Scottsdale Boulders Resort and Spa review

For the urban traveler who longs for a different vista to assure that you are truly on vacation, all you have to do is walk out your Boulders casita door.

Better, take a hike up and down the surrounding boulders which give this resort its name with their activity guide on call, Rico Riley. Or even a quick mountain climb if you are so inclined.

For many, it’s the golf course in the resort’s center that is the draw. In fact the resort is also the full-time home for some, who seem to be mainly golfers, long retired and with ample time to hang out in one or another watering hole on the resort. Some might think this gives the place a bit of a country club feel.

Standout Spa Retreat

Even without time for massages or to use the exercise equipment or attend classes in yoga, pilates etc., the spa at this resort is a big plus. Sitting in the spa lounge to sip teas or fruit flavored waters puts you in that mental chill zone. The spa also has a pool, a bit quieter than the one adjoining the main lodge where you first arrive, and then are escorted to your casita by golf cart.

In fact, if you amble about the lovely grounds you will find yourself stepping aside for these whizzing golf carts carrying guests or workmen from here to there. They are actually a bit assuring. This is the kind of terrain you want to wander about and try to get lost in. Knowing there is a staffer on a golf cart bound to come by at some point actually encourages a wander to take in the wildlife—from bobcats to road runners to quail and more. Of greatest curiosity to fellow East/Midwest denizens might be the javelinas, a variant of wild boar that are said to roam the resort in packs. Though most of our time at the Boulders was spent outdoors roaming its 1300 acres, we didn’t score a sighting.

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Food—Tasty, healthy, gourmet

As during an earlier visit to The Boulders several years ago, this writer found the super-healthy and tasty fare at the spa’s restaurant to be superb. This go round also included sampling a delicious breakfast with gourmet touches in the resort’s Palo Verde restaurant in the main lodge. These are ample meals that sustain you for the resort’s outdoor wanderings. A spa pit stop to sample the fresh fruit smoothies was also an especially happy food moment.

Any Season Visit

A visit in May convinced this writer that tourists from the North might not get just how much opportunity there is in going to a place like The Boulders during the off-season. This is a potential for spa luxury for significantly less cost—both in the accommodations at 70% the peak season cost and also in the spa treatments, similarly at far less cost. Any one person, couple, girl’s group, or of course also the golf infatuated, should make a strong mental note that The Boulders Resort and Spa is a recommended spot to re-charge your chi any time of year.

Warning should be given to those who want to stay in a Scottsdale place near its downtown or the Phoenix downtown. You are a bit removed from these centers. There are drives involved to get to the area’s museums, art galleries, trendy restaurants, etc. Then again, these commutes give the tourist from very different terrains a chance to take in more Southwest skies and desert flora and fauna. Time it right and you too might be luxuriating in cacti blooms.

And, very close to the Boulders Resort and Spa you find different pleasures including ancient Native American ruins to hike, bull riding spectacles and two-step dancing filled saloons, and an hors d’oeuvre of a museum re-capping the history of miners, ranchers and more in the nearby town of Cave Creek.

Where:

Boulders Resort and Spa
34631 N. Tom Darlington Drive
Carefree, Arizona

For more information visit The Boulders website.