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We were sorry to have our week at Four Seasons Resort come to an end. It's so much fun to pretend to be part of the upper crust with daily maid service and fancy shmancy decor complete with matching bedside lamps. The weather was okay, not the constant sunshine that the California Tourist Commission advertises, but it wasn't snowing so we were happy. The next week of our winter sojourn was scheduled for Arizona, a state that is known for heat. They say it's a dry heat so it doesn't feel as hot as the thermometer says it is. I'm not sure who "they" are. My experience on previous visits was either as cold as Siberia or blazing inferno hot. We were ready for some of that dry heat. We had one night unscheduled. That is a problem that sometimes happens when you try to book consecutive weeks using timeshares. Sometimes the check-in days don't quite line up. So we used some Diamond Points for a two night stay in Palm Springs at Marquis Villas. Don't let the outside of this place fool you. It looks like an old hotel. And it actually kinda feels that way inside, too, with a lobby and a big underground parking garage. The rooms are off long carpeted hallways. But....the 2 bedroom condos are HUGE! and all done up in art deco style.
I felt like I had time traveled to the hey days of Palm Springs when it was the playground of Hollywood. Can't you just picture Dinah Shore and Bing Crosby sipping martinis at the wet bar?
Very posh but not a style that I'm overly fond of. The grounds aren't exactly a gardener's delight either. It consists of large tennis courts, a good sized pool and an expanse of concrete decked out with lounge chairs and tables.
There are a couple of shade structures but I found shade by dragging my lounge a few feet every now & then as the sun moved past the fronds of the towering palm trees. Eventually, I had relocated from one end of the pool to the other. I tried to time my moves to the end of a chapter in my book but the sun seemed to move faster than I read.
What Marquis Villas lacks in ambiance it makes up for in location. It is smack dab in downtown Palm Springs only one block off Hwy 111. You can walk to the casino, to the Thursday Street Fair, the Palm Springs Art Museum and dozens of restaurants. We don't usually eat out much since we try to stretch our vacation budget as far as possible. Since our stay at Marquis Villas was so short we didn't purchase provisions. We had some breakfast & lunch makings left from our previous week to keep us fed as we lazed by the pool but for dinner we opted for the buffet served at the Spa Resort Casino only one block away. Lots of choices and not bad as buffets go and for $12.99 each it is a pretty good bargain. Friday is all seafood but the price goes up to $18.99 each. If you are fond of all kinds of breaded fried fish and Alaskan crab legs and those peel it yourself shrimp, then this one's for you. I'm okay with the shrimp but those crab legs are a poor substitute for the sweet, succulent Dungeness crab we get here on the west coast. And that breaded fried stuff was just nasty. Even that Gorton's fisherman guy could do better. We will be skipping the seafood buffet in the future.
Palm Springs was a nice little break on our way to Arizona but on Saturday morning we headed east across one of the most boring stretches of highway in America, Interstate 10 to Phoenix. We arrived at our resort in Cave Creek, appropriately called Villas of Cave Creek, well before the 4pm check-in but once again we were lucky and our room was ready so we hauled our carload of stuff inside and settled in. This is another little resort that we really love. It's very small with only around 25 units, all 2 bedroom and totally re-done just this year. I forgot to take photos of the new furnishings but trust me, they are really nice. There are now flat screen TVs and all new kitchen appliances, too. Each unit has a private little courtyard in front and a patio off the master bedroom with your own private hot tub. Since the second bedroom is upstairs, we gave Dear Mom the master bedroom. She loved that hot tub. The grounds are lovely.
There are two pools, one heated, one not. I know some people who stay here scoff at the small size of the pools complaining that they are no bigger than their own backyard pool but whenever I've been here I've pretty much had the pool to myself. And since I don't have a pool in my backyard, I'm perfectly happy to close my eyes and imagine this is my own private backyard pool. And I don't have to clean and maintain it or pay the power bill to heat it in March!
Cave Creek is a charming little town less than 30 minutes from Phoenix. There is plenty to see & do in the area including hiking on the many trails in the surrounding mountains. We did our own version of hiking, strolling at a leisurely pace up the mountain trail that starts right outside the resort. Most people come here in March to attend the baseball Spring training. We had another Spring activity in mind. We headed out one morning to the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix.
We pulled into the entrance where a long line of cars were inching their way forward, not a good sign. When we reached the front we were greeted by Ranger Snarky Pants. "Reservation or member," she barked. Say what? "Are you a member or do you have a reservation?" she repeated rolling her eyes and planting her hands firmly on her ample hips. We replied that we just wanted to see the garden. Well, apparently, there was a special exhibit going on with that famous guy that makes artwork from glass. Goolyhooly or something like that. You know the one. He made a jaw dropping chandelier for the Ballagio in Vegas and I think he made the ones on the Disney Cruise ships, too. Anyway, without a reservation we were turned away. This is a sample of what we missed.
Kinda cool but not quite what I envision when I go wildflower hunting. We are flexible people and we always have a back-up plan. We headed downtown to visit the world famous Heard Museum. If you are interested in the art and history of the Native Americans of the Southwest, that place is well worth a visit. The Kachina Doll collection, donated by Sen. Goldwater, is worth the admission alone. We had lunch at the lovely cafe in the courtyard. Good eats!
Our favorite discovery on this leg of our vacation was the local museum in Cave Creek. We really enjoy visiting small town museums and this one is a real little gem. The exhibits are well marked and very eclectic, everything from mining supplies and artifacts from the pioneer ranchers to valuable pottery from the ancient Indian groups in the area. There were three ladies there that obviously love their town and told us lots of great stories about the area. They even advised us where to go to see the Spring wildflowers and we didn't have to make a reservation like at the Botanical Garden.
Several activities are offered at the resort during the week. Things like making painted tote bags and beaded bookmarks and other crafty type stuff that appeals to children. None of it appealed to me though. There was a concert one evening by a guy that looked a lot like an old hippy. He played various flute like instruments including an Australian didgeridoo accompanied by a Japanese lady playing some sort of stringed instrument that sounded like a harp. It was interesting and a bit different to say the least. Mostly we just relaxed and enjoyed the sounds of the desert especially the birds and the coyotes. We hear them at home, too, but not every night like you do in the desert.
Our third week came to an end and once more we loaded all our stuff, including even more doodads and assorted souvenirs, and headed back for another week in Palm Desert. So far our escape from the snow has been successful but we still haven't had any really warm weather. Old Man Winter is hanging on tight this year it seems.
I felt like I had time traveled to the hey days of Palm Springs when it was the playground of Hollywood. Can't you just picture Dinah Shore and Bing Crosby sipping martinis at the wet bar?
Very posh but not a style that I'm overly fond of. The grounds aren't exactly a gardener's delight either. It consists of large tennis courts, a good sized pool and an expanse of concrete decked out with lounge chairs and tables.
There are a couple of shade structures but I found shade by dragging my lounge a few feet every now & then as the sun moved past the fronds of the towering palm trees. Eventually, I had relocated from one end of the pool to the other. I tried to time my moves to the end of a chapter in my book but the sun seemed to move faster than I read.
What Marquis Villas lacks in ambiance it makes up for in location. It is smack dab in downtown Palm Springs only one block off Hwy 111. You can walk to the casino, to the Thursday Street Fair, the Palm Springs Art Museum and dozens of restaurants. We don't usually eat out much since we try to stretch our vacation budget as far as possible. Since our stay at Marquis Villas was so short we didn't purchase provisions. We had some breakfast & lunch makings left from our previous week to keep us fed as we lazed by the pool but for dinner we opted for the buffet served at the Spa Resort Casino only one block away. Lots of choices and not bad as buffets go and for $12.99 each it is a pretty good bargain. Friday is all seafood but the price goes up to $18.99 each. If you are fond of all kinds of breaded fried fish and Alaskan crab legs and those peel it yourself shrimp, then this one's for you. I'm okay with the shrimp but those crab legs are a poor substitute for the sweet, succulent Dungeness crab we get here on the west coast. And that breaded fried stuff was just nasty. Even that Gorton's fisherman guy could do better. We will be skipping the seafood buffet in the future.
Palm Springs was a nice little break on our way to Arizona but on Saturday morning we headed east across one of the most boring stretches of highway in America, Interstate 10 to Phoenix. We arrived at our resort in Cave Creek, appropriately called Villas of Cave Creek, well before the 4pm check-in but once again we were lucky and our room was ready so we hauled our carload of stuff inside and settled in. This is another little resort that we really love. It's very small with only around 25 units, all 2 bedroom and totally re-done just this year. I forgot to take photos of the new furnishings but trust me, they are really nice. There are now flat screen TVs and all new kitchen appliances, too. Each unit has a private little courtyard in front and a patio off the master bedroom with your own private hot tub. Since the second bedroom is upstairs, we gave Dear Mom the master bedroom. She loved that hot tub. The grounds are lovely.
There are two pools, one heated, one not. I know some people who stay here scoff at the small size of the pools complaining that they are no bigger than their own backyard pool but whenever I've been here I've pretty much had the pool to myself. And since I don't have a pool in my backyard, I'm perfectly happy to close my eyes and imagine this is my own private backyard pool. And I don't have to clean and maintain it or pay the power bill to heat it in March!
Cave Creek is a charming little town less than 30 minutes from Phoenix. There is plenty to see & do in the area including hiking on the many trails in the surrounding mountains. We did our own version of hiking, strolling at a leisurely pace up the mountain trail that starts right outside the resort. Most people come here in March to attend the baseball Spring training. We had another Spring activity in mind. We headed out one morning to the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix.
We pulled into the entrance where a long line of cars were inching their way forward, not a good sign. When we reached the front we were greeted by Ranger Snarky Pants. "Reservation or member," she barked. Say what? "Are you a member or do you have a reservation?" she repeated rolling her eyes and planting her hands firmly on her ample hips. We replied that we just wanted to see the garden. Well, apparently, there was a special exhibit going on with that famous guy that makes artwork from glass. Goolyhooly or something like that. You know the one. He made a jaw dropping chandelier for the Ballagio in Vegas and I think he made the ones on the Disney Cruise ships, too. Anyway, without a reservation we were turned away. This is a sample of what we missed.
Kinda cool but not quite what I envision when I go wildflower hunting. We are flexible people and we always have a back-up plan. We headed downtown to visit the world famous Heard Museum. If you are interested in the art and history of the Native Americans of the Southwest, that place is well worth a visit. The Kachina Doll collection, donated by Sen. Goldwater, is worth the admission alone. We had lunch at the lovely cafe in the courtyard. Good eats!
Our favorite discovery on this leg of our vacation was the local museum in Cave Creek. We really enjoy visiting small town museums and this one is a real little gem. The exhibits are well marked and very eclectic, everything from mining supplies and artifacts from the pioneer ranchers to valuable pottery from the ancient Indian groups in the area. There were three ladies there that obviously love their town and told us lots of great stories about the area. They even advised us where to go to see the Spring wildflowers and we didn't have to make a reservation like at the Botanical Garden.
Several activities are offered at the resort during the week. Things like making painted tote bags and beaded bookmarks and other crafty type stuff that appeals to children. None of it appealed to me though. There was a concert one evening by a guy that looked a lot like an old hippy. He played various flute like instruments including an Australian didgeridoo accompanied by a Japanese lady playing some sort of stringed instrument that sounded like a harp. It was interesting and a bit different to say the least. Mostly we just relaxed and enjoyed the sounds of the desert especially the birds and the coyotes. We hear them at home, too, but not every night like you do in the desert.
Our third week came to an end and once more we loaded all our stuff, including even more doodads and assorted souvenirs, and headed back for another week in Palm Desert. So far our escape from the snow has been successful but we still haven't had any really warm weather. Old Man Winter is hanging on tight this year it seems.
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