Your Vacation Rental in North Central Phoenix
Pack up your parka and mittens and find your hiking boots. It’s springtime in the Phoenix Sonoran Desert and wildflowers and cacti are blooming. So bring your camera and enjoy the show.
For a guide on WhereToSeeWildflowersInPhoenix
Don’t miss a visit to the Desert Botanical Garden anytime of the year.
In North Phoenix, we have an amazing destination for music lovers, world culture enthusiasts, and people who just plain enjoy listening and learning: The Musical Instrument Museum – MIM.
It’s a colorful and impressively designed major collection of musical instruments from all over the world, complete with audio vignettes for your listening pleasure. MIM is a place for all ages. If you’d rather sit in one place and be entertained, MIM also has a concert hall where they present musical performers from around the world. There’s not a museum like this one anywhere else, and it’s always on my list for visitors to the area.
#MIMPhoenix #VisitMIM #PhoenixWhatToDo #PhoenixMuseums #PhoenixTop10 #MusicalInstrumentMuseum
Scottsdale’s ArtWalk events began in 1975 and are celebrated throughout the downtown Scottsdale Art District every Thursday, except Thanksgiving, and is always free! Galleries open their doors to collector and casual patrons alike to enjoy featured artists, a cultural environment and refreshments.
When:
Every Thursday from 6:30 to 9 p.m. (closed Thanksgiving).
Special Gold Palette ArtWalks 2017 – 2018 6:30 to 9 p.m. (See our events page for details).
Enjoy an evening strolling through Old Town Scottsdale, wandering through galleries and shops, stop for drinks or dinner at an outdoor patio. What a fabulous night!
For more details – Scottsdale Art Walk
March in Phoenix has long meant sunny days filled with Cactus League Spring Training action, weekends with food and art festivals and a general enjoyment of the season’s beautiful Spring weather.
With the long-running McDowell Mountain Music Festival, the upcoming inaugural Innings Festival, Pot of Gold and more, the month is now also the most-anticipated for local music fans with a jam-packed festival happening most weekends.
McDowell Mountain Musical Festival – March 2-4, 2018
Margaret T. Hance Park – Downtown Phoenix – 1200 N. 1st Street, Phoenix, AZ 85004
For more information and tickets: McDowell Mt. Music Festival 2018
For all upcoming music festivals Spring 2018 visit: 2018 Phoenix Spring Music Festivals
Travel Tip created by Carol in association with Vacation Soup
Autumn has officially arrived in Phoenix. The daytime temperatures have finally dropped to the fabulous ’80’s and evening temps to comfortable mid-60’s – almost time to bring out a light sweater or sit near a fireplace on a patio sipping a cocktail or enjoying a meal. What a perfect time to visit Phoenix or plan your holiday trips.
Enjoy The Arizona Biltmore Hotel’s patios, lounges, and restaurants – only 4 miles from the guesthouse and open to the public year round.
We’re busy planting winter lawns, setting out big pots of sunny Geraniums, and planting wildflower seed for spring bloom.
The “Lost Lake Festival” held at Steele Indian School Park (October 20-22nd, 2017) was bigger and better than ever. Check out the website for the events, photo galleries, and entertainment.
My guests that weekend had a wonderful time at the festival and it was a short 1/2 mile walk from my property. Sign up for emails on the Lost Lake website for next year’s Festival dates and book the guesthouse early for 2018.
https://www.lostlakefestival.com/
For a complete planning and visitors guide go to:
I opened the Medlock Place Guesthouse to vacation guests and business travelers seven years ago. I typically could keep it rented most of the year by marketing via VRBO (Vacation Rental By Owner). Unfortunately, in 2015 the company was purchased by Expedia and things changed drastically. Most importantly, huge service fees were imposed on the guests (for longer stays it can be $100’s per transaction) and communication between potential guests and owners was a thing of the past – they consistently block phone #’s and email addresses to eliminate booking outside of their system. As an owner, I’ve elected to pay more in annual fees to book outside of the system but I also fall to the very bottom of the search engine results by design. This has also resulted in a huge drop in bookings because guests need to wade through so many listings to find my guesthouse. Yes, I could go back to booking on VRBO website but then I wouldn’t know who was booking the unit until after the reservation was paid for and the guest would be charged the VRBO service fees and there would be no way for you to communicate with the owner until you had booked and paid. I am a small business owner who truly cares about my guests and their travel experience and also who books my property.
As a result, 1000’s of owners (like myself) have taken to creating their own websites while still on VRBO temporarily.
I hope you have a minute to visit the site and I look forward to your comments and feedback. It is still a work-in-progress and I will continually update the site to include local current events and best websites links for Phoenix visitors. I hope you will “bookmark” this website for future reference or forward to others who might enjoy staying at the guesthouse.
You can still find me on VRBO – for a quick search go directly to LISTING 374937:
https://www.vrbo.com/374937
You can still book and pay on VRBO, but you will incur their service fees and they are now responsible for security deposit and cancellation refunds. I don’t know what the process is for VRBO refunds as I have no control o the funds.
TIPS: If you’re NOT going to be visiting Phoenix soon but continue to use booking sites to find vacation rentals, please read the following.
#1 – If you see a property on VRBO, AirBNB, Trip Adviser or wherever you typically search, jot down the property name (such as “Medlock Place Guesthouse”) and search for it on a direct Google search and hopefully you will find the owner’s direct website or Facebook page and you will have all the property and owners contact information immediately. You will be able to deal directly with the person who is invested the most in the vacation rental, the property owner or manager. You will also avoid talking to a customer service rep (most likely based in another country) should you have questions or need to change or cancel your travel plans.
#2 – Sign up for “StaySavr” at their website: https://staysavr.com/
Once you’ve become a member of StaySavr (and the property owner has signed up), while visiting travel booking site that hide owner information, you will now see the owner contact information displayed. This is a reputable site that does not collect information and it’s free. The owner of this site is working hard to make this a valuable service for guests and owners.
Long story, way too long, but you’re here now. Please take a look around tell us what you think.I hope to see you on your next Phoenix visit and I truly appreciate every guest who took the time to write a great review of my property. You can imagine how helpful that is to me. Please don’t hesitate to call or email with and comments, feedback, or booking inquires. I’ve so enjoyed meeting and welcoming all of my guests from places near and far.
As always, Safe Travels!
Carol