Trip Review: Our trip was split between Sedona and Scottsdale, with most of our time spend in Sedona. We found the slower pace of life in Sedona more appealing than the high-end scene in Scottsdale. The trip up from Scottsdale to Sedona took a little under 2 hours and was mostly a trip from desert to semi-arid terrain. Sedona is nestled between two red rock faces, one to the west and the other to the east. It was hard not to find a beautiful view at almost every turn. The town was modest in size and surrounded by many moderately sized hotels, some qualified as motels. There is certainly a tourist section of the town, which we called the “fake town”, where you could buy almost any kind of crystal or semi-precious stones you can imagine amidst a backdrop of tequila bars and tex/mex restaurants . The food scene in Sedona is dominated by Lisa Dahl who is the chef owner of two of the top restaurants in town, Mariposa (steak and seafood grill) and Dahl & DiLuca (Italian).
Sedona: In November it is all about hiking, so we did both guided and self guided hiking tours. After our first guided hike it was obvious that the trails were marked well enough and were busy enough that we could do our own self guided hikes. Sedona Red Rock Tours did, however, take us on a few off-trail hikes to more make their fee worthwhile. We did the guided on the Buddha trail and were able to get to the top of a small sandstone pinnacle. The two hikes that we remember the most were the Cathedral Rock and the Bell Rock trails, both are worth the visit. The pink jeep desert tour was recommended to us, and it looked like fun, but we ran of time. Overall, the hikes can be as easy or as difficult as you want them to be, but getting to the top of some of these pinnacles is well worth it.
Scottsdale: Well what hasn't been said about this place, plenty of golf, food and tequila. Being the active people we are, we decided to hike Camel back mountain, after all how hard can that be? The mountain looked more like a large hill when we arrived, so no problem! The trail is only about a mile and half long but it is straight up with lots of rock scrambles. We are amazed that some people were hiking in flip flops. We recommend proper foot wear! It took us about an hour and forty five minutes to hike up and down. A very strenuous hike even with cooler weather in November.
Where to Stay - Sedona: Most people will default to the Enchantment Resort, which has been a top notch resort in Sedona for many years, it is however located at the bottom of a big wash that is situated between two red rock mountain ranges. Certainly it has good views, but I never wanted to be down in the hole so to speak. A recent addition is the Kimpton Amara property, which has a spa and spacious outside eating area with plenty of heaters and fire pits. It might be worth a try as it was almost half the price as the Enchantment even though I would have preferred to see more unique room layouts. We preferred to explore the few boutique hotels in the area that seemed to offer good facilities with some unique features at more reasonable price. On this trip we decided to try a Casa Sedona Inn in West Sedona. Each room has a different layout, has very comfortable beds and is reasonable sized. The Inn offered breakfast (for a fee) that featured outdoor space near the pool as well as nicely appointed indoor decor on the Navajo motif.
Where to Stay - Scottsdale: Well I happen to think the Phonetician is the top place to stay in Scottsdale, however, when we were scheduled to stay the spa was closed for renovations, so that was that and the Ritz Carlton had a convention going on. We would up staying at the Sanctuary Camelback Mountain Resort and Spa, which we found to have large rooms, a good spa and reasonable food. While there was nothing spacial to note about this property, it was reasonably priced, clean and had excellent service. All around a nice spot in a very high-end location.
Where to Eat: On the whole we found the food experiences to be at a very high level, for Sedona we found that Mariposa (steak and seafood grill) and Dahl & DiLuca (Italian) were standouts in an otherwise mediocre food scene. [By clicking on the names of these restaurants you will be taken to separate review pages on this site]. In Scottsdale we did find that The Mission in old town offered excellent modern Latin cuisine. The restaurant was packed when we got there, it had lots of action, and the service was good. I highly recommend making a reservation.
Other Resources: For guided hiking in Sedona we recommend Sedona Red Rock Tours and we might even try The Pink jeep desert tour next time. For off-site spa services in Sedona we highly recommend the New Day Spa, small but I received a great massage there. They have a nice outdoor waiting area where you can get a mimosa while you wait. We really enjoyed shopping for cowboy boots and western wear at Saba's in Scottsdale. They had great patience while I tried on at least 10 pairs of boots in attempting to get the right look and fit. Saba's also shipped a few pair of boots back to New York for us.