So! If you guys and gals have been following along on this series, you’ll know that we’ve come to a bittersweet end with this post. Boo to that! But on the bright side, that means today I get to tell you all about our favorite place to unwind, recharge, and relax. While I’ll also touch on a few other close seconds that we may definitely check out again in the future. Hint: It’s an app you’ve already heard of! (Can you tell that we really, really, really like Arizona??) And guess what…we’ll be flying back out in June to hike the North to South Rim of the Grand Canyon! So be sure to stay tuned for more travel posts to come. (I promise I’ll be adding some non-desert ones in between there as well…)

 

 

Staying at JW Marriott Phoenix: The Perfect Post-Hike Escape

After every major hike, we really like to just veg out for a day or two, typically at a hotel so that we can get just a teeny bit pampered after coming off several days of backpacking with no toilets or running water. If you had the chance to check this post out, you’ll get to see why we break our trips up into stages so that we can plan accordingly on what to bring and how to mentally prepare for which stage of the trip we’re on.

Why We Love Hotels with Laundry Service After Backpacking

We also love to utilize their laundry service if they have one available (did you know that most regular hotel chains do!?) While this can be somewhat costly if you have a lot of items, we try to keep it minimal by choosing things that really need a good wash so they don’t stink up our luggage, or we pack more minimally overall and just wash everything once to wear those same items again at the hotel stage of the trip.

 

Once we made our way back into Phoenix, we checked into the JW Marriott in Scottsdale, by far one of the most beautiful hotels we’ve ever been in. If you check out the Marriott Bonvoy app, you can usually get lucky and snag a good deal if you’re willing to check back frequently and are flexible with your dates.

(For example, we only spent $200/night when we went in September, but when we booked for April, we couldn’t find any dates less than $600/night. Gulp.) However, since we saved so much moolah backpacking and camping throughout the week and using Airbnbs for our first 2 nights, we decided to go ahead and book since we didn’t have flexible dates for the rescheduled days of Havasupai Falls.

 

At the end of our stay, we still appreciated being able to take in the Phoenix sunrise and sunset from our rooftop balcony, but did recognize that next time we’d try out some more Airbnbs for the last stage of the trip.

Why? Because although enjoying a chilly NA margarita poolside (with no work involved on our end), was absolutely wonderful, we’d prefer to put those funds toward a trip to come and enjoy some mediocre ones made by yours truly instead.

Don’t get me wrong. Hotels are amazing and we use them often when needed. We try to get affordable ones when available near the airports, or use them for spending a date night downtown in the city. For yinz all wondering, Pittsburgh, PA is our home base, which I’ll be sure to inform you of to-dos and hikes nearby in the future!

 

Rest & Recharge at JW Marriott

But on this day of course, we’re back in sunny Phoenix absorbing the hot rays and chill days. When we got in the first night, we arrived in time to walk around the resort and order in some amazing steak dinners to enjoy on the patio. It was a blissful, stress-free evening compared to last year when we got stuck in SUPER LONG traffic on our way from Sedona to the city.

It was a total bummer since it rushed our last evening there, which is why we vowed to make sure we booked two days from then on instead of just one. (We changed hotels last minute as well, which seemed like a good idea at the time, but only created more unnecessary chaos when it came to booking and rescheduling the other later on. A lesson was learned…sometimes, we just need to stick with the original plan!)

In the morning, I considered setting an alarm for the sunrise. But as you probably know by now, I have a strict *no alarm on vacations* rule that I try to follow as much as possible. Since we’ve seen the sunrise from here before, we chose to sleep in and rest our aching bodies from the grueling hike just a day before.

Once we got up and into the world, we enjoyed some Starbucks which they offer nearby, checked out the gift shop so I could snag myself a new fun necklace, and soaked up the vibes at the pool as previously mentioned. After that, we decided on a last minute couples massage, although looking back I’d have much preferred a chill dinner watching the sunset again on the balcony.

 

 

This was only our second time booking one at a hotel, and although they were great, they cost a fortune and we would much prefer putting that toward a future endeavor. If you’re considering one when you’re in hotel land, keep this in mind and maybe save that dough for a few sessions at one near home instead of one while there.

The last day was a breeze. We slept in again, grabbed some breakfast that was *SO GOOD,* and went at a snails pace. Usually, we’re packing and hustling to get to the airport with anxiety oozing all over. But since we attempted to prevent some of that this time around, we made sure to pack a little each day at the hotel, ensuring by the time we had to go, all was ready and prepared.

 

We re-packed the luggage (which we usually have to do after a backpacking trip), and made sure all of the garbage and miscellaneous items were out of the rental car. We left out our travel outfit (we have a dedicated outfit for the airport days that we reuse!) and swimsuits for the pool that morning. So after grabbing our morning coffee and tea, we headed to the pool for an early lunch while we unwound and read for the last few hours.

Then, as we packed up our things from the pool and returned our towels, we headed back to the hotel room to say bye one last time!

 

 

Sore, Tired, and Ready to be Home

As we pulled into the airport with our rental car, it was sad but much needed. It had been a long 9 days and although I could probably backpack forever, we had pets awaiting our return and family members that we had missed. We were sore, still tired, and ready to be back home.

If you’d like to hear more about how we prefer to travel through airports, let me know in the comment section or stick around and subscribe for posts to come! I’ll tell you what our arrivals look like and how we plan accordingly based on what kind of trip we are going on. We’ll also discuss what restaurants we enjoy there or how to eat healthy while in a hurry and on the go!

Thanks as always for sticking with me throughout this journey.
The Havasupai Series was a special one and we’re so excited to have been able to share it with you. Please join me on the next adventures and continue returning for more tips on travel, how to continue growing into a better you, and why we as humans are actually the coolest creatures on earth.

See you later gator  🐊
-Shelby <3