Spotlight :: Hip Scottsdale

[trip style = sun + spa + weekend getaway]

{Editor’s Note :: Today is the last act in this month's Destination Phoenix feature covering girls’ getaways, a stay at the Arizona Biltmore and The Saguaro, and outings like a Spring Training baseball game or a hike up Camelback Mountain.}

Blame the 330 days of sun. Blame the arid, yet surprisingly lush desert climate. Blame the mid-20s heat. Blame the cool breeze.

Knowing a place like this exists in winter and early spring, while Vancouver temperatures flirt with freezing and rain pours with reckless abandon, is equally disconcerting and comforting. Instead of holding an ice scraper/umbrella in one hand and an extra-hot caramel macchiato in the other, Scottsdale locals double-fist a book and a prickly pear margarita. Do you see what's wrong---or SO right---with this picture?

Year after year, north of 600,000 Canadian sunseekers pack their shades and fly South. Having just returned from my third visit in three years, I get it and I suppose I'm climbing the ranks of the northern army descending on the desert with an arsenal of mojitos and sunscreen.

In the past I had a blast, which is the reason I'm addicted, but I always had a sense there was more to discover, more to taste, more to conquer. Figuratively speaking, I longed to find a Scottsdale home. A place to hang my hat. A place to stay with a savvy scene. A place to walk everywhere and wander. A place to eat out with locals. Simply, a place that inspired. Third time's the charm. Here are my top eat, do and stay tips to point you homeward in Scottsdale.

Eat FnB Ask any in-the-know Scottsdale foodie and they'll urge you to eat at FnB, a refreshing gastropub that walks the talk delivering seasonal, local and organic cuisine with an Arizona-only wine list. Put FnB at the top of your restaurant hit list. Open Wed-Sun, 5-10pm.

The Mission One of Scottsdale's most hotly reviewed restaurants. Think modern Mexican cantina with black walls, crystal chandeliers and a fireside patio. Go on Sunday at lunch when they roast a pig and serve pork tacos until they run out. Pair with an Aguacate avocado-flavoured margarita for maximum southwestern flair.

"Wine Me, Dine Me" at SWB Seated at the bar in front of a kaleidoscope of bubbling-over Le Creuset pots, a herb garden's worth of cilantro and buzzing chefs, you're taken through a chef-led, four-course southwestern meal with tequila and wine pairings. Catering to all your senses, Chef Juan Solorio's enchanting tableside manner was as instinctual as his cooking, both of which left a smile on my face. For the level of service and curated menu prepared in front of your eyes, $70/person is the best money you'll spend on dinner.

La Hacienda Simply put, La Hacienda is my happy place. For the 364 days a year I'm not eating the table-prepared, mortar-and pestle-mixed guacamole, I dream about it, and am quite certain it would be the item {avec tortilla chips} I'd bring if I was banished to a deserted island. Add a 200-bottle collection of sipping tequila and appetizers like the famed lobster tacos, and this in-vogue Mexican meal just got serious. Trip Styler Tip: savor happy hour al fresco at a table with a fire pit in the centre.

Distrito Gloriously irreverent and splashed in competing shades of pink, gold, blue and neon green, one of Scottsdale's newest restaurants is helmed by the Food Network's The Next Iron Chef 2010 winner, Jose Garces. This casual and hip hangout puts the fun back into eating out with refined street-style Mexican food like tacos de pollo or arroz con crema {served in a shot glass}. Oh, and it's all served on sparkly tables under chandeliers adorned with colored clothespins.

Do Spa Avania Spa Avania is the first spa I've encountered to synchronize every moment of the experience with the body's natural rhythm. Morning, noon and night each have a unique repertoire of music, scents, lighting and beverages to rejuvenate your body based on its needs at that time of day. Rock walls and water features lead you into a full day's worth of relaxation including a fireside patio, steam, sauna and hot-cold plunges. Finish at the palm tree-lined pool with minerals flown in from France---best enjoyed in the shade with cucumber slices on your eyes.

Arizona Food Tours I'm not usually a fan of tours, but I tip my hat to the gang at Arizona Food Tours and suggest one of the well-executed walking tours as a means of getting to know Scottsdale's history and culinary scene one taste at a time.

Hike Networks of steep climbs and flat trails await as close as 20 minutes from the city.

Contemporary Art Appropriately housed in a renovated movie theater with strong minimalist undertones, the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art thinks big in a digestible space that allows you take in its forward-thinking art, architecture and design without a multi-hour investment. One of the current exhibitions, economy of means---creating sculpture and statement using basic materials from lean US economic times---is one of the most thought-provoking and cheeky/creative shows I've seen in a long time.

Stay The Saguaro Hip cats congregate at the Saguaro. This recently opened hotel resembles a contemporary artist's canvas, blending gallery whites with pops of color. From $289 in peak winter season and $109 in the summer. No resort fee. Internet is free in the lobby; avoid the $9.95 in-room wifi charge if you join the hotel’s Joy of Life loyalty program. Parking $14/day. Bark meow--pets are free.

Other Scottsdale hotels we LOVE: the 1956-built and meticulously restored Hotel Valley Ho and the cowboy-chic Fairmont Scottsdale Princess.

Getting There Direct, daily, three-hour flights from Vancouver to Phoenix's Sky Harbor International Airport start at $400 return via US Airways or WestJet. Scottsdale is a 25-minute drive from the airport.

[all photos taken by @tripstyler (except fnb) while a guest of Scottsdale]

Spotlight :: PHX

[trip style = urban + sun + active & adventure]

{Editor’s Note :: This month we’ve been prescribing a healthy dose of Greater Phoenix’s desert sun covering girls’ getaways, a stay at the Arizona Biltmore and The Saguaro, and outings like a Spring Training baseball game or a hike up Camelback Mountain. Next week: A Scottsdale Spotlight.}

Resorts, sports and sprawl. That was my assumption. Going out on a limb, that might be yours too. After touching down at the airport, I would put on my blinders {read: oversized sunglasses} to the nearby city, pick up my rental car and hightail it on the freeway toward to a resorty palm oasis filled with welcome drinks, sun and loungers.

Passing by Phoenix at 100 mph, I n-e-v-e-r guessed the urban playground had enough eateries, arts venues and artisan markets to make you sit down and stay awhile---linger even.

Many US cities are going through a renaissance. Urban hubs once high on towers, power suits and caffeine are undergoing a rebirth, favoring a blend of business and pleasure. Phoenix, the sixth-largest city in the US, is one of the movement's savants. The Valley of the Sun's economic hub is quickly becoming a live/work/play space where a new breed of urban dweller is shaping the cityscape on foot and on rail.

This is all part of the plan, with completed projects like the $1.4-billion METRO Light Rail system, moving 15,000 people per hour along a 20-mile stretch linking a series of key stops in Phoenix to Tempe and Mesa. Forgotten city quadrants are filling up with music halls, vintage shops and coffee/cocktail bars, pulling people in at all hours of the day instead of depending on the in-and-out rat race regulars.

Don't bypass Phoenix like I did on my first few visits. Even if it's just for a day of your vacay, take off your sunglasses and dig into Arizona's sun-tropolis, where culture is the new currency.

Eat Breakfast // Lux Central When you order a coffee, your bevvy gets a name tag. Of course it does. Lux started off with java, stayed true to its roots, then grew into a coffee-come-cocktail bar offering a small-batch breakfast, lunch and dinner menu. Open from 6am - late, it's like Cheers, but replace Ted Danson with Ted Hipster, bar stools with schoolhouse Marais chairs and the bar with a community table adorned with bowls of limes and crystal mixology sets. Visit Lux enough and everyone will know your name - but the name tag on your coffee cup helps.

Lunch // Pane Bianco Starting off as a take-away sandwich shop offering a covered picnic-style eating area in the parking lot, Pane Bianco has experienced similar growth to Lux - and they happen to be nextdoor neighbors. In Pane Bianco version 2.0, you can take out on one side of the restaurant or eat in on the other. Named best chef in the Southwest region by the James Beard Foundation in 2003, owner Chris Bianco's simple menu packs a culinary punch with wood-fired market sandwiches like goat cheese with roasted tomatoes and arugula, or mortadella with date/tomato jam and pecorino sardo.

Dinner // Tuck Shop Not enough restaurants whip up homemade tonic in the AM, are anchored by mod 70s living room lounges or feature an original bank vault {left over from when the space was a credit union}. Thank God for architects-turned-restauranteurs. When said living room lounge includes vintage aqua arcade games akin to waterfall ring toss, the space can't help but take you back to a time when you snuck away from the dinner table to watch Chips on TV and your mom called you back to finish your peas. In Tuck Shop's case, you want seconds, comfort food like crispy chicken with savory waffles, or beer-battered cheese curds demands it. Order a G&T - you won't be disappointed.

Drinks // Durants Drinking at Durants is like watching an intense red-on-magenta sunset that hangs on and on. With only a slight facelift since its opening in 1950, the bar at this speakeasy is ringed by red-tufted vinyl half-moon booths {insert Ron Burgundy here}, set against blue-red damask wallpaper and orangey-red carpets. Servers and bartenders wearing the traditional black on white avec vest and bow tie trio, only add to the what's-old-is-new-again scene. Don't even think about ordering beer or wine; Durants is a place for whiskey and old fashioneds. Shut the front door! Tradition demands entering through the kitchen.

Après // Crescent Ballroom While I was walking around downtown Phoenix, I couldn't help but notice this place. Beside a mechanic shop, it channels the same feel with a color scheme reminiscent of a black, 1970's Volvo wagon. From the outside, Crescent Ballroom looks like an urban watering hole, but it's what's on the inside that counts, no? Two kitchen-like doors open up into one of Phoenix's hottest indie music venues the size of a boutique used-car lot. A different act takes the stage every night.

Do Phoenix Public Market & Food Trucks As roosters are crowing at dawn in the country, vendors are setting up for Phoenix's open-air public market in the city. On Saturday morning, grab a coffee, browse local farm produce and buy locally made jewelry. Also on Wednesdays from 4-8pm. If you're lucky, you might spot the torched goodness crème brûleé food truck, voted one of the 20 best food trucks in the US by Smithsonian magazine. I tried it and the truck's crusted custards deserve all the credit they receive.

Art Walking, driving and taking the Light Rail through downtown Phoenix you spot clean-lined architecture with unique passive heating/cooling techniques. Take an hour to wander by these structures. Also visit the Phoenix Art Museum. With exhibits like Frank Lloyd Wright's "Organic Architecture in the 21st Century", a massive contemporary art collection and a boutique fashion collection {currently: bathing suits through the ages}, this 160,000-sf gallery doesn't overwhelm, it delights. Also check out the Heard {right down the street}, a world-famous museum featuring the art and culture of the Native Americans of the Southwest. {Trip Styler Tip :: The Phoenix Art Museum's FLW exhibit is on until April 29th. If you go, try to join a tour. Don't miss the interior garden---a great place to rest tired, sightseeing legs.}

Hike Networks of steep climbs and flat trails await as close as 20 mins outside the city.

Spring Training Baseball Every year Arizona gets fever pitch for the month of March playing host to 15 Major League teams. Catch a midday game for as little as $8.

Stay [trip style = luxury] Arizona Biltmore - vintage desert glam and Trip Styler approved! See full review here.

[trip style = budget conscious] Priceline - book or bid on a two- to five-star stay for less.

Getting There Direct, daily flights {with favorable flight times} from Vancouver to Phoenix start at $400 return via US Airways or WestJet.

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[all photos by @tripstyler {except light rail shot, durants & crescent ballroom} taken while as a guest of Phoenix's CVB.]

Roam+Board :: The Saguaro

[trip style = sun + extended weekend getaway] {more pics below}

{Editor’s Note :: This month we’re featuring one of our favorite trip style = sun destinations: Phoenix/Scottsdale. So far, we’ve been singing its praises with odes to girls' getaways, a stay at the Arizona Biltmore and a Spring Training baseball game. More to come.}

What Picture a contemporary art gallery where stark white walls and pops of color commingle like a rainbow with Pantone precision. Now, insert piles of palms, water features, quiet and be-seen pools, a spa, and a vibe that's more approachable than "accessory dog" and you've got The Saguaro, the newest notch on Scottsdale's hotel belt.

When hotels create an environment that makes you never want to leave, they've done a good job. Such is the case at this hip hotel. The lobby is where the magic happens. With one panning glance over lime green banquettes and purple equipale seats, note: - Garces Trading Company // a woodsy coffee outpost with design features like an apothecary chest housing the sugars and stir sticks; - Old Town Whiskey // a lounge with a den-like demeanor carrying 100 varieties of whiskey, bourbon, rye and scotch; - Distrito // helmed by Jose Garces {the Food Network’s 2010 The Next Iron Chef winner} where a fiesta of colors surround street-style Mexican food served on sparkly tables.

And if you're coming for a trip style = sun + extended weekend, consider skipping the car rental. The hotel is located in one of Scottsdale's most walkable areas near a park, contemporary art gallery, major shopping mall and the Old Town.

I just stayed at this hotel last week and it passes the Trip Styler test with flying colors!

Where Scottsdale, AZ, about 25 minutes from the Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport {PHX}.

When High season is between November and April due to mostly sunny, 20 - 30-degree Celsius weather. Summer is desert-hot with cool rates.

Who/Why With an eye for design, you seek out where the cool cats hang in every city; plus, color blocking is HOT this season, so obviously you'll stay here. Bring your bathing suit, a lengthy lap pool awaits.

Cost From $289 in peak winter season and $109 in the summer. There is no resort fee. Internet is free in the lobby, and avoid the $9.95 in-room wifi charge if you join the hotel's Joy of Life loyalty program. Parking is $14/day. Bark meow, pets free.

*Traveling to PS versus PHX? A Saguaro just opened in Palm Springs too!

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More Roam+Board Arizona Biltmore - Phoenix Llipimpac Guesthouse – Cusco, Peru Postcard Inn At Holiday Isle – Florida Keys Nira Alpina – Switzerland Rockhouse – Jamaica Hotel Bellevue – Near Seattle Rolling Huts – Methow Valley {WA} From ice hotels to Anna Wintour’s steal-of-a-deal holiday escape, find all featured R+B properties here.

[photos taken by @tripstyler (+ a few from the saguaro) while a guest of The Saguaro]

Arizona Spring Training

[trip style = sightseeing]

{Editor’s Note :: This month we’re featuring one of our favourite trip style = sun destinations: Phoenix/Scottsdale. So far, we've been singing the praises of a GG in AZ & Roam+Board :: Arizona Biltmore. More from our AZ choir sheet to come.}

Every March Arizona gets a littler hotter than its norm {read: 23 degrees Celsius average} with the body heat of t-h-o-u-s-a-n-d-s of fans who storm the desert for Spring Training Baseball. And it's not just out-of-towner's, the locals get fever pitch too. With 15 Major League baseball teams batting up, it's like an outdoor beer garden with pretzels, and peanuts---now if only they made radlers... I had the opportunity to sit in the eighth row behind third base and watch the Arizona Diamondbacks versus the Colorado Rockies in their sold-out season opener last weekend. I've been humming "take me out to the ball game" ever since....

{Trip Styler Tip :: Spring training baseball is a guaranteed good time, and tickets are cheap. Perfect for mancations, girls' getaways and family vacays. And if spectating on a grassy knoll picnic-style appeals to you as much as it does to me, some parks have this type of seating. BYOB: bring your own blanket.}

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More IMG_FRI Tipping Etiquette Infographic Harrison’s Secrets Bora Bora Portlandia Honolulu Urbanesque Coffee Shop in Bellevue, WA

[photos by @tripstyler]

Roam+Board :: Arizona Biltmore

[trip style = luxury + sun]

{Editor’s Note :: This month we're featuring one of our favourite trip style = sun destinations: Phoenix/Scottsdale. I'm here right now, and today I have the pleasure of flaunting this desert jewel. Look out for more of AZ in IMG_FRI and destination Spotlights.}

What It's easy to get lost in the winding corridors of a large hotel, but getting lost on the Arizona Biltmore's 39-acre, eight-pool property is bliss. Ultra-landscaped gardens---think Paris' Jardin des Tuileries---greet you between sets of Frank Lloyd Wright-infused low-rise buildings.

Just as chic and approachably glam as it was when Hollywood's Golden Era celebs frolicked in this 1929-built desert oasis, the Biltmore is a big hotel with a boutique feel and a Pleasantville-like perfection in its friendly demeanour and manicured grounds.

If I could have stayed longer, I would have watched the sunrise in an Adirondack chair with a morning coffee and book, picked up a just-fallen orange from one of the property's many citrus trees, played a round of lawn party-sized checkers or croquet, or sipped a tequila sunrise {invented at the Biltmore} next to one of the fire pits.

The Arizona Biltmore is Trip Styler approved!

Where Phoenix, AZ, about 15 minutes from the airport.

When High season is between November and April due to sunny, 20-30 degree Celcius weather. From June to September expect the type of heat that makes you want to carry a portable mister. Visit in October and May for hot 'n breezy temperatures and killer low-season deals.

Who/Why You like space, friendly staff whizzing by on delivery tricycles and dry desert heat, and your appreciation for Art Deco goes further West than the design style's Parisian roots. Foodie alert: eat at Wright's, the resort's signature restaurants which delivers on service, style and sustenance.

Cost From $269. A $28 nightly resort charge affords complimentary wifi, use of fitness centre and self parking.

—————————————————– New here or faithful TS reader? Get daily trip style tips delivered right to your inbox or RSS reader, AND interact with us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram! ——————————————————

More Roam+Board Llipimpac Guesthouse - Cusco, Peru Postcard Inn At Holiday Isle – Florida Keys Nira Alpina – Switzerland Rockhouse – Jamaica Hotel Bellevue – Near Seattle Rolling Huts – Methow Valley {WA} From ice hotels to Anna Wintour’s steal-of-a-deal holiday escape, find all featured R+B properties here.

[photos taken by @tripstyler while a guest of the Arizona Biltmore]