Battiste's Bed, Breakfast and Birds

If you are looking for a very nice place to stay when you visit the Sierra Vista area then Battiste's B & B is just the place. Tony and his wife Julie are very gracious hosts. The rooms are very well done and spacious. There is a full size bath and a kitchen with a frig. and micro wave. There is plenty of room to put away your things during your stay. And there is a nice little room with TV to enjoy in the evening. Tony has a great set up outside in his back yard for bird watching. He puts out food for the birds each day and it is amazing how many birds visit. I sat for hours early in the morning and late in the evening. I filled up my life list.

This review has been long in coming but well deserved, as this is a great stop for birders. I spotted Tony Battiste posting on FB and after seeing his pics and some chats I decided to make it my primary location to bed down for my first trip to the area last May. Clean, decent-sized room and comfortable bed and bath, everything I need out of a place to stay. But staying here is primarily about Tony's knowledge. As an avid photographer himself, he knows the locations of local sighting and the geography of the area well. Before I even arrived, he gave me a pointer about getting access to the Ft. Huachuca (Trogon hotspot) that saved me as much as half a day of waiting had I waited until daylight to pick up. Another pair of guests that didn't go to the Fort at night like I did actually gave up after hours in line during the day. Upon arrival, we had a sit-down with the bucket list I prepared after using eBird/iBird to scope out the area weeks in advance. He was able to tell me where I was able to find what I was looking for, often down to the tree. He also had maps of many of some these areas to make notes on and take along. One time where I was stumped on the location of something in Miller Canyon that wasn't too far from the parking lot, he actually led me out there. So that's you're getting here. Another plus here for me was the location. It's not far off the main road and I knew I was heading to a number of locations in the area. Some other places to stay are often well up dirt roads into the canyons that are part of their names. That's OK if all you want to see is in their gardens or in the canyon they are in, but I like quick access to everywhere (including stuff in town) and traffic on the 92 and Buffalo Soldier Trail (road) seemed always light. So once on the road you get wherever in a hurry, regardless of how far it looks on the map. Beyond that, the garden here is great and I loved seeing the elf owls that live there, among others. I definitely plan to return here.

We had a fabulous time. Seeing the elf owl was an experience of a lifetime. Both Tony and Julie are wonderfully knowledgeable people. The added bonus was the gray fox which we saw several times. I highly recommend this B and B. We are returning next year for more fun birding. Gay and Ted

Please read my full review. Birders - this is the place to stay. Hated to give 4 stars but one of two units is not air conditioned and August in Hereford needs air conditioning. Due to a couple of circumstances including COViD I had to stay in that unit. Sleep was impacted by the heat. Now please read the rest. Great location for birders including a pretty bird garden which I enjoyed while not hiking the canyons. Great people - Tony and Julie are wonderful folks - good communication throughout the process and stay. Great advice - I had my trip pretty well planned out but Tony helped me tweak a couple of visits and shared a great local spot. His push to visit the Montosa Canyon culvert despite no recent Five Stripe Sparrow sightings resulted in my first experience with this fun bird. Extras - we were all cautious with Covid about - but Tony helped me out in getting a load of laundry done - something very important to me and anyone within 20 feet on the trails. Also hosted a couple of friends for an outdoor dinner at the patio table associated with my unit. Was very useful given Covid challenges. In summary. If you are a birder and want to work the Huachuca's or buzz over to Patagonia this is a the place. Figure out your air conditioning needs or come at a cooler time. My unit was large and nicely appointed. Breakfast is self serve and simple but I was out early each day and the flexibility was exactly what I needed. Plenty of goodies to make breakfast work.

Tony & Julies' B & B is wonderful in many ways. Tony is an expert birder & Julie makes sumpious morning breads. Both are friendly hosts. The accommodations are tastefully decorated. The backyard is a birder's wonderland. Their feeders attract dozens of different species which allows you to sit in the patio for hours studying bird behavior. If you are lucky, the Elf Owl may be staying while you are there.Tony took us birding in Carr's Canyon. He shared his knowledge with us in a very patient manner.LBW & NPW