Scottsdale

Moms Trip. Scottsdale. 4 different girls, one amazing weekend.

Quick Takeaway: Scottsdale has lots to do from hiking to shopping to laying out by the pool, and its all really close. Again, always recommend sticking to one airline- Alaska allows using half points, half dollars, get your miles and a deal on your ticket.

Here is what we did:

Flew into Phx, took a $20 Uber ride to Hotel Adeline, a boutique Marriott right in Scottsdale, it has a trendy 60's vibe with an updated lux feel. But you should know, on the weekends they have "liquid sunshine pool parties", its very much like Vegas. People buy day passes, so its packed with hotel guests and locals. We weren't expecting this, however Its really good people watching. We met lots of people that came over and chatted with us and just had a good time.

The hotel rooms line the pool, and the walls are really thin. its loud. They even put ear plugs in the room. Its fine if you are prepared and know what your getting into, but its a party hotel. So if your wanting a quiet weekend, I would stay somewhere else.
The location however is great. On Saturday AM we hiked the Gateway Loop Trail, it was a 2.5 hour hike, it was really rocky, but it felt like a great workout. Be careful though, its very easy to get dehydrated very quickly, you need to bring a backpack with a lot of water. Don't mess around. I thought this was challenging but it likely not super hard to the experienced hiker.

From there, we went to brunch at Toca Modero. Wow. You have to eat here. It was amazing. Trick to eating out and not spend a fortune is to eat a little bit beforehand so your not starving (Almonds, granola bar etc). So you can go wherever and get an appetizer and a glass of wine and spend less. I LOVE when a restaurant does up the ambiance but I don't want to pay $38 for a salad, so this is what I usually do.

We also ate at Nobu. Sat outside. The service was not amazing, but the food is insane.

Downtown Scottsdale is like a nonstop EDM show. We didn't really want to hang down there, so if you want to go out but want a chiller vibe, go to the W Hotel. They have a rooftop bar that is actually all its cracked up to be.

Lay by the pool, eat great food and enjoy your friends.