My family just go back from a spring break trip visiting one of our favorite places! Our family just loves springtime in Arizona. We are big Royals fans, and the mix of sun, baseball, and family time always hits the spot this time of year!
We have been to the Phoenix/Scottsdale area a bunch of times over the years, but this was our first time staying at the Grand Hyatt Scottsdale. And let me tell you, it was amazing! The hotel/resort had been under renovation for over a year and was recently rebranded from a Hyatt Regency to a Grand Hyatt. This place always had good reviews, but now it’s even better!
Grand Hyatt Scottsdale is a great property for families, but would be so much fun for couples or even a getaway with friends. There is a spa on-site, golf course, tennis and pickleball courts, 10 pools which include a beach area and a massive water slide. There are several restaurants on site and so many activities for kids as well!
Some of our favorite things were: the hospitality and attentiveness of the staff, the amazing pools, bike rides, the bird and animal talks, getting to see a bald eagle, red tail hawk, and great horned owl up close. We also enjoyed free sorbet and the activities for kids!
This is one of the few Hyatt properties that has a Club on-site as well. So, we were able to save quite a bit on food by having FREE breakfast, snacks, drinks, dinner appetizers, and desserts in the evenings!
There are a couple of ways to access the club. I have Globalist status with Hyatt, so our family was able to enter for free. Other options to enter the club include: being gifted a Guest of Honor by a Globalist member, paying extra during your stay, or booking a room that has club access included (this would cost additional points).
The property has moved from a Hyatt category 5 to a category 6. This means you can get a standard room for 21K points on off-peak nights, 25K points on standard nights, and 29K points on peak nights.
When I booked this property, I had originally applied a suite upgrade. Unfortunately, there was a mix up, and a couple months before our stay I got an email saying that my upgrade had not been coded correctly and there were no more suites available. Luckily, the hotel staff showed great customer service, and after a couple emails back and forth, they offered to give us 2 standard rooms to give our family more space because of the mix up. This actually worked out for us since my mom decided to join us, so we had an additional room for her.
We had such a wonderful trip! I would highly recommend it for a family spring break or fall destination. Direct flights to Phoenix are around 2.5-3 hours, so this makes for a super easy vacation from Kansas City!
Things to do:
There are so many things to do in the area! I mentioned that we have made this trip several times over the years to watch the Royals during spring training.
While we did hit 2 spring training games for the Royals right before they ended camp for the year, but we also wanted to try out a couple of new-to-us experiences! There are SO many things to do around Phoenix- the zoo, McDonalds Ranch for horse back riding and petting zoo, McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park, golf, Red Rocks and hiking in Sedona…the list goes on and on. We have done so many of these, so we decided to do some digging and found a couple of unique experiences that you just HAVE to try on your next visit to the area!
Out of Africa Wildlife Park
The first place you need to check out is Out of Africa Wildlife Park and Sanctuary. I honestly still can’t believe I had never heard about this place before! Our family had such an amazing time. It is a wildlife park that has so many unique animal encounters- very different from the typical “zoo” experience. We were able to feed giraffes and saw the unique stripes of several zebras up close and personal. We watched tigers splash and play and we even got to feed a tiger! We saw lions and a grizzly bear being fed, and saw so many more rescued animals. I seriously don’t know how more people aren’t talking about this place. It is right on the way to Sedona from Phoenix. It is located in Camp Verde, just about 30 minutes south of Sedona.
Puzzle Rides Scottsdale
The second place you need to experience is called Puzzle Rides Scottsdale. Think: Escape Room/Scavenger hunt vibes, but on a golf cart! We literally rode around Old Scottsdale on a golf cart trying to solve clues to a puzzle. It was SO much fun and such a unique idea for families! Children do need to be 8+ to participate in the ride.
Arizona really is a perfect spring break or fall destination. If you haven’t been, add it to your list. The flights are quick and easy and there are so many places to stay on points in the area. If you are thinking of spring break for the future, I would recommend booking early as places fill up quickly!
