go_laura

We're heading to Sedona Nov. 8-14 and neither of us have ever been before. Our main question as we begin to look for lodging is, would you more highly recommend staying right in Sedona proper, or somewhere outside of it?

We're a couple in our mid fifties who like to hike but are not all-day or very steep hikers; on a recent trip we did several hikes ranging from 2-5 hours round trip, with maybe about a thousand feet elevation (I'm now going to have to check that part!). Looking forward to some time just relaxing and enjoying the beautiful scenery, I'm hoping to spend some time in some galleries and shops, and we love good restaurants but hopefully ones where we can eat healthy. Going somewhere for live music would be an added plus. I'm a little wimpy about nighttime driving on curvy roads that aren't well lit, even when it's not me doing the driving.

Beyond the original question, any and all suggestions for our time in Sedona are very welcome!

MikePinTucson

Wherever you stay, you will be using your car for almost everything you want to do. Uptown Sedona or around the "Y" will have you closer to shops and some restaurants, so that might be a consideration. But wherever you stay will not be a wrong decision.

Here is a hiking website. There are close to 200 hiking trails around Sedona, but many of them ovelap.
http://hikearizona.com/traildex.php?ID=42&RID=9

I hike some, but also not strenuous hikes. Here are some I liked:

West Fork Trail
Bell Rock/Courthouse Butte loop
Boynton Canyon
Fay Canyon
Baldwin Trail

Things to do during your time:
Chapel of the Holy Cross
Pink Jeep Broken Arrow tour
Red Rock Crossing
Oak Creek Canyon
Montezuma Castle and Montezuma Well
Tuzigoot Ruins
Verde Canyon Railroad
Jerome
Wine tasting along Page Springs Road
Browse Tlaquepaque

My favorite restaurants:
Dahl & DiLuca
Cowboy Club Silver Saddle Room
Schoolhouse (in the Village of Oak Creek)

MichelleY

Mike gives good recs. If it is in your budget, Enchanment Resort. Closer to the Y is Amara Resort and Arroyo Casa Roble Resort.

We loved the Pink Jeep tour and trying the rattlesnake appetizer at the Cowboy Club. Sedona is so beautiful.

DebitNM

+1 Amara. Just redone. A Kimpton property, love them. Free wine hour, s'mores at night and other perks.

go_laura

This is terrific! Thank you Mike for taking the time to answer with all those suggestions, you've given me much to google!

Michelle, have you stayed at or know anyone who stayed at, the 2 resorts you mentioned? (not even sure if anything called resort is in our price point, going to look up prices of them all, now).

go_laura

DebitNM, we were posting at the same time...great to have a personal rec, thank you. Kimpton properties are usually a little over our range but you never know.

MichelleY

In that general area of the Amara and Casa Roble are other motels. Not sure of names or how they are. .

MikePinTucson

Orchards Inn and the Matterhorn are uptown and get good reviews.

go_laura

Thanks again. Another place we're looking at is the Inn Above Oak Creek (seems to alternately be called the Inn at Oak Creek). Am a little confused because their website says it's walking distance to restaurants, shops and galleries, but it seems to be in a whole different area from Orchards Inn and Matterhorn. Can you help me understand the geography a bit better? Appreciate the help!

MikePinTucson

It looks like it is on 179, a little below the "Y", if this is the one you are considering.

http://www.innaboveoakcreek.com/location/

It is almost across from the Hillside shops and restaurants. Yes, you can walk to uptown, but it is not as close as the others. Maybe close to a mile from uptown.

DebitNM

Don't know if Amara will be included, but there's a Kimpton sale coming up next week. Join the free rewards programs to get the emails about sale, it's called Karma. You may be surprised, November could be reasonable.

DebitNM

We stayed at Amara in December of 2013; great location and nice property. It needed a Reno but it's just had that so I give it

DebitNM

Renovation, not Reno . Auto correct,

go_laura

Great tip, DebitNM, am going to do that right now.

go_laura

DebitNM, and anyone else, I have a follow up q re: Amara Kimpton. I booked it for $199 but it's cancellable. Am looking at a couple other much less expensive properties that have very good reviews, and am wondering if spending the extra is worth it, esp. since Amara Kimpton doesn't include breakfast as some do (we don't need/want a big fancy b and b type one, but having some yogurt or cereal, etc. is nice).

Can you tell me what it is that makes you Amara Kimpton so much? We're willing to spend the extra if there are reasons it's worth it, just hard to tell from reading reviews. Thanks!

jayne1973

We stayed at Arabella Hotel a couple of years ago when it was called Kings Ransom Inn, and found it quite nice and reasonably priced. There was a free breakfast then, but not sure what the rate includes now.

It's a little ways from the hubbub of the busy main strip of Sedona, which makes it more relaxing. The fabulous Elote Café next door is great---you can have one of their killer margaritas and just wander back to the room!

We were just in Sedona for lunch last weekend and it was quite warm and bustling with people. Beautiful place!

www.arabellahotelsedona.com

DebitNM

Kimptons in general offer free coffee every morning, free wine hour every night. The Amara was just done over, I like that feature, I dislike older rooms with the potential for icky carpet, polyester bedspreads etc ( I have no idea what other places you are considering are nor their condition. They have a lot of great hotels in their chain and being a member of Karma, you get extra perks, so if you travel a lot and in cities where they have hotels, that adds up to free nights.

Amara also does s'mores at night

I can't tell you which to pick and if there's a big difference, that's what you'll have to decide.

We don't do big breakfast. I believe there are mini fridge in rooms so we'd bring milk, cereal and yogurt and be set.

Hope this helps.

go_laura

Thanks to both of you! I know the decision is mine, but more info helps make a more knowledgeable choice.

go_laura

Realize I never came back to update...I was in a car accident shortly after that last post, and unfortunately some whiplash and post-concussion issues led to us canceling the trip; had it been a beach vacation planned might have still done it, but we'd planned to do a lot of hiking and that was out of the question. Very gratefully, I'm ok now, and no-one else was hurt.

Now planning a different (undecided) trip in early to mid February and will create a different thread for those q's!