The tour was worth the five year wait/lottery! We had a wonderful docent and received a fantastic…read moretour of Tovrea Castle which was superb in every way possible. I have lived in Arizona, specifically the Phoenix area, for most of my life and have driven by Tovrea Castle thousands of times. It was so cool to be able to walk the grounds and get a peek inside. I would highly suggest entering the lottery, it's free and some people have better luck than I did and can get in sooner than 5 years. This was an insightful tour mixed with great storytelling and history. The basement with all the artifacts of the family and learning more about the area makes me proud to be a part of Arizona! Worth the visit!

If you live in the Valley it's highly likely that you have driven by this place. From the 202 fwy…read moreyou can easily see it. I often wondered what is that building? Finally after passing it so many times I was curious enough to look it up. I googled "cake shaped building PHX" and it was the first result. "Tovrea (said tov-ree) Castle aka A jewel in the Sonoran desert" Since 2010 the City of Phoenix purchased, renovated, and opened it for tours. The very abbreviated story with this place is that some homesteaders from the early 1900s owned the land, sold 277 acres to a wealthy Italian man. Alessio Carraro had built a fortune in the sheet metal business in the 1920s from San Fran. He planned to build a hotel resort surrounded by a housing subdivision on 277 acres, Carraro Heights. The castle was built near the timing of when the Great Depression set in. Carraro wanted out, he sold the castle and some amount of acreage (for a fraction of his investment) to Della Tovrea, wife of cattle baron E.A. Tovrea. She lived there until her tragic death in 1969. Nearby is the Stockyard Restaurant, built by E.A.'s son so cattlemen had somewhere to eat near the stockyards. That restaurant still exists today. I plan to check it out. If you want more details and full story, go take the tour :) however tickets are not easy to come by. Tours sell out many months in advance and they started using a lottery system. I bought my tickets months ago. However worth a try to go. I wouldn't say its the most amazing thing I've ever seen and the use of the word "castle" is a stretch. I've been inside some real castles in US and Europe, however it's interesting and a fun thing to do and it satisfied my curiosity! :) Per their website- The Ticket Lottery for Fall 2022 Tickets has ended and all tickets have been distributed - look for last minute cancellation tickets. Ticket Lottery for Spring 2023 Regular Tours closed on October 15, 2022 and Winners will be notified via email starting November 1, 2022. https://tovreacastletours.com

So for my thousand Yelp review I wanted to make it special. I wanted to chose a place that is a…read morestaple of the local community. I mean after all, isn't that what Yelp is all about? I wanted to review a local business that seemed to Ooooooze AZ identity. Sooooooo, I even put a call out to my friends and fellow Yelpies on social media. I asked them to think about it. When they thought of AZ, what local businesses came to mind? I got so many great answers. However, when I saw the list I realized that after 15 years being Elite, I had already reviewed all of them. When I went onto this page and realized I had not made a review of the David and Gladys Wright House. It seemed like a perfect Karma solution and partnership. I did not know how that was even possible that I had not already reviewed this local treasure. What a great way to complete my One Thousandth review with such an amazing place! To honor a great artist that is associated and influenced within the State of 48 is special. Wright is one of the Kings of American Architect. So let's begin. When you go you will be greeted to a unique layered circular shaped home. Some of you might recognize the ASU Grady Gammage cake swirl technique. ( do you like my fancy non expert architecture terminology there? Ha!) The driveway is the same. Take in all the glory of that breathtaking view of camelback mountain and the property. According to https://franklloydwright.org/site/david-wright-house/ the masterpiece of this Wright residential home home was Titled "How to Live in the Southwest" in the plans by Frank Lloyd Wright, the David & Gladys Wright House is one of three spiral designs realized by Wright. Raised on columns to provide a view of the property's citrus orchard, the house at the base of Camelback Mountain looked outward towards the surrounding desert and inwards onto a central courtyard with a plunge pool and shaded garden. David and Gladys Wright lived in the house until their deaths (David in 1997 at the age of 102, and Gladys in 2008 at the age of 104), after which the residence fell into disrepair. Saved from demolition, its current owners are restoring the property. In early 2022, the house was added to the National Register of Historic Places. Definitely sign up for a tour and go and check it out. It is totally worth it for historical and artistic purposes alone. Oh, okay, who am I kidding? It is worth the price alone to just check out that view and the home. Just a quick note, you cannot just show up and expect to get in. You have to go with a tour. Enjoy your visit. Happy 1,000 review! I hope this was helpful to those architecture and history fans out there.

Came here for a holiday lights open house this year…read more You park at the south side of the church at 5225 E. Camelback and there is a door that you walk through to get to the Wright House. I have to share, it was a beautiful evening. The weather was warm and even before we got out of our car, we could see the hundreds of Christmas lights twinkling in the distance. As we walked through the door, we were greeted warmly by volunteers and there was a long, long driveway leading to a giant Christmas tree beautifully lit, the long driveway continues to the house. There was a string quartet playing and hot chocolate/ coffee & macaroon served by the Henry. I brought my 9 year old son & his friend with me. There were not too many kids there which was too bad since the look of wonder on their faces were priceless. They were old enough to appreciate the experience and the architecture. It created a memorable experience for them. The house itself is being restored and sits on I think sits on at least a 3 acre property. It's beautiful & worth a visit. Thank you for opening this up for the public for this holiday season!

AZ Ghost Tours is absolutely fantastic! Our guide, Vinnie, was knowledgeable, fun, and brought the…read morehaunted history to life with real evidence and amazing stories. If you want a ghost tour with real history, real evidence, and real thrills, this is the one. Highly recommend!"

Did a ghost hunt at the old jail in Globe AZ and it was an incredible night. We used SLS camera,…read moreOvilus and each of us were given a meter to use the entire night. We did Spirit box sessions and got responses to our questions. The team that ran the event were very knowledgeable and did various experiments with us.

I contacted the Eisendrath House about renting the facility for a private event almost three weeks…read moreago and never heard anything back. Based on the responsiveness and other reviews of private events that were held there, I would not recommend hosting a private event here. It's too bad, because it looks like a lovely and unique building!

A friend of mine wanted to do this and I wasn't sure if it would be fun or dumb, but I'm a good…read moresport... We booked the food tour and it was an absolute blast! It's pretty much impossible not to laugh riding around downtown Mesa on these critter-mobiles and it was fun to see the reactions on people's faces as we rode by. We received detailed instructions including parking info and arrived to get situated and select our rides. The rydables are well outfitted and very easy to maneuver. Each had a speaker on it as well as a walkie talkie, so our guide up front could keep instructing us and we could hear that as well as a cheery playlist. Another staff member rides at the back for safety. We ate at several places and definitely had enough food! There was time to relax a bit at each stop. We also stopped for photos a few times and to do something called "the wiggle" which was a highlight. I'd like to try the history tour as well. Definitely recommend this and will do it again!

What an awesome surprise this was from my wife!!! She took us by the shop and I saw all these…read morecrazy fun critter scooter thang-a-ma-bobs and went, "OMG"!!! Then I found out that we were going to get to ride these all around Scottsdale. Man was this a blast. Highly recommend for couples, families and groups. Steve was a great host and guide. Loved this tour from start to finish!

Wow! What a great experience and such a fun time with Captain Kirk and Monica at the helm! Safe,…read morefun, great time learning all about Scottsdale too! You won't regret booking with them, fun, personable, thoughtful, and great time!

We were in the Scottsdale area on vacation and came across their website. We texted them and…read morereceived a call back from Monica within 15 minutes. We booked an Ice cream and Gelato tour around Old Town and the Waterfront and were picked up within 15 minutes by "Captain Kirk". He is a very warm and personable guide. He was well versed in the area including buildings/archetecture, public art, history of the area, restaurants and entertainment venues. We had three stops on the tour for 1) Ice cream, 2) gelato and 3) sorbet. All were excellent. We certainly had our fill of sweet treats, all included in the price of the tour. We would certainly recommend this company for one of their many various tours, based on this experience. It was a weekday in January so just be aware that you may need to make more advanced reservations than we did. Thank you Monica and Kirk.

We had a great time kayaking on the Salt River with Erin and Paul from Riverbound Sports . They…read morewere awesome!! Both were very professional, helpful and made the trip down the river entertaining and memorable. Thank you Erin and Paul ! Seeing the many horses and also a mountain goat really added to the experience. We highly recommend Riverbound Sports especially for a very fun and enjoyable kayak trip on the river and look forward to doing it again.

Teri, Erin & Caitlyn were the greatest! On the shuttle ride over, Teri made sure our entire group…read morewas comfortable on the way over (it can get hot fast in those vans), and Erin did a great job navigating us through the horse jam on the river! Plus the photos and videos they captured - my phone is already out of storage! Can't wait to book another tour.

Each time found staff helpful & friendly…read more I really enjoy the contemporary art exhibits that are socially relevant & displayed here. Easy parking in small lot, not crowded and could be a quick trip in and out in as little as half hour. I like buying items in their very small gift choices.

What a beautiful art museum! For a free museum to visit, they do an amazing job and have some…read morereally high quality exhibits! Love the focus on Mexican and Native American art. It is definitely one area of art and culture in general that doesn't get as much focus or emphasis. Diving into their art, you really see and feel the history and struggles that Mexicans and Native Americans have gone through. Highly recommended stop if you find yourself close to ASU campus :)

This was so much fun!! We took our adventure downtown Phoenix, my husband and I and our four kids…read more It took a little work to get the kids warmed up to it, but after a few unexpected stops along the way, they were excited and eager to participate. We are definitely planning on doing this again in some other cities. Thanks so much.

We had a great time answering questions and following clues around Tempe Lake. Looking forward to…read moretrying other cities in the future.

I have never posted a review on Yelp before (negative/positive) and probably won't post another…read more However, my experience here was so demeaning, that I felt the need to reach more people. What was suppose to be an exciting upcoming trip to Belize (which this office "specializes" in), my wife and I Googled travel agencies nearby to get more information. We're not experts, so we wanted to consult someone who does this all day. This company HAD great reviews, so why not? My first call to Sue Doyle was our first time brainstorming the trip. We wanted to visit several countries due to the close proximity and I requested more information on how to do it. When I got the quote, everything looked great until I started scrolling down and reading through Sue Doyle and her partner Sue Castillo's correspondence... OOPS! They belittled us for wanting to visit other locations and completely humiliated us over email. I returned her voicemail by asking her to review the same document as I was. "Okay. Stupid way to do it, but the client is always right, right?" **crickets** If this was in any way our fault, I wouldn't be wasting my time writing this review. This is how they perceive and treat their customers without their knowledge. I refuse to do business with a wolf in sheep's clothing. And for what seems to be a dying industry, this didn't do them any favors.

All of my best vacations were booked by Sue Doyle at Mill Ave Travel, now Your Travel Center. The…read morefirst trip was to Hawaii with my family and everything was perfect, Sue has a knack for picking hotels and booking tours. My children and I traveled to Rome and stayed in a hotel close to the Opera house that was perfect for me an two teenagers. One of the best things about booking with Sue is that if I ever have trouble while on a trip, she is there to help me. Expedia, other online booking sites and the airlines are nowhere to be found if you have a problem while on your trip. I had to get home quickly from Nairobi when I had problems with my business here in Phoenix, and Sue and her staff were able to get me back with out much extra cost and without the usual problems. I always know that I can count on her if a problem arises while on a trip. I would never book an overseas trip or any kind of vacation without Sue!