Kimpton Hotel Palomar Phoenix Review
I had some expiring IHG free night certificates from Chase cards and decided to make an end of the year visit to Phoenix to get away from the snow in Seattle. After one night at the Crowne Plaza by the airport, I booked two nights at the only Kimpton property in Arizona – the Hotel Palomar Phoenix. My first night would have been 40k points while the second would have been 51k points had I not been able to use two of my IHG free nights. Note that now all IHG free night certificates from Chase are capped at 40k points.
Location
The Kimpton is located in downtown central Phoenix in a new, two block development called CityScape. In the same development are condos (in the upper floors of the Kimpton building), an office tower, bowling, comedy club, restaurants, a CVS and a grocery store just across the street.
The basketball arena and baseball stadium are across the street. The convention center is two blocks over.
The Metro light rail train runs on either side of the hotel. Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport is about 4 miles away (10 minute drive).
It should be clear that the Kimpton is located in downtown Phoenix and is not in the typical tourist area of Scottsdale where you will find the big resorts (like the Andaz or Fairmont).
Check In
The check in lobby is located on E. Jefferson. If you have a car, valet parking is available or self park in the garage below the hotel.
I arrived at the hotel at noon thinking I would drop off my bags and go get lunch. However, I was pleasantly surprised that my room was ready. The agent went over the amenities of the property and let me know that I had been upgraded to a corner room.
Kimpton runs a promo from time to time where they give out a secret password on social media. If you say the secret password at check in, you get some sort of prize (a drink, free parking, etc). I mentioned the password (“just chilling”) and was given a kit to make a holiday drink.
The first floor is just a small check in lobby. The second floor is the bigger lobby where the evening wine hour is held. It is also where the restaurant, Blue Hound, is located.
The third floor has the pool with the Lustre Bar and conference rooms. Guest rooms are on floors four through ten.
Room
I was assigned Room 536, a King Premier corner room.
As you enter the room, there is a small entry area with some empty space and a closet. The bathroom is on the left. Inside the closet is a set of robes, iron and safe but no drawers for clothes.
The king bed sits in the middle of the room with a table on each side with a lamp. Outlets are built in to the base of the lamp.
The bed faces a TV and small desk. Under the TV is the (currently empty) mini bar.
A chair with small table and floor lamp sits to the side. Since this is a corner room, two of the walls have windows.
The hotel was built in 2008 (about 13 years before my stay). The room could definitely use a refresh — not that the decor is dated but there is a lot of wear and tear showing. For example, one of the sheer curtains was ripped. Lots of marks on the walls and furniture.
The windows do have both sheer curtains and light blocking curtains. The view from the room overlooks the pool (directly below) and the arena and stadium in the distance in addition to a large parking lot. The flight path for PHX takes planes past the hotel which is fun for plane spotting.
Bathroom
The bathroom closes off from the rest of the room with a solid pocket door. Inside there is the toilet on the left and single vanity straight ahead.
The walk in shower has a glass partition but is otherwise open which leads to lots of water on the floor. There is only a single wall mounted shower head, though the water pressure is very good.
The bath products are wall mounted refillable bottles by Atelier Bloem while the single bar of soap was Beekman branded.
I was told the suites have standalone tubs while the queen rooms have a shower/tub combo.
Pool
The pool is located on the third floor “rooftop”; two floors directly below my room with similar view. The pool is open year round and there is a bar located on the patio beside the pool (though when I stopped by it was always closed).
There is no hot tub. There is also not a gym in the hotel, but guests have free access to the Eos gym in the same complex just across the courtyard.
Overall
I quite like Kimpton properties. The have more character than any other IHG brand and are on par with Hyatt’s Andaz brand. The Kimpton Hotel Palomar in Phoenix is not as nice as either the Kimpton La Peer in LA or Nine Zero in Boston but a step up from the Buchanan in San Francisco. My only service mishap was that I asked for housekeeping after my first night and it was never provided.
The build of the hotel seems quite luxurious and the location in CityScape is probably the best for a downtown hotel with a ton to do right outside the doors of the property. While Scottsdale is a better area for a vacation, if you have a reason to be in downtown Phoenix or are attending a baseball or basketball game, I would have no problem recommending the Kimpton Hotel Palomar.
