When you think of Arizona, the first thing that comes to mind is most likely the Grand Canyon, and then miles upon miles of desert. While yes that is the case, what you may not know is that the state is actually quite well known for it’s 5-Star resorts and spas. No, you don’t need to travel to the tropics to go to a good spa. In the heart of the desert is a handful of phenomenal resorts that will leave you feeling like utter royalty. Back in June, I traveled to Phoenix with Peter just to experience these luxurious resorts first hand, and to get another taste of their beloved dry heat. If you’re gearing up for a trip to Arizona sometime in the near future, or already have plans to go there but are unsure of what to do, here are my top 10 things to do!

While in Arizona, we had the chance to stay at 3 lovely resorts. There isn’t a single thing that I disliked about any of them, so all 3 are going to make it into this post! I’ll definitely touch on why each one is different from each other though, so if you have a specific aspect in mind as to what sort of resort you’re looking for, I’ll make sure to cover it!

The Phoenician

This beautiful resort was just recently completely renovated, with even more renovations in place for the coming fall, and I absolutely love it! With state of the art finishes, and literally the best 5-star spa possible, I didn’t want to leave. We only had the chance to stay here for 2 full days and 1 night so you can only imaging how sad I felt as we checked out. With a variety of pools (there are kid-friendly, all the way up to adult-only pools), it’s a great place to travel with a large group while still managing to get away from the kids!

The grounds are also absolutely stunning with so many hidden alcoves with ample shade, so you can grab a book and sit back and relax in silence without feeling like you’re still in the middle of a resort. The lawns are also so perfectly manicured that all you’ll want to do is roll around in them like a child.

Have I also mentioned the phenomenal spa? Completely brand new and redone, this 4-story spa with a rooftop pool is a gem! With many different soaking pools and silent rooms to relax in, the Pheonician’s spa is like a little slice of heaven than you can spend an entire day relaxing at.

They also have a delicious restaurant in house, Mowry & Cotton, that serves up the absolute best elevated American cuisine with the quintessential view of the entire resort. On our first night, we dined to our hearts’ content and had so many mouth-watering dishes that I was highly tempted to order a couple extra ones to bring back to our rooms for a midnight-snack! When the food is so good that you contemplate ordering some for takeout, you know that it’s worth a return trip! If the spa wasn’t there, I would go to The Phoenician purely for the food at Mowry & Cotton!

This resort is perfect for a honeymoon or even bachelorette trip since it seems to skew a little bit more mature—in the sense of what it has to offer, the set up, and the finishes.

Fairmont Scottsdale Princess

The second resort that we stayed at was a Fairmont property. If you’ve ever stay at a Fairmont then you’ll know how luxurious they can be, and this one did not disappoint. With also a variety of pools scattered across the property, and along with a cute little pond, the entire place is so picturesque! We had the opportunity to stay in their newly renovated Fairmont Gold hotel-within-a-hotel section that provides an added level of concierge service and unparalleled amenities. Not only did we have access to the club’s daily breakfasts, but gold-carts were available to us with a simple call.

The resort also is the first of it’s kind of its kind to have a “sand beach” since there is no natural bodies of water in Arizona. While Arizona does have a giant lake, it’s entirely man-made, and you won’t ever see a beachside resort similar to what you will find in places like Mexico or Bermuda. The sand beach is quite neat because you get the opportunity to relax in a beach chair while enjoying a drink, all in the comfort of a bed of sand! It’s actually quite neat when you think about it, because it gives the effect of being at a beach while inside of a resort.

For those who enjoy dining on-site at their resorts, there is La Hacienda, which is known for having the best selection of Tequila in all of Arizona. All you tequila drinkers need to dine there, stat. And even though I’m much more a gin consumer, I quite enjoyed the tequila flight that we experienced while dining there.

Right next to La Hacienda is quite literally the most beautiful spa that I’ve ever been to in my life. It’s not your simple spa with rooms, pools, and lounge areas. You can tell that whoever designed it really put thought into creating a space that felt like a spa situated right among the natural desert formations. The Well & Being spa also has a rooftop pool with a beautiful infinity ledge that you and lean against to take in the beautiful outdoor scenery of the first floor. Even though the spa at The Phoenician was definitely first class, I found myself longing to return to the Well & Being spa much more. If I had to pick one spa location that was my favourite, the award would definitely go to the Well & Being.

Hyatt Regency Scottsdale Resort & Spa at Gainey Ranch

Our trip to Phoenix wrapped up with a stay at the Hyatt Regency in Scottsdale where we had the luck of exploring such a beautifully designed hotel. Where The Phoenician stood out architecturally and shone in it’s stunning design and structure, the Hyatt Regency at Scottsdale glistened with all of the luscious greenery spread about the property. Every where that you walked were palm trees as far as the eye can see. And while the first two properties that we went to had luxury of being more of the secluded and peaceful resort, the Hyatt Regency had the charm of what you would expect out of a resort experience—nightly live performances in the lobby, pools full of patrons enjoying themselves by the bar, and water installations everywhere so that you could easily cool off.

The property itself is also an Instagrammer’s dream come true due to how much luscious vegetation is found on it. You can’t go anywhere withing walking into a grove of palm trees. It gave you the experience of escaping into the tropics while in the middle of a desert, and this is definitely something that I can get behind. Would you really turn down a tropical environment without the humidity? I didn’t think so!

I really wish that I had the opportunity to grab a photo of the beautiful relaxation pool in their spa, but Peter and I decided last minute that since this would be our last spa experience for the trip, we wanted to enjoy it without a camera. You’ll have to look for photos of it online somewhere, but I standby how stunning it is, and would go back in a heartbeat. We had the luxury of experiencing Spa Avania’s newest addition, a salt room, which is purported to improve your health, and it was probably the most blissful 30 minutes of my life that day.

With all of the on-site activities and waterslides built into the pool portion of the property, I can definitely see this resort being a phenomenal space for families to spend their vacation together.

Ride a Hot Air Balloon

Flying up into the sky in a hot air balloon has always been an item that ranked pretty high up on my bucket list. After coming back from Phoenix, I can finally cross it off (even though I still want to do it in other places across the world as well)!

Because it gets so insanely hot during the day, we had to wake up at the crack of dawn (literally at almost 3 AM). By around 5:30/6:00 AM in the morning, we were up, up, and away to soar 7700 ft in the air. Seeing the desert landscape from that high up is both impressive and daunting. At that early in the morning and that high up above the ground, the silence is quite deafening and you begin to feel isolated from society. We watched as the early morning traffic roared by underneath us in silence as we floated over top of the multi-laned highways, and glided gently over neighbourhoods.

For anyone who is afraid of heights, I can assure you that you won’t feel any vertigo that high up. The balloons don’t sway too much as they’re floating, so the movements as you’re drifting are quite seamless.

Stand-Up Paddle Board in one of Arizona’s Man-made Lake

Those who love water sports should definitely give stand-up paddle boarding a try in one of Arizona’s man-made lakes. We went out with No Sno Stand Up Paddle Board to explore Saguaro Lake and also had the chance to witness some wild horses running across the beach! The cool water was such a nice reprieve from the scorching sun that some of the group ended up jumping into the lake to cool off during our excursion.

Explore the Desert Botanical Garden

If you’re into plants as much as I am, then the Desert Botanical Garden is something that you should be adding to your list. You’ll find an extensive collection of cacti from all around the world, as well as the famed Saguaro cacti that you often see in the backdrops of films depicting the Wild West. There are a couple of different trails and you can go exploring for several hours, so make sure to bring a good pair of sneakers! I would also highly recommend that you go first thing in the morning as soon as it opens so that it doesn’t get too hot while you’re there. It’s best to do the majority of your outdoor activities early in the morning, or later on a night when the sun isn’t directly overhead.

Grab lunch at the Queen Creek Olive Mill

For something off of the beaten path, I would suggest visiting the Queen Creek Olive Mill for lunch. This local olive grove is the only one of its kind in all of Arizona and comes with an amazing story about a family to gave everything up to start fresh and found success. We had the chance to meet the family that runs Queen Creek Olive Mill and they are the sweetest humans that I’ve ever met whilst traveling.

While there, make sure to pop into their retail store to grab some olive products or to even settle in for a lunch. Not only do they have some delicious entrées, but their deserts are what takes the cake—literally. I’m so in love with their vegan chocolate cupcake (even though I’m not a vegan), purely due to how moist and delicious it is for a vegan product. I’ve tried many other vegan cakes in the past and they’re typically dry without much flavour, but Queen Creek Olive Mill’s vegan chocolate cupcakes will transport you to chocolate heaven. I don’t even like chocolate, but I’m still drooling for those cupcakes!

Drink Up at The Camby’s Tipsy Tea Party

For a fun little afternoon activity, pop into The Camby to partake in their Tipsy Tea Party! If you’ve been in the area before, then you may recognize the property originally as the Ritz-Carleton! But after 5months of renovations, the property re-debuted itself as part of the Autograph Collection with an updated boutique hotel decor mainly featuring music and art as its central themes. This unconventional tea time serves up delicious both hot and cold tea cocktails inside of teapots that is then poured into beautiful teacups. That’s as chic as drinking can get! Paired together with delicious eats and a black-and-white movie projected onto the walls of the lounge, you can absolutely spend an entire afternoon hanging out inside of the Camby!

Dine at Oprah’s favourite pizza joint in America – Pizzeria Bianco

I found it strange how out of our entire itinerary, Peter looked forward to going to Pizzeria Bianco the most. When I asked him for the reasoning behind his excitement, he simply said that one of his favourite podcasts had mentioned it and it left a lasting impression on him. Clearly I didn’t understand how anyone could be that much of a fanatic for pizza that they would go crazy over a particular restaurant, but after dining there, I can definitely see why.

Pizzeria Bianco is not only a favourite pizza restaurant for locals and tourists, but for high profile individuals too such as Oprah. We went for a tasting, and every single pizza that I tasted was like an explosion of flavour in my mouth. Please promise me that you’ll save and bookmark this restaurant because you won’t forget it.

Enjoy dinner at The Gladly

Those in search of a more upscale setting will thoroughly enjoy The Gladly. We went there one night for dinner and I was pleasantly surprised by how delicious and fresh all of the seafood dishes were, especially for a city without any natural bodies of water. If you want to order a drink, make sure to get one that comes with ice in it. The wait staff will bring out an interesting aluminum contraption that turns cubes of ice into spheres within the span of 1 minute. It’s quite the neat table-side magic trick!

Photography Credits: The Dunk Listt
Visit Phoenix graciously hosted us for the week, however all views are 100% honest and my own.