Looking a fun destination for a great girls trip or just a weekend away with your partner? Then Scottsdale, AZ may be the best location! It was October and coming from the cold weather in the Northeast, Scottsdale was the perfect getaway for one of my best friends and I to have a great girls weekend away. This was my first time Scottsdale and I wanted to share some tips and the fun stuff that we did that. We were there for four days that we were there and we made sure to have a healthy balance of fun activities and relaxing days to just lounge by the pool.
We checked into The Scott Resort & Spa. This hotel is beautiful and newly renovated with a Caribbean-inspired décor through the lounge, bar, and restaurant areas.
Our flight came in early so we just dropped off our bags and headed out to wander. We decided not to rent a car for this trip because our goal was to just relax and do things that were close to the hotel. We ended up taking Lyfts every where which ended up working out perfectly. We grabbed breakfast at Prep & Pastry.
We walked around the area and checked out a bunch of little stores. We then stumbled upon this tropic inspired bar called Hula’s Modern Tiki which had some delicious lilikoi margaritas!
I always try to have dinner at the hotel restaurant on the first night of any trip, so we decided to grab some drinks at the awesome hotel bar and then head over to the Canal Club for a delicious dinner.
We actually loved it so much that we came back for brunch the following morning! While the food was amazing, the service was very slow, even though there was only one other couple dining at the restaurant at brunch!
The theme for the following day We splurged on a private cabana which includes a full-sized daybed, a Chandon bucket, and some sunglasses. It was fun to have our own private area because the pool did get a little crowded on Saturday. It was nice to have an entire day to just relax. Note: I reserved the private cabana months in advance (because there are only four) but when we got there, they realized that they had mistakenly booked the cabana that was “under construction”. We were still able to use it because it wasn’t unsafe or anything but it didn’t have the beautiful curtain around the canopy like the other cabanas. No biggy though and the hotel ended up gave us half off the price which was good.
After spending the entire day just lounging by the pool, sipping on some margaritas, and catching up on some work, we went to The Mission-Old Town for some delicious tapas and unique margaritas!
On Sunday morning, we decided to go on a little hike on the Gateway Trailhead at the McDowell Sonoran Conservancy. It was the best location because you can decide on which trail to take depending on long you wanted to stay out.
Once we were back at the hotel, we got ready to go explore Old Town a bit. We grabbed some beer and loaded nachos at Karsen’s Grill which seemed to be a local spot with friendly bartenders.
Then we walked over a couple of blocks to the Aridus Wine Company’s tasting room where we had a flight of wine and a cute charcuterie board. This was a great little spot where we didn’t feel rushed out after the alotted 90 minutes. Definitely make a reservation though.
Since this was our final night in Scottsdale, we wanted to make the best of it so we splurged on dinner and went to Café Monarch, which is listed as one of the Top 25 restaurants in America. We had such a great experience with their incredible service, ambience, food, and cocktails. We enjoyed the beautiful space while we devoured the entire 4 course dinner plus dessert. Word to the wise, go hungry! Although the first 3 courses are small, the 4th one is a full sized entrée. I would highly recommend making a reservation for dinner here!
After we got back to our hotel, we ended up doing night swim and enjoying the hot tub. We pretty much had it entirely to ourselves.
The following day was our last in Scottsdale. If you want a huge breakfast with massive portions than look no further than Butters!
We checked out of our hotel and took a Lyft to the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess for a day of pampering before flying back to NYC. We each got a Signature Massage (60mins) and it was amazing! I can see why this spa is always at the top of every spa list in Scottsdale. We had access to all of their spa amenities, including their exclusive rooftop pool, for the entire day. After getting an amazing massage and loading up on their cucumber water, we checked our their wet and dry saunas, steam room, hot and cold plunge pools, waterfall grotto and aromatherapy room. We then went up to their rooftop pool (which is only for spa guests) and had a light lunch and relaxed until it was time to leave for the airport.
On the way to the airport, we decided to make a little stop at the Fate Brewery Company South for some beers.
This was such an amazing trip and I really felt that 4 days was the perfect amount to squeeze in some relaxation, amazing food and drinks, and some pampering!
STAY:
- The Scott Resort & Spa
- Beautifully renovated with Caribbean-inspired décor throughout the lounge, bar, and restaurant. You can tell that they truly paid attention to every detail so that the overall vibe stayed Caribbean sophisticated. Very comfortable beds with good sized bathrooms.
EAT:
- Canal Club
- Located at The Scott Resort & Spa
- Menu recommendations:
- Breakfast/Brunch: Creole French Toast, Caribbean Benedict, Avocado Toast
- Dinner: Tostones, Spanish Chorizo Oaxacan Pizza
- Drinks: Sin & Santeria, Salt River Society
- The Mission – Old Town Scottsdale
- Good tapas and unique margaritas
- Menu recommendations:
- Dinner: Tostadas, Crispy Pork & Cola Lima Glaze, Roasted Corn Gorditas
- Drinks: Prickly Pear Margarita, Elderflower Paloma Margaritas
- Dessert: Pumpkin Bread Pudding
- Prep & Pastry
- Cute spot
- Menu recommendation
- Breakfast: Classic French Toast (comes with chai butter!)
- Café Monarch
- Super fancy pants
- “Top 25 best restaurants in America”
- Splurge meal
- Menu recommendations (we did the 4 course dinner):
- Variations of Tomato, Pear & Pork Belly, Scallop, Sesame Crusted Rack of Lamb, Chilean Sea Bass
- Drinks: The Monarch, The Sebastian
- Dessert: Caramel Chocolate Torte
- Butters
- Breakfast spot with huge portions
- Blueberry Danish French Toast
- Breakfast spot with huge portions
DRINKS:
- Canal Club
- Located at The Scott Resort & Spa
- Drink recommendations:
- Drinks: Sin & Santeria, Salt River Society
- The Mission – Old Town Scottsdale
- Unique margaritas
- Prickly Pear Margarita, Elderflower Paloma Margaritas
- Unique margaritas
- Hula’s Modern Tiki
- Chill Hawaiian-inspired spot with fun drinks
- Menu recommendation
- Drinks: Lilikoi Margarita, Blood Orange Martini
- Karsen’s Grill
- Neighborhood spot with friendly bartenders for some beers and loaded nachos
- Aridus Wine Company
- Scottsdale tasting room
- Great little wine flights
- Make a reservation
- Fate Brewing Company South
- Close to the airport
- Big pretzels and beers
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