Relaxing week in Scottsdale, AZ

It's about 20 minutes to the Old Town Scottsdale from the Villa Mirage. It's definitely worth visiting either just for a nice walk or shopping. Parking was not an issue in May and was free. Go further on and you can visit the Papago City Park. It's a nice relaxing destination with rocky scenery and a few lagoons to let you see some water. Camelback Mountain is another great destination within your reach. You can either enjoy the views from the bottom or hike all the way up -- a quite difficult hike at spots it is though. To the north of the resort, visit Rawhide, a nice western town -- admission is free and you pay only for various attractions. For more distant trips, consider Saguaro National Park (West is free, East is paid) on the way to Tucson. Since I like cacti I loved it there. There are many trails to enjoy and even the road goes through beautiful scenery. Apache Trail east of Scottsdale can make for a nice one-day trip (if you don't mind 22 miles on unpaved road).

Quick Tips:

Nearby places not to miss:

• Old Town Scottsdale
• Camelback Mountain
• Rawhide

Best Way To Get Around:

We had a rental car and that definitely gives you more flexibility. There's so much to see on your own that rather than paying for some resort provided activities I would suggest getting the car. But then it depends on what kind of vacation you are in for.

Best Things Nearby:
Old Town Scottsdale is about 20 minutes of driving south on the Scottsdale Rd, well worth visiting. Papago City park just a little further and very nice for a relaxing afternoon. Hike up the Camelback Mountain offers great exercise with very nice views of Phoenix and the mountains around.

Best Things About the Resort:
Location.

Resort Experience:
We were disapponted with the resort. It may be due to being spoiled by other great places but we really expected more.

The studio was separated from another unit by a single locked door with a 1" gap in the bottom. You could hear every word the neighbors said plus light was getting through at night a lot.

For the square footage, the unit could have been better equipped. Drawers and balcony screen door were hard to slide.

There was no washer & dryer in the unit, only two of each available at the activity center for $1 each! We've never had to pay for laundry at a resort before.

To use all resort amenities, you will need a $1 card per unit. Not expensive but unpleasant. Also, right at checkin, concierge tried very hard to pitch us the resort tour and did not want to take a 'no' for an answer. Since we bought our timeshare, never did we have to listen to a sales pitch for so long. They still called the next day to try again but that person at least understood what 'no' means.

We also noticed that the resort cared little about saving water, being in the desert. Also, parking is limited and at times you will have to park quite away from you unit.

With all the things listed above, I am really not sure why this is a crown resort.

• Unit Type: Studio
• Activities: Fair
• Amenities: Fair
• Unit Satisfaction: Poor
• Family Friendliness: Fair
• Service: Very Good

If you are staying in Scottsdale or close around, this one is an easy destination. It is close and very enjoyable. Depending on how high you want to get the difficulty changes. One portion of the trail is pretty steep and slippery even on a dry day. There is rail to hold onto but still you should be careful.

We hiked this one at sunset and I enjoyed it very much. It was a great finish of a great day. Don't expect to be alone there though, it is a favorite destination for the joggers living nearby. Even the parking area can often be full.

This is definitely a drive worth driving :-) It is very close to Phoenix / Scottsdale and you can drive all the way through, just getting off the car at lookouts, if that is what you want to do. It can be a nice program for a lazy day when you want something else than hiking. One thing we noticed was that unlike other desert destinations, there were bugs here and they were quite annoying at a few places where we stayed out of the car longer.

The trail starts at Apache Junction and ends at Globe, even though you may leave it early using the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge. We personally did not find Globe attractive at all, but I am not sure if we found the "downtown" we were looking for.

Soon after the start, you can visit an old mining town of "Goldfield", which I believe is worth the stop. Later, you will drive past three lakes - Canyon Lake, Apache Lake, and Theodore Roosevelt Lake. All these lakes are the result of building the T.R. dam. There are some very nice lake and mountain views along the trail. You will even see some Saguaros along the wa, which is an interesting view (cacti by lakes).

About 22 miles of the road are unpaved, but a regular sedan will have no problems (in dry weather). There is no gas available along the whole trail so make sure your gas tank is full. It appeared not too many cars decided to take this drive so you will have even some privacy here.

One thing I have to say though is - "Don't expect a wilderness trail"! This is nothing like that. While mostly unpaved, there is a road all along, we did not see too many side trails. I must admit I expected a little more natural setting.