Los Abrigados Resort Sedona
LOS Abrigados Resort and Spa by Diamond Resorts
Nice visit – awful follow up calls a year later
My wife, infant daughter, and I stayed in Los Abrigados for a friend’s wedding held on the property. The way that it works is that you drive in on Portal Lane, go past a bunch of things that are not Los Abrigados, and then eventually get to a sign that tells you that you have reached the destination. There’s a parking lot right after the sign – don’t pull in here (we did so, having no information to the contrary). Rather, pull up under the overhang in front of the building that has no apparent signage that this is where to register (don’t be confused by the building that says “Spoke and Wheel” – this is a restaurant). You check in and get your keys. You will be given a room with a letter and a number (like L 154). Then, you pull your car around a one-way street and pray that you see the letter on the side of the building. There is some signage as to which units are which way, but they only include the numbers and may or may not actually reference the number you are looking for. You will end up pulling into a small lot on the side of a southwestern-looking building that has 4-8? units in it. When you pull out your key card, don’t bother looking for a place to insert or swipe it – rather, wave it in front of the black circle that looks like it’s meant for the key card (this will not be explained to you). If you make it this far, and you aren’t hoping for room service or complimentary breakfast, then you should have a lovely time.
Regarding food, there is a small kitchen (microwave, fridge, freezer, sink, dishwasher) in at least most of the units, possibly all. There are also cups in the cabinet, and complimentary dish soap and new sponges. If you bring your own food, this system should be great. If you don’t bring your own food, then you need to know where to get it. You could always drive into Sedona. We didn’t want to have the stress of getting back in the car after the drive from the Pheonix airport to Sedona. So, for dinner, we got carry-out from Spoke and Wheel. I highly recommend the salmon; the lasagna was pretty good too. For breakfast, we went to El Portal, a bed and breakfast just outside the boundaries of Los Abrigados (and thus walkable) which makes its breakfast open to the public. For lunch, we went to The Secret Garden, a restaurant in the shopping village just outside the boundaries of Los Abrigados. There are other restaurants in that shopping village (which has a long name starting with a T) as well, as well as one other restaurant inside Los Abrigados (Timo).
A lot of reviewers on TripAdvisor have mentioned timeshare pressures, so I came in expecting this. Nobody said a word to us about timeshares, and we certainly didn’t bring it up. I don’t know if they’ve dropped this practice or it’s just not universal, but as of May 2016 I didn’t experience it.
As far as a room, we were given a second-floor room. After searching for the stairs (you may have to walk in a guessing direction around the building since the stairs aren’t marked from the parking lots by the building), we quickly figured out that with a stroller this was a terrible idea. We called the front desk and they very quickly moved us to a first floor room in a different lettered building. A security person came to our original room, met us, gave us the new keys, and helped us get to the new room (though this did happen to mean driving all the way around since it happened to be behind us on the one-way street). The security person also moved the pack-and-play and the high chair that we had requested in advance (ask for these in advance when you make your registration – I’m not convinced they have enough to meet all day-of requests).
The grounds are beautiful, once you figure out how to move about so you don’t get lost, and the background red rock mountains are gorgeous. There’s also a lot to do for older kids, like a playground and mini-golf (you have to check out the clubs from the “Activity Studio” in the registration building, according to the sign by Mini-Golf), plus other things like tennis.
All in all, it’s a good place to stay if you want everything in one place, just lacking in some explanation and signage.
Update 1 year later: Despite not getting pressured to buy a timeshare, I am now getting calls 3-4 times a week offering me vacations. If it was once, that would be fine, but I despite me indicating that I am not interested the calls are continuing. Based on this nuisance alone, I have removed my 4-star review and replaced it with a 2-star review. Unless you have a wedding on the premises themselves, it’s probably better to stay somewhere else and just walk or drive to get to the shopping that is next door to this place.