Before kids, Eric and I were absolutely sure we would be the parents who continued traveling with our children. Welp, not quite! We just took our first vacation with the girls (apart from staying at our family cabin!) We headed to Arizona and stayed at the Hyatt Regency Scottsdale Resort & Spa at Gainey Ranch. Eric actually stayed here with his family growing up and has some really great memories of the resort’s Fourth of July celebration. Then, Eric and I stayed for a few nights when I was pregnant with Emelia. But bringing the girls for their first hotel stay and meeting up with Eric’s family was so much fun, and I was really blown away by the family-friendly atmosphere of this resort. It truly was the perfect place to bring kids and celebrate the Fourth with a barbeque, live music and a fireworks show.
The Hyatt at Gainey Ranch has multiple swimming pools, a huge water slide (it’s a blast – I went down it a few times!) and an entire “sand cove” with a beach for kids to play on that leads straight into the pool. There’s a playground and a whole section of family-friendly games like a giant checkers board and Connect-4. I’m pretty sure there’s a day camp you can send your kids to, but we didn’t look into it as our girls are still little.
For the Fourth of July in particular, there was an entire itinerary of fun activities and events spanning the long weekend. There were crafts, kids concerts, an ice cream sundae bar, a hula hoop contest and more! On the fourth, there was a BBQ dinner on the lawn, glow sticks for sale, face painting and of course, a fireworks show over the lake. It was so fun to sit out in the courtyard after dinner, enjoying the Arizona summer weather (probably about 90 degrees then!) and watching all the kids run around. Chloe hooked up with some little friends and played tag and hide & seek to her heart’s content.
We had a suite so that the girls would have their own sleeping space, and that worked out phenomenally. The rooms are spacious, and we all slept so well this way! Chloe also loved the all-you-can-eat buffet for her meals at the main restaurant (kids eat free with an adult!)
Lastly, the city of Scottsdale boasts so many great shops and restaurants! We had a breakfast at Butter’s, a local favorite breakfast joint and a dinner at Modern Market Eatery, which had a nice outdoor space for the girls to run around. We also ventured into Downtown to try out Ruze Cake House and spotted a few other places I want to try on our next trip!
If you’re looking for a super family-oriented resort for a summer vacation, I highly recommend the Hyatt at Gainey Ranch. We had such a great time with our little kids, and I imagine it will only get more and more fun as they get older and can participate more! I can’t wait for our next visit 🙂
Happy summer vacationing!
xoxo,
Heidi
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