Angela and I recently returned from a short trip to Phoenix for our (roughly) annual trip to see the Fiesta Bowl. This year’s match-up between Ole Miss and Miami proved to be competitive, although a little sloppy. Luckily, the last seven minutes of the game were exciting enough to make up for the other three-and-a-half quarters.

Bookings

Flights

• Angela and Nicholas
  • 18,000 Alaska Airlines MileagePlan miles + 36.20USD per person
    • LAS-PHX on AA J
    • PHX-LAS on AA J
• James
  • 5,800 Delta SkyMiles + 5.60USD per person
    • SEA-PHX on DL Y
  • 7,500 Alaska Airlines MileagePlan miles + 5.60USD per person
    • PHX-SEA on AS Y

Hotels

• Two rooms for two nights at the Aloft Glendale at Westgate for 80,000 Marriott Bonvoy Points per room

January 7, 2026

We dropped Fitz off at boarding on our way to the airport, arriving about an hour before our flight. We hit the Capital One Lounge for a quick bite before boarding. While the lounge remains quite nice with ample seating and a lack of crowding, the food quality has fallen off compared to when it first opened.

Our flight was short and pleasant and we were arrived in Phoenix on-time to meet up with my brother, James.

There were still some holiday decorations up at the airport, which I thought were quite nice.

We met James in the rental car parking garage, secured our vehicle and headed towards our hotel. For this trip, I opted for a premium electric vehicle on a promotional rental rate and we were provided with a Mercedes-Benz EV SUV. It was a pleasure to drive but renting an EV turned out to cause us a few headaches later on.

We stopped to pick up my friend Stephen on the way to our hotel. Due to plentiful traffic, the drive to Glendale took almost an hour from the airport. The property was somewhat of a letdown in comparison to the other places we’ve stayed when we’ve gone to the Fiesta Bowl, like the Residence Inn or TownePlace Suites. While the room was furnished nicely enough, there is no breakfast offered and they charge for self-parking even though the hotel is literally surrounded by an acre of parking lots.

I did enjoy the games that were available in the lobby, including a version of Connect Four, a pool table, and (although we didn’t play) giant Jenga.

After chatting for a bit, we headed to Vayals Indian Kitchen for dinner. The food was delicious and authentic and we all loved the dishes we ordered.

We dropped Stephen off at his hotel and headed back to Glendale, stopped at Target for some snacks, and played pool at the hotel before heading to bed.

January 8

It was a rough night for Angela and myself as the climate control unit in the room seemed to be malfunctioning every thirty minutes. It would click repeatedly while attempting to turn on and then the fan would slowly fail to do anything. In the morning, we discovered that there was a puddle covering a full quarter of our room. Angela went to the gym to workout with James while I waited in the room for maintenance to come. They confirmed the unit would need to be replaced and moved us to another room, waiving our parking fee and giving us some drink coupons. The situation was a mess, but the service recovery was acceptable.

After freshening up, we picked up Stephen and visited The Nemesis Club, a highly rated escape room in Phoenix run by former Disney Imagineers. We opted for the Henchman’s Heist experience and thoroughly enjoyed it. The venue itself is interesting and the room was well-designed with just the right amount of pushes in the right direction. If you like escape rooms, you’ll love these ones.

For lunch, we walked a block to Humble Bistro and enjoyed an absolutely scrumptious meal. Everything we ordered was delicious. We definitely recommend you eat here if you’re in the area.

For dessert, we headed back to Soda Jerk for some tasty milkshakes. I enjoyed a chocolate malt, Stephen ordered a chocolate-mint shake, and Angela opted for a strawberry shake. I can’t remember the last time I had a chocolate malt this good.

We returned to our hotel and walked from there to the game, arriving about an hour before kickoff so we could get settled and avoid the crowds. As mentioned previously, the game was fun and exciting, if a little sloppy. With the end of the price freeze for legacy ticket holders, this may be the last time we attend the Fiesta Bowl, but I’ll always remember the seats we’ve been in fondly. They’re some of the best in all of sports.

After the game, we walked back to the hotel and said our goodbyes to Stephen. Afterwards, we fruitlessly tried to charge our rental car, hopping around between several chargers and being unable to use any of them. We finally gave up and headed back to the hotel.

January 9

We left the hotel early and returned our rental car before saying goodbye to James on the tram. Angela and I stopped at the Centurion Lounge for breakfast before heading to our plane and flying back to Las Vegas. We picked up Fitz on the way home and concluded a short, but very fun, trip. It is always a delight to see my brother and to have Stephen fly out to join us was very special. This was yet another trip that we’ll remember fondly for years to come.