unfortunately, we didn’t get a chance to take advantage of it.

Overall, we loved our stay! As with every Ritz property, the service was phenomenal, the grounds were beautiful, and the food was expensive. I would definitely come back here. We saw a ton of families as well as couples on their babymoons, so like I mentioned before it’s a welcoming resort for everyone!

Let me know if you have any questions!