I turned 29 on the 29th of June and did a staycation with Marriott where we got to experience different restaurants and amenities at different Marriott properties throughout the valley in Arizona! It was truly an incredible “golden” birthday! I always wondered what + where I would be on my golden birthday. There are so many places + things I can be doing at 29, but it was better than I could have ever imagined. I love what I do, I’m happily in love + engaged to my best friend and we have a healthy baby girl- I’m exactly where I want to be.
Let me start off by saying that every property we visited + every single staff member was truly incredible. I can’t even put into words how kind + accommodating everyone was! The whole staycation was so much fun! We stayed at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge during our staycation, which is just an astounding hotel. They’re so family-friendly, yet it’s also a perfect hotel for a romantic getaway. It’s a very large property with so much to do- from golf, hanging out at the pool (pool for the family + private pool for the adults), the spa, the multiple restaurants they have, ah so much!
Thursday evening after we checked into our hotel, we went to the JW Mariott Camelback Inn for a nice dinner at the Lincoln- a JW Steakhouse. Everything there was so so delicious- I ordered the filet (of course) and Kell ordered the Dover Sole, which I also highly recommend. We had tons of side dishes that we shared and ended dinner with their one-of-a-kind cheesecake (best cheesecake I think I ever had).
On Friday, we went to lunch at the Brittlebush Bar + Grill at the Westin Kierland and enjoyed lunch as we watched people golf on their beautiful golf course. We then went back to the JW Marriott and spent the rest of the day at our hotel and hung out by the pool all day! We had a beautiful private cabana by the private pool area (Griffin Bay) and the staff there went above and beyond. They had a sweet handwritten letter for us to go with the framed photo of Kell + I. This day also was such a special day for multiple reasons. One, it was Milai’s first time going in the pool and she absolutely loved it. I was so excited to get her in her cute swimsuit and go swimming with her! Two, my best friend, Laura, was in town from California and she got to meet the babe for the first time. She also had a baby recently, so we were emotional new moms so happy to be reunited. hah. That evening we just decided to do room service and just hang out in our beautiful suite!
On Saturday, I woke up 29 and feeling (more than) fine! It was my golden birthday and all I wanted to do was hang out + snuggle in bed with my two favorite people! After our birthday morning snuggle session, we hopped in the car and dropped the baby off with grandma to enjoy our morning at the Aji Spa at Sheraton Wildhorse Pass! Where do I even begin… Kell and I felt like a new person after our 110 min massage treatments! I got the Ho’ishp Prickly Sacred Prickly Pear Body Treatment and Kell got the S’he-ek Chu Thash Treatment. It was absolutely incredible and relaxing. After the treatments, we enjoyed lunch at the Aji Spa Cafe, before we headed back to our hotel to enjoy another afternoon pool day!
This time we had a cabana suite by the lazy river, which is new to the property, where you have an indoor + outdoor cabana. The indoor cabana suites include have AC, Direct TV, a private bathroom, and so much more. They were so kind enough to also have two pack-n-plays (indoor + outdoor) for the baby- it was incredible! I highly, highly recommend this cabana suite for a large group! My in-laws were able to join the afternoon with us so it was so much fun! After our pool day, we went to dinner at Stonegrill on the property. As we were walking towards the restaurant, I surprised to find all of my closest friends there waiting for me! Kell had coordinated a surprise birthday dinner at the restaurant that I had no idea about. It was truly the perfect way to end such a wonderful birthday!
On Sunday, we took our time to check out and ordered breakfast to the room as we packed up. I can’t thank enough for the Marriott team and all of the staffs at the different properties for being so wonderful to us. We had such a wonderful weekend and as I mentioned above, it was truly a golden birthday! If you’re looking for a relaxing vacation, definitely check out any of these properties, because you cannot go wrong! xx
