Phoenix

It’s been awhile since I last visited Phoenix. Went out on United Airlines for a quick weekend trip with friends. I was reminded on how small planes can be when I boarded my flight out to Phoenix. Luckily, I had decided to check luggage and bring a small messenger bag onboard. The plane could only accommodate that size of carryon. Landed into Phoenix Sky Harbor and went to meet with the first group at the car rental facility.

Checked into the Hilton Scottsdale Resort & Villas on this trip. The villas inside this Hilton are very spacious which worked well for our group of 13. It is in a separate area on the property from the main hotel. I had booked two villas, one end unit (2700) and one next door (2706). In the past, I’ve only stayed in the end unit and it was the group meeting spot which worked well on this trip. The living room and kitchen layout allowed everyone to comfortably sit around and still feel cozy. The end unit also meant that the room can be as loud as they wanted without disturbing anyone. The other villa was more rectangular in the communal spaces which made it larger. That was great since there was an odd man out and someone was going to sleep in the living room (yours truly). Since I was in the living room, the space was wide enough that I could comfortably put a queen airbed in the corner without being in people’s way. The other silver lining was that I avoided using the sofa pull out and allowed my friends to use the living room as it was meant to be.

The villas are also equipped with full kitchens and washer/dryer units. It really was a large condo. These units are easily 1500 and more square feet. It allowed us to split eating in and eating out. With a Costco/Wal Mart run, we bought snacks, drinks, continental breakfast, and ingredients for a taco night dinner.

I did not expect to get many breakfast vouchers on this trip because of the size of the group. I was pleasantly surprised to find an envelope with eight breakfast vouchers. Whoever gave me the vouchers may or may not have been the same person as the front desk agent who had informed me that only one guest would be able to have breakfast. It worked out great as there were a handful of us who were early risers and didn’t want to disturb the rest of the group by eating and talking. So those who got up early would grab breakfast at the main restaurant.

The first morning, there were five of us that had breakfast. My vouchers were for the full buffet which meant I could eat the hot and cold items. The hot food was not the same every day because the first day had a pinwheel pastry ham sandwich like thing. It was tasty but that is the best way I could describe it. I did not go for the waffles but others did. Those were the two hot items that appears to change. On the second morning, there were four of us that had breakfast and the waiter was nice enough to ignore we had the fourth person in our party as I didn’t have enough vouchers. On this morning, the omelet station was setup. The hot buffet had pancakes and croissant breakfast sandwiches. Both days had scrambled eggs, bacon, and sausage with the typical continental offerings.

The group day consisted of going out to brunch at Hash Kitchen, group activity at Escape Room, dinner at Wildfish Seafood Grille and nightcap at Second Story. Since I had eaten breakfast in the morning, I opted for a bloody mary and a hash monkey as brunch. The bloody mary bar also includes two appetizers which rotates daily. Today was fried raviolis and meatballs. The bar itself was full of celery, olives, pickled cucumbers/onions, slim jims, and bacon. I was not looking to stuff myself silly so I did not go to crazy on the all you can top items and went back with some things. Overall, still a good deal for $12. The hash monkey was their version of a cinnamon roll. It was good enough but something that can be passed on.

After the brunch, we had booked the "western heist" at the Escape Room. The puzzle was good and the group was able to escape within 48 minutes. I did not know if the room would be big enough but it comfortably had all of us inside and the groups broke up in smaller teams to solve the clues.

Afterwards, the afternoon was spent relaxing and some pool time before heading out to dinner. The restaurant was a typical seafood restaurant. I opted for the halibut as it seemed the best choice of sustainable fish on the menu. The banana bread butter cake was an ok dessert but it was fun watching the waiter flambé the dessert.

Second Story does sit on the second story of a building and below it is a gelato place and pizzeria. I ordered a glass of wine at Second Story and the balcony area did comfortably fit the group. It was a nice enough night to be outside without issue.