Review: Westin La Paloma Resort

I had the privilege of attending a friend's wedding outside of Tucson, Arizona in May so Chris and I decided to stay at the Westin La Paloma Resort. It was a quite affordable option and the setting was absolutely gorgeous. My family lives in Arizona, but over three hours North of Tucson, so I always seem to forget the fact that Tucson is located right in the middle of the desert. 

The Westin La Paloma Resort is nestled up against the Santa Catalina mountains and almost appears to be a natural part of the desert itself. 

Westin La Paloma Resort Lobby View

The resort has five pools, a golf course, a spa, and several restaurants (including a swim-up bar). Unlike the city hotels we've been staying at lately, everything is quite spread out - so much so that you can get a guy with a golf cart drive you to your room from the lobby. All parking is in a two-story lot directly in front of the lobby, so if your room is on the other side of the resort, it might be quite the trek if you have a lot of luggage. Luckily, our room wasn't too far, so we passed on the golf cart and headed to our room to hit the pool and relax before the wedding.

The rooms at the La Paloma are quite spacious. All appeared to have an attached patio to enjoy the desert views and a wonderfully large bathroom with double sinks and a separate shower and bath. In addition, our room had a Heavenly king bed, a seating area with a couch, and a desk. The La Paloma underwent a $35 million renovation that was completed in 2013 and the resort was quite nice, but the decor was understated and muted in traditional Westin style, which can be a bit boring.

Westin La Paloma King Room

Westin La Paloma King Room

Westin La Paloma King Room Bath

Westin La Paloma King Room Bath

Westin La Paloma King Room Bath

Since the room itself was muted and honestly a bit boring, my favorite part was the view from the patio. If you've never seen the desert in spring, you should. It's absolutely gorgeous and the colors are really beautiful.  

Westin La Paloma King Room View

Once we got situated in the room, we headed to the main pool area. One thing to keep in mind about visiting any resort in Arizona in summer is that you're almost guaranteed to be overrun with families and children. Since summers in Arizona are so hot and pretty nearly unbearable, resorts in Phoenix and Tucson drop their rates to rock bottom prices and many Arizona families take advantage of the low rates and pools to entertain their kids during the summer. I'll admit that since I have no children of my own, I honestly don't enjoy spending time around hundreds of other people's children, so we headed to the one adults only pool at the resort. The pool area was nice and took advantage of the mountain views, but since it was over 100 degrees outside, it was tough to spend much time sitting in the sun without being completely overheated.

Westin La Paloma Pool Area

Westin La Paloma Pool Area

Overall, the Westin La Paloma was a great option for a one night stay with a $129 price tag. It was in a beautiful setting and was clean and renovated. If you're visiting Tucson, I would definitely recommend considering the Westin La Paloma. 

Happy Travels!