The 105-room Wilde Resort and Spa offers spectacular views of Thunder Mountain and the rugged Sonoran Desert.
A sparkling sanctuary in Sedona, Arizona; The Wild Resort & SpaLocated minutes from Red Rock State Park and overlooking the majesty of Thunder Mountain and the rugged Sonoran Desert, the hotel seems like something straight out of the picaresque town of Marfa, Texas, in all its Wild West glory. In reality, it's a perfect recreation of desert modernity, with wellness services to suit every taste.
Just opened near Flagstaff on the site of a former vintage motel, this luxury 105-room hotel is hardly a roadside attraction — to really appreciate it, you've got to see the views at sunset, when the fire pits, pool and mountain vistas are dramatically shadowed by a natural landscape of buttes, canyons, pine forests and vast skies.
The on-site upscale diner-style restaurant, Rascal, overlooks it all, and the spa beats any in the Southwest. The stars have never felt so close while sipping prickly pear margaritas in the woodland garden and watching the Italian cypress trees sway like ceiling fans in the evening breeze. And don't miss watching the moonlight on the range-view rooftop patio.
Located in the heart of Sedona, yet far from the hustle and bustle, this resort offers everything this historic town has to offer and more. Adventurers will enjoy exploring the natural terrain on foot or by bike every day, and there are plenty of hotel-sponsored tours available, including a kayak trip to wine tasting in the Verde Valley. Everywhere you go, you'll see the incredible red rock formations made famous in movies past and present.
Whether indoors or outdoors, this is a top-notch rejuvenating experience. After enjoying the trails and vortexes in the parks and mountains, treat yourself to a massage or facial at Wild Heaven Spa, where you'll find an invigorating outdoor hot tub and a menu of “specialty bodywork, Sedona-inspired massages, meditation, wellness classes and yoga with sound bowl healing,” according to the resort. An appealing amenity: Guests can also stay inside the spa and experience crystal permanencies like quantum healing, clairvoyant coaching and acupuncture.
Start your morning with outdoor yoga or a poolside bloody by the outdoor wood-burning fireplace, then hit the trail before it gets too hot. Holistic treatments include Japanese bath treatments, cupping sessions and palo santo massages. If you just want to lie in the pool and sip a Pink Javelina cocktail, splurge a little. There are more expensive accommodations in the area, but this one has everything you need, including great, unique dining experiences, at reasonable prices.
Celebrity Chef Mercer Moore's Rascal Modern Diner & Bar serves up delicious, locally sourced Americano fare that has people coming from miles around to secure a table, and while the handcrafted cocktail program is second to none, nothing beats the upscale home-style cuisine, which starts with appetizers like Arizona artisan cheeses, local organic produce, plum tomato soup, green chile chicken bisque, and a heavenly “wedgie” salad.
Dinner highlights include yellowfin tuna nachos, firecracker shrimp, signature meatloaf with mushroom gravy, spectacular blackened rib eye steak, sustainable black cod, shrimp and grits, fish sliders, rosemary chicken, and a variety of burgers, including wagyu cuts. Being more of a diner, gourmet Reuben and grilled cheese sandwiches are also served all day. Daily specials include a fantastic corned beef and cabbage quesadilla with Swiss cheese on Tuesdays and classic oyster rocks on Thursdays. Breakfast is traditional Mexican with fresh tortillas, huevos rancheros, and beans and rice.
Have a dog? Wild loves dogs and has its own menu, served poolside, including steak tartare, venison stew, chicken jerky cookies and wood-roasted chicken. Decorated in a minimalist Southwestern style, suites offer balconies, patios or courtyard terraces overlooking the mountains or gardens. Some suites even have gas fireplaces. Many astute home magazines have praised the beds and bedding, which include lambswool blankets. Bathrooms feature oversized bathtubs.
The city's restaurant scene boasts at least 15 distinctive establishments, with standouts including Tii Gavo, Shorebird (salmon mignon and white peach sangria anyone?), open-air treehouse dining room Hideaway House (inventive takes on pizza), Golden Goose American Grill (from pecan-crusted trout to ribeye), refined comfort food at The Hudson, and chef Lisa Dahl's dark, lounge-inspired Butterfly Burger.
Then there's the iconic Cowboy Club, which has been serving up high-desert cuisine since 1946 when it opened as Oak Creek Tavern. This city of just 9,000 people has dry nights and humid days, as well as streams, wineries, breweries and an outdoor live music stage. It's about a two-hour drive from Phoenix-Scottsdale Airport, and although it seems far away, the city and the Wild are truly amazing.
From there we drove a little further north to Flagstaff and visited another recently opened gem, High Country Motor LodgeClassic Hotels & Resorts, a leading Phoenix-based hospitality development and management company, has built a boutique hotel along historic Route 66, renovating a former roadside motel that had little to stand out about it other than its location.
The company has invested $13 million in the past year to renovate the property, creating one of the most unique lodging experiences in Northern Arizona: the 123-room High Country Motor Lodge, while also adding three private cottage suites and two junior suites, renovating public spaces, restoring the spacious outdoor pool to add an oversized hot tub and two private saunas, and developing an indoor/outdoor bar and restaurant.
The charming atmosphere is a mix of vintage industrial and dark nostalgia, “inspired by Flagstaff's undeniable natural beauty and the legendary roadside culture of Route 66.” To achieve this, they “blended vintage style with rustic elements and astronomical accents to create an upscale yet casual experience.” Game, set, match, we say. And just around the corner is downtown Flagstaff, known for its breweries and boutiques.
“A dark palette accented with rustic woods and 1960s-inspired fixtures and furnishings runs throughout the property,” points out Alexa Nafisi-Movaghar, principal at ADean Studios. “An eclectic family of hand-drawn typography and illustrative graphic elements celebrate the motor lodge's vintage style, contemporary design, and love of desert adventure,” adds Amy Pastre, creative director and founding partner of South Carolina-based Stitch Design Co. (SDCO Partners).
This is one place you should add to your Arizona travel bucket list.
