Arizona

Why Oprah Winfrey just had to shout out these 3 Arizona spa resorts

Published

10 months ago

June 10, 2025

Press Room

Why Oprah Winfrey just had to shout out these 3 Arizona spa resorts

Three Arizona spas were listed in Oprah Daily’s 2025 Hotel O-Wards.
The list includes spas with exceptional treatments, services and practitioners.

Three of Arizona’s most luxurious destination spa resorts received praise from Oprah Winfrey.

Her website Oprah Daily recently honored 53 destination spas worldwide in the 2025 Hotel O-Wards. Now in its second year, Oprah’s Hotel O-Wards recognize spa resorts whose treatments, services and practitioners are “best-in-class.”

The 17 honorees in the U.S. and Canada include three from Arizona: Sanctuary Camelback Mountain, Mii amo and Castle Hot Springs.

The three resorts are no stranger to recognition among Arizona’s most celebrated travel experiences, with Oprah Daily praising each of them for high quality and distinctive services.

Here’s a look at each of the Arizona honorees and why they were selected.

Sanctuary Camelback Mountain, Scottsdale

Scottsdale has more than 50 resort and day spas, according to Experience Scottsdale, the city’s convention and visitors bureau. Sanctuary Camelback Mountain stood out among them in the Hotel O-Wards survey because of the size of its spa − 12,000 square feet − and the diversity of its treatment menu.

Standout offerings include a restorative meditation experience called Nidra sound voyage, which is claimed to equal three hours of sleep, and a form of underwater shiatsu massage known as watsu therapy.

Mii amo, Sedona

The accolades for this wellness spa within Enchantment Resort in Sedona’s Boynton Canyon − a vortex believed to have healing energy − have piled up since a $40 million renovation was finished in 2023, including from USA TODAY readers who named it the nation’s best spa in 2024.

Oprah Daily cited the renovation for elevating its offerings, including 23 casitas, 26 treatment rooms, a two-story fitness studio and a new restaurant, Hummingbird.

All-inclusive getaways at Mii amo can last from three to 10 nights, with treatments including past-life regression with a hypnotherapist and aura photography, both cited by Oprah Daily as highlights.

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Castle Hot Springs, Bradshaw Mountains

One of Arizona’s oldest resorts, the 1,100-acre Castle Hot Springs in the Bradshaw Mountains north of Phoenix offers wellness retreats that include bathing in the resort’s mineral-rich hot springs.

A multimillion-dollar renovation brought the resort back to life in 2019 after a fire shuttered it in the mid-1970s; its second life has seen widespread critical acclaim, including Travel + Leisure declaring it Arizona’s best resort in three of the last four years.

Oprah Daily praised the water-centric programming, including watsu therapy in the hot springs, paddleboard yoga and − in contrast with the average 106-degree temperatures of the springs − a newly introduced cold plunge pool with temperatures ranging from 43 to 46 degrees.

Michael Salerno is an award-winning journalist who’s covered travel and tourism since 2014. His work as The Arizona Republic’s consumer travel reporter aims to help readers navigate the stresses of traveling and get the best value for their money on their vacations. He can be reached at Michael.Salerno@gannett.com.

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Arizona

Diamondbacks vs. Dodgers live updates. Arizona DH back in the lineup

Published

5 hours ago

March 27, 2026

Press Room

Diamondbacks vs. Dodgers live updates. Arizona DH back in the lineup

LOS ANGELES — After tests on his sore elbow revealed no structural damage, Pavin Smith took batting practice and was declared ready to return to the Diamondbacks’ lineup.

Smith, who was a late scratch on Opening Day, was a late addition on Day 2. He will bat fifth and serve as the designated hitter, sending Tim Tawa to the bench.

Smith is a relatively important member of the Diamondbacks lineup as a potential impact hitter against right-handed pitching. Last year, he hit .265/.361/.456 with eight homers against righties in 226 at-bats.

Diamondbacks at Dodgers, 7:10 p.m., Cox, Ch. 34

Diamondbacks RHP Ryne Nelson (7-3, 3.39)* vs. Dodgers RHP Emmet Sheehan (6-3, 2.82)*.

At Dodger Stadium: Nelson opened last season in the bullpen but moved into the rotation full time after RHP Corbin Burnes went down with elbow surgery. He was impressive from that point on, putting up a 3.38 ERA across 20 starts from June 1 onward. … Nelson faced the Dodgers three times (two starts) last season, giving up four runs in 13 innings with one walk and 12 strikeouts. … Nelson has solid career numbers against most Dodgers hitters, including 3B Max Muncy, who is 0 for 8 with three walks and five strikeouts. … Sheehan, 26, a sixth-round pick out of Boston College in 2021, returned from Tommy John surgery last year and performed well, logging a 2.82 ERA in 73 1/3 innings. He also logged important innings for the Dodgers out of the bullpen in the postseason. … Sheehan has never faced the Diamondbacks. … Last season, he averaged 95.6 mph with his four-seam fastball. He also threw a slider and change-up with the occasional curveball.

Coming up

Saturday, March 28: At Los Angeles, 6:10 p.m., Diamondbacks LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (9-9, 5.02)* vs. Dodgers RHP Tyler Glasnow (4-3, 3.19)*.

Sunday, March 29: Off.

Monday, March 30: At Chase Field, 7:10 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Michael Soroka (3-8, 4.52)* vs. Tigers RHP Justin Verlander (4-11, 3.85)*.

Tuesday, March 31: At Chase Field, 6:40 p.m., Diamondbacks RHP Brandon Pfaadt (13-9, 5.25)* vs. Tigers RHP Casey Mize (14-6, 3.87)*.

* — stats from 2025.

(This story will be updated. Check back soon.)

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Arizona

Make-A-Wish Arizona creates sea turtle adventure for San Tan Valley boy

Published

17 hours ago

March 27, 2026

Press Room

Make-A-Wish Arizona creates sea turtle adventure for San Tan Valley boy

Boats, beaches, and buckets of fun! Just the way you’d expect a boy to spend his Florida vacation!

But there was something else 11-year-old Miles Boyd got to do last year when he and his family traveled to Florida. It was a sea turtle adventure that truly became the trip of a lifetime.

“I had never been to the ocean before,” explained Miles. “So see that just wowed me. It was amazing!”

Miles and his family also got to see baby sea turtles on the beach at night.

“The ocean is so mysterious,” says Miles. “It’s such a big place, and the fact that these turtles can move but are so tiny and when they go in the ocean, they get to hundreds of pounds.”

In so many ways, the trip to Palm Beach County, Florida, was a dream vacation for Miles and his family, but it only came after what was a living nightmare.

“I couldn’t imagine losing him,” says Miles’ mom, Natasha.

It was the harsh reality that Natasha had to face after learning her son Miles had a cancerous brain tumor.

“The world just stopped,” Natasha says about the moment she found out the devastating news. “I just sat on the floor and cried.”

Even Miles admits he was scared.

“I’m just a kid, you know what I mean?” he says. “It’s a lot to handle all at once.”

After three brain surgeries, countless hours of therapy and rehab, and having to take a chemo medication twice daily, Miles proved to the world he is a true survivor!

And his trip to Florida, through Make-A-Wish Arizona, proved to be the medication he never knew he needed.

Miles explains that the trip motivated him to keep going.

“It showed me that I made it to this car, and I can keep going,” he says. “I started at the lowest of lows, and now, I’m on a beach – it just gave me confidence and motivated me that I could keep going.”

Last year alone, Make-A-Wish Arizona granted 476 wishes; they’ve also fulfilled more than 8,500 since being founded in 1980.

Across the Globe, Make-A-Wish has granted more than 650,000 wishes since 1980

Miles and Nick Ciletti will co-host Make-A-Wish Arizona’s Wish Ball on Saturday! To learn more about Make-A-Wish Arizona, click here.

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Arizona

11 illegal Indian national truck drivers arrested at Arizona border last month

Published

1 day ago

March 26, 2026

Press Room

11 illegal Indian national truck drivers arrested at Arizona border last month

Eleven illegal Indian national truck drivers were arrested at the Arizona border in the month of February.

The Yuma Sector Border Patrol arrested 11 total Indian national truck drivers in Yuma, Arizona in February 2026.

According to a Facebook post by the Yuma Sector Border Patrol, all 11 truck drivers held commercial drivers licenses from the states of Florida, New York, Pennsylvania, Indiana, and California. All were “found to be present in the United States illegally.”

“Border Patrol remains committed to upholding immigration laws and protecting our communities,” the post continued.

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