By Lynn O’Rourke Hayes
From FamilyTravel.com
With a new year comes a bevy of new hotels and resorts to consider. Here are five to put on your radar.
VAI Resort, Glendale, Arizona
This bold new resort, set in the Arizona desert, will offer a wide variety of sun-drenched entertainment when it opens in late 2023. Within 60 acres, guests will discover a man-made island, where they can dine, or relax in a cabana or on the sandy beach. Expect more than a dozen culinary options, top-notch shopping, views from a tethered hot air balloon and easy access to the adjacent Arizona Cardinals stadium. Families can look forward to the Mattel Adventure Park, where some of their favorite toys and board games come to life in the first-ever Mattel-branded theme park. Thanks to hologram technology, Barbie fans can curate a special wardrobe in the Barbie Beach House Dream Closet Experience. Or why not speed your way around a Hot Wheels go-kart track before taking on the Hot Wheels Boneshaker roller coaster. Youngsters will want to talk with Thomas and his friends on the Thomas Adventure Train, a real-life electric Thomas the Tank Engine.
