In March 2022 we took a quick trip up to Castle Hot Springs in Phoenix. Castle Hot Springs is an all-inclusive luxury resort in the desert; when you arrive, it’s like entering a mini paradise. Over its history, the resort has played host to various celebrities and dignitaries. Theodore Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy both spent time at the hot springs.
Reservations
You can book a reservation for Castle Hot Springs directly through their website. Rooms are expensive, ranging from $1,650 to $2,125 a night. The resort also has a minimum stay of two nights with specific days for check-in.
After booking your stay, you can contact the resort via email or phone to star scheduling dinner and activities. I advise contacting the resort immediately to set up your activity schedule; you don’t want to miss out on any of your preferred activities.
The resort will call you about a week before your arrival to confirm everything and provide additional information for your stay.
Location & Getting There
Castle Hot Springs is about an hour north of Phoenix, near Lake Pleasant. The final 7 miles of the drive are on an unmaintained dirt road. This road is no joke; take the suggestion seriously when the resort says to bring a high clearance vehicle. It was a slow 7 miles, but the result was completely worth the trek. Keep a lookout for burros during your drive!
Arrival
Upon arriving, you buzz into their front gate, and they welcome you to head up the main drive for check-in. You can arrive at the resort as early as noon on your first day and start enjoying all of the amenities. Upon arriving at the main building, the staff greeted us with a glass of hibiscus tea and our welcome package full of resort information. Our room wasn’t ready yet, so we headed to the patio for a quick lunch. Rooms are given out based on arrival time, but you can expect to be in your room by 3:00 pm.
The Property & Rooms
While we waited for our room to be ready, we walked around the property to see the different lodging options, the farm, the spa, and of course, the hot springs! There are three small hot spring pools on the property, each at a different temperature.
When our room was ready, we were provided a brief property tour via golf cart and then taken to our sky view cabin. Every room on the property is a stand-alone building with an outdoor tub in which the water is fed directly from the hot springs. Our luggage was already waiting for us in the room, along with complimentary refillable water bottles and a snack basket.
The SkyView cabins surround a grassy area with a fire pit for s’mores. Each cabin has a telescope on the porch for some nighttime stargazing. While there are no TVs in the rooms, there is WiFi in case you need your digital fix.
The resort is entirely walkable, but if you need extra assistance, you can call for a golf cart to chauffeur you around the property. There are also some bikes available to check out and ride around.
Overall, the resort is relatively small, and even at capacity, it feels like you are at a personal oasis. Typically we didn’t see other guests unless eating or participating in activities. We often had the hot springs to ourselves, which made the experience even better.
Food & Drinks
The resort has an on-property farm where most meal ingredients are grown. You can take a tour of the farm if interested.
Meals are typically served at Harvest in the main building on the lower level. You can also have lunch on the balcony beside the bar or while lounging by the pool. For dinner, you should make a reservation for the specific time you want to eat.
There is also an option for s’mores in the evening near the SkyView cabins.
One thing we didn’t learn until the end of our stay was that we had $50 daily drink credits. As we are not huge drinkers, we didn’t exceed the daily credit, and the excess credit was applied to our overall bill.
Breakfast:
(7:00am – 10:00am)
Breakfast had a variety of options ranging from healthy and hearty to sweet. For our first breakfast, I ordered avocado toast with a sunny-side-up egg and a berry banana smoothie. The toast was a bit difficult to cut but was overall stellar!
I ordered the smoked salmon bagel, fresh fruit, and another smoothie for our second breakfast. The smoked salmon bagel was HUGE; It was an entire salmon fillet on top of a thin bagel. Incredibly delicious but way too much food! On the other hand, my husband ordered the spiced apple pancakes, which were more reasonably sized and mighty tasty.
Lunch:
(11:00am – 2:00pm)
We shared a giant prawn appetizer for our arrival lunch, and each ordered an entrée. My lunch was grilled cheese and tomato soup, while my husband chose a burger. Grilled cheese is a simple meal, but it was so delicious that it just set the tone for our quick getaway.
At the suggestion of our waiter at dinner, for our second lunch, we ordered a pizza. The crust is made with the same dough used for the naan bread at dinner. That bread was so good it made the PERFECT crust. I also couldn’t resist giving the hummus a try solely based on the presentation aesthetics. It was tasty, but more variety in the dipping veggies would have been nice.
Dinner:
(5:30 – 9:00)
Each dinner at the resort is a five-course meal. Four of the courses are set daily, but you do get to choose your main entrée. The staff is also happy to accommodate any dietary restrictions.
The dinner was exquisite! Thanks to the farm-to-table approach, everything was incredibly fresh, and the bread and soup were stand-outs on both nights. The five courses provided plenty of food, and we were full but not overly stuffed by the end of the meal.
Activities
The resort offers various activities and amenities. Most activities other than hiking and lounging in the hot springs must be scheduled before arriving. Some activities cost an additional fee and are very popular, so they fill up fast.
You can check out the current activity schedule at any time on the website. The schedule changes depending on the season so make sure you are looking at the current one when deciding what you want to do!
Hot Springs
The main draw for the resort is the hot springs. The hot springs are a short uphill walk from the lodging area and can be visited any time of the day or night. There are floaties provided to maximize your relaxation. Of the three pools available, I personally loved the hottest one, closest to the waterfall.
Hiking
In addition to the hot springs, there are ten private hiking trails that the resort maintains. The hikes all range in difficulty providing an option for everyone! The resort is also constantly scouting out areas to create new trails.
We hiked almost all the trails the resort had to offer; I found most of them easier than the suggested difficulty. The only hike we didn’t try was the most challenging option, Salvation Peak. Many hikes provide a spectacular bird’s eye view of the resort. The resort really stands out as a green oasis surrounded by the brown desert.
Archery
We also tried out guided archery, located in a small clearing outside the resort gates. There were only four of us, which made the experience very relaxed and pleasant. Our instructor was very personable, and we had much fun chatting with him. We tried out a couple of different styles of bows and even tried shooting with our dominant hand versus our non-dominant hand. It turns out I shoot better with my non-dominant hand!
Spa
Following archery, I had a scheduled massage while my husband took one of the resort bikes and went for a ride. The massage experience was incredible. There are air-conditioned tents near a stream running down from the hot springs. You get to listen to the stream during your very relaxing massage. My therapist was so kind; we had a great time chatting about Arizona and what it’s like being a native.
Some of the other activities include yoga and meditation, horseback riding, and Via Ferrata.
My only major complaint is that many activities cost extra. At a resort that is already expensive, you are spending hundreds more to do anything beyond the most basic activities. Slightly adventurous activities will cost you a minimum of $75+ per person. The resort is only all-inclusive up to the bare minimum.
Overall Experience
The experience at Castle Hot Spring was an amazing one. It lives up to the expectations. The resort is beautiful and calming, the perfect escape. The food is delicious, and all the staff members are genuinely kind. We don’t often slow down to relax; I’m a very go go go type of person. It was nice to treat this getaway like a wellness retreat and slow down for a minute.
My only complaints about the resort are the cost-to-value ratio, especially regarding offered activities, and that some basic info was not readily available before arriving.
Best Time to Visit
If you are interested in visiting Castle Hot Springs, you should know that they close for a short stint in the summer. Nobody wants to spend summer in Phoenix unless you like 115-degree heat.
The best time to visit the resort is in February, March, or November. These months are on the edge of the hot season and should have perfect weather for outdoor activities! April or October may also be a good choice but you can have some surprisingly hot days. If you are willing to brave hotter temperatures, the summer months that the resort is open tend to be slightly less expensive.
