Alright my travel fanatic, my family getaway seekers, and those of you just in need of a relaxing vacation; have I got the perfect place for you!?
PEORIA, ARIZONA!
Now my first thought for a vacation is normally somewhere that is below 100 degrees and is preferably by the beach, but we needed a vacation and we got a deal to go to a resort in Arizona, so we decided to go ahead and give it a go.
So we booked our stay at the Cibola Vista Resort and Spa for a week and off we went! Now remember this resort name! Write it down and look it up cause it was so wonderful! Maybe it was because we were in SO need of a vacation or that it was so hot outside that the resort was just a haven, but it is my favorite resort I have ever stayed at!
Where is it?
Alright let’s not get ahead of ourselves, let me explain a little bit about where this place is first off and why you should even visit Peoria, Arizona.
Let’s talk location! Peoria is located just north west of Phoenix, Arizona. If you are a Bella Swan fan from the Twilight movies you know what Phoenix is. It is a huge town in the middle of a very big desert. If you are a city person that the thought of being so close to Phoenix should be enough of an incentive to go. It is everything you are looking for in a big city! Lots of restaurants, lights, shows, buildings, traffic, etc.…..
Saying that, don’t close out of this article if you are a country fan, cause I got news for you, the resort is on the outskirts of Peoria and you are not even 30 minutes away from Arizona mountains, deserts, and nature! You are literally 2 hours away from Sedona! If you don’t know what Sedona is, stop what you are doing and look it up right now! It is one of the most breathtaking deserts in Arizona!
The Cibola Vista Resort and Spa in Peoria, Arizona is in the perfect location for experiencing the natural desert beauty of Arizona, with the excitement and convenience of a large city nearby.
What about the heat!?
Fun fact about myself, I hate the heat! Absolutely hate it! I hate sweating. Hate that there is only so much clothing I can take off for relief in the heat. Hate how it makes my cheeks really red and my skin really shiny. I just hate it, plain and simple.
So I wish I could tell you it is not hot, but unfortunately my own integrity won’t let me lie. It is hot!
BUT!!!!
The heat is very dry heat! I thought I would be sweating buckets and get so sunburned, but I didn’t! If you know me and my red haired lineage you know I get sunburned just from thinking about the sun! Yet I did not get sunburned on this trip, and we were outside practically all day every day!
I do have to pay tribute to some amazing Coppertone spray sunscreen for saving my skin though! No joke this stuff is my favorite! It protects even my skin, without making me look like a snowman or a grease ball! Highly recommend you bring this in bag on your trip.
The second you go in shade the temperature feels incredible! Do not let the thought of high heat deter you from experiencing the best resort in Arizona!
Why is it the best?
I have mentioned several times that I think this is the best resort in Arizona, so lets get down to why.
The Rooms
First off the rooms are fantastic! Now obviously it depends on the room you get, but we got the master one bedroom that sleeps 4 and it was great! It was clean, spacy, and conveniently located next to the giant pool.
The kitchen was bigger than my kitchen at home and of course fully stocked! Only complaint here is not that they only gave us 2 dishwasher packets! As a family of 5, we need way more than just 2 dishwasher packets! Helpful hint bring extra dishwasher detergent so you don’t have to do dishes by hand on your vacation! I love to save me some money and so I make most of our meals on vacation. Cool thing about this resort though, if you don’t want to cook, there is a food truck right on the property. Mexican of course! You are in Arizona after all!
The dining room has a table setting for 4, with complimentary powdered lemonade and a pack of popcorn.
The living room has a pull out queen bed from the couch. This is where we had our 2 kiddos sleep, and they loved having a bed right in front of a tv!
The bathroom is fully stocked and has a nice big shower and vanity in it. This is also where the washer and dryer are as well. Again only 2 packets of Tide for washing clothes, so if you need more, bring more.
Now onto my favorite part of the whole apartment….THE BATHTUB! So when you first walk into the master bedroom, it looks just like any other nice suite. A king sized bed, which might I add is super comfortable, even when you have toddlers sneaking into your bed at night, there is so much room you won’t even know they are there! There is a TV, a safe, a dresser, sofa, night stands, etc.; you get the gist, just like any other master suite. Except its not!! Right in the room is a giant tub!
Lets talk about this tub alright, because this is what made the whole apartment in my eyes! Let me tell you a story so you know just how wonderful this tub is:
One evening we told our kiddos we would take them swimming after we ate dinner. I accidentally took too long cooking and cleaning up dinner and by the time we were ready to go swimming it was really dark outside. The pool is open until 10 pm, but trying to keep track of 3 kids in the dark at a pool is a little harder. Feeling guilty we couldn’t take them swimming outside, we filled up the bathtub and had our own little hot tub party in our apartment! That is how big this tub was! It fit a young family of 5 in it!
It was the highlight of my day to soak in that giant tub at night! The tub alone makes this place worth the stay!
The Activities
This was one of the only resorts I have stayed at that had so much to do at the resort, you didn’t even need to leave to have a good time! There were so many options of things to do and so many activities to do in a day! When you first arrive they even give you 3 whole pamphlets of things just to do at the resort!
- Spa– Obviously it is in the name of the resort, this is a spa. The resort offers a series of packages for spa treatments for adults. Going as a family with 3 little kids we did not have the luxury of enjoying the spa, but you bet if it was just me and my husband we sure would have taken advantage of it!
- Outdoor Grill Patio– Burgers and steaks are my idea of a vacation splurge food. Never fear the grill is here for you to show off your grilling skills at the patio.
- Patio Games– Throughout the resort are giant games to play. There is giant chess and even giant Connect 4. Game on!
- Food Truck– I mentioned it earlier, but how cool is it that they have a taco truck at the resort!
- Horseback Riding– If horses are involved I am so in! The stables are right across the street. If you book at the registration desk you can go on a trail ride! That sold me on the resort!
- Pools– Yes I did mean to make that plural! There is more than 1 pool on the property. Enjoy morning laps at the lap pool. Swim deep in the adults pool. Or party at the waterslide at the big pool. There are also hot tubs to enjoy and they are huge!
These are just a handful of examples as to all the activities and amenities they have at the resort. Like I said I feel like there were so many options to choose from that you didn’t even need to leave the resort to have a good time!
The Beauty of the Resort
I am not a fan of the desert. If you know me I am a mountain and beach fan all the way. Not a desert fan. I honestly thought I would feel like I was in the middle of no where at this resort and it would super sunny and ugly. Boy was I dead wrong.
The location of the resort is right out of town so you do feel like you are out of the busy, but you are not in the middle of no where and still super close to stores and restaurants.
The buildings of the resort are beautiful and match the Arizona vibe of an old Mexican vineyard. The most beautiful part of it though, is the desert look. I know crazy to say! There are palm trees, gorgeous cactus, and desert flowers all around the buildings and throughout the grounds. They have taken the most beautiful parts of the desert and created a resort out of it! Welcome to the Cibola Vista Resort and Spa.
Is it for kids?
When we first became BlueGreens Owners I remember looking at all of the resorts and planning which ones I wanted to go to. When I saw the Cibola Vista Resort and Spa I remember thinking, “Oh, lets make sure just my husband and I go to that one.” My reasoning…. One, it’s a spa, hard to enjoy that with kids. And two, why would I want to take my kids to Peoria, Arizona. Didn’t sound like a kid place to me.
DEAD WRONG!
This resort it PERFECT for the kiddos! So a little info on my family. We are a family of 5! Obviously there is my handsome husband and me, but we also have 3 little kids. I am not joking when I say little. I have a 3 year old girl, a 2 year old boy, and a 7 month old baby boy. 3 kids 3 and younger, yep we are crazy and we know it!
Now knowing that we are a family of toddlers and that this resort was perfect for us, is a pretty big statement! Here is why we loved this resort with our kids:
- Activities– There are SO many activities for kids at this resort every day! The week we were there they had tie dying, snow cone making, a scavenger hunts, arts and crafts time, make cards for cancer children, and so much more. There was always something to do. Side note most of these extra activities do cost a little extra. By extra I mean like $3 or around that.
- Pony Rides– So you know how I mentioned horse riding for adults, well they also have ponies for kids! It is pretty hard to find places to take kids trail riding for one they have an age limit and two the horses are huge. Never fear, they have ponies here!
- The Pool– Here we drove over 11 hours to explore Peoria/Phoenix area and all my kids wanted to do was swim. We would get to the zoo and they would be bummed, because they wanted to go swimming. I take them out for ice cream and they just keep asking when can they go back and swim! That just shows you how fun this swimming pool is! This pool is huge! It has water spaying, a wading section, a small current pool, a water slide. It only gets to about 4 ½ ft deep, which is perfect for kids. Not too deep for them. The slide looks small, but it feels long going down! You really pick up speed too, so it is a really fun slide. You do have to be 48” tall to go down the slide though.
- Meet the Tortoise– Every Thursday a tortoise comes to visit the resort. I believe his name was Lenny, but how cool is it to have a meet and greet with a tortoise!
Have your kiddo dress for the pool in style with this adorable swimsuits:
Best Things to do Around the Resort:
The HayMaker (all day breakfast!)
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