Hilton El Conquistador Resort Tucson, Arizona {Family Travel Review}

One great thing about living in Arizona (among many) is the fact that you can get a sweet deal at some absolutely incredible resorts during the summer months. The Hilton El Conquistador in Tucson is no exception. Nestled at the base of the Santa Catalina Mountains with stunning views of Pusch Ridge, the Hilton Tucson El Conquistador Resort is a beautiful place to stay – whether you’re visiting Arizona or just doing a fun family staycation.  We were invited by Hilton to take a little road trip down to Tucson (just a 2-hour drive for us) to experience all the resort has to offer. The gorgeous views were apparent as soon as we hit the edge of the property. We arrived just as the sun was setting, which was the perfect time to partake in some of the Hilton El Conquistador’s best family summer activities – dive-in movies at the pool and fireside s’mores. After dropping our bags in the room, we hit the large pool area where Kung Fu Panda 2 was playing. Add some s’mores-making to that, plus a gorgeous Tucson evening and the boys were pretty much in heaven! It was a great way to kick off the weekend! Another awesome family-friendly activity at the resort is a visit from the Arizona-Sonora Desert Musuem. The museum itself is a must-visit Tucson attraction (and a top-ranked museum in the world). But on Sunday mornings, some awesome creature friends of the museum come to the Hilton. As a former high school biology teacher and the mom of animal-loving boys, I was thrilled to see this partnership. The museum brought an owl, hawk, tarantula, scorpion, two different snakes, and a desert tortoise! We even got to touch the snakes and tortoise, plus there was an educational table set up with a fun bat craft. So the boys loved this whole experience! And while all of those activities were awesome, the HUGE family fun highlight at the resort was Desert Springs Oasis– a huge water fun area, featuring multiple pools & a 143 ft. water slide! Seriously, the boys wanted to play at the pool the WHOLE time. But, it’s easy to see why…check out the 3 different main pool areas!!!So much fun! For our young family (with 3 kids ages 7 and under, two of whom aren’t swimming on their own yet), the Shallow Springs was so wonderful. This fun fish-shaped shallow pool with interactive water features was the perfect spot for our family. We played here for hours!!! Doesn’t it look SO fun?! Big Brother (7) was tall enough to go down the water slide though, so we had to try that slide & pool out too. Yet another very fun spot! Easy to see why no one wanted to leave, right?! You can even see our room in the picture below to see how close a walk we had to the pool. Very nice! And, speaking of our room…

Though we didn’t spend much time in it (because there was just too much fun stuff to do), our room was quite nice –plenty spacious enough for a family of 5. We had two queen beds, a large tv/sitting area, a walk-in closet (which I loved for keeping all the luggage in), and a nice patio. We would have loved to have seen a small refrigerator in the room (that feature is SO handy with babies & small kids), but other than that it was great! I loved feeling like we had some room to spread out & relax! We also had the pleasure of trying all the restaurants on the property. For breakfast, we enjoyed the Sundance Café The café has a full menu or a buffet. We did the buffet and it was wonderful with lots of variety. The boys loved getting to pick out different foods and the restaurant did a great job with accommodating the kids! I was quite impressed!For dinner Saturday night, we dined at Epazote Kitchen & Cocktails. Honestly, it’s a rarity for us to have the 3 boys in a nicer restaurant with such nice ambiance. So, I was a little uneasy about this. But, I was SO impressed with the server & how they handled kids. Plus, the boys did great. They went with some typical kid-food fare (which I was glad to see that the restaurant does have a kids menu). But, Mr. Mom Endeavors & I opted for a bison burger and swordfish. Both were so good! We even enjoyed some poolside food at the Desert Springs Oasis one day. The watermelon platter was a HUGE hit and seemed especially perfect while sitting out by the pool! Perfect for family fun! So, are you ready to “Conquer the Summer” at the Hilton Tucson El Conquistador? Rates start at just $89 (based on availability) for stays from May 23 to September 7, 2014! To help guests take advantage of all the resort has to offer, upon check-in guests receive a summer passport that includes exclusive discounts on dining at three of the resort’s restaurants, discounted tee-times on the resort’s 45 holes of golf, deals on gift shop purchases, discounted spa treatments and more. For reservations, more information on summer activities and special offers, visit www.hiltonelconquistador.com/conquersummer. I don’t think you can go wrong with spending a weekend (or more) here! We loved it!

What fun feature looks best about the Hilton El Conquistador to you? 

Disclosure: This post is part of a sponsored press trip with Arizona Hilton Reorts. However, all opinions, experiences, and photos are entirely our own.