Where to stay?!

My wife and I are considering a trip to the Tucson area in early March. We enjoy walking in historic districts and seeing the natural beauty of the region. I expect that we will be driving all over, but we%26#39;re not sure where we should stay. The Alta Vista Bed and Breakfast seems very appealing to us, but we are looking for any suggestions. Is there a good central area? We don%26#39;t want to stay in an area that would be considered busy or noisy. Thanks for any advice you can provide.

Where to stay?!

The Alta Vista B%26amp;B is about as far east in Tucson as one can go. It would not be close to anything except Saguaro Natl Mon East. Every B%26amp;B with which I am familiar in Tucson is in a quiet location. If you are interested in staying in a historic area, check out the Royal Elizabeth B%26amp;B which is in a historic downtown neighborhood. Otherwise check B%26amp;B listings online for others. Tucson is a very spread out city, about 30 miles wide E/W, and 20 miles N/S at the extremes. The most central area would be near Alvernon Way and Broadway Blvd. Nice hotels in that area include Doubletree Hotel Resort, Randolph Park Hotel and Suites, and Lodge on the Desert, the latter a ';boutique hotel'; which is rather B%26amp;B-like. The only busy and noisy areas here would be those close to major intersections. This is a pretty quiet town in terms of what you%26#39;re thinking. We have traffic, but this is not like LA or NYC.

Where to stay?!

I have never stayed here, but my parents love this place and keep going back. I certainly think about the Arizona Inn when I think historic Tucson.

Here%26#39;s the website url so you can check it out.

http://arizonainn.reachlocal.net/index.htm

What%26#39;s your budget? Could you afford a small resort?

I very highly recommend Hacienda del Sol. It has beautiful natural scenery, nice views, and one of the best restaurants in the region. Fairly centrally located, slightly north of the central part of town at the base of the Catalina foothills. It%26#39;s in a quiet residential area about a mile from any busy road so it%26#39;s definitely not busy or noisy. It has rooms in a lodge (I think it used to be a former girls school) or you can rent small individual casitas. I%26#39;m not familiar with the Alta Vista Bed and Breakfast.

The ';central area,'; in my opinion, would probably be in the Broadway/Speedway/Grant road area (which run east west) going from about 4th avenue (on the west end)out to about Craycroft or Wilmot (near the east end of town), depending on what you consider central. But this approximately bounds what I thought of as the central part of town when I lived there. Most tourist attractions are outside of this central region. It%26#39;s busy inside that region and traffic is horrible with traffic lights every 1/2 mile and no freeways to speed you along. It can take almost 1/2 hour to traverse that.

I don%26#39;t know that Tucson has any areas that you%26#39;d consider genuine historic districts, at least not like we%26#39;re used to back east, but it has wonderful natural beauty - better than Phoenix ;-) so you picked the right choice. It does have some nice museums with historical exhibits. Tombstone or Bisbee are each a day trip from Tucson and have historic districts, although they of course have had to have had some maintenance and upkeep, or renovation, to keep from falling apart since they%26#39;re made of wood.

I forgot to paste in the Hacienda del Sol%26#39;s web site. Here it is:

http://www.haciendadelsol.com/

Another vote for Hacienda Del Sol. We loved it and will most likely stay there again on our next visit to Tucson.

The Arizona Inn is fabulous, but spendy, especially in March which is AZ high season.

Our favorite B%26amp;B in Tucson is Hacienda del Desierto

www.tucson-bed-breakfast.com. It is way out south of town, but it is so quiet and peaceful--we love it! The hosts are really nice and very helpful. You are sure to see lots of birds, rabbits, and javelinas up close. They even have a short nature trail thru the property.

Thanks for the tips thus far. We don%26#39;t really have a budget, but we don%26#39;t like spending more than a couple hundred bucks a night for a room. It鈥檚 not that we can鈥檛 afford it, but when we travel, we don%26#39;t spend a lot of time at the place we are staying, so as long as it鈥檚 clean, the bed is comfortable and it鈥檚 quiet, we%26#39;re pretty content. Definitely sounds like the central area is NOT where we want to be. We鈥檒l check out the websites for Hacienda Del Sol and Hacienda del Desierto. Thanks again everyone.

Not sure why you are saying that the central area is not where you want to be. The traffic is not as bad as depicted, and there are few areas in Tucson where there is not traffic. I live here.

Agreed. Tucson traffic isn%26#39;t bad at all compared to most metros. You get stuff at rush hour, but it%26#39;s otherwise almost always clear. And, if you get too far out, you%26#39;ll have to drive even longer to shop or eat, which gets really annoying.

And we do have historic neighborhoods. Tucson is Arizona%26#39;s first city, so there are neighborhoods like El Presidio and Barrio Viejo that offer a glimpse at both the Anglo and Mexican styles of architecture from the 19th century. There%26#39;s also the Presidio reproduction Downtown that just went up recently, which recreates the fort and city wall that used to exist here. Also check out Blenman-Elm around the Arizona Inn (Campbell/Elm) for older architecture, as well as the El Encanto (Country Club/5th) and Colonia Solana (southeast Country Club/Broadway) neighborhoods. Sam Hughes along 3rd Street east of Campbell is also gorgeous. If you%26#39;re interested in that.

Bobbear and Colinaz, I apologize for not being clearer on our intent for this trip, and I certainly meant no disrespect. We live just outside of a large metropolitan area (Columbus, Ohio). This morning it was 10 degrees with an expected high of 28. Our first goal was to find someplace warm. Our second goal was to find someplace unique to celebrate our birthdays and anniversary. My wife hasn%26#39;t been anywhere to see ';real'; mountains. We love West Virginia, but their highest peak is nearly half of what you find out west. Having a mountain range right outside your window is very appealing to us. We have no problems making the 25-30 minute drive into town when necessary. Last year, we drove 20 minutes each morning to a place we found for breakfast in Sarasota, Florida. This is why I mentioned that the amenities of our room are not very important; we are rarely there to enjoy them!

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