A recent trip to the “West’s most Western town” uncovered a hot new hotel, sizzling kitchens, and fab food carts.

Drinks
Does this outdoor fireplace look enticing? And so are the gorgeous pickled red and gold beets (served with whipped ricotta and crostini, $8) as well as the handcrafted classic cocktails at Old Town Whiskey, The Saguaro, 4000 N Drinkwater Blvd., Scottsdale, AZ, 480-308-1068, www.jdvhotels.com/hotels/saguaro

Lunch
Overlooking a beautiful park, the patio at Distrito lures with the scent of barbeque from the smoker. Serving modern Mexican fare, the whimsical décor (like this wall of Mexican wrestling masks) compliments the fun, interactive tasting dishes. Tortillas are pressed inside the restaurant and delivered to tables still warm in baskets. Fill them with whatever is in the smoker and you will be one happy camper. Distrito, The Saguaro, 4000 N Drinkwater Blvd., Scottsdale, AZ, 480-308-1068, www.jdvhotels.com/hotels/saguaro

Dinner
A play on “Food and Beverage,” FnB has been a hit with industry folks, serving street food dishes late at night on Sundays. But everyone will appreciate the chef’s hustle as she prepares delicious little dishes like braised leeks in mustard breadcrumbs topped with a fried egg ($14) in the salamander while grilling lamb tenderloin ($32) over charcoal in the middle of the room. It’s like dinner and a show, all in one. FnB, 7133 E. Stetson Dr., Scottsdale, AZ, 480-425-9463, www.fnbrestaurant.com

Room-Service
The new Saguaro Hotel is the place to stay so you can order the Old Town Burger ($12) with beef that’s coarsely ground in-house and tangy house-made Thousand Island, poolside or bedside, your choice. 4000 N Drinkwater Blvd., Scottsdale, AZ, 480-308-1068, www.jdvhotels.com/hotels/saguaro

Breakfast
Old Town Scottsdale Farmers Market. Beautiful produce (pink grapefruit for a quarter each) plus a row of food carts around the perimeter make it a great way to start the day. Go early for croissants from the French bakery stall, and coffee from this retro trailer called Shine. Saturday, 8am to 1pm, corner of Brown St. and First Ave, Scottsdale, AZ, www.arizonafarmersmarkets.com  —Sarah Bancroft

www.experiencescottsdale.com

For more photos from our Scottsdale trip, please visit our Editor’s Diary. 

A quick flight to Kelowna and 45-minutes drive out of town and you’re at Big White Ski Resort, where everything you need for a productive weekend getaway is at your ski-tips.

Spa
The Timeless Eternity package ($328) at Beyond Wrapture Day Spa gets you three hours of wine-themed bliss. For example, the Okanagan grape pip scrub exfoliates with the grape bits that don’t make it into wine.

Drink
You’d think it was an invention of the Calgary Stampede, but Gunbarrel Coffee at Snowshoe Sam’s is all Big White. A glass rimmed in crystallized sugar is filled with brandy, cacao and coffee. Out comes the shotgun and flaming Grand Marnier is poured down the barrel of a shotgun into the glass. It all happens on a cart that is wheeled to your table.

Stay
Step out of the hotel into your skis at any of Big White’s ski-in, ski-out hotels including the White Crystal Inn. When you’re done, relax by your fireplace or enjoy the best of après ski in the surrounding village.

Play
Big White gets 750 cm of snow annually and with 118 runs (most of which are beginner or intermediate) you won’t be at a loss for ski options. To get the quintessential Big White experience, you’ll want to swoosh through the powder weaving through the “snow ghosts” aka snow covered trees.

Play some more
There’s dog sledding, skating and tubing, but climbing the ice climbing tower will get your adrenaline pumping. Built from four telephone poles that are cross-braced and sprayed down each week the massive block of ice has one side is easier than the rest, but any of the four with take you up 60-feet to ring the bell at the top. —Jaelyn Molyneux

Visit www.bigwhite.com and HelloBC.com

Our latest visit to BC's capital city uncovered the best new places to, eat, drink….and shop.

Shop
The neighbourhood of Oak Bay is home to a brand new women’s store Public, stocked with eye catching jewellery by Giles Brother (modeled after the designers’ grandmother’s estate collection), fine cashmere sweaters from England’s John Smedley, and Tibi New York. After, head next door to the new Vis-à-Vis winebar for a charcuterie plate. Public, 201-2250 Oak Bay Ave., Victoria, 250-590-6405, www.publicboutique.ca

(Let’s Hear it) For the Boys
Public’s sister store, Citizen, carries-carefully curated menswear and accessories like Filson bags, handmade shoes, reams of silk ties, Denham jeans and retro bicycles for the dapper man about town. Citizen Clothing, 2541 Estevan Ave., Victoria, 250-590-6716, www.citizenclothing.ca  

Do
Renting bikes from Cycle BC will get you to Oak Bay along the oceanfront in no time. Start at Beacon Hill Park, do the seaside route, and return via the Empress Hotel Veranda for a glass of rosé. Cycle BC, 685 Humboldt St.
, Victoria, 250-380-2453, www.cyclebc.ca

Spa
What’s a getaway without a spa stop? The boutique-size Spa at the Grand does a top-notch pedicure (while you recline on a bed) and the RMT massages were both therapeutic and relaxing. Hotel Grand Pacific, 463 Belleville St., Victoria, 250-386-0450, www.hotelgrandpacific.com

Dim Sum
A surprising discovery was the Ocean-Wise Dim Sum at The Pacific with locally-sourced ingredients. Order off the Asian tea menu (we loved The Philosopher Brew) and start with the BC Seafood Congee ($12) which is light and delicious. Cowichan Valley Springrolls ($8) and Qualicum Scallop Dumplings ($8) are a modern spin on locavore fusion—and a great idea, we might add. Hotel Grand Pacific, 463 Belleville St., Victoria, 250-386-0450, www.hotelgrandpacific.com

Fly
Helijet’s 25-minute harbour-to-harbour flights are the preferred mode of island hopping for those (like me) who hate to wait. The aerial views of porpoise pods? Bonus. www.helijet.com

Dine
Open daily with no reservations, the new 200-seat Zambri’s is truly an international-level restaurant in the shiny-new downtown Atrium building. Would saying it was the best meal of our year be too much? I think not. Dish after sublime dish—vegetable-forward and ultra-progressively Italian—was a delightful surprise. House-cured meats pushed appies up (bread dumplings with ground salumi wrapped in spec, do you hear me?) and silky, egg-y pastas roll off the tongue like the romance languages. Zambris, 820 Yates St., Victoria, 250-360-1171, www.zambris.ca

Dine Again
Ulla’s proprietors are a young couple who honed their skills at Vancouver’s Cibo among other fine dining establishments. On the edge of Chinatown, it’s a loft-y space with a formidable cookbook collection (try the Momofuku chicken wings, an ode to New York’s David Chang). A $7 glass of Cava sets the tone for a fun evening and pairs perfectly with the octopus salad ($12). Ulla, 509 Fisgard St., Victoria, 250-590-8795, www.ulla.ca —Sarah Bancroft

Read more about our Victoria trip in our Editors' Diary.

Contrary to what you might assume the Saskatoon Farm is not in Saskatchewan.

Instead this hybrid of an attraction is 10-kilometres south of Calgary at the end of a country road that dead ends at a valley. The berry from whence the farm is named can be found in the tarts, waffles and biscuits in the café or frozen by the box beside the take-and-bake pies in the gift shop. U-pick opportunities for the berries have passed for the season, but farm fresh veggies are pulled from fields overlooking the valley and sold at the market stand. Back inside, two floors of hallways and alcoves are stocked with home décor from hefty wood dining tables to dainty wall lighting.

Eating, shopping and fresh country air, it’s a win-win-win and it’s open year-round. —Jaelyn Molyneux

Highway 2 and 338 Ave. E., De Winton, 403-938-6245, www.saskatoonfarm.com

Less than two hours by air will get you to the Emerald City where an entrepreneurial spirit has created a petri dish of Pacific Northwest-only business for us to enjoy.   

stay
Art gallery meets luxury lodging at Hotel Max where more than 350 paintings and photographs from local artists accent the old hotel that has been retrofitted with modern amenities and a rock star attitude. 

shop
Ballard Avenue boutique, Ketch carries Pacific Northwest themed tees from Poppy and Moe alongside James Jeans and House of Harlow jewels.

do
Hop the Bon Vivant wine tour 25 minutes out of town in Woodinville where more than 50 Washington wineries operate out of country estates, hillside homes and garage bays.

eat
Start with crab cakes and end with coconut cream pie at Etta’s. The Pike Place restaurant is one of chef Tom Douglas’ 12 Seattle eateries, all of which are worthy of mealtime.

drink
Caffeinate at Caffé Vita where farm direct beans, hand roasting and a grind-to-order system lead to a cup of Joe comes that comes with tasting notes. —Jaelyn Molyneaux

Every corner of this mountain town boasts breathtaking vistas, but there’s much more to see in Canmore than just mountain peaks.

eat
Swine and dine. We think the TroUgh’s subtle pig theme gives us a green light to pig out on their award-winning fare.

stay
Don’t worry about packing light—the massive suites at the Grande Rockies Resort will fit you, your friends and all your oversized luggage too.

shop

Pick up some mountain-chic housewares at Stonewaters then grab some luxe Lollia bath products at Stella’s right next door.

see
It’s not just the fresh mountain air that’ll do you good. The Gaia Clinic offers everything from yoga to acupuncture to Shirodhara head massages.

do
Verde Day Spa just opened a new location at Grande Rockies Resort and an organic facial there is like a raw food diet for your pores.

—Kelsey Dundon

We trekked to a tiny mountain town in the middle of a national park and found no shortage of cosmopolitan experiences.

stay
Check into Brewster’s Mountain Lodge for its just-off-Banff Ave. location and its very of-the-moment Navajo decor.

shop
Try on a couple pairs at Bison Courtyard’s Avanti, a shoe shop that carries nary a hiking boot and instead offers stylish footwear fit for city slickers.

eat
The Banff Springs Hotel is a stunning fortress in the forest so ditch the dudes on the golf course and head indoors for high tea with your girlfriends.

see
Feeling really creative? Apply for a residency at the Banff Centre. Or just revel in others’ creative genius and take in a performance there instead.

do
Nothing, really. Let your masseuse take on the hard work while you relax on the massage table at the soothing Red Earth Spa.  —Kelsey Dundon

It’s only a few hours from YYC to PDX and yet the City of Roses feels like a world away. Herewith, our picks for Portland.

stay
In the heart of the trendy Pearl District, the Ace Hotel is right by the easy-to-get-lost-in Powell’s Books.

shop
Is it a music label or a made-in-Portland emporium? It’s both! Tender Loving Empire showcases the most stylish designs and newest tunes by Portland’s own.

do
Walk! Downtown PDX is perfectly laid out for strolling from food carts to riverside parks to boutiques and then back to more food carts.

eat
Try the ever-changing tasting menu at Toro Bravo. Because you can’t eat every meal on wheels.

drink
Happy Hour is elevated to an art in Portland so take the elevator to the rooftop and grab a seat with a view at Departure. —Kelsey Dundon

The good news: your toddler has finally started sleeping through the night. The bad news: she’s accustomed to sleeping at home, and you’re about to head out on a family roadtrip.

Don’t fret. The inflatable Toddler Travel Bed by the Shrunks is designed to use her favourite crib sheets and blankets, so she’ll sleep just as soundly as she does at home (at least until the crack of dawn). With security rails so even the most active sleepers will stay put, it inflates with its own electric pump so your lungs don’t have to do all the work.

You just might find you’ll start taking it on all your trips. Even when the destination is grandma’s house. —KD

Shrunks Toddler Travel Bed, $84.99 at Baby’s World, http://babysworld.ca/

Our last couch-surfing visit to the Big Smoke had us vowing never to sleep on a futon again.

Instead, we'll check in to Hotel Ocho, a new 12-room gem in prime downtown location. The rooms are lofty, spacious and bright and designed with hip, young travellers in mind. Ask for a third floor suite with views of the Spadina streetcar and the backstreets of Chinatown. Manager Kenneth McElheran and his team are so laid-back and friendly you almost feel like a guest in someone’s home.

Only you won't wake up with a kinked neck. —AT

Hotel Ocho, 195 Spadina Ave., Toronto, 416-593-0885, www.hotelocho.com