Location Help!

nde99

I am getting married in the Phoenix area, but live in Chicago, so I need some help! I am looking at 3 locations for a March 2010 wedding and am wondering if anyone has experience at any of them. I am debating between Troon Country Club, Grayhawk Country Club or Xona Resort. Does anybody know anything about any of these places? If so, any insight would be great!!!! Thanks so much.

otisjib

Dont waste your time at Zona. There ceremony site is a tiny spot next to the pool in front of a wall. They have one ballroom. Its just a big, empty, bland room. Ive been to a wedding at Grayhawk. It was really pretty. Have no information about Troon.

nde99

Thanks so much for your help! I can use all the opinions I can get.

lcarp203

I agree with Zona.  It was one that I really thought looked interesting from the literature.  Then when I went out there, I was disapointed.  You are surrounded by hotel rooms.  So, you know that you are at a hotel.  Also, this is more like a hotel and not a resort from Scottsdale standards.  Additionally, we have too much faith in the coordinator there either.  I have not looked at Troon or Grayhawk.  However, if you are looking for a CC feel, you may want to check out Starfire at Scottsdale CC.  We are having our wedding and Ceremony here and fell in love with it.  May not be your style as they can only seat about 90 people.  However, the facility is beautiful for a small wedding.  And, the coordinator there has been great.  Her name is Brooke.

nde99

Thanks!!! Does anybody have any information on Gainey Ranch too?

Dec19Wed

We checked out Troon, Grayhawk, Gainey, and Sassi. I really liked all four and I think could have been happy at any of them. Troon and Grayhawk were pretty similar to me. Grayhawk has a private room which is seperated from the rest of the club which was nice, but the room was pretty plain. It does have a beautiful outdoor fireplace and lake that you look out on. We didn't really love the ceremony site.Troon is beautiful and feels like it is in the middle of nowhere (but a beautiful nowhere.) There are great desert views for your cocktail hour. In the end, it was a little too pricey for a place we didn't totally love.Gainey is in a great location-- your guests will have a ton to do and the golf course is beautiful. The price was the best out of all the places we went to, but we didn't love the ceremony site and it is a bit dated-- nothing bad at all, it just wasn't really our style.We ended up going with Sassi in Scottsdale which was the first place we considered and it was just so "us." We loved the smaller ballroom with fireplaces and the second I saw the ceremony site, I knew it was where I wanted to get married. It is smaller and can only hold about 150 which might be a problem for some. I hope this helps. Let me know if I can answer any specific questions about any of these places.

FutureMrsL.R.Allen

I am getting married at Troon North and I looked at all of the places you mentioned.  I agree, do not waste your time with Xona.  I went to 10 venues in one weekend since I live out of town.  Grey Hawk was the 3rd venue and was my favorite for most of the day, I even had them hold a date for me.  But by the time I got to Troon North (which was the second to last place I looked) I feel in LOVE!  What I was looking for in a venue was a beautiful ceremony location, a ballroom with floor to ceiling windows, great food and wonderful service.  Troon North blew me away when I walked in and Amber was wonderful from the very first second.  I have been very pleased with my selection!With that being said though, I do not think you could go wrong with Troon North, Grey Hawk, Gainey or Sassi; all are wonderful and have great reputations.The one negative thing I have to say about that list is in regards to Gainey Ranch RESORT.  At the resort the ballroom looks like any other ballroom, there are no windows.  That was a deal breaker for me, I wanted my guests to be able to see the beauty outside.  Now, if you are looking at Gainey Ranch Golf Club (not the resort), that room does have windows.  They are two separate venues though with different owners.

FutureMrsL.R.Allen

Oh, also, someone else mentioned Starfire, I wanted to chime in on that.  We had to many people for this venue, but I really liked the feel of it!  I think if you have 60-80 people or so, this would be a reall great option.  The ceremony site it beautiful and the reception room has a lot of character (and windows!) and I felt really confortable with the coordinator.  It was everything I liked in a venue, just on a smaller scale than what I was looking for.  So add that to your list if you have a smaller group!

nde99

Thank you so much for all of your feedback! We are thinking of having between 150-200 guests, so that eliminates a lot of venues. I am flying into town in 2 weeks, and am planning on booking a place while I'm there. I will look into Troon North as well! I could not agree with you more about floor to ceiling windows. I have a lot of family coming in from out of town and I want them to see how beautiful Arizona is! My dad visited both Gainey Resort and Gainey Golf Club today and loved both of those too, so I guess we'll add those to the list!!!!! Thanks again everyone, your opinions are very helpful.

FutureMrsL.R.Allen

I have only seen one ballroom at the Hyatt at Gainey Ranch, there may be others too :-) If you want floor to ceiling windows you should aslo check out Sanctuary on Camelback Mountain Resort, they have some of the best views I have ever seen.

FutureMrsL.R.Allen

I just re-read your post. What Troon were you talking about in your first post? Troon owns many golf clubs in the greater Phx area. I assumed you were talking about Troon North, and that is probably the one that the other poster was talking about who said it felt like you were in the middle of no where, but I realized you could have been talking about any Troon. You should look on the main Troon website because they have many golf courses and from what I know they are all lovely. It may give you some more ideas!

nde99

That is a great point about the Troon issue. We were looking at Troon Country Club at 25000 N. Windy Walk. Troon North is at a different location. I will send them an email to get some info. Thanks again!!

homerswifeagain

Toon would be my 1st choiceSassi is also a fantastic locationGainey ranch can have 2 weddings going on within 1/2 hour of each other and near each other.Have you tryed The Royal Palms Paradise Valley? Guests will love the feel.

stahlop

My cousin got married at Troon Country Club.  It was nice.  I wasn't overly impressed, but it was nice.  I think they only do outdoor ceremonies.  Not sure if that's a problem or not.  I don't like outdoor ceremonies, so that put many sites off my list.