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Three of my closest friends and I just came back from an incredible girls’ trip in Scottsdale, Arizona. And we had a big reason to celebrate — this year, the four of us are all turning 40!
On this trip were me, Beth, Lisa, and Jen, and the four of us have been best friends for 25 years. (Jen is a pseudonym; she requested anonymity and I’m honoring her wishes.)
We used to travel together a lot when we were younger! Montreal at 18, where we tasted our first legal alcohol. Vegas at 23, where we took selfies with Ice-T and Coco. After moving away, we would visit each other for the weekend in DC, in New York, in college towns in Pennsylvania and upstate New York.
But as we got into our thirties, the trips slowed to a stop. I’m sure a bunch of you can relate to that. We were busy with marriages, babies, jobs, and degrees — soon the closest thing we had to a girls’ trip was an overnight stay for a mutual friend’s wedding.
But this time, we were determined to make up for lost time, and plan the ultimate girls’ trip in Scottsdale, Arizona. A trip with amazing food, pool time, wine tasting, culture, and so much bonding.
Our trip was SO good that you could follow the blueprint for it and be thrilled. So I decided to share our blueprint for you. Feel free to steal it for your own trip!
This post is brought to you by Experience Scottsdale. Many thanks to their incredible team for organizing a trip we’ll never forget!
This post was published in July 2024, based on a trip taken in June 2024.
Why We Chose Scottsdale
Why did we choose Scottsdale for our 40th birthday trip? We wanted to go somewhere reflecting the women we’ve now become.
What we wanted, overall, was VARIETY. A destination that could offer culture, relaxation time, great food, and nightlife. But not a place overrun with twenty-somethings or hard-partiers.
Also on our list: direct flights or driving distance from Boston, and decent weather in late June.
After research, discussion, and anonymous voting, we narrowed it down to three finalists: Scottsdale, Bermuda, and distantly behind the other two, Newport, Rhode Island.
We axed Newport for being too close and “same-y” to our home, the North Shore of Massachusetts, and began debating the merits of Scottsdale vs. Bermuda.
Honestly? Scottsdale offered far more variety in things to do, a completely different look and feel than Massachusetts and was much more reasonably priced than expensive Bermuda. Scottsdale it was!
Soon afterward, I reached out to Experience Scottsdale and pitched them a campaign. They loved the 40th birthday idea — so we decided to work together!
Step One: Find the Perfect Hotel
If you’re around my age, you probably have memories of cramming four people onto two queen-sized mattresses in a single room to keep expenses down. The four of us have done that SO many times over the years.
But on the cusp of 40, we wanted something better — a nice hotel that felt like a destination itself, rather than someplace just to pass out every night.
In my research, I kept looking at the Hotel Valley Ho, and in a lovely coincidence, the hotel offered to host the four of us on our trip. The Hotel Valley Ho is a mid-century modern marvel with a ton of history — and it’s also located a stone’s throw from Old Town Scottsdale, making it so much more convenient than the further-away hotels.
And instead of four people in a single room, we booked one of the Tower Suites and an adjoining Tower Room, splitting a king bed and two queens between the four of us.
Now, if you’re going on any kind of girls’ trip at this point in your life, I can’t recommend this setup enough. Just having real places to sit that aren’t beds makes all the difference in the world. And having multiple rooms makes it easier to have one room be the sleeping room and one room be the hanging out room.
(Added plus: the kitchen sink was appreciated by our friend who was breast pumping and was glad she didn’t have to clean all her equipment in the bathroom sink.)
The Hotel Valley Ho also puts on events for locals and visitors, and we got to enjoy a Sip + Shop Summer Market Series, a free event featuring lots of free samples of drinks to try. Also there was Chef Peter McQuaid, recent winner of Chopped, who served up the most delicious scallops!
Step Two: Make a Plan to Thrive in the Heat
If you’re visiting Scottsdale between spring and fall, you’ll be dealing with heat at least part of the time — but if you visit in the summer like we did, you need to be prepared for very high temperatures, even though it’s a dry heat.
Here are some ways to prepare for and manage the summer heat in Scottsdale:
Understand that you won’t be able to do as many outdoor activities in summer. Scottsdale has SO many great outdoor activities, but in the summer, you should stick to being outside very early or late. DO NOT HIKE MID-DAY.
Make plans for the hottest time of day. You know what’s great to do in Scottsdale when it’s really hot outside? Museums. Spas. Restaurants. And while they’re outdoors, pool parties are great when it’s hot, too!
Bring sun protection. I recommend a wide-brim hat and some lightweight but long sleeves — think linen. And of course, sunscreen and sunglasses!
Take it easy. If you’re a chronic speed-walker, SLOW DOWN in the Arizona summer. You can’t walk as fast as you usually do when it’s over 100 degrees outside. Your body will thank you. Even for us avid walkers, we didn’t want to walk longer than three blocks or so during the day.
Bring a reusable water bottle and take advantage of water dispensers. They are EVERYWHERE in Scottsdale, and I loved that! Especially when they had spa water with fruit inside it, like in the Hotel Valley Ho lobby.
Know that visiting in summer has major advantages! Summer is low season in Scottsdale, and you can enjoy low hotel rates, no big crowds anywhere, being able to get into restaurants without a reservation, and lots of special packages and deals at hotels, restaurants, spas, you name it.
Step Three: Head Out to the Desert!
One reason why my friends and I chose Scottsdale is that the environment is so different from Massachusetts, where we’re from. We were more than happy to trade fishing villages for desert landscapes with tall cacti!
And a great place to enjoy the desert is the Desert Botanical Garden, right between Scottsdale and Phoenix. There are walking trails educating you about different kinds of plants, all set against mountain views, along with a cactus garden and a succulent garden (yes, they’re very different things).
While I hit up this garden before the other girls arrived, I really loved walking these trails.
Tip: If you’re visiting in the summer, like me, walk a trail or two, then visit the restaurant, Gertrude’s, to cool down with a berry lemonade before heading back out again.
Step 4: Banter with Your Uber Drivers
When I asked my friends what they wanted me to include in this post, one thing was clear — “WRITE ABOUT THE UBER DRIVERS!” Scottsdale is a friendly city, and we had fun with so many of our Uber drivers!
Each drive would start with the same question: “Bachelorette party?” “Nope.” And then we’d tell them about our trip and ask about them. Almost all of them came to Scottsdale from somewhere else.
There was the young guy barely out of his teens who recommended the cinnamon bun pancakes at the Daily Dose, because “They’re my mom’s favorite.” The twenty-something guy who recommended karaoke at Ernie’s for a really local night out.
But our favorite was our Armenian driver from Lebanon, who heard we were all turning 40, laughed like The Count, and roared, “Over the hiiiiiiill! Oh noooooo!” We couldn’t stop laughing!
Step 5: Become Part of the Art
One of the highlights of our trip was Wonderspaces — an art experience that believes art is for everyone. You enter the venue, get a drink if you’d like, and you get to wander the wacky, wonderful, and interactive works, which change frequently.
In one room, we walked through an iridescent tunnel leading to images of the Grand Canyon, Arizona reflecting around us in every direction.
In another, we posed for a camera in front of flipping metallic disks, which turned into our portraits.
And in yet another, we sat on bean bag chairs in a dark room, watching colorful lights make patterns across the ceiling — and nearly fell asleep. (We found out afterward that quite a few people have fallen asleep here!)
Wonderspaces was one of our favorite things we did in Scottsdale — I highly recommend dropping by! They also have shows in Austin and Philadelphia.
And if you’re interested in more art, make sure you drop by the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA). It’s right in Old Town Scottsdale, and when I visited I got to see a wonderful exhibition of local legend Dorothy Fratt, an artist I knew nothing about.
Step 6: Eat Your Way Through Scottsdale
Scottsdale’s dining scene is one of the things I was looking forward to the most — and BOY, did we eat well.
Here were our three favorite restaurants in Scottsdale, and what to get:
Citizen Public House: This upscale restaurant and local favorite serves New American cuisine in a refined-but-fun atmosphere. The menu had so many options that the four of us ended up splitting two apps, two salads, two mains, and two desserts.
What to get: The chopped salad is so famous that everyone in Scottsdale said we had to try it — and they were right! We also loved the popcorn cooked in bacon fat (WHAT AN IDEA!), the sea scallops with bacon over grits, and the guajillo roasted chicken.
The Mission: This Latin restaurant in Old Town Scottsdale serves the best guacamole I have EVER had, full stop. It is THAT good. That said, the restaurant is quite loud and pretty dark, which, being on the edge of 40, we’re starting to realize might not be for us!
What to get: I would have been happy as a clam just ordering guacamole and margaritas all night, and we nearly had to physically restrain ourselves from ordering a third. But the skirt steak tacos and the grilled street corn were also fabulous.
ZuZu: This restaurant is inside the Hotel Valley Ho and serves a variety of American cuisine, including giant milkshakes. They also have awesome prix fixe specials if you visit in the summer.
What to get: I was blown away by the cauliflower app with fromage blanc, capers, pickled onions, Calabrian chiles, cashews, Thai basil, and shallots. Other highlights were the creamed corn with green chile (a must for a side dish!). And for dessert, the brookie (half-cookie half-brownie), freshly baked and topped with ice cream, was ASTOUNDINGLY DECADENT. That brookie haunts my dreams!
Other Scottsdale restaurants we enjoyed:
- Hula’s Modern Tiki: Hawaiian cuisine and tiki drinks! Get the crispy coconut shrimp rolls.
- The Herb Box: Creative healthy cuisine. Get the Korean fried cauliflower.
- Hash Kitchen (see more on them below): Brunch with a DJ and sky-high Bloody Marys! Get the chile relleno hash.
- Daily Dose Kitchen and Bar: Yummy food in a casual setting. Get the cinnamon roll pancakes.
Thoughts on Scottsdale dining: We really enjoyed our dining experiences overall. But we did notice a few things: a lot of places in Scottsdale add bacon to everything, especially seafood dishes, which we found a bit surprising.
If you don’t eat pork, you might want to double-check that your dish doesn’t contain any before ordering.
And I found that the food wasn’t nearly as spicy as I expected — I had to keep adding more and more hot sauce to my dishes, even though I don’t love THAT spicy food!
Though perhaps this is true among the upscale restaurants that target tourists. Maybe at a cheap and local Mexican spot I could have eaten a burrito that would have blown my face off. (My friend Alex, an Arizona native, recommends the local chain Filiberto’s for quick and spicy Mexican. Next time!)
A quick note on gluten-free Scottsdale: One of the girls is gluten-free, so we got a chance to see how Scottsdale handles gluten. Some restaurants were amazing, with extensive gluten-free menu options and knowledgeable servers; others had few menu options and clueless servers.
If you’re gluten-free, I found that The Herb Box, The Mission, Citizen Public House, and Daily Dose Kitchen and Bar each had varied gluten-free options, clearly labeled menus, and servers who knew about cross-contact and how to modify dishes.
And while the gluten-eaters loved it, I would recommend gluten-free folks skip Hash Kitchen.
Step 7: Enjoy the Perfect Pool Party for Millennials
I knew I wanted us to hit up a pool party in Scottsdale — but I had no idea that the absolute perfect pool party for elder millennials was taking place at our hotel, the Hotel Valley Ho!
What made this pool party so good? The fact that everyone was in their 30s and 40s, and the DJ’s playlist was mostly late 90s and early 2000s hip-hop. OUR MUSIC.
(And yes, the DJ also immediately played our favorite Juvenile song immediately after we requested it.)
As much as we loved dancing in the pool to Dre and Snoop while sipping on frosé in our big floppy hats, it was ALSO nice not to be surrounded by 22-year-olds. We were with our age group, and that felt so good.
Also amusing: after the pool, Lisa, Beth and I headed back up to the elevator and it opened to three ladies in their 70s, dressed in “It’s Always Sunny in Scottsdale” t-shirts, sipping champagne, and grinning mischievously. It was like seeing our future!
If you’re staying at the hotel, you get into the pool party for free; if you’re not a guest, you can pay for a day pass. Cabanas and day beds are available for rent.
Step 8: Taste the Wines of Scottsdale
Did you know that Scottsdale makes their own wines? You can hit up the Scottsdale Wine Trail, which covers seven different wineries within walking distance of each other in Old Town Scottsdale.
We would probably have keeled over if we had hit up all seven (!), but we did hit up two great wineries — Carlson Creek and Aridus.
We had a blast at both wineries, and each is home to warm, friendly staff who will teach you about the local wines as they pour your glasses. You can go to either place and have a great time (though I recommend you make a reservation).
If you’re a wine aficionado, though, I think Aridus is the better choice — I found the wines here to be really interesting and full of surprises, and the experience felt more sophisticated.
We also made a visit to Wine Girl Scottsdale, which isn’t a winery, but more of an Instagrammable wine bar. If you want cute photos from your girls’ trip, this is a good place to go. They even serve glittery “Barbie shots” that are a secret item on the menu!
Step 9: Take a Self-Driving Car!
For the most part, we took Uber to get around Scottsdale. While the Hotel Valley Ho is in walking distance of Old Town Scottsdale, it was so hot in the summer months that it was far more pleasant to just get a quick Uber.
Then we got a very unexpected pop-up while hailing an Uber: “Would you like to try a self-driving vehicle?”
WHAT?!?!
Turns out Waymo, a self-driving car company, has cars in operation in Scottsdale! You can hail them directly on the Waymo app, though they sometimes pop up as an option on the Uber app. (And it cost the same as an UberX, minus the tip.) Sure, we’d try it.
Guys. We SQUEALED the whole way! It was so trippy!
From the moment the Waymo drove up with my initials on its roof (!!), to the drive where Jen tried to have a conversation with the nonexistent driver (“So, where’re you from?…Got any dining recommendations?”), to waving goodbye to it with genuine nostalgia as it drove off to its next adventure, we loved every minute of it.
So if you’re up to see what self-driving cars are REALLY like…Scottsdale is a good place to try it out. A quick five-minute drive around Old Town Scottsdale is a low-stakes journey.
Step 10: Plan Your Big Night Out
Back when we were in our twenties, the four of us would regularly close Vegas clubs at 4 AM — and then hit up the after-hours club until 6 AM. Yeah, at the age of turning 40, that’s not happening.
Luckily, Scottsdale has plenty of options for elder millennials who want to have fun but don’t want to be partying until dawn.
We started by getting hair blowouts at Primp and Blow, which is one of the few blow-dry spots in Scottsdale open past 5:00 PM.
If you want some local color, The Rusty Spur is a fun bar covered in dollar bills and featuring live music. I actually visited both around noontime and on a Saturday night, and preferred the more low-key daytime atmosphere.
Porter’s Western Saloon is unmissable, with its cow on the balcony — and upstairs they have a shark bait bar, complete with inflatable sharks and bloody limbs!
The Grapevine is a legendary karaoke venue in Old Town Scottsdale, where people apparently get REALLY competitive. Saturday night was super-busy, but I would go back in the afternoon for a more low-key experience.
Now, if you want something REALLY local, head up to Ernie’s Inn. This was a recommendation of our Uber driver — a super local sports bar that has karaoke on one side, seven nights a week! And almost every song was country!
Step 11: Witness a Frank Lloyd Wright Masterpiece
Scottsdale is home to Taliesin West, Frank Lloyd Wright’s winter home and studio, which happens to be a UNESCO World Heritage Site. If you’re interested in design or architecture, or just wanted to see something beautiful, you should prioritize visiting here.
Taliesin West is a brilliant example of organic architecture, built thoughtfully within the desert landscape, using design to guide light and heat and wind within the building.
We all did the audio tour, strolling at leisure with our AirPods on, and we later agreed that one of the benefits of audio tours is that you don’t need to constantly nod and make eye contact with the guide, showing them you understand.
Tip: Download the Taliesin West app before you arrive, but you should ALSO download the tour within the app before you arrive. Phone signal is not the strongest here, and it took me a few minutes to download.
My favorite fact from the tour: Frank Lloyd Wright was born two years after the Civil War ended and died two years after the Sputnik launch. Can you imagine the changes in technology he witnessed over his lifetime?!
Step 12: Build a Bloody Mary the Size of Saskatchewan
After Taliesin West, we headed for breakfast at Hash Kitchen — which was so fun and zany, it deserves its own section. This restaurant has several locations throughout Scottsdale.
This is a restaurant that specializes in brunch — with an actual BRUNCH DJ. Yes, it’s 10:00 AM and the DJ is standing up there, spinning hip-hop like it’s the most normal thing in the world.
That and there is a build-your-own Bloody Mary bar — but it’s taken to an extreme level. (A Wisconsin level, if you will.) You can customize your Bloody Mary a million different ways, and top it with all kinds of pickled vegetables, cheeses, meats, even jalapeño poppers!
We loved this place because it felt like a party — definitely for a brunch worthy of a girls’ trip! They specialize in different kinds of breakfast hash, and my chile relleno hash is one of the best things I ate in Scottsdale. I only wish we had room for the cannoli donuts.
However, as I mentioned earlier, I don’t think this is a good spot for gluten-free folks, as everything is fried in the same fryer, and the gluten-free menu options are limited.
Step 13: Chill Out with a Massage
Scottsdale is famous for its spas and relaxation — so much that some people associate people ONLY with spas and relaxation. And golf.
By now, if you’ve made it this far, you know the city is so much more than that. That said, we DID want to get some spa treatments, and we got some massages at the spa at the Hotel Valley Ho.
Thanks to it being summer, the season of deals in Scottsdale, we got to enjoy Self-Care Sunday Treatments, which added on a bonus treatment to a massage.
While we enjoyed our treatments (and more than one of us may have fallen asleep during the post-massage foot reflexology treatment), it’s not the kind of spa that you can hang out at with lots of pools, hammams, that kind of thing.
But if you’re looking for that, you can find it in plenty of day spas all over the city.
Step 14: Find Souvenirs You’ll Actually Cherish
In my early backpacking days, I threw every cent I had into my travel fund and didn’t spend much on souvenirs (other than the occasional cheap Southeast Asian beer brand t-shirt). For years, my photos were my souvenirs, and I was so happy with that.
But now that I’m approaching 40 and I have a home, I like to pick out something nice that I’ll actually use in my day-to-day life. Often jewelry, or a print by a local artist. And BOY does Scottsdale have a good place for that.
The Merchantile of Scottsdale is a marketplace in the middle of Old Town Scottsdale featuring handmade works by 170 Scottsdale-area artisans. It’s like Etsy come to life.
I wanted to buy everything in this store — so much cute jewelry, clothes, and homewares! I ended up buying a cute little coin purse with “Good Vibes” beaded across it.
And do you need a gift for your kids? Two of my friends have young kids, so we headed over to Old Town Candy and Toys to get them some gifts. This is a great little toy store with plenty of Arizona-y gifts! They got them some little plush cacti, which the kids loved.
And if you’re visiting Taliesin West, their gift shop is OUTSTANDING. It’s filled with all kinds of modern design gifts that will look so beautiful in your home! Definitely make sure you have time to browse the wares here. I got a few tea towels here.
Step 15: Enjoy an Old-Timey Cocktail Bar
I always love a cocktail bar with interesting, well-crafted cocktails, as well as a totally-themed-out cocktail bar. It’s rare for a place to do both well — which is why I so appreciated Platform 18 at Century Grand in Phoenix, just down the road from Scottsdale.
The theme of this place? It’s an old-timey train car from 1924! No detail goes overlooked, from the art deco lamps on the tables to blue brocade curtains to the screens showing you ride by the New York skyline in the 1920s.
Now THIS is the place to save for your final night in Scottsdale! I’m glad the four of us dressed up, because it made our photos so much better! And we got to spend our final night in Scottsdale reminiscing about the good times we had on our trip.
Beth actually got a cocktail with a piece of parmigiano reggiano perched on top — you were supposed to nibble it in between sips, and the flavors balanced perfectly! I got a Negroni with a piece of chocolate on top that, again, was just perfect.
We also checked out the bar next door, Undertow, which is themed like being on a lower deck on an ancient ship. I’d love to go back to give that one the attention it deserves. Another bar inside is Grey Hen Rx, which evokes a misty evening in New Orleans.
Prices are on the higher end here (around $18-28 per cocktail, most around $20), and I think it’s absolutely worth it. They also have beer, wine, and a small selection of non-alcoholic cocktails. They have limited snacks, but make boozy chocolate truffles.
Step 16: Do Something Cool on the Way to the Airport
After we checked out of the Hotel Valley Ho the next morning, we had a few hours to do something cool before heading to the airport. We decided to head to the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix.
What an incredible museum! We first walked into the Artist Gallery, featuring famous musicians’ instruments and memorabilia — like Prince’s purple piano, Ravi Shankar’s sitar, and Taylor Swift’s guitar.
Even more interesting were the Geographic Galleries upstairs, which had displays from EVERY COUNTRY IN THE WORLD. Yes, full displays from Kosovo, Comoros, Kurdistan, you name it. (Though Brunei, my least favorite country, only had a single drum, which kind of made me laugh.)
And how did we hear all the music? We got headsets when walking in, and whenever we were standing in front of an exhibit, they would play the music.
We absolutely LOVED this museum and could have stayed there all day, learning about music from all over the world, dancing in place. It truly is a gem in Arizona.
So if you need something to do between Scottsdale and the airport — this is an excellent choice. And the staff are happy to store your luggage.
Looking Back Overall
Now that I’ve had nearly a month to process this trip, I’m so glad we chose to go to Scottsdale. It really was the perfect choice to celebrate our 40th birthdays.
I loved how our girls trip wasn’t as wild as our trips in our twenties, nor was it overly lazy. A lot of people think girls’ trips are either a party weekend or a spa weekend — not true at all!
But this goes to show you can bring your girls together, explore an interesting city in depth, eat amazing food, get around easily, and not need a vacation after your vacation!
And let me add one more thing — a lot of people thought we were nuts for going to Scottsdale in the summer (including pretty much all of our Uber drivers), but we really loved Scottsdale in the summer! The lack of crowds and special deals made it feel like we had discovered a secret, and the heat wasn’t that bad!
Scottsdale was a blast, and I would go back anytime. I’d even repeat this itinerary again! I hope this helps you plan your own dream Scottsdale trip. Even if you’re not turning 40.
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