I’d wanted to visit Sedona for decades. And
thanks to a recent press trip sponsored by Hampton
by Hilton, I was finally on my way. I’d read about the hikes,
the restaurants, the shops, the vortexes. But I wasn’t prepared for the jaw-dropping
approach to town along AZ-89A.
In our rental car, my husband and I had followed the tight
highway switchbacks of Mingus Mountain down to the Verde Valley before approaching
Sedona. Suddenly, red rock formations appeared on the horizon. As we drove into
the scenic town, we marveled at the rust-colored towers and buttes that rose
dramatically against the brilliant blue sky. It was like a postcard come to
life—one of many on this 633-mile road trip from Phoenix to Las Vegas.
A Historic Year for an American Road Trip
That sense of wonder, with sudden reveals and
panoramic views unfolding like a movie reel through the windshield, is exactly what
a road trip delivers. And this summer may be the perfect time to plan one for
your clients. As America celebrates its 250th
anniversary and Route 66
marks its centennial, travelers can experience roadside Americana in a once-in-a-generation
commemorative year.
Hilton
is leaning into this historic moment with Hilton Honors America
Experiences—12 epic road trips available for 250
Hilton Honors points each. The rollout started in late May, and the first-come,
first-served packages range from the grand to the quirky.
There’s a 14-day “Pursuit of Happiness” build-your-own
adventure, complete with a 2026 Jeep Grand Cherokee—to keep!—and gas for a
year. There’s a chance to celebrate America’s birthday in style, with elevated
access to the Great American State Fair on the National Mall in Washington,
D.C., along with early-access seating to the July 4th fireworks.
And then there were trips offered to one-of-a-kind, only-in-America summer celebrations,
such as Pittsburgh’s Picklesburgh Festival, devoted to all things pickle, and
the out-of-this-world Roswell UFO Festival in New Mexico, where the Experience includes
participation in the UFO parade.
All promise to be memorable adventures, and all include
accommodations at a Hampton
by Hilton. And while the Hilton Honors America Experiences are
limited, Hampton’s reach is not.
Hampton’s Highway Convenience and Brand
Consistency
“There’s no better brand when you think
about being on the road,” says Shruti Gandhi
Buckley, senior vice president and global brand leader, Hampton by Hilton.
The brand’s coverage is so vast that, when traveling on
major U.S. highways, the nearest Hampton is, on average, no more than 30
minutes away.
Hampton’s portfolio includes 3,200 properties across
the globe, with 2,400 in the U.S. alone. “Hampton has more rooms than any other
hotel brand in the world,” notes Buckley.
That scale matters on a road trip. So do consistent brand
standards—many of which Hampton adopted first. Since starting as a roadside economy
brand in Memphis in 1984 and then creating the upper-midscale hotel category, Hampton
pioneered now-common standards such as free high-speed internet access in every
room, the all-white bed, a satisfaction guarantee, curved shower rods, in-room
irons and ironing boards, and free hot breakfast.
That consistency also extends to service through what
the brand calls “Hamptonality”—a culture of friendliness designed to make
guests feel welcome wherever the road takes them.
Hampton brand leader Shruti Gandhi Buckley (right) with Waffle Bosses Kaylee Voight (left) and Beverly Christmas. (Photo Credit: Sara Perez Webber)
Waffles Worth Pulling Over For
Hampton’s make-your-own Belgian waffles have become
“very symbolic of our Hamptonality culture,” says Buckley—a warm and familiar
breakfast ritual that’s one of the brand’s most beloved signatures. And Hampton
continues to lean into the waffle’s popularity. At the Hampton Inn in Paris,
Illinois, for example, guests seek out the breakfast attendant, Beverly
Christmas, nicknamed "America's Waffle Boss." She oversees a waffle
bar with toppings such as nuts, chocolate chips, and sprinkles, and says she can
go through at least two cans of whipped cream each morning.
Hampton also introduces limited-edition waffle flavors
to add extra variety to travelers’ morning meals. This year, Hampton guests could
try the Peach Cobbler waffle—with cinnamon, ripe peaches, a crispy oat topping
and whipped cream—created by the winner of a national recipe contest, Kaylee Voight.
She earned the title of Guest Waffle Boss—along with 1 million Hilton Honors
points and a five-night stay at any Hampton worldwide.
And this summer, Hamptons across the U.S. are
celebrating America’s 250th birthday with the Star-Spangled Berry
Waffle, combining berry-flavored batter and
berry toppings with red, white and blue sprinkles.
A Southwest Road Trip, from Hampton to
Hampton
Those familiar Hampton touchpoints added predictable,
hassle-free comfort to our three-day journey, where we took the road less
traveled to Sedona and the Grand Canyon, and then got our kicks on Route 66 along
the way to our final stop of Las Vegas.
We started at the Hampton
Inn & Suites Phoenix/Gilbert. Appreciated touches at
the Gilbert Hampton included strawberry-kiwi-infused water in the well-stocked
breakfast buffet and free snacks at check-in, including chips and cookies (a
perk for Hilton Honors Gold and Diamond members).
If your clients have the time, suggest they take
scenic AZ-69 from Phoenix to Sedona instead of I-17. After passing through
clusters of saguaros, the landscape turns from desert to mountain as the
elevation increases.
Having never traveled in this part of Arizona before, we
were mesmerized by the mountain vistas and charmed by the memorable towns along
the way. A capital of the Arizona Territory during the 1800s, Prescott maintains
a rustic Old West ambiance, with a leafy central square that’s home to the historic
Yavapai County Courthouse. Across the street, picturesque Whiskey Row features
historic saloons, restaurants and shops.
The next must-stop town is Jerome.
Confident driving skills—and a steady focus on the wheel despite the stunning
views—are needed for this stretch, as a curvy, two-lane road leads to the
formerly booming copper-mining town that now counts about 450 residents.
Here, houses cling to cliffsides above the Verde
Valley. For a sweeping valley view, advise clients to take the steep, graveled,
one-way road to the Jerome Grand Hotel, built in 1927 as a hospital. The hotel
is open only to guests, but we lingered long enough to ask the lobby attendant
whether the rumored hauntings were true. She smiled without missing a beat: “We’re
in a former hospital. What do you think?”
The Hilton Honors America Experiences celebrate the Great American Road Trip. (Photo Credit: Hilton Media)
From Sedona to Flagstaff
The dramatic entrance to Sedona leads to a town that
lives up to the hype. Although clearly worthy of a longer stay, we only had an
afternoon—and couldn’t stop snapping photos of the surrounding natural palette.
Highlights included a short hike at Bell Rock Trailhead; a visit to the Chapel
of the Holy Cross, built directly into the red rocks in 1956; and, to cool off,
a stroll and lunch in the picturesque Tlaquepaque Arts & Shopping Village,
modeled after a traditional Mexican village.
The drive north on AZ-89A to Flagstaff was another
highlight, along a National Scenic Byway that climbs roughly 2,200 feet, from
Sedona’s red rock desert to dense forest canopies. Advise clients to stop at
Oak Creek Vista for a beautiful scenic overlook.
Ideal Flagstaff Base for Exploring
The college town of Flagstaff may surprise visitors
with its eclectic personality, craft beer scene and ponderosa pines—at 7,000
feet, there’s no desert in sight. The Hampton
Inn & Suites Flagstaff emphasizes the cool mountain-town vibe,
with a lobby fireplace, cozy atmosphere and covered wagon perched right in the
breakfast room. Our spacious one-bedroom suite had a kitchen and its own gas
fireplace.
Of course, Flagstaff is an ideal base for a day trip
to an American icon. We took a scenic route to the South Rim of the Grand
Canyon, traveling 80 miles through Kaibab National Forest on
US-180, and another one back—US-89, which passes through high-desert Navajo
Nation landscapes and offers views of the San Francisco Peaks as you approach
Flagstaff.
For spectacular Grand Canyon vistas, the earlier the
arrival, the better—the National Park attracts about 6 million visitors a year,
after all, and sometimes crowds huddle around the best photo ops. After soaking
up the beauty and filling up our camera rolls, we returned to Flagstaff in the
afternoon, ready to explore the definition of roadside Americana: Route 66.
Motoring West on Route 66 During Its
Centennial
One of the original U.S. highways, Route 66 was the
quintessential way to "motor west" from Chicago to L.A., as the
classic song goes. While it was decommissioned in 1985 after being bypassed by
Interstate 40, the longest contiguous stretch of the Mother Road is in Arizona,
passing right through Flagstaff. In fact, clients can pick up an Arizona Historic Route 66
Passport at the Flagstaff Visitor Center, which occupies a
historic train station and is fronted by a Route 66 shield mural that
commemorates the highway’s 100th anniversary in 2026.
For clients who want to take a nostalgic Route 66 road
trip during its centennial, the stretch west from Flagstaff to Kingman is classic.
Our first stop was Williams, known as the Gateway to the Grand
Canyon—the Grand Canyon Railway originates here—and the last Route 66 town
bypassed by I-40. Kitsch abounds on the town’s main drag. Want a fortune told
from a coin-operated Elvis or Zoltar machine? Or your photo taken beside the
world’s largest steel Route 66 shield sign? This is the place.
The Flagstaff Visitor Center celebrates the centennial of Route 66. (Photo Credit: Sara Perez Webber)
Life Is a Highway
Next, Seligman plays up its role as the
inspiration for Radiator Springs in the movie Cars—and we loved seeing
the vintage rides on the side of the road painted like Lightning McQueen, Mater
and other Cars characters. Further west, the Hackberry General Store was another must-stop. Once a gas station and general store along the route, it
now offers rows and rows of Route 66 souvenirs—plus plenty of photo ops in
front of its old gas pumps and vintage signs. When we arrived, a singer on the
front porch was strumming his guitar in a performance of “(Get Your Kicks on) Route
66.”
Our final stop on the Mother Road was Kingman,
where you can drive your car through a Route 66 shield sign to the site of the Arizona
Route 66 Museum.
From there, it was an easy drive northwest to Las
Vegas, with one more must-see landmark along the way: the engineering marvel of
Hoover Dam. We ended our journey at the Hampton
Inn & Suites Las Vegas Airport, ready to rest in the
comfy all-white bed and fuel up on Hampton waffles the next morning before the
short drive to the airport.
It was a celebratory road trip worthy of this
commemorative year, with unexpected discoveries balanced by Hampton’s comfort
and consistency—and made even sweeter by one last morning waffle.
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