Topic Wiki

Trip Reports


2014 - Mgarfin's 2014 trip to Arizona-Delta glitch
2014 - VacationLover's Sedona and the Grand Canyon TR
2015 - PBaruch's Dreams of Flight - Hummingbirds and Arizona
2016 - Pbaruch's Motorhome Adventures in Utah and Arizona
2016 - drewsky9's Arizona Trip Report
2016 - MahRabuMasecha's Vegas Zion Page Grand Canyon Sedona TR
2016 - ShlockDoc's Midwest Roadtrip - Arizona, Utah, Idaho, Wyoming
2017 - Davidmal's Phoenix & Scottsdale for 5 Hours
2018 - Ikelunious99's Arizona Trip Report
2024 - Moishes Moishes 8/24 Flagstaff, Grand Canyon, Page, Sedona - Arizona Extended Weekend

Utah has it's own master thread and wiki at https://forums.dansdeals.com/index.php?topic=15858.0

Activities


Phoenix

Arizona Cardinals (NFL Football)
Arizona Coyotes (NHL Hockey)
Arizona Diamondbacks (MLB Baseball)
Phoenix Suns (NBA Basketball)

Camelback Mountain
Desert Botanical Garden
Encanto Park
Goldfield Ghost Town
Japanese Friendship Garden
Lost Dutchman State Park
Nordstrom Last Chance - one of the few in the world.
Octance Raceway- Extremely fast Go-Karting
Scottsdale Old Town

Arizona Science Center (Indoor)
Museum of Musical Instruments (Indoor)
Queen Creek Olive Mill (Olive farm and mill, with Olive 101 'factory' tour)
Arizona Boardwalk (entertainment complex, with aquarium, butterfly conservatory, etc. www.azboardwalk.com)
Children’s Museum of Phoenix (for kids under age 10, they claim to be top 3 Children's Museum in the country).

Sedona, AZ
Stunning red rock formations and scenery viewable throughout the small city with unique views along the many hiking trails (including Devil's bridge, West Fork Trail, and Sugar Loaf Loop)
Off road jeep tours (e.g. Pink Jeep Tours)
eclectic outdoor shopping
Slide rock state park: Natural water slide in creek (just north of Sedona)


Grand Canyon National Park (South Rim)
There are two trails from the south rim that go down into the canyon (and all the way to the canyon floor, which is a strenuous multi-day hike). You can experience a taste of it, by turning around at any point.
  • South Kaibab Trail - One of the top rated trails for the GC (trail descends into the canyon, uphill climb on return)
  • Bright Angel Trail - Also one of the top rated trails for GC (trail descends into the canyon, uphill climb on return)
There are also trails along the south rim (called Rim Trails) that don't descend into the canyon, and are relatively flat. These offer views of the canyon and are dotted with various scenic viewpoints. Some areas of the rim trail are paved others are not. These may be more suitable those with young children or those fear of hiking near the edge of the canyon cliffs. The National park shuttle buses also transport passengers to various points within the park, along the south rim.
A PDF map of grand canyon national park south rim is at https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/upload/sr-pocket-map.pdf
Grand Canyon National Park Lodges

Nearby attractions outside the National Park include:
  • Skywalk
  • Bearizona Wildlife Park - Williams, AZ

Page AZ
Lake Powell (popular lake for boating, with kayak, motor boat, pontoon boat, houseboat rentals, Jetski, boat tours, and swimming). Lake and surrounding canyon walls are uniquely scenic together (it's actually a huge artificial reservoir surrounded by canyon walls, resulting from the construction of the Glen Canyon Dam
Carl Hayden Visitor Center at the Glen Canyon Dam (Free museum about the Glen Canyon Dam)
Horseshoe bend (popular scenic overlook of a 180 degree bend in the Colorado river)
Antelope Canyon (beautiful slot canyons with stunning photography opportunity, controlled by Native Americans with entrance fees and guided tour, advance reservations are needed. Fees were recently increased to $60-$100/pp)

Tucson

Saguaro National Park

Kosher Restaurants

See the following for up to date info:
--http://www.kosherphoenix.org/index.php/kosher-food-in-phoenix/restaurants/
--https://www.ahavastorah.org/restaurants.html 


Phoenix

Cafe Chenar
LaBella Pizzeria and Restaurant
Manhattan Pizza & Subs
Samarkand Restaurant Glatt Kosher

Scottsdale

Fresh Mint
Kitchen 18
Milk+ Honey Espresso Bar & Eatery

Groceries


Imperial Market & Deli

Shuls


Ohr Hatorah Congregation- Located in Phoenix Map
Chabad Jewish Center of North Phoenix Map
Ahavas Torah:The Scottsdale Torah Center Map


Chabad of Flagstaff AZ (Kosher meals available), Minyanim in the summer and chol hamoed (1 hour south of the Grand Canyon National Park)


Author Topic: Arizona Master Thread  (Read 471059 times)

Offline bznt

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Re: Arizona Master Thread
« Reply #1440 on: January 04, 2025, 11:28:33 PM »
Any hotels in the scottsdale/phx area with private pools? Alternatively, does anyone (perhaps someone in the community) know of a home nice home available for rent that has an enclosed pool?
Casa grande is close enough?

https://relaxtay.com/search-results/?area=573&arrive=&depart=&guest=&adult_guest=1&child_guest=0&bedrooms=&rooms=&room_size=&min-price=&max-price=&amenity%5B%5D=502

Offline Elster

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Re: Arizona Master Thread
« Reply #1441 on: January 05, 2025, 12:04:32 AM »
Any hotels in the scottsdale/phx area with private pools? Alternatively, does anyone (perhaps someone in the community) know of a home nice home available for rent that has an enclosed pool?
Probably 19 out of every 20 homes here have a private pool - I’d be shocked to find an Airbnb without one. Virtually all the pools are enclosed because most of the houses here are one story, and there are block walls around the houses.

There is also the swimply app to use a pool for a day.

The four seasons Scottsdale troon north has private pool suites. The JW Marriott camelback does as well.

Offline Elster

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Re: Arizona Master Thread
« Reply #1442 on: January 05, 2025, 12:06:12 AM »
We've been going with my extended family to Orlando for Pesach for the past many years and we're looking to change it to maybe Arizona. The main issue I'm encountering is finding a house big enough or 2 houses next door to each other.  We need a combined total of at least 20 bedrooms. Does anyone know of such a house in Arizona preferably Scottsdale or 2 houses next to each other? Can't seem to find anything workable on Airbnb or Vrbo.
Does it have to be walkable to a shul/minyan or you’d have your own?

Offline Sam1297

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Re: Arizona Master Thread
« Reply #1443 on: January 05, 2025, 11:14:12 PM »
Does it have to be walkable to a shul/minyan or you’d have your own?
We can have our own

Offline Elster

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Re: Arizona Master Thread
« Reply #1444 on: January 06, 2025, 12:19:56 PM »
We can have our own
So I looked through some listings and for that many bedrooms, you’d need 3 houses. Even the mansions in N Scottsdale that sleep over 20, only have 6 bedrooms max. I think the best thing to do would be VRBO (which shows you an exact map) in the Ahavas Torah neighborhood and get 3 houses down the street from each other.

Offline memyselfandi

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Re: Arizona Master Thread
« Reply #1445 on: January 07, 2025, 02:49:28 PM »
Is the only Shul in Scottsdale Ahavas Torah? Looking for a nice hotel walking distance to shul for Shabbos.

How about Phoenix? What are the options there for Shabbos?

Offline Elster

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Re: Arizona Master Thread
« Reply #1446 on: January 07, 2025, 03:06:15 PM »
Is the only Shul in Scottsdale Ahavas Torah? Looking for a nice hotel walking distance to shul for Shabbos.

How about Phoenix? What are the options there for Shabbos?
Scottsdale is much better for hotels. Depends how long you want to walk. There is also Beth Tefilah and Chabad. Both of those and Ahavas Torah have small hotels back to back with the parking lot. If you want to walk about a mile, the Westin and the Marriott are nicer options for Ahavas Torah.

In Phoenix, the main Ashkenazi shuls are Beth Joseph and Ohr HaTorah. But the closest hotels are about a 2 mile walk.

Offline VacationLover

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Re: Arizona Master Thread
« Reply #1447 on: January 12, 2025, 02:27:18 PM »
Anyone has cell number of chabad of Flagstaff?

Offline elit

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Re: Arizona Master Thread
« Reply #1448 on: January 27, 2025, 01:11:58 PM »
Driving up to Sedona now. Only have a few hours there, have a 3 year old so can't hike. Any suggestions what's the number 1 place to drive/ walk etc...(cold and maybe even snow/rain today).?
Not going to do atv/jeep tours. We just did that in Colorado in the summer

Offline Traveler718

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Re: Arizona Master Thread
« Reply #1449 on: January 27, 2025, 06:46:10 PM »
Driving up to Sedona now. Only have a few hours there, have a 3 year old so can't hike. Any suggestions what's the number 1 place to drive/ walk etc...(cold and maybe even snow/rain today).?
Not going to do atv/jeep tours. We just did that in Colorado in the summer

I was just there a few months ago and did some great hiking. But with a toddler I'd probably just head to Bell Rock and have fun walking around and up it a little. Cathedral Rock is another popular option with a nearby parking lot. If you'll be there for sunset drive up to Airport Mesa. Snoopy Rock is cute to see and visible from the road. Tlaquepaque is a very nice shopping area with unique stores and parking onsite.