Tag Archives: travel

The only thing missing is the sea – Four Seasons Hotel Scottsdale

Travel, , , ,

We grabbed a cab at Phoenix Sky Harbour airport and headed north through Scottsdale for about 30 miles.

The Four Seasons Hotel Scottsdale nestles on the edge of the Sonoran desert. It is surrounded by mountain peaks, statuesque cactuses with many spiky arms reaching for the sky, and rocks and boulders of interesting shapes and sizes. The buildings are authentic to their American Indian origins, decorated in warm reds and oranges. A slight burning smell wafts through the resort from the many blazing chiminea fireplaces.

The view from the sundeck in the cocktail bar literally takes the breath away. 35 miles of unbroken horizon right back down to the Camelback Mountain in downtown. Whilst the resort contains all the amenities that you would find in a normal seaside resort, this amazing vista is more than adequate compensation for the obvious lack of sea.

four seasons hotel scottsdale

The weather was pleasantly hot, never quite rising above 80° each day. Most of the American guests would not appear until after lunch leaving the poolside relatively empty until then. The poolside staff are attentive, but not intrusive, and always happy to help and talk.

four seasons hotel scottsdaleLiv who works there set up our sunbeds each day with fluffy towels and supplied us with an endless supply of Bud Lights, nibbles, sundaes, smoothies and of course lunch. Try the spicy chicken skewers with hot green dip. You need the cold beer to cool your mouth down.

four seasons hotel scottsdaleThe guest rooms are luxurious, the beds gigantic and soft enough to sink into. Fortunately for us we also had that astonishing view down towards the Camelback. A huge shower, a separate bath and double sink filled the bathroom which was suitably replenished daily with a range of lotions and potions. There was even a fireplace in the room should the temperature drop too much, and although not a real log fire, it was a great fake gas one.

Breakfast was in the Mexican themed Crescent Moon restaurant. Isn’t it just fantastic to have breakfast made order? No cold congealed buffet sludge here. Great fresh food cooked as you like it. Eggs over easy. Eggs sunny side  up. Muffins with sharply sour but refreshing grapefruit juice.

The Talavera restaurant was much posher and somewhere to spend a pleasant evening. Although chilly in the evening, the patio has fire-pits which keep you toasted and warm. Fine dining, great steaks, great chicken again with a Mexican and American Indian twist. And what a great bottle of Ravenswood Barricia Zinfandel.

The on-site spa is simply lovely. They have the steamiest steam room I’ve ever seen in any spa anywhere in the world.

I can’t fault the service in this resort, always efficient and delivered with a smile, especially the concierge who keeps you fully updated on all arrangements they make. There is golf nearby with two 18-hole courses. If you want to see the desert on horseback, they’ll arrange for Cave Creek Outfitters (here’s a review of a desert horseback riding trip) to come and collect you.

four seasons hotel scottsdaleYou can walk to Pinnacle Peak Park and take a gentle pleasant hike of about 4 miles up to a summit another fifteen hundred foot above the resort. From here again the views are stunning. You can see 50 miles in every direction and the peaks merge into the horizon and into the light wispy clouds which gather as the sun goes down.

four seasons hotel scottsdale

Over to you: I love this part of the world.Have you ever been? Do you live there or do you visit? Please leave a comment and let me know.

Here are some more hotel reviews:

Desert horseback rides – the best way to see such stunning scenery

Travel, , , , , , ,

Her name was Kate. She had very strong but slender legs. And she loved it when I jumped on top of her and rode her hard for nearly three hours.

desert horseback rides

Before you get too excited I need to tell you that Kate was a horse. The part about the legs is true but for hard riding think more like gentle cantering with the occasional acceleration into a half hearted trot. In fact Kate was my patient steed on a lovely ride through the sun soaked Sonoran desert slightly north of Phoenix Arizona.

Todd Masden has been running Cave Creek Outfitters since 1993. He picked us up from the hotel and whisked us from the Four Seasons Hotel’s fake western surroundings into the reality of an authentic cowboy ranch. They won’t take your money until after the ride, “Only survivors pay,” Todd announced. You might have a moment of doubt when you sign the disclaimer, but Jed’s collection of ranch bred and rescue horses are very used to the unsure holiday rider.

Kate was a beautiful choice for my desert horseback ride

Once in the saddle, hands on the reigns and feet in the stirrups we ambled out into the desert stirring up a little dust in our wake. It was only 9am but the February sun, still winter even in the desert, was already a pleasantly hot 78 degrees.  Jack rabbits with ears longer than their bodies dashed excitedly across our path, and white cotton tailed bunnies sprinted from rock to rock. All around us the giant, majestic, statuesque Saguaro cactuses pointed their many spined arms up towards the cloudless blue sky. Incredible to think that some of these are over a thousand years old – having existed for twice as long as the whole history of the USA.

desert horseback rides

Kate was easy to control.  A little tug on the reigns would change her direction. She knew where she was going anyway.  Occasionally a little nudge with my heels would encourage a trot. But I am inexperienced in horseback riding and I often mistimed my bounce mid-trot. It can be painful. I should have worn thicker pants.

We ascended hills, ambled through rocky outcrops, and skirted around even more vicious looking cactuses. An occasional owl soared overhead, chipmunks darted for cover, and hawks circled looking for prey. We missed seeing the deer and bobcats which our guide assured us had been sighted by earlier riders.

desert horseback rides

Two hours in and my legs were screaming and my lower back beginning to ache. Nothing a little Yoga stretching wouldn’t cure though. Kate returned me safely to the ranch where Todd waited with water and transport home. “You’ve seen the desert the way it’s meant to me seen. From the back of a good horse,” he said as we left cowboy country behind knowing that one day we wanted to return for more.

desert horseback rides

Over to you: Please add a comment and tell me about your own experiences on horseback. Where do you go riding? Where is your favourite location to get into the saddle?

The Preposterous PR of Porn on a Plane – Ryanair PR Stunts

Marketing, , , , , , ,

Okay I’ve had enough of this. I have dealt with journalists for over 15 years. I know how to write a decent press release and to get a story out there either in-print or on-line. There is spin and there is super spin. There are true stories and there are tall stories. But the latest RyanAir PR stunts tale is so preposterous I can’t believe anyone picked it up let alone a national newspaper.

I don’t know whether I love or loath Michael O’Leary, the boss of Ryan Air. You often see photos of him looking like a manic gibbon with a smile so wide you could land a Boeing 737-800 in it. And such a photo accompanied this Daily Mail article claiming that Ryan Air will put Porn on Planes. Yes that’s right. Passengers will allegedly be able to rent porn films on their journey.

ryanair pr stunts

O’Learly acknowledges that it wouldn’t be fair to put porn on seat back TVs. No it would instead be available on discreet hand-held devices that the porn watching passenger could angle away from his fellow travellers to spare their blushes. Perhaps the device would come in a big plain brown paper bag to add to this discretion. I doubt it.

And anyway in true Ryan Air style the cabin crew would announce it’s availability in their customary style, “Today ladies and gentlemen we have some filthy dirty mucky films for you to hire. Just ring the cabin crew call bell and we’ll bring your own personal porn player to your seat. Only £10.99 per hour and an extra £2.99 for a packet of branded tissue wipes.”

This is of course complete twaddle. But the Mail reported it as fact.

Why are intelligent journalists taken in by this PR posturing? Do the Ryan Air press releases include a footnote informing readers that the word gullible is not actually contained within the Oxford English Dictionary along with a suggestion to go and check. Obviously not otherwise we would have seen a tabloid headline claiming it’s true along side a photo of a giggling Mr O’Leary giving the thumbs up.

They fell for the statement about Ryan Air introducing charges to use to use the toilet on board. They fell for the frequent releases about introducing stand-up seating. Or more sit down seating made available by taking the toilets out completely.

Anyone with five minutes to spare can find that the 737-800s that Ryan Air use are already at their largest capacity under the Boeing certification and various Aviation Authority evacuation rules.

So it would be easy to debunk the stories. But they report it as fact whilst Mr O’Leary sits in his office cackling insanely and having a right good laugh at those he has duped yet again, and revelling in his free publicity – good or bad.

Personally I won’t fly Ryan Air because I was once kidnapped by them. There was a meeting in Dublin I was going to but after a 4 hour delay on the flight there was no point travelling as I’d missed the meeting and it couldn’t be rearranged for later. I asked to get off the plane (the doors were still open) but they refused and I had to travel all the way to Dublin for no reason. And then come back again. As a result if I had a choice between flying direct to Paris with Ryan Air or via New Zealand with another airline, I’d take the kiwi route every time.

The near genius of O’Leary’s PR is that the public know that flying Ryan Air is a pretty miserable experience and that they will get fleeced for extra charges, so O’Leary’s PR stunts fit so well with people’s perceptions of the airline that they almost could be true.