Scottsdale Az. or Palm Springs, Cal. or suggestions...
 

Trying to decide where to go for long weekend with spa, desert hiking, good food and lots of art/culture museum. Prefer upscale, safe for female traveling alone.

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Expedia and decided to book a Scottsdale getaway at the Phoenician www.yelp.com/biz/the-phoenician-scottsdale

Been to both Scottsdale prettiest though not far from Scottsdale even prettier www.visitsedona.com was at the Hyatt there last but great deals bidding priceline.com AMAZING WAY prettier than palm springs.

carrentals.com out of Sky Harbor for me
cheap flights in.out for me southwest.com

Scottsdale and stay at The Royal Palms; it is a smaller [119 rooms] and intimate resort with an amazing Spa. We love it there. The service is amazing and dinner at T. Cook's is a must. Also, check out their $2 taco nights at the bar on Tu & Th.

https://picasaweb.google.com/DebitNM/RoyalPalms

I've been to and enjoyed both but Palm Springs is the one calling me to return. The town of Palm Springs has a nice ambience, with a street fair every Thursday. Although Palm Springs has just one art museum, it is an excellent one with a surprising collection. Restaurants, IMO Palm Springs hands down. There are also lots of things to do in the area. You can hike in the desert and you can hike in Indian Canyons. If you would like, I have a trip report of Palm Springs with lots more detail that you can read by clicking my name and scrolling down.

Scottsdale was also enjoyable. The highlight for me there was climbing up Camelback daily at dawn to watch the sunrise.

I would pick Palm Springs. Stay in one of the mid century "motels" near the downtown and go hiking in one of the palm oasis canyons.

Would say Palm Springs, and take the tram to the top of the mountain, walk down El Paseo (Palm Desert's answer to Beverly Hill's El Rodeo) and maybe take in the great Zoo/desert gardens - The Living Desert.

http://www.livingdesert.org/

Another vote for Palm Springs.

depends. if you are under 50, scottsdale has a younger feel than palm springs (for me).

We were in both places in December. The Persian Room in Scottsdale has wonderful food.

And if you go to Palm Springs be sure to visit the Joshua Tree Park. It is not the trees, as much as the rock formations. We were really impressed by the work at Imago, an art gallery in Palm Desert. Quite a large establishment with sculpture garden on the roof.

Do have to say - one bonus visiting Scottsdale is getting up to Sedona - which another poster suggested, and the red rock formations are beautiful.

Yet, from Palm Springs - in an hour or so - you can drive up to say Big Bear and see the ski resort - and lake and trees up there. http://www.bigbear.com/

Or - you can also get up to the back/west side of the mountain where the Palm Spring tram goes - that being the artist colony of Idyllwild, which is about 45 minutes away - up a very scenic - albeit - curvy drive. http://www.idyllwild.com/

Wow, great information. Must say, I'm a little surprised that Palm Springs seems to get the vote. I'll check out the trip report mentioned and move forward. I had thought about Sedona also. Thank you for sharing your experiences!

I fell in love with Palm Springs several years ago when I went to a conference there. I had friends who had a condo there so also spent the weekend and they showed me the sights.

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it, I just never thought about going there. Since then I have stayed on my own for a long weekend after a conference (I enjoyed Casa Cody but it's not a spa and not that upscale so don't know that that would be what you were looking for).

I felt perfectly safe on my own, went out to dinner, went to the street fair mentioned above, loved the Art Museum!

I returned just last January for a girls weekend and we also had a blast, including hiking in the Indian Canyons and the Museum Trail--the trail head was in walking distance from Casa Cody (yep, we stayed there again). I think I did a trip report too if you want to click on my name. Basingstoke had a lot of information that I used for my visit.

And--I'm headed back again at the end of this month!

Lots of galleries in PS/Palm Desert El Paseo. Agree with that choice and a boutique inn, Viceroy has a spa.

<<Must say, I'm a little surprised that Palm Springs seems to get the vote.>>

If you choose to go there, you will understand. Speaking for myself and DW, PS was a total surprise - it was so much more than we expected. As I mentioned above, it is one of those places that calls to us to return.

Is El Paseo "recovering" from the recession? Last time we were there, a couple of years ago, we were shocked by the number of empty storefronts.