A La Quinta Holiday

Staying at La Quinta for Thanksgiving. Unable to get a reservation for Thanksgiving dinner at their small restaurant. Hotel did their best for the majority of their guests by decorating and serving a continuous Thanksgiving meal from about noon to 6PM in their ballroom. Very large room. Decorations were fine. The food was obviously cooked much earlier and heated until served. Deserts were not very good. Lots of people coming and going. Wait staff were doing their best to try to make the occasion special. I do not fault the hotel. On the contrary. I appreciate that they did their best not to turn anyone away from the festive meal. I wish the "dinner" had actually lasted through the evening but 6PM was the cut off. Not sure I understand having dinner at noon.

Thanksgiving

The room was too big to be warm and intimate and it did not seem like there were many people there. The food was just okay. Lots of fillers for what it cost per person.

Brunch was over $100 per person. Advertised at Morgan's restaurant, when arrived said at the grill, then lead you down the way to a large conference room. Chairs were plastic fold-ups. Self serve buffet of lukewarm dry food. In general I really like La Quinta Resort but this was a complete rip-off.

Thanksgiving Buffet Missed the ice sculptures but glad the shiny napkins are gone. Jesus from Yum AZ was great.

Incredible Thanksgiving dinner. Back in the fiesta ballroom this year and restored to its original splendor.

This is our 6th Thanksgiving at LaQuinta in 8 years. Where to start.....each year the experience has declined exponentially.

The check-in process was cumbersome—from waiting in an unorganized line, payment being required upfront, to being told there was an hour wait if we didn’t want to sit in the sun (we had made reservations a month in advance). It was almost 90 degrees on Thanksgiving.

The outdoor seating, with umbrellas, made for a nice setting, once the sun was no longer overhead. However, to access the buffet, you had to walk a considerable distance across an uneven surface, through a line of waiting diners and basically into a side door to the buffet. We commented that you could burn more calories than you consume just by getting your food.

The food was very good, but definitely not up to the selection and quality in years past. In the past there had been a crab cake station, prime rib and lamb. None of these dishes were available this year. The carving station staff was less than generous when serving the meats—it felt as if they were instructed to ration it.

The kids area in past years had fun activities and a much better selection of food items (chicken tenders, mac & cheese for $45 a plate - really?); kids table was so low (about a foot high) that the 11 year old in our party had to practically crawl to get her food. The same child asked for chocolate milk and was told there was none—but there was...in a carton at the kids table.

And now to the price. It was $82 for adults, $45 for children. This did not include beverages. There were 7 in our party. We certainly do not mind paying this amount for an exceptional experience. This was not.

UPDATE: My son-in-law called LaQuinta management to relay our experience since it differed from past Thanksgiving dinners. The manager was both gracious and generous in responding - and for that we say “Thank you, LaQuinta!”

I was disappointed this year at the Easter celebration. I've been to several holiday events at the La Quinta Resort with my family and they're usually amazing. No place in the entire valley does such spectacular holiday feasts like they do. This year they had the Easter celebration in Morgan's restaurant instead of the ball room where it's usually held and it just wasn't as good. It was still a nice, but way over priced, brunch, but no where near as nice as it's been in the past. It seemed very scaled down this time, a much smaller buffet set up with much less options, no kids area, no pictures with the Easter Bunny, and it was elegantly decorated like it usually is. The quality of food wasn't as good this year either. Last year the Easter celebration was amazing and, by far, the best Easter event in the entire valley. This year it was pretty nice but nothing special, just a regular Easter brunch like every other restaurant, but much more expensive. It just wasn't worth the very expensive price this year. Last year we didn't mind at all paying a lot because it was so amazing that it was worth it. This year we felt ripped off. Sadly, I don't think we'll be doing any more holiday celebrations here. It's just not worth it anymore.

Easter brunch use to be in the banquet room, this year it was crowded into Morgans, completely unsuited for a brunch. Way too crowded and difficult to get out of booths for courses. No ice sculptures, no live music, no decor. So disappointing.

Usually a great experience. This was Easter. We were put in the kids' room. Very noisy and spotty service. I wouldn't do Easter again there. Certainly not worth the big price.

In addition, the resort still hasn't figured out how to handle traffic, parking and arriving guests. Management of the entry way is never good...always a problem...and very frustrating.

We chose to dine at the latest hour so that there would be a minimum of people, noise and general chaos! There were 10 in our party and we ALL thought the food and service was excellent and the food was much better than we expected with such a large number of people of people being served. All in all the whole event was very nice.

This was a huge Thanksgiving dinner buffet. It was not as "grand" as I remember it from years past. The selection was mediocre but the price was very high. Nice, but not really great.

You can't beat the La Quinta Resort when it comes to holiday celebrations! We've gone to their Easter celebration and their Thanksgiving celebration and both are amazing. I highly recommend going to any of their holiday celebrations, because no other place in the desert has such an elegant presentation, decor, and service. While it is pricey, it is definitely worth it! The buffet is the largest and most delicious you'll find out here in the desert. It's a great place for children, because they have a very nice kids area with movies, games, sweets, child size tables and chairs, and their own buffet with a very kid friendly selection.
I won't even waste my time going anywhere else for holiday celebrations.

Entertainers were gone. The turkey carver, either had a dull knife or didn't know how to carve. White meat was cut it chunks. Cranberry sauce bowl was empty. Pasta station, sent you all the way across the room to cheese table for grated cheese and it was not on cheese table. The waitress we had spoke very little English and when I asked her for a straw for my wife's ice tea, she brought me a spoon. I had to go to one of the managers and he brought me straws. When I asked the waitress for a glass of wine, she gave me the bottle list. I had difficulty explaining to her I only wanted a glass. Also, the Blue Point oysters were excellent, but the crab was not legs or bodies more like knuckles and very hard to get out of the shell with the larger than seafood forks.

Our 4th consecutive year. Service excellent as usual! Food was noticeably worse this year. Turkey, turkey, more turkey. Turkey soup, roasted turkey (which we had to wait + 20 min for because, ironically, they temporarily ran out of turkey), turkey ala king.. It was a turkey lover's paradise.

Unfortunately, while our family does enjoy turkey, we also loved the lamb and fish options served in prior years. We also preferred the previous years soup variety--butternut squash and corn chowder--versus this year's turkey soup.

I think maybe the buffet would not have had a roasted turkey shortage if turkey hadn't been used in other dishes as well. So, I'm all for "saving the turkey" for the main dish. And, varying all other options.

Enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner at LQ for the 7th year in a row. Our party of 7 enjoyed the food and the service was friendly, however, each year the selection of dishes has decreased.

The children's area has fewer options, both in terms of food and activities. The selection of dishes for adults was also diminished: for instance, this year there was no rack of lamb or pumpkin soup. We had to request a bottle of wine and ask for beverages- - they were not offered.

While we love LQ, our 2014 experience just wasn't up to their usual high standards.

We have attended holiday brunch at this resort for years this year it was not up to their normal standard, the food that was there was very good. But not enough selection, decor not up to standard, music not festive. Just felt like they didn't try this used to be a wonderful holiday experience will now be looking for another location.

Quite honestly it was a disappointment. The lackluster Thanksgiving Day buffet had minimal choices and those they did have were not particularly noteworthy. We will not be returning. However, they do offer other venues for holiday meals, we might try one of them, we'll see.

This was the 4th year our family has celebrated Thanksgiving at LQ. While the food was good, it just didn't measure up to our experiences in prior years. The service, however, was impeccable . It was a little pricey, so we had higher expectations. But we love LQ.

Where last year they had this beautifully decorated entrance it was not there this year. The cheese and bread table provided an excellent selection to enjoy. The salad buffet while it was very good it lacked a few essentials such as tomatoes. The seafood buffet had shrimp, oysters and crab claws. The oysters were not good at all, everything else was very good. The carving stations for the turkey and wagyu beef roast were very tender and juicy. The grilling stations served lamb chops, seared albacore tuna, and seared scallops which were all excellent. Each one had a side of relish/salsa that was a perfect compliment. The vegetables were very good and the dessert table had some great creations. Expensive but it was a nice set up for the kids.

This was by far the best buffet I've ever experienced! The food was tremendous. The arrangement of the buffet stands was well thought out. The arrangement of the seating was such that you never felt crowded. The staff was attentive. And the decorations were memorable. I'd love to go back again..

For an Easter brunch for $300+ for a family of four (two adults, two kids), we had expected much, much more. On the plus side, there were tons of food stations and the ice sculptures were nice. The kids area with a movie playing was also a nice touch. But the setting was poor -- a huge conference facility ballroom set up with tons of tables. Very impersonal and ambiance was terrible. Food was ok, but not spectacular by any means. The whole thing just had a mass-production feel to it.

Easter Brunch was an over the top experience. I would plan to enjoy it time and time again.

Wish they had eggs benedict!!!!

Awful. Don't ruin a holiday with this food. No decent salads or greens that weren't overcooked and slathered in sauce.

for the price, this was the worst brunch weve ever been too. The food was mediocre My cut of beef was awful,very thin, and fatty, and I kept asking them to give me a different cut. Some of the people serving food acted like they didn't want to be there. The desserts looked very pretty and some were good and others just ok. It was a nice presentation but they didn't have ice cream! I didn't see it in the kids section either. That is a must for myself and family.I left still hungary and not impressed with the food whatsoever but the ambiance was lovely.Sorry for the rough review.