While we love our many road trips to Southern California, we also enjoy exploring our home state of Arizona. Tucson is a short drive from the Phoenix metro area and a city we don’t explore often enough. Just before summer my husband attended a work conference at The Ritz-Carlton Dove Mountain in Marana, Arizona. Our daughters and I tagged along for a long weekend and had so much fun playing at the resort nestled in the Arizona desert. It is completely secluded and surrounded by nothing more than mountains, cactus, and a very dark night sky. Our daughters loved the staycation and are still talking about the in room tent experience.
The resort offers a beautiful view of the city in the distance with plenty of cactus and hiking trails for an authentic Arizona experience. Our daughters rarely have the opportunity to explore the desert outside of parks and museums so this stay was a great opportunity to talk about the plants and animals native to Arizona.
We arrived to the resort in the early evening and had a beautiful view of the sun setting from our room patio. Although I’ve lived in Arizona my entire life, every sunset accompanied by Saguaro silhouettes is stunning.
The real magic happened with the delivery of the in room tent experience. Our oldest daughter has never slept overnight in a tent while camping. She was so surprised and excited when we explained the tent would be in our room the entire weekend. The experience comes with the tent, a lantern, children’s book and stuffed animal.
The tent was a favorite place to play and nap during our stay at the resort.
Each night our oldest daughter read the book to her baby sister before snuggling to sleep.
During the day, while my husband attended the conference, I took our daughters hiking and to explore the resort. We spent an entire afternoon at the pool and waterslide.
Hiking was another great experience because of the resort location. Marked trails made it easy to stay on the paths and we were careful not to venture too far from the paved roads.
The opportunity to see wildlife is always present in the Arizona desert but we were quite surprised to see two javelinas as we walked around the resort property. We also saw birds, lizards, rabbits and squirrels. A family we met at the pool told us they had seen a gila monster that same day too.
Living in this beautiful state, it’s easy to forget to stop and recognize the natural beauty. Fortunately for our daughters, The Ritz-Carlton Dove Mountain reminded us just how refreshing fresh air and the view of Saquaro Cacti can be.
During our stay we also explored the Ritz Kids Ranger Headquarters and learned about animals living in the Arizona desert. The rangers were happy to talk about rattlesnakes, scorpions and many other critters that call our state home. My husband and daughter rented bikes and we also enjoyed several resort dining experiences. We had a wonderful long weekend at The Ritz Carlton Dove Mountain and look forward to another stay soon.
Will your children enjoy the in room tent experience as much as our daughters did?
Learn more about The Ritz-Carlton Dove Mountain in Tucson, Arizona by connecting with the resort on Facebook and Twitter.
That tent area is so cute! It looks like a lovely visit!
Thanks Laura. The tent was so much fun and the resort was beautiful!