Periodically we’ll feature one of our properties here to let our readers know about some great gay friendly places to stay:
Stay with us at La Casita del Sol, an historic 1880’s adobe rowhouse home in the El Presidio Historic Neighborhood in downtown Tucson, Arizona.
La Casita del Sol has five hundred feet of living space, with two rooms and a bath, reflecting the simple lifestyle of the late 19th century workers who lived here – tradesmen, blacksmiths, bartenders, and more.
La Casita del Sol keeps its original simplicity and charm, combined with beautiful, comfortable aesthetics and modern amenities that travelers today expect.
Our guests are close to everything: Tucson’s unique culture, natural beauty, historic sites, and flavors our wonderful Southwestern Cooking. There are many great sights within easy walking/cycling distance from La Casita del Sol, and many more an easy drive away.
Walk through our hundred-year-old doors, hand crafted in Mexico into your own private patio, where you can sip a cup of coffee or tea in the sunshine on a warm winter morning, or relax in the shade in the summertime. The courtyard is decorated with beautiful Southwestern pottery and local plants, and at night, the courtyard becomes a magical place with the twinkling of tiny lights and the flicker of candles – the perfect place for a cocktail or nightcap.
When you enter the bedroom/sitting area from the patio, you’ll see beautiful wood floors, a historic beam and saguaro rib ceiling, and our charming beehive wood-burning fireplace – a warm and cozy Tucson adobe home. Unpack and relax in our soft guest robes.
For entertainment, La Casita del Sol comes with satellite TV (with movie channels, music, and 24 hour news). We also have WiFi internet access, so you can stay connected to work or friends and family back home.
At night, you’ll relax in our queen-sized bed, with plenty of plump pillows – it’s also a great place to watch TV or to snuggle up with that book you’ve been meaning to read.
Our bright, Mexican-tiled bathroom offers more relaxation – soak for an hour in our antique claw-foot tub, or shower away the day’s cares. There’s also an antique table and glass shelves for your toiletries.
La Casita del Sol also has a fully equipped kitchen and dining area, with artisan furniture and beautiful wooden cabinets. The kitchen has a complete set of dishes, silverware, linens and cups and glasses – make yourself coffee or tea, or a full meal at home, or enjoy one of the great downtown restaurants within easy walking distance.
We supply our guests with a welcome basket filled with fresh fruits and local pastries, bottled juice and water, coffee and tea to get you started, local soaps and bath products, and paper towels, cleaning supplies and dish soap for the kitchen. There’s also an iron and ironing board for guest use.
Come stay with us in the heart of Tucson, the Old Pueblo, and enjoy the great sights and flavors of Southwestern culture!
See the La Casita Del Sol LC Expanded Listing on Purple Roofs Here
Gay Friendly Bed and Breakfasts, Hotels, and Vacation Rentals in Tucson, Arizona
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Periodically we’ll feature one of our properties here to let our readers know about some great gay friendly places to stay:
Take a break and relax in the peaceful mountain town of Pine just below the Mogollon Rim.
Staying at the Beeline Guest House gives you a sense of Arizona’s history, with an early settler’s dwelling and old barn on the property located right in the village.
The rooms are nicely appointed and our guests enjoy a delicious full hot breakfast.
Periodically we’ll feature one of our properties here to let our readers know about some great gay friendly places to stay:
Arizona Sunburst Inn Bed and Breakfast offers a private desert oasis in the middle of Phoenix – it’s like you’re ot in the countryside.
Our Phoenix B&B features a welcoming, heated pool in a tropical setting – surrounded by magnificent palm trees. The grounds have wide, shady patios cooled by a mist system, and there’s also a hot tub where you can let the cares of the day evaporate away.
For the adventurous and outdoor lovers, there’s some great mountain hiking just a couple blocks away.
Each of our guestrooms is individually decorated, and includes beautifully remodelled bathrooms.
Arizona Sunburst Inn Bed & Breakfast is in one of Phoenix’s best neighborhoods, and is a great place to stay.
I’ve visited the Southwest five times over the past few years, but it took me until my 6th visit this year to finally visit a ranch, a real working dude ranch with a bunch of cowboys, horses, cattles – and all that back-dropped by the spectacular Southwest scenery: the barren Sonoran desert with its countless giant Saguaro cacti, dusty desert roads and rugged mountains.
It might have taken me six years to finally experience ranch life in the Southwest, but when I eventually got a glimpse of it, it was the finest of the finest: the fabulous White Stallion Ranch just outside Tucson, where my friend Lynn took me one morning to take photos of the horses as they were gathered in one huge enclosure and herded into another one by a group of wranglers.
The 5am wake-up call for this photography outing was painful, but the scene that unfolded when the cowboys entered the enclosure to bring the horses down together was incredibly beautiful: the morning sun was just rising above the mountain peaks, bathing the ranch in a warm, golden light.
After spending my first weekend in Tucson with Katie, I had a surprise visitor in town for my second weekend, and VisitArizona had listed an event online that piqued our interest: a PowWow in Phoenix.
A PowWow is a gathering of several Native American communities who perform their traditional dances and showcase their communities’ costumes, and not knowing much about Native American culture at all, despite several visits to the Southwest, including various Indian reservations, I decided that it was time to learn more about their culture and so we headed to Phoenix for the day.
A PowWow is traditional held so that Native Americans of different communities can meet, dance and sing together, make new friendships, and of course: preserve their heritage and culture. But there is usually a dancing and/or singing competition, in the case of the PowWow we went to, there were competitions for both.
Returning to Arizona felt as glorious as ever! As usual, I am housesitting here – but this time, for different homeowners. I’m enjoying the company of a different dog and a different pool, but I am in the same neighborhood in the Catalina foothills which I love, and funnily enough it is just as hot as it is when I’m here in May. Tucson is experiencing unseasonably warm weather at the moment, I’ve been told.
I usually come to Arizona for a month of peace and quiet, and to catch up on work projects that I don’t get around to when I’m on the road, but this year, I’ve been busier than usual. I’ve been more social than I was on previous visits, making more of an effort to make new friends here, and have them show me some cool spots around town, because Tucson’s restaurant scene keeps growing. I also got to catch up with old friends over wine and cheese and have been taking advantage of my well equipped and spacious kitchen which almost makes me want to stop traveling and set up a home base. Almost.
The highlight of the week? Katie came to visit me for a few days and I introduced her to some of my favorite spots around here: we hiked in Sabino Canyon and in Saguaro National Park (and after finding this website listing all the hikes around Tucson I think I’ll never get bored here – so many hikes I haven’t done yet!), and we visited the beautiful San Xavier Del Bac Mission, pictured above, which is the oldest European structure in Arizona, filled with striking original 18th century statuary and mural paintings.
Periodically we’ll feature one of our properties here to let our readers know about some great gay friendly places to stay:
Imagine stepping back in time to a place in the Arizona west where crackling fires welcome you, spacious guest room accommodations, and luxurious, claw foot bathtubs await you! Imagine staying at Starlight Pines Bed and Breakfast, a Victorian style house nested among the pines at the foot of Mt. Elden, in Flagstaff, Arizona.
Make us your home base while visiting the Grand Canyon (a bit more than 1 hour from our Inn) and Sedona (40 minutes south of our Inn) and many other area attractions within a 2 hour ride of our Bed and Breakfast!
You’ll love the old-fashioned romance of the antique-filled rooms, Tiffany lamps, complimentary beverages, free Wi-Fi, free parking, the full gourmet breakfast and the friendliness of your hosts, Richard & Michael, and their special Shih Tzu friends, Moo Shu and Taz – and our newest addition, Baxter our Puggle!
Our Victorian style B&B boasts broad, oak-plank floors throughout. Rooms are outfitted with antiques gathered from across the Southwest,, 14-foot ceilings, picture railings, and two wood-burning fireplaces. Our fabulous 70 foot wrap-around porch with swing is also very inviting during the Spring, Summer and Fall. Stunning Mt Elden Views from the Lily Room and guest balconies!
This charming Flagstaff Bed and Breakfast is acclaimed a top 10 bed and breakfast by Phoenix Magazine and Arizona Highways. Additionally, awarded 2010 and now 2011 Best Accommodations by Arizona Pride Guide!
So come to the mountains, to the pine-scented air and the cool, starry nights. Slip out of your normal routine and into romance at Starlight Pines Bed and Breakfast of Flagstaff, Arizona!
Come visit us in this Northern Arizona paradise – Make your reservation today!
The Tempe Tourism Office has been promoting vacations for the LGBTQ community long before the term “gaycation” was even coined. On Jan. 16, the tourism office was honored for its efforts, by receiving the first-ever Founding Client Award from Pride Guide, a statewide LGBT total travel, wedding and business resource guide.
Pride Guide was first founded in Arizona and has since expanded to California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada and New Mexico. “The Tempe Tourism Office has been a great supporter of the Pride Guide and the LGBT Community from the very start of the Pride Guide concept,” Pride Guide Publisher Michael McFall said. “This award is not just presented to a client who has been with us from the beginning but also a client who used their talents and connections to push the Pride Guide to become what is today.”
Tempe’s efforts first began in 2003, when it joined the Greater Phoenix Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. Each year its efforts have grown through initiatives like specific targeting of LGBTQ vacationers through advertising and partnerships as well as LGBTQ-friendly events.