I going on a business trip to Phoenix in early October and plan to visit Tucson afterwards with my family. I would like to get a 2 bedroom suite moderately priced. I'm leaning toward either Residence Inn on East Speedway Blvd or Clarion Santa Rita downtown on Broadway. Is it nice to stay downtown for evening shopping/browsing or is this not recommended.

As far as sites I'm thinking about---Day 1: Arizona Senora Desert Museum, Saguaro Nat'l Park West and Mission San Xavier Del Bac. Day 2: Chiricahua Nat'l Monument, Bisbee and Tombstone. Day 3: Downtown Tucson, Sabino Canyon and Mt Lemmon. Some questions I have is Tombstone worth it I'm seeing several messages indicating maybe not. Have the fires made Sabino Canyon and Mt Lemmon not worth visiting? I was thinking about old Tucson Studios (one 8 yr old) but from their web it looks like all they will have open are 1 hr tours.

Appreciate any comments.

Hi -- I've been doing some research on this area myself. Two hotels that seem to get good reviews are the Windmill Suites and Doubletree Guest Suites, both in Tucson. Sorry, I haven't stayed at either one yet.Residence Inns are usually very good as well.

IMO, Tombstone isn't worth it unless you are a big afficianado of that chapter in history. Spend more time in Bisbee, which has 2 really great restaurants (open only for dinner, usually): Cafe Roka and the Highland Inn. There are also a couple of cute places for lunch and lots of fun shops; I would not suggest eating at the Copper Queen Hotel, but the lobby is worth a look.
I also think that your Day One is too full. You'd be rushing to do the Desert Museum in half a day; Saguaro would eat up the rest; and San Xavier, which is indeed worth seeing, is a 30 min drive down I-10 from northern Tucson. Although it's a tough call, if I had to drop something, I'd drop Saguaro National Monument: it's awesome, but you'll see similar territory at the Museum, which is entirely outdoors.
You'll have to get a very early, crack-of-dawn start on Day 2, because Chiricahua is, if I recall correctly 2-3 hours from Tucson. (The park has a good web site.)You can do it if you get that early start and if you don't plan to do a day-long hike, and stop in Bisbee for dinner on the way back.
Day 3 looks fine, although you should definitely get info on access to Mt. Lemmon since the fire; it was not accessible at all for a while there, and since I don't live there (anymore!), for all I know, it may still not be. If it isn't, you might consider shifting Bisbee to Day 3, or fitting in Saguaro after all.
As for lodging in Tucson, we have always liked the Windmill Inn and Suites, which is on the north side of town. Tucson sprawls, and a strollable downtown doesn't really exist, so we've always been happy staying in the suburban-y feeling area around Windmill, where there are several restaurants and b'fast options to choose from. (Do try Cafe Poca Cosa, though, which is downtown, for dinner one night.)
Post again if you have any more questions...

The Chiricahua website is http://www.nps.gov/chir/. Good luck!

I concur with E about Tombstone, but who knows, you may like it, especially with a little one in tow. You will see thousands of saguaros en route to Desert Sonora Museum and I think you can get everything in on that first day...you've made good plans. The only motel I know is Windmill, but others are probably fine also.

I'm a native of Tucson. Do not stay downtown, it's just not a good idea. The Residence Inn is an okay location, looks nice, never stayed there. As far as browsing or shopping downtown, there are plenty of shops around without going into the downtown area. Mt. Lemmon was on fire for quite sometime, thus all the debris are now floating into Sabino Canyon,some parts are closed. Old Tucson, filed bankruptcy, so their hours are limited. I'm not saying Tucson isn't a beautiful place, it's great, just check on your destinations to see what's open.

Do Not -- I repeat -- Do Not stay downtown. It's extremely unattractive and there is nothing to "see" there. The area is full of court bldgs. and various gov. agencies and that is about all. Nothing to see. Cafe Poca Cosa (excellent restuarant) is right at the Clarion Santa Rita tho. Downtown is NOT a place for shopping or browsing or evening anything!!

For a hotel choice I'd go with The Windmill Inn and Suites on River and Campbell Rds. Nice plaza (cafes and a few shops), very close to PF Chang's, Sullivan's and various other nice places to eat. All rooms are suites (2 rooms).

We had terrible fires this yr and much of the forest on Mt Lemmon was destroyed. Then we had monsoon rains and debris, etc. came down the mountains into Sabino Canyon. It was closed several days last week.

The Mission is a nice site, as is Desert Museum. Bisbee and Chiricahua are pretty far, makes for a long day of driving if you have kids. Tombstone is touristy - kids might like it, some adults do too! Skip Old Tucson STudios, it's about to close up due to bankrupcy.

The Residence Inn is OK, but I'd go with Windmill, much nicer area all the way around.

Thank you all for the feedback. I'll defintely look into staying at the Windmill and probably stay away from downtown except daylight hours.

I wouldn't go downtown even in daylight hours and I live here. There is nothing to see, really try to advoid it

Sorry, I meant avoid it Nothing worth seeing, and sometimes, not all that safe.

Wow, I don't know why everyone says don't stay downtown. I lived in high school as a teenager and spent most of time downtown. There are galleries, museums, antique stores, coffee shops. Downtown Saturday Night (1st and 3rd Saturdays?) are fun, everything stays open late and there are events outside. My last visit to Tucson, I stayed at the Hotel Congress, which was perfectly nice, cheap and has a great bar, coffee shop, club and restaurant I hung out in most of the time. It's close to 4th Avenue, which has a few cute shops and cafes.

Anyway, I am 23 and a New Yorker so my needs/views might be different than others but I would completely disagree that downtown is to be avoided.

Tombstone IS touristy but our kids loved it. The Arizona Senora Desert Museum is nice, but don't skip Saquaro NP because of it. There's nothing like a nat'l park, and this one is amazing. You'll see many saquaros while driving but theres a reason they made the area a nat'l park! Both east and west parks are awesome.