Carefree Resort and Villas review

Leaving my last national park, the Grand Canyon behind I am continuing to Phoenix and then to San Diego. The place where I am staying in Phoenix is named Carefree and located 20 miles north of Phoenix city center. The area is very beautiful with cactus gardens and many big big villas. I am sleeping in the Carefree Resort & Villas for which I would like to provide you a short review.

The rooms of the Carefree Resort and Villas seem a little over-sized what however makes it very pleasant in the hotel's rooms. The rooms' interior is all in a sort of Mexican style and looks very nice and friendly. The air condition is very silent. My room does not have a fridge, what is however compensated by a nearby ice-machine. The pool area is very big with a swimming-pool and a jacuzzi. The pool area looks wonderful and the ambient of the Carefree resort and Villas is amazing. I am sitting at the pool right now, watching the sunset. It is still 100F with low humidity, so very nice and refreshing with the pool.

I am now back in my hotel room. The rates are more than okay with a total cost of 120$ a night. I had a nice all you can eat buffet. Seriously, spend that 20$ on the hotel buffet. You can see the staff putting different sort of meat and sausages on the grill. You can either eat outside or inside the restaurant. Both is nice. Everything was very well prepared and good looking. If you read this part of my review, really, take the buffet in the Carefree Resort and Villas, you will love it.

Afterward I went to an open fire place. A member of the staff team joined me and we had an interesting discussion about different aspects. He has native American background and knew a lot about the national parks, agriculture and problems of Arizona. His name was Lance. If you meet him, make sure to greet him from Hendrik :-).

The hotel was not good, Carefree resort and Villas was very good and I rate it with 10/10 points. Hope you enjoyed my Carefree Resort and Villas review.

I attached a map of the area around the Carefree resort and Villas hotel. Check out the location and how fast you are in Phoenix.


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Williams review

Leaving Tusayan and Grand Canyon behind my next stop is the Route 66 town Wiliams. I wanted to check out the historic remains of the Route 66 in Wiliams. I am providing you a short review of Williams.

When entering the town you will see a lot of Route 66 road signs on the left and right side of the street. Tourists usually take a picture in front of one of those 66 signs in Williams. When you are traveling to Flagstaff I recommend you to stop in Williams to fuel up, as the gas is relatively cheap there. Perhaps because of the historic 66 background of the town.

The rest of Williams is only route 66 merchandise and not really worth checking out. You will encounter a lot of bikers or old timers, as a lot of people want to check the route 66 with their cars :-). There is a visitor center dedicated to the Route 66. There are restrooms inside and a lot of good information on 66.

I did not find it that interesting, perhaps because I am no biker. Anyways, hope you enjoyed my Route 66 and Williams review. I attached a short map of Williams:

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Here a video of the Route 66:



My next stop is going to be Phoenix. The farer you go south, the warmer it will get. It is 90 F here in Wiliams, at least that's what my car says. Ok, leaving route 66 behind now. Thanks for reading my 66 article. Let me know if you enjoyed Wiliams and what you did in the town,

Best Western Squire Inn review

The hotel I booked around Grand Canyon was the Best Western Squire Inn. It is in the town of Tusayan. I would like to provide you a short review of the Best Western Squire Inn.

I payed 150$ per night for my room. Breakfast was included and quite okay. I mainly liked the large diversity of fruits and cups made of 100% corn syrup. That was something special for a Best Western breakfast.

The Squire Inn's rooms are okay and clean. The Air condition is very silent. All in all the Best Western Squire Inn is a good hotel. Half a mile from start the Grand Canyon helicopter tours. You can book them right in the hotel. The rates are okay and I must really say that it was one of my best hotels on my national park route.

Hope you enjoyed my Best Western Squire Inn hotel review. Below is a map of its location in Tusayan.


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Grand Canyon Helicopter tour review

A friend recommended me to check out the rims of Grand Canyon in an helicopter. So I booked an Helicopter Tour starting in Tusayan taking you through the Grand Canyon. The name of the company is Papillon helicopter tours. I would like to provide you a short review of my Grand Canyon Helicopter tour.

They offer 2 main helicopter tours through Grand Canyon, the North rim tour for 130$ and the Imperial tour for 190$. The North rim tour takes you with the helicopter to the north rim of Grand Canyon and then back to Papillon Airport. The north rim tour is around 25-30 minutes. The Imperial tour is 50-60 minutes and is basically the same with the difference that the helicopter flies slower so that you can take better pictures.

The Imperial Grand Canyon helicopter tour was booked out in my. case so I took the North Rim tour. Heavy Thunderstorms made Papillon Helicopters cancel almost all tours. I was lucky to be in one of only three choppers that started. It was a bit scary because of violent lightnings on the left and right of the helicopter. Reaching Grand Canyon the view on the Colorado and the million year old cliffs was awesome. I really recommend you to book an helicopter tour through Grand Canyon. It is a much more breathtaking experience than just standing on the south rim of Grand Canyon. 30 minutes were enough for me to experience Grand Canyon from above. I think I would have gotten bored fast without the thunder storms if I had booked the longer tour. I think the rates for the longer Grand Canyon heliopter tour were a bit too long.

Here a video of the Papillon Helicopter tours:


And a map of the Papillon Helicopter start area:

Größere Kartenansicht

Thanks a lot for reading my short Grand Canyon Papillon helicopter tours review :-).