Manic: Spring break spring fever last week as my daughter and I stayed home all week, so we decided that we would stay two nights at a local resort our last two nights of the break. We chose the historic Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa.
Managed: Turning our quick stay-cation into a review for you, my website readers. Read on to see our resort pics and to hear our review of this historic resort where numerous Presidents, including JFK and multiple celebrities like Clark Gable, have stayed. The property is historic, but not dated. It has been renovated several times through the years, so that it remains classic, but modern at the same time. Take a look and remember you can click on the pictures to get a better look…
The Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa was called A Jewel of the Desert when it opened in 1929. I love that the resort has preserved the original and unique exterior decor. It works today and gives guests a look back in time.
Guests are greeted by a grand fountain in the court yard that leads to many of the rooms and suites.
Several warm and welcoming fire pits are available for lounging in the court yard. This is especially enjoyable at night with a cocktail....or a Shirley Temple for my girl 🙂
The courtyard is surrounded by clothing boutiques, but the prices were way out of my budget, so we dined instead. Right next door to the shops is a yummy casual restaurant called, The Cafe which features gourmet coffees, delectable desserts and several wonderful lunch entrees. This is the Veggie Summer Rolls lunch and these yummies consist of rice paper wrapped summer veggies, tofu cabbage, shitake mushrooms and chili soy dipping sauce. It was very good!
One of my favorite court yard features at the Arizona Biltmore is the giant life-sized chess board that is incorporated into the beautiful lawn. Check out the size of these chess pieces!
Or you can play checkers, which my daughter and her pal really enjoyed playing!
Croquet is also offered and all of these outdoor lawn games are free for guests to play anytime that they would like to enjoy these fun outdoor activities. Oh and I realize the photo is blurred, but I think it looks kind of cool!
We stayed in the Octilla section of the resort, which I highly recommend because it has a club section that offers fireside appetizers and drinks on the house every day! We enjoyed this!
And on Thursdays, the Octilla also offers free massages along with the food and drink! The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, as my girl loves a good massage, like her Mama! Patrick was good, too! I went right after I took this picture of my very relaxed daughter!
Here is a small sample of some of the tasty appetizers that are offered daily in the Octilla's lounge that is only open to guests staying in the Octilla building. Not pictured is my delicious glass of red wine. I must have been sipping that at the time!
That evening my daughter and I splurged and dined at the resort's fancy Wright's at the Biltmore restaurant. The food was incredible, the best lobster bisque I've ever had and it came with a scrumptious puff pastry on top. However, this fine dining experience was a bit too lengthy and fancy for my girl....that is until the gourmet cotton candy came out with the check! It is a long-time Wright restaurant tradition to serve homemade cotton candy at the very end of the meal. I'm telling you this green apple variety was really good....and I'm not a cotton candy fan. Both me and my gal were happy campers as she literally dove right in!
If you have an American Express card, I recommend booking through their travel reservations phone line. We booked this stay with our American Express card through their Fine Hotels and Resorts program. Doing this gave us a $100 gift certificate to the restaurant, so this fancy meal didn’t end up being a splurge after all! Booking this way also gave us a free room upgrade, a guaranteed late 4pm check-out and $80 credit for our breakfast check, too.
We wanted to stay somewhere that enabled us to get some exercise, too. So my daughter had fun taking a tennis lesson....
...swimming and going down the resort's big slide...
...and taking a Zumba dance class with me! Check out the fun skirt!
I wore one, too. For one full hour, we learned fun dance moves that had us shaking our coin-adorned hips and exercising! This is my new all-time favorite fitness workout! Our class was fee was $15 and our instructor, Julie was very good!
It was a good thing we exercised because the next morning we dined at the tasty Frank & Albert's restaurant before we checked out. The guac is good and the chips were made from fresh tortillas right before they came out to our table. Yum!
My daughter was delighted when we ordered the table-side smores for dessert. This was the perfect way to end our terrific 2-day stay at the Arizona Biltmore.
Yep, Frank & Albert's Restaurant was a hit with my traveling companion and fellow reviewer!
I will leave you with one last image....my daughter's request before we booked our stay...."this resort must have a slide, Mom" and it had one that pleased her!
Another great thing about the Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa (fabulous spa and golf course, by the way) is that summer rates in Phoenix are cut in half due to our hot weather! Call me crazy, but it is a dry heat and coming to the Arizona Biltmore in the summer gives you a luxury vacation at half the price, so consider it! We loved it and our only regret is that we didn’t stay long enough to attend the resort’s afternoon tea. I bet those little cakes are tasty!
For more information and to book at the Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa visit www.arizonabiltmore.com.
***We paid for this resort stay in full with no discounts or trades. This review is 100% our own opinion with no payment from the resort.***
