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Scottsdale

It’s been called “The Beverly Hills of the Southwest” and “a desert version of Miami’s South Beach.” Scottsdale is fancy, yes. It’s also stimulating, creative, and rugged. The area’s singular beauty is why Frank Lloyd Wright set up shop here in 1937. It’s the same reason artists have been flocking to the city ever since—for inspiration. And most of it comes from the Sonoran Desert, one of the world’s most diverse ecosystems.

Urban sunset over downtown Scottsdale Arizona

Photo Courtesy of The Boulders

Overview

When’s the best time to go to Scottsdale?

While much of the rest of the country is battling cold weather, people in Scottsdale are outside, hiking the McDowell Sonoran Preserve, or enjoying lunch in the open air. January through April is the most beautiful time to visit, but it’s also the most expensive. Summertime brings up to 60 percent off high-season rates at some of the city’s top hotels and resorts. September through December you can still find decent prices without the outrageous heat.

How to get around Scottsdale

Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport is only about a 20-minute drive from downtown. You can also fly into Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, where many of the country’s discount carriers land—though it’s a longer ride into Scottsdale.

You need a car. The Valley Metro Light Rail doesn’t connect into Scottsdale, and Greater Phoenix’s bus system, as a whole, is unreliable. In downtown Scottsdale, a free trolley runs every 10 minutes from 10 a.m. – 9 p.m., daily.

Can’t miss things to do in Scottsdale

Anything outdoorsy. The McDowell Sonoran Preserve, 32,000+ acres of desert playground, has open space for hiking, biking, mountain climbing, and horseback riding. When finished, the preserve will encompass more than 34,000 acres of permanently protected land. Camelback Mountain is a challenge best limited to experienced climbers, but locals like to hike Tom’s Thumb or Pinnacle Peak for the views.

Food and drink to try in Scottsdale

Scottsdale is a hotbed for talented chefs—you’ll find culinary stars like Charleen Badman (FnB), Matt Carter (The Mission, Zinc Bistro, Fat Ox), Beau MacMillan (elements at Sanctuary). No matter where they come from, Scottsdale’s chefs are among the best in the country—leading an independent, locavore movement that celebrates dynamic cuisine.

Culture in Scottsdale

Scottsdale ArtWalk is the country’s longest-running event of its kind. Every Thursday from 7 to 9 p.m., the free block party keeps the art district’s galleries open late with live demonstrations, complimentary drinks and bites, and other forms of entertainment. Nearby, the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (also free on Thursdays!) is a five-gallery minimalist building designed by award-winning architect Will Bruder. It’s right next door to the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, a premier concert hall nationally recognized for its diverse programming. At the Musical Instrument Museum, you can see 15,000 different instruments from around the world and even drop into a drum class. And between museum hopping, don’t forget to take in the city’s public art program, which includes 50 permanent pieces from the likes of Robert Indiana and Donald Lipski.

Winter and early spring are busy with events. Things kick off in January with a series of international auto auctions and then roll right into the PGA Tour’s Waste Management Phoenix Open, aka “The Greatest Show on Grass” and one wild party. In March, Cactus League spring training takes over the town and appeals just as much to sunbathers as to baseball lovers.

Local travel tips for Scottsdale

It really is a dry heat. Yes, 100-degree temperatures can be daunting, but when you’re sitting poolside with an ice-cold drink, it’s easy to forget about it. That being said, you don’t want to attempt a hike in the middle of a summer’s day. Just save most of your activity—golf, wandering downtown’s streets—for the early morning or evening. No matter what time of year it is, pack plenty of sunscreen and drink more water than you’re used to. It is the desert, after all.

Guide Editor

Katarina Kovacevic is a freelance writer and blogger from the Arizona desert by way of the Croatian coast. She’s the author of The Food Lovers’ Guide to Phoenix & Scottsdale and contributor to Veria Living, Travel + Leisure online, Destination Weddings & Honeymoons and the New York Post. Follow her travels on Twitter @Little_K.

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RESOURCES TO HELP PLAN YOUR TRIP
Fairmont Scottsdale Princess
Opened in 1987, the relatively youthful Fairmont Scottsdale Princess may not have the history of some of its neighboring resorts, but the North Scottsdale spot—with its fountained plazas, Mexican colonial–style architecture, and 65 scenic acres—has everything needed for a vacation in the sun. It’s big and it’s busy, and there is always something for everybody to do—just one of the reasons it’s popular for family events such as reunions, school holidays, and weddings. Drive a ball down a fairway on the two 18-hole championship golf courses (one of which hosts an annual PGA tournament), relax by one of the six pools (the newest, Sunset Beach pool, is surrounded by 9,000 square feet of white sand), or give yourself over to the innovative therapies and unique fitness offerings at the Well & Being Spa.

All the 750 rooms and suites are fresh and comfortable, with terraces, wet bars, and oversize bathrooms. Some, especially the casitas, are located about a five- to 10-minute walk from the main building, but golf carts are always just a call away. The wealth of top-rated foodie options—which include the Mexican-accented La Hacienda and the pan-Latin Toro, both by chef Richard Sandoval, and Bourbon Steak from chef Michael Mina—help make this one of the best destination-dining resorts in town.
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Sanctuary Camelback Mountain Resort & Spa
As obvious as it may sound, what sets Sanctuary apart from any other Scottsdale resort is location. Sitting on the north side of Camelback Mountain yet minutes from downtown Scottsdale, it has a balance of desert mountain isolation and easy access that no other Scottsdale resort can match. Since Sanctuary opened in 2002, the combination has especially appealed to publicity-shy celebs (Beyoncé and Jay-Z even stayed here while on their honeymoon). The views from the floor-to-ceiling windows in the adobe casitas look out at the mountain and across Paradise Valley. The casitas have wood-block floors, glass-tiled showers, and, in many of them, oversize tubs with romantic votive candles.
April 20, 2021 04:07 PM
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W Scottsdale
Business travelers might help keep it quiet enough during the week, but when the weekend rolls around, the W Scottsdale earns its rep as a party hotel. By day, a young, trendy, and sometimes noisy crowd hangs at Wet, the rooftop pool, keeping well oiled with sunscreen and bar drinks. By night, the scene remains trendy, and noisy, at the lobby’s Living Room Lounge, or at Shade Lounge upstairs by the pool, often to a background of live music or a DJ, until the revelers are off to bed, or off to some of the many bars and clubs within walking distance. Rooms have all the tech gadgets, and the use of color and frosted glass makes them feel light and playful without going overboard.
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Saguaro Scottsdale
The Saguaro Scottsdale is among the handful of downtown Scottsdale hotels that embrace the urban Southwest vibe. Although it began life as a 1970s chain motel—evident in its blocky structure and the compactness of most rooms—this now-hip address has blossomed into the visual equivalent of desert wildflowers at the height of a wet spring. Especially striking against the desert tan that coats just about every other structure in Scottsdale, both outside and in, are a riot of colors that go beyond orange and purple and pink and yellow to such wildflower shades as California Poppy and Red Desert Globemallow. Just as vibrant is the Saguaro’s pool-party scene, aided, no doubt, by water temps chilled or heated as the season dictates. A complete redo of the Saguaro’s rooms in January 2017 gave them a modern Southwest vibe (think pastel-colored prints of cacti and desert-hued furnishings), but not so much that guests will be asking the concierge where to shop for cowboy boots (which would be Saba’s, just down the street, in Old Town).
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Boulders Resort & Spa
Nature may have spent 12 million years creating the rock formation that is the centerpiece of this 1,300-acre Hilton Curio Collection resort in the foothills of the Sonoran Desert, but late-coming humans have done a commendable job of adding the finishing touches. Although the Boulders, with its casita accommodations blending into the landscape, its championship golf courses, and its upscale shops, is as luxurious as any resort in the Scottsdale area, it’s also where guests are most likely to feel they are truly in the desert. An early-morning walk along groomed paths, when the first rays of light are turning the landscape golden, is as likely to produce the sounds of woodpeckers or owls calling from their nests in saguaro cacti as it is the whack of a ball against club or racket.
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The Hermosa Inn
The Hermosa Inn, first opened in 1936, has the kind of history that a cowboy keeps under his hat. With 43 rooms and casitas spread across six acres of Arizona desert in the upscale Phoenix suburb of Paradise Valley, the inn was originally the home and studio of cowboy artist Lon Megargee. A $5.5 million renovation completed in March 2017 updated the hotel for the modern era. It still retains a historic feel, but without the possibility of escape it had when Megargee, a welcoming host clearly uninterested in background checks, built a tunnel from the main building to the stable in case a visit by the sheriff made it necessary for less law-abiding guests to execute a quick getaway. But then, with Camelback Mountain as a backdrop, few guests nowadays are in a hurry to leave.
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Bespoke Inn Scottsdale
As its name suggests, the Bespoke Inn is one of the more eccentric accommodations in downtown Scottsdale. This compact bed-and-breakfast, opened in 2013, has just 10 rooms. Each is decorated with homey, eclectic details that reflect the creativity of the hotel’s previous owners, who designed and built most of the inn’s furnishings themselves. The current owners, Jeremy Ferris and Robert Marchetti, brought in elements of Marchetti’s Italian heritage, which are evident in the updated courtyard and six new rooms. The result is a surprising blend of style and comfort, reinforced by the hotel’s ability to make guests feel they have all become friends. There are other surprises, too. In 2013 Esquire magazine called the café—which has its own odd appellation, Virtù Honest Craft—one of the 20 best new restaurants in America. And the hotel provides Pashley bicycles for guests to use during their stays.
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The Phoenician
This Scottsdale megaresort opened in 1988 as an Americanized vision of European style, which explains the white marble in the lobby, the mother-of-pearl tiles lining one of the pools, and the 11 Steinway pianos (including one in each of the four presidential suites). Over the years, though, the Phoenician has melded with its surroundings to become one of the classic Arizona desert hotel experiences. The 27-hole golf course, the 11 tennis courts, the eight pools (one with a 165-foot waterslide), the spa, the hiking, and the alfresco dining all make it the kind of place people contemplate when they find themselves looking at a closet full of winter coats and scarves. The rooms are spacious, with large Italian marble bathrooms, and have a private terrace or balcony. The service is tip-top, and the kids’ club even features a Bunny Hoppy Hour. Recent renovations updated the hotel’s public spaces, including the lobby, restaurants, pool area, and spa.
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Hyatt Regency Scottsdale Resort & Spa at Gainey Ranch
It is not unusual to find an Arizona resort that looks like a water park with rooms attached, and this big Scottsdale luxury property certainly fits the description: 10 pools, 20 fountains, 45 waterfalls, and a three-story, high-speed waterslide. But what makes the Hyatt Regency unique is that guests can glide along its desert waterways aboard authentic Italian gondolas while being serenaded by professional gondoliers, who are classically trained singers. Beyond the water’s edge, there are the expected activities, such as the 27 holes of golf at the Gainey Ranch Golf Club, open only to club members and resort guests. And there are the unexpected, such as the Native American Learning Center, created to give guests insight into native Southwest culture through art, food, entertainment, and personal interaction with some of the resort’s staff. For hikers, the 24-hour Canyon Market serves up not only performance foods and gear, but also directions to the best trails.
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Saba’s Western Store
There are a few trendy Western shops that have cropped up in recent years but if you want the real deal, there’s no better place than Saba’s Western Wear. The family-owned store has been around for more than 85 years and still has the best selection of cowboy boots, jeans, jewelry and other duds.
April 20, 2021 03:54 PM
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Katarina Kovacevic
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