Hi Friends!
As you may know (if you follow me on social media), my girlfriend Amanda is getting married in August!!! So, this summer, we did what all bridesmaids do and planned a little excursion to commemorate her last days of “bachelorette-hood”.
Seeing as I have not been out of the house in nearly 2 years – queue the pandemic and getting pregnant twice – this was basically a trip to commemorate my freedom as well. 3 days away from home, 1 child-free mama, 1 spa day, and several cocktails over some amazing food – I must say, Scottsdale, AZ did not disappoint!
Our Bride-to-be actually chose Scottsdale as the destination for her bachelorette. It wasn’t until I started planning that I realized Scottsdale has been the hotspot all pandemy-long. After visiting, I can safely say that I am a complete fan of the location. It is the perfect spot for any girls-trip or getaway experience. So, in true blogger fashion, I think its necessary that I share all the details of our trip with you in the event you decide to take my advice and catch a flight to this beautiful place. Keep reading to get all the details and check out a screenshot of our itinerary at the end.
While Scottsdale probably has the hottest weather I’ve ever experienced – it hit between 115 and 120 degrees Fahrenheit while we were there – its really a chill place with an amazing zen quality. At the same time, they have a surprisingly hot nightlife scene. Couple that with some great restaurants and a really nice fashion district and you have the recipe for a good vacation.
Day 1
Day one of our trip, we took our time and settled in before welcoming the bride-to-be to the town and doing some cliché bachelorette stuff. We stayed in an AirBnB in Tempe (pronounced tim-pee), AZ which was a quick 15 min ride to Scottsdale and about the same distance to pretty much everywhere else we went during our stay. The house was accommodating, with a pool and a great open kitchen and living area. Also, each girl was able to have their own bedroom which was important to our group. The AirBnB was about $1200 for the whole weekend which happened to be less expensive than staying at one of the resorts. I should also mention that our matron-of-honor does not drink alcohol, so she agreed to be our designated driver the entire weekend which was a plus. Renting a car was far more economical than grabbing an Uber or Lyft and allowed us to be more flexible with our schedule.
Because Arizona is 3 hours behind, we got in pretty early and grabbed breakfast at First Watch. If you haven’t tried their Morning Meditation or Kale Tonic Juice you are missing out on life. Afterward, we hit the Safeway which was a local grocery store in the area. We purchased a few items to stock the house with – mainly water and light breakfast items because we knew we’d be eating out often. Most importantly, we grabbed a couple bottles of tequila and some Prosecco which they conveniently sold at the grocery store as well.
Check in was about 4 PM, so we told our bride to meet us at the house around 6 to give us time to setup some fun decorations. Naturally, when she arrived she came bearing gifts because that’s her love language. She brought each of us a cute travel kit which included a portable fan, Liquid IV drink mix, lip balm, facial moisturizer, and a moisturizing face mask among other things. All of these items were so clutch during the entire trip – especially the portable fan. We planned to break open a charcuterie board and pop some Prosecco immediately but figured we should have our first toast at our first stop for the weekend – Wine Girl Scottsdale.
Wine Girl Scottsdale is the cutest little boutique wine bar in Old Town Scottsdale and clearly a necessary stop for all bachelorette parties. There were at least two other bridal parties there and honestly, that’s all that could fit in the space. The space was very picturesque with several “instan-grammable” walls and features to post in your insta-story. They also adorned the store with tons of bridal-related swag and trendy merchandise.
I must warn you, you do not want to go to Wine Girl Scottsdale to fill your tummy. They only feature small bites on their menu like a hummus dip tray and a couple flatbreads which are all served to you on cheeseboards for sharing. They do not provide you with additional plates in order to keep dishes low because their staff consists of a couple bartenders who are also the table servers and busboys. The wine options were decent but not amazing. I ended up ordering a Champagne Margarita because I wanted something a little stronger than wine. It tasted a little watered down like it was pre-made but it did the job. Before we left, we topped off our wine-infused cocktails and made sure we ended with a champagne toast to the bride. They do require groups to meet a minimum purchase ($40/person) which we easily met after ordering a few bites and our cocktails. All-in-all, Wine Girl Scottsdale was mostly a good photo opportunity and a cool vibe.
That night was a slumber party night, so we dressed in our good jammies, broke open the charcuterie and Prosecco and had a little girl-time.
Day 2
I honestly don’t know which day was the most fun between day two and three. We started day two with a coffee run before heading to the spa. We chose Palo Verde because it was the spa at Andaz Resort – a resort we considered staying at during our trip before finding the AirBnB. I think alternatively we would’ve enjoyed staying at a resort because of the amenities and – in this case – the scenic views. So, getting a day pass to the spa on site was sort of a happy medium between staying at a resort and staying at an AirBnB.
Each of us chose to get a service done that day which included all day access to the spa’s pool and amenities. Amenities included poolside food service, so we ordered brunch and champagne from the resort restaurant and chilled out poolside until our appointments began. No matter what service we chose, we agreed to be done at a set time so that we can get home and dressed for dinner that evening. When the temperature hit about 110 degrees we took it inside to the relaxation room and sipped tea over girl talk. While it was ridiculously hot, it was very easy to lose track of how hot it really was. The heat can sneak up on you if you’re not careful and aware. With that said, we stayed hydrated everywhere we went.
That evening we went to The Mission which was a cute restaurant in Old Town Scottsdale whose decor was reminiscent of a country-side catholic church in Mexico. My initial draw to this restaurant was the fresh guacamole made right at your table upon ordering. When you have a foodie-bride, I think small touches like freshly prepared guacamole is a must. Overall the food was a great assortment of tasteful, Latin-inspired dishes but I think the atmosphere was even better. Again, I think I counted 3 bachelor parties and 2 bachelorette parties that night. The restaurant staff was awesome and the manager brought over free shots one of which held a sparkler like it was her birthday – it was cute. Another bachelor party sent over more shots and before we knew it we were pregamed and on our way to what I’ll call Club Row.
Old Town Scottsdale is maybe 5 miles wide, so everything is pretty close-by once you get down there. I left the itinerary open after dinner because I didn’t know what the girls would feel like doing. Would we feel like bar-hopping, going to a club or lounge, or going to chill at home? Wherever we decided to go, we were in prime location to get there pretty quickly. We asked the waiter about the local bars and he pointed us 1 block down where pretty much all the major bars in the area existed. We stopped by one bar and realized it wasn’t the vibe we expected. However, while I was at the spa earlier that day, expecting that this exact scenario would happen, I asked my massage therapist about the club scene. She told me the names of a few popular clubs in the area and how they’re literally all next to each other. So, I quickly threw the name of the one club I remembered – El Hefe – in the GPS and we headed that way.
El Hefe is located right off of East Camelback Rd which is one of the main arteries through Old Town Scottsdale. Once you turn off of East Camelback Rd onto the street that El Hefe is on you’ll pretty much pass all the clubs – Riot House, Whiskey Row, Bevvy Nightclub, and several others. This is also right around the corner from the W which i’m sure serves as a night lounge for some, although we did not go there to check it out. We were tempted to park at the W but then we found the designated parking garage for the area nearby and for about $20 we were able to easily park in a well lit space that was attended by parking garage staff.
I call this area Club Row because the whole street is dedicated to the party scene. El Hefe and Riot House in particular were built with large windows that gave them an indoor-outdoor feel so you literally heard the music in the street. The whole street was filled with people mingling and bouncing from club to club. We went to Riot House first because that’s where we heard the hip-hop music. After spending a significant time there we realized the DJs had switched and they started playing other genres. After about the fifth latin-electronic-dance mix we decided to check out the other clubs. Ironically, Riot House stopped playing hip-hop music just as El Hefe started their hip-hop set. So, we basically followed the music the whole night.
We were able to walk right into most of the clubs. El Hefe had a short line they had on hold but we paid the bouncer a small tip to let us skip and walk in. All the clubs were setup in a similar fashion with the private sections bordering the perimeter of the club and a huge bar down the middle. I learned sections started at about $2,500 and my guess is that they came with a bottle or two. We opted not to get a section because we were such a small group. Plus, we were moving around so much, I’d hate if we had to stay trapped in one club the entire night. We also didn’t feel like we needed one. The clubs were packed and we literally danced the night away so there was no pressure to feel like we needed a place to sit. I will say, however, there is a premium placed on any dedicated space with a fan and misting machine in Scottsdale. Some of the private sections did have fans and we found ourselves lingering nearby those sections when the club got extra crowded. However, we mostly embraced the sweaty nature of dancing in 100 degree weather – not kidding, it was 98 degrees at 1 AM in the morning there. Also, the portable fans came in handy!
I’m not sure when the clubs closed. We probably got out there around 10:30 PM and stayed until about 1 AM. It was the perfect amount of time spent out there and it was hype the entire time. We didn’t feel like we got there too early or stayed too late.
Day 3
I don’t know if it was the Liquid IV we were downing on Day 2 or my old faithful tequila, but I did not wake up with a hangover. I was thankful for the easy morning because this day was all about Hotel Adeline’s pool party which would certainly include alcohol and a whole lot of heat.
Hotel Adeline is a little boutique hotel also in Old Town Scottsdale. If you’ve ever been to the Moxy Atlanta (or the Moxy anywhere), Hotel Adeline gives off a similar vibe. This type of hotel is certainly not for your family trip. All the rooms border where the loud music and party is, so hotel guests really can’t avoid the noise and disturbance if they’re trying to relax for whatever reason. You’ll find the place decorated with cute aesthetics that are perfect for an instagram photo-op including the popular “WTF” (aka Where’s The Fun) sign and the “Wanderers Welcome” archway.
The hotel hosts a pool party during the day every Saturday between the Memorial day and Labor Day holidays. We were able to reserve a private cabana online to the tune of $500. To our surprise, the $500 was technically a prepaid food and beverage minimum for the cabana. So, naturally, we ordered tons of food and 4 different types of margarita pitchers once we settled into the cabana. We had arrived around 11:30 AM and the place was not packed. They were playing some chill music on the speakers until the DJ arrived around 12 PM. By about 1 PM the place had filled up with more guests but it never packed out which was great. We were able to easily wade in the pool with our margaritas and we were able to grab a couple lounge chairs near the pool where we could occasionally sunbathe and stash our phones. The cabana was near the pool but not right by the pool.
The restrooms were surprisingly clean, the drinks were A+, our waitress was an amazing photographer, and the DJ kept the party going the whole time. The only downside was that our cabana was one of the few places we’d been all weekend that didn’t have a fan or misting machine. They could’ve probably charged a premium if they had a cabana with a fan. Also, the ground was so HOT! We literally couldn’t walk the 3 feet from our cabana to the pool without shoes – rightfully so, it was about 115 degree by this time.
We spent the whole day at the pool party and then headed home for dinner around 3.
Dinner was at Toca Madera. This place was the cherry on top of what had already been an awesome day. The food was a chef’s kiss, the drinks were amazing, the ambiance was gorgeous, and the staff were great! This served as our farewell dinner, so it was one of what I would consider the more expensive restaurants – about $100 to $150 a person if you’re the kind of person who likes to order cocktails, an entree, and a desert or appetizer. This place was so worth it and the pictures don’t do it any justice.
The menu paid homage to Mexican and Latin cuisine and the guacamole was superb. Can you tell I love guacamole? They also had some entertainment pop out sporadically throughout the night, the most notable being a fire breathing lady who gracefully pranced around the room displaying her talent. The restaurant was spacious and had a separate bar area that I would’ve came back to visit later if we were staying in Scottsdale any longer.
After dinner, our last destination was a cocktail bar called The Undertow. In my head, I figured we’d leave dinner satisfied and ready for a nightcap before we turned it in for the night. But we had such an amazing (HOT) weekend, it didn’t surprise me that everyone was ready to go straight to bed. Me and the Bride kept it going though. So we went ahead to the cocktail bar just for the heck of it.
The Undertow is a tiki-style bar attached to 2 other themed cocktail bars. The Undertow was themed after a Pirates of The Caribbean-like storyline. The inside of the bar looked like the “undertow” of a ship. The bar tables sat next to small circular “ship” windows which showed visuals that made it appear as if we were floating through the sea. This is not the place to go to if you get sea sick easily. There was a moment where the ship had to go through “a storm” so the inside of the bar darkened and roaring thunder sounds came through the speaker system. The drinks were all inspired by parts of the storyline. It really was quite the experience.
Before leaving we peeped into the other cocktail bar experiences. One gave the appearance as if you were a small cafe in Paris. The other was called Platform 18 and – as its name suggests – looked like a train cart from the outside. On the inside, similar to The Undertow, the train windows showed visuals that made it appear as if you were riding through the countryside by rail. It was so cute.
Day 4
On the last day we woke up easy. Check out was at 11 AM and because we were all somehow still on east coast time, we had plenty of time to grab breakfast before officially checking out. Airport traffic was a breeze and we booked afternoon flights so that we could take our time. We hung in the Delta Lounge and reminisced about the weekend before boarding our flight.
Overall, Scottsdale was a blast. I highly, highly recommend. I would not recommend doing any outdoor excursions like hiking or horseback riding if you decide to go in the summer. Doing something adventurous was something we considered earlier in the year until we realized how hot it would be. However, the heat is bearable as long as you wear sunscreen, limit outdoor time, and be mindful of how your body feels.
Did I mention I’m going back to Scottsdale for another bachelorette party this summer? HAHA! I’ll definitely be giving the play-by-play again, so be on the lookout.
E
Life With Ess 