Sanctuary on Camelback Mountain

Sanctuary is not your average hotel. I would say that the rooms here are more condo-style than traditional hotel/ resort. Each room is considered a casita or villa and you enter each room from the outside, like you would an apartment-home. There are different sets of buildings that hold about 5-8 rooms and the rooms are all nestled on the hillside spread out over 53 acres.

The Room

We booked the Mountain Casita room that had 2 full size beds, a dining area overlooking Paradise Valley and an oversized bathroom. There were 3 of us sharing the room and it was the perfect size.

In case you wondering, yes, the beds were incredibly comfortable.
I also love the separate shower and soaking tub in the bathroom area; both were gorgeous
along the shiny, steel grey tile glittering the wall.

We opted for turndown service every day because the gals did such an amazing job. Sanctuary likes the environment and not wasting water, so even if you opt for turndown service every day, they will only change your sheets out every 3 days (unless you request otherwise).

Not only did they tidy up my clothes and arrange my shoes perfectly every day, but they always left us a treat. Over the coarse of our stay we were treated to 2 nights of macarons, a fruit and cheese platter,
popcorn, a face mask, and a fancy little chapstick.

The Spa

The Sanctuary Resort Spa is one of the top destination spas in the country. The resort has won multiple awards and many people travel from all over just to visit this spa.
How lucky were we to have this spa in our own backyard for the week!

The spa itself is so incredibly relaxing and really well done. After checking in, you will be assigned a locker where your slippers and robe live and where you can store your personal belongings. They are digitally locked with a passcode that you create yourself, so no need to worry about keeping track of a key. Genius!

After changing into your robe you can take some time for yourself before your services begin.

I highly recommend checking in 60-90 minutes before your appointment time so that you can take full advantage of the spa area.

There is a jacuzzi, a steam room, a quiet room, a vanity area and a relaxation area stocked with coffee, tea and snacks. Before my spa service I had a wonderful few moments in the steam room and then a morning cup of coffee and a handful of almonds to snack on.

I opted for a 60 minute facial and let me tell you it was 60 minutes of pure bliss. I have had a handful of facials over the past few years and this facial from the Sanctuary Spa blew all of them out of the water. The facial itself was incredibly relaxing, and the esthetician was very knowledgeable about skin and available products. After my facial, I took a few moments in the quiet room to just lay down, close my eyes and meditate.

If you are going to be staying at Sanctuary soon, I would 100% recommend that you book a spa service towards the beginning of your stay to really set the mood and mindset of relaxation for your vacation.
You can check out a list of their services, here.

The Pool

After checking into our beautiful room and relaxing at the spa, it was time to check out the pool.

The service at the pool is spot-on. As soon as you walk into the pool area you are greeted by someone asking where you’d like to sit and promptly covering your seat with 2 towels for you to use. Not one towel, but two.

With a drink and food menu provided, I decided to sip on some hydrating H20 and ordered the chicken sandwich with homemade potato chips. Yum!

Definitely spend some time at the pool and you’ll be happy.

The Gym

Lastly, make sure you check out the gym. And I know you’re on vacation so you don’t think that sounds like very much fun. But at Sanctuary, the gym is fun! They have a full indoor gym area with weights, and your normal equipment (treadmill, elliptical, etc) which is great. But it gets better…

Inside the gym they have hot coffee and Gatorade on tap. Yes, you read that right —Gatorade on Tap.—
So girl, get in there and quench your thirst because it’s fun and why wouldn’t you want to pour yourself a glass of Gatorade.

We also took a free yoga class here to get our ohm on. I would recommend that you make sure you check out at least one of their classes -80% are included at no extra charge. They have all types of yoga, pilates, spin and cardio classes on the schedule each day.

You can check out their fitness class schedule, here.

If you still aren’t convinced by the gym, Gatorade on tap or fitness classes, then I’ll let you know one more thing. They have tennis courts AND pickle ball courts that you can rent out. $20 an hour and you get an entire court to yourself, rackets and balls included.

Kaleb and I took the pickle ball court for a spin because we play at home all the time, and it was so nice to be out in the sun, on vacation, enjoying a sport together at our hotel. 

The food & drink

Sanctuary has a great section of food and drinks. We started off each day at Jade Bar with our morning coffee and ended each day back there with an evening cocktail. We enjoyed a lovely brunch along with Christmas dinner at Elements. The service is stellar and the stuff they are serving up is just as amazing.

Why is their food so amazing?

Because Food Network celebrity chef, Beau MacMillan is the Executive Chef.
Check it out, you will love every bite of what you eat.

So there you have it!
Sanctuary on Camelback.
Your new favorite hotel in Scottsdale, Arizona.

P.s. There’s a resident cat that lives right outside of Jade Bar and her name is nugget. She is the sweetest thing and we fed her some kitty treats with the resort employees one day. She even has her own instagram account, here.

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