Arizona Biltmore

During this part of June, only one thing comes to my mind. The Arizona Biltmore. This is a 5 star hotel located in Phoenix Arizona that me and my dad spent a lot of our time at in the summer. Each year, my dad was invited to a fitness conference at this hotel and he always brought me along with him and usually a friend of mine to keep my company. I started coming here when I was about 4 or 5 years old and loved it from that moment on. I could never get bored or mad when I was there. I could go to the pool, play checkers with there human size checker set, or beg my dad for a manicure at the spa:) Whatever I did, I had a blast. My freshman year was the last time I was there and now I truly miss it every time june rolls around. Although going there now would not be the same without my dad because this was our place. One thing he introduced to me was a mexican restaurant called Los Olivos. This is a small hidden place in downtown Scottsdale that is by far my favorite restaurant. They have the best homemade salsa and chips that I enjoy so much! Me and my dad love the chips and salsa so much that we actually bought a container and put the salsa in it so we could enjoy it at home. That was gone in about a day. Here is the sign in front of the place. Kinda old but unique.

Since my dad was there for the conference (which was hosted by the Phoenix Fire Department), they had daily activities going on in the morning and one of them was climbing the Piestewa Peak which is a large peak that overlooks the city of Phoenix. Me and my friend Kayla volunteered to climb this peak and actually made it to the top! I took this picture at about 9 in the morning before the heat took over and thought it was an amazing view!
The hotel rooms at the biltmore are fabulous! The beds are so cool and soft and the architecture of each building is quite unique. This was a view from out suite we had one year and with each set of buildings, there are individual pools. The hotel actually has one large pool which includes three large pools lined up and one big slide.
The pool at the hotel is by far my favorite part because the water is at perfect temp and there is so much going on. First, there is a slide. Now this slide is not the coolest slide for a teenager/adult but it is pretty awesome if you pick up enough speed. Plus, it has a waterfall pouring down on you when you exit the slide. Second, on certain nights, there is always a water balloon launch and a dive in movie. With the water balloon launch, two of the employees are holding a sling shot and the goal is to launch the water balloon over the entire building where the slide is or hit a target that they give you and then you get free dip n dots. I always hit the target so dessert was free for me on those nights. With the dive in movie, they would pass out huge water tubes and you could sit in that tube and watch a movie at night while they play a movie. Then after you can go to the fire pit and make S'mores:) The last but certainly not least best part about this pool is the under water bar. Now I cannot drink yet but I enjoyed drinking virgin fruity drinks in the water while playing on the chairs.
Here is a picture of me and my dad going down on the slide! So much fun and yes when I was a freshman we still both went down together :)
Here is another picture of me and my dad at the best restaurant in the world! Also, in front of the place there is a wooden donkey. We always took at picture next to the donkey! It is a tradition:)
I hope to eventually go back to the biltmore and enjoy everything there. It is a good getaway and very relaxing. It will never be the same without my dad though. I want to take some of his ashes and spread them there in memory of what he showed me and taught me there. Eventually when I get to be older, I want to rent out a suite there and go there whenever I want to and know that that is where my dad will always be:) Also to go to the spa. :)