Dinner beside Oak Creek at Cress, and yes, it’s a splurge, but I’d do it again in a heartbeat.🤍

Candlelit tables under the trees, the creek running right beside us, a menu that mixes Arizona ingredients with French technique. We ordered a little of everything: the squash and beet salad, milk rolls with three different butters, sweet potato gnocchi that somehow felt light instead of heavy. Then two desserts because we couldn’t decide. The Vanilla Crème Caramel with Manchego cheese completely stole the show, salty and sweet in a way that sounds strange until you taste it.

Plan on $100–250 for two depending on what you order, and this isn’t the spot for a quick casual dinner, it’s slow, intentional, and worth every minute. Book ahead and ask for a creekside table if you can.

If you’re looking for one unforgettable meal in Sedona, this is it. Link in bio for the full review 🍽️

Sky Ranch Lodge, Sedona. Booked it for the location, stayed for the sunsets.

This is not a five-star resort with ten restaurants and a spa menu the length of a novel. It’s a family-owned boutique hotel on Airport Mesa that knows exactly what it’s good at: red rock views from basically everywhere and one of the best sunset spots in town, private, with maybe four other couples instead of a crowd.

We booked a Premier Rim Room and I’d do it again in a heartbeat. Watched the sunset from our own patio one night and it’s still one of my favorite moments of the whole trip.

✨ Six acres of botanical gardens to wander morning and evening
✨ Pool + hot tub that hit exactly right after a day of hiking
✨ On-site food truck for easy breakfasts and lazy room service nights
✨ Complimentary shuttle so you’re not fighting Sedona parking
✨ Robes, slippers, and a staff that felt genuinely happy to help

Two stays in and I’d book it again without a second thought. This is where to stay in Sedona if you want it to actually feel like Sedona.

Thank you to @skyranchlodge for having us, link in bio for the full review 🌵

Four hours on a train through a canyon you can’t reach by car — such a fun experience! We picked the indoor seats with unlimited access to the open-air viewing car, which honestly felt like the only right call. You’re not stuck in an assigned seat the whole time we bounced between the two, snacks in hand, chasing the best light.

The scenery is the whole point. Red rock cliffs, the Verde River, a 734-foot tunnel, historic trestle bridges views most people visiting Sedona never see, because you literally can’t drive to them.

The charcuterie box that comes with your ticket is shockingly filling ✨ so skip lunch at the Copper Spike Café beforehand, save your appetite for dinner back in Sedona.

Four hours with no stops did start to feel long by the end, but the trade-off for scenery like this? Worth it.

Would I ride it again? Yes. Would I buy lunch first again? No.

Link in bio for the full review cost breakdown, what to pack, and exactly how early to arrive 🚂

I ate chilaquiles while a Cessna taxied past the window, and that’s just a normal Tuesday breakfast in Sedona.

@mesa_grill_sedona sits right beside the Sedona Airport Scenic Lookout, so along with your food you get red rock views stretching in every direction and a front-row seat to tiny planes lifting off. Chef Mercer Mohr runs the kitchen, serving up Southwestern comfort food from breakfast through dinner, chilaquiles, elevated diner classics, burgers, steaks, seafood, all of it.

The view is what pulls people in the door, but the food actually holds its own. Good enough that this place stays packed with locals, not just tourists passing through on their way to the lookout. It also picked up the 2025 Tripadvisor Travelers’ Choice and OpenTable Diners’ Choice awards, so it’s not just me saying it.

Indoor seating if you want the AC, a pet-friendly patio if your dog’s along for the trip. Either way, get there before plane-spotting turns into a wait for a table.

Link in bio for the full Sedona breakfast roundup ✈️🌵