wintergreen
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 25, 2004
- Messages
- 1,221
I just wanted to take a minute to post about our recent Spring Break trip to Arizona on DVC points.
We spent the first three nights in a moderate room at the Tanque Verde Guest Ranch in Tucson. Wow! This place is fabulous! Points required are high, but with all that is included, I thought that it was a great value. Lodging, all meals and all activities (other than spa treatments) are included. We arrived on Sunday afternoon, checked in, and went on a nature walk with the resident naturalist. TVR is located right next to Saguaro National Park, and the scenery is spectacular. The variety of cacti is amazing, and the wildflowers were beautiful. On Monday we checked DDs, 7 and 10, into the day long kids program. They spent each day from 8:00 breakfast until 3:30 p.m. in the program, doing riding lessons, rides, tennis, crafts and other activities. They also ate dinner with the other kids each evening. DH and I spent our time taking riding lessons, doing rides, taking hikes, etc. Afternoons were spent with the kids at the pool.
On about the second day, we discovered that there were 3 other DVC families staying in units near ours that shared a common courtyard. The moderate units numbered in the "50s" share a lovely common courtyard with a fountain and lounge chairs. Other, larger units, have private patios, but did not have this lovely shared space. If staying in a moderate unit (decent sized room, two queen beds, no fireplace), I would definitely recommend getting one of these. This shared outdoor space was great for hanging out with our new DVC friends. We also had a great time at the cook-out dinner that was held the night before we left.
All-in-all, the place was great, and a wonderful option for people that would like to do some horseback riding and hiking. The food was quite good, and also plentiful (I think that I put on a couple of pounds even with all of the exercise).
The last three nights of our trip were spent in a resort room at the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix. Beautiful hotel! The rooms were large (although we did not have any view to speak of), the grounds were beautiful, and the restaurants were good. My only complaint was that the pool was set up in sort of a strange manner, and if you did not head down at dawn to "reserve" yourself a lounge chair, you were completely out of luck finding a place to sit later in the day. We went to the Phoenix Zoo, and the four of us played a short round of golf on a small public course on the outskirts of Phoenix (the resort, itself, has great golf, but we did not feel like spending more than $150/person in greens fees when the DDs really only want to ride in the carts). We had dinner one night in a great cowboy steakhouse in North Scottsdale called the Pinnacle Peak Steakhouse. Reasonable prices and a really fun atmosphere.
I'd be happy to answer questions about these two Concierge Collection trades that anyone might have!
We spent the first three nights in a moderate room at the Tanque Verde Guest Ranch in Tucson. Wow! This place is fabulous! Points required are high, but with all that is included, I thought that it was a great value. Lodging, all meals and all activities (other than spa treatments) are included. We arrived on Sunday afternoon, checked in, and went on a nature walk with the resident naturalist. TVR is located right next to Saguaro National Park, and the scenery is spectacular. The variety of cacti is amazing, and the wildflowers were beautiful. On Monday we checked DDs, 7 and 10, into the day long kids program. They spent each day from 8:00 breakfast until 3:30 p.m. in the program, doing riding lessons, rides, tennis, crafts and other activities. They also ate dinner with the other kids each evening. DH and I spent our time taking riding lessons, doing rides, taking hikes, etc. Afternoons were spent with the kids at the pool.
On about the second day, we discovered that there were 3 other DVC families staying in units near ours that shared a common courtyard. The moderate units numbered in the "50s" share a lovely common courtyard with a fountain and lounge chairs. Other, larger units, have private patios, but did not have this lovely shared space. If staying in a moderate unit (decent sized room, two queen beds, no fireplace), I would definitely recommend getting one of these. This shared outdoor space was great for hanging out with our new DVC friends. We also had a great time at the cook-out dinner that was held the night before we left.
All-in-all, the place was great, and a wonderful option for people that would like to do some horseback riding and hiking. The food was quite good, and also plentiful (I think that I put on a couple of pounds even with all of the exercise).
The last three nights of our trip were spent in a resort room at the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix. Beautiful hotel! The rooms were large (although we did not have any view to speak of), the grounds were beautiful, and the restaurants were good. My only complaint was that the pool was set up in sort of a strange manner, and if you did not head down at dawn to "reserve" yourself a lounge chair, you were completely out of luck finding a place to sit later in the day. We went to the Phoenix Zoo, and the four of us played a short round of golf on a small public course on the outskirts of Phoenix (the resort, itself, has great golf, but we did not feel like spending more than $150/person in greens fees when the DDs really only want to ride in the carts). We had dinner one night in a great cowboy steakhouse in North Scottsdale called the Pinnacle Peak Steakhouse. Reasonable prices and a really fun atmosphere.
I'd be happy to answer questions about these two Concierge Collection trades that anyone might have!
Now don't I feel dumb!!! That was at another ranch I looked into which was in Wyoming! Sorry about that!!!!!
