Homewood Suites by Hilton Tucson/St. Philip's Plaz

We usually enjoy staying here, and this visit was no different. The room had a burned-out bulb and the doorways were somewhat dirty, as if someone had thrown a can of Coke at them. We love being near the bike path and Trader Joe's, and the live music in the plaza is a bonus.

We chose this hotel partly for the plaza, with its restaurants, shops, popular coffee shop, and weekend market. The suite itself was comfortable and well equipped. But our two mountain bikes were stolen from the parking lot while we were staying there, despite being secured with a heavy-duty motorcycle chain. We're visiting from out of state and hadn't known about the theft problem in Tucson. The hotel is beside the popular bike trail on “the loop.” We asked the front desk if leaving our small camper in the back was okay, and they said yes without mentioning safety concerns. When we filed a police report, the Sheriff said locals “know what they’re doing” with bike and petty theft, and that this lot gets hit often. He also described theft at the bike shop. The section of lot near the hotel has few lights and, according to the unsympathetic front desk and operations manager, intentionally has no cameras so the hotel won't have liability. Maybe we should have taken the bikes inside, but nothing suggested the area was unsafe, and our lock and chain would have been extremely hard to break. There was no sign warning us to watch our property. We later learned a local in a weekly cycling group had been stabbed on that trail a couple of miles west and unfortunately died. Given the safety concerns, we can't recommend this hotel. If management knows about thefts in the lot and nearby shops and considers the trail area unsafe, they should at least warn guests. Instead, they were unhelpful and invalidating after our property was stolen, ruining our vacation. We reported it to corporate Hilton management five days ago and still haven't heard back. We hope there will be a proper investigation and changes to protect future guests.

The plaza is a wonderful place to stay near, with an open-air market on Saturdays and Sundays. The location is great, and the staff have been awesome and responsive. Breakfast is free and great.

On a business trip, I chose this hotel for my first visit to Arizona, and I'm glad I did. St. Philip's Plaza is right across the parking lot, so if the time zone difference from Florida has you confused and you don't want to drive, there are lots of restaurants, live music, and a great nighttime vibe. The Tucson location worked really well. My room looked recently updated, was clean, and had super-cold A/C that was just right for the desert. Staff were amazing, helpful, and eager to answer questions. Breakfast surprised me in a good way: chicken tinga with tortillas and regional toppings in the morning was a tasty, unusual treat. I'll be back in Arizona next week, and this will be my Tucson choice again.