Work is a lot this year. I had a free night certificate with Hilton that would expire in October. I saw that a new property joined the portfolio in Sedona, L'Auberage. I had read and heard good things about it. I decided to give it a shot and got booked in for Saturday the 23rd. I decided to also take off the 22nd and stay elsewhere for the night. I had everything in place and was looking forward to it.
I got up on the 22nd and got everything into the car. I logged into work for a while and caught up on a few things. I then decided to get moving on the drive up. I got to the Hilton Grand Vacations that I was staying at just before 5. I had made a few stops on the way up so I got there a little later than planned. I got checked in at the front desk. Between me entering the building and leaving, a torrential downpour started. I darted back to the car and ended up sitting inside it for a while waiting for the rain to subside. It dipped a little and I took the chance. I grabbed my stuff from the trunk and made a run for the room. I got in and got settled. I caught up on a few things before deciding to take a walk. I walked around the property for a bit and then headed out to the desert to check out the starts. I had to be up early so I called it an early night.
Saturday, I got packed and moving. Checkin was not until 4PM and I had time to burn. I decided to head over to Cottonwood. I made the standard Home Depot stop, checked out some of the other shops and found a few new places to look into. First up was a gaming store. They had a lot of everything; comics, multiple videogame systems and games, trading cards, etc. I checked that out before heading to the thrift boutique next door. I checked that out and made a few purchases. From there, I headed back over towards the hotel. I knew I was early, but figured I would see if the room was available.
I headed to the main entrance and the room was not available yet. I was actually moved into a better room and it would not be ready until 4. The property is very large. I did not want to sit out in the heat. There was a lounge in the upper portion of the property that I got access to. I hung out there for a while and caught up on things. When the time was ready, I headed back down to get the room keys. It was ready and I headed over to check it out.
The room I was moved to is part of a new renovation at the top of the property. It was amazing. The room itself was beautiful and the view was amazing. I started to get everything settled and it began to rain a bit. I hung out for a while to watch the rain. When it stopped, I headed out to grab some dinner. The stop was short-lived so I got the first thing I could and headed back to the room. Due to the way it was setup, I was able to sit on the patio, enjoy the view, and grub.
The remainder of the night was just spent relaxing. I had a couple of drinks while sitting on the patio. I watched a few things on the computer and took the time to just unwind. I called it an early night. Hotel checkout was relatively early and I had a good breakfast credit that I wanted to try. I got to bed early and god some really good rest.
I was up early on Sunday. I got everything packed and ready to go. I headed down to Cress for breakfast. Due to the property size, it was quite the hike to get down there. I was able to get a table right on the creek. I ate a very nice breakfast. The food was great and the atmosphere was fun. I did get a few texts about stuff that was not going well. While I was likely not going to need to do anything, it made sense to not take too long. I headed back up to the room and moved all of my stuff to the car. I then went back and sat in the room for a few to enjoy the views. With the trip now complete, I headed down to check out and begin the drive back to Phoenix.
