Valley Resorts: Get there while it’s hot
By Nino Padova

Prices drop as temperatures in the desert rise. Now is the time to pamper yourself.
Go ahead. You deserve it.

The airplane begins its descent into Phoenix as the guy to my right folds a newspaper into his lap, leans in close, and asks, “What brings you to town?”

“Taking a little getaway,” I say.

“Getaway? Now?”

Now. That would be the middle of August. During a heat wave. A week when the only cities on the planet hotter than Phoenix are Baghdad and Riyadh. Maybe I misunderstood my fellow traveler. Maybe he meant, Get away. Now!

After all, most people are fleeing Phoenix this time of year. Sure, a desert vacation makes sense in winter, when you’re waterlogged and flu-worn, but in the summer even die-hard sun worshipers keep their distance. How does this play out for all those swanky resorts, spas, and golf courses in the tourism powerhouse of Phoenix-Scottsdale? It’s simple economics, really. Fewer visitors equals more vacancies and therefore cheaper rates. Resorts drop their prices by as much as two-thirds in July and August, and with rooms at the ultraluxury properties hovering around $600 a night in winter, this means one thing: Five Diamond living at Two Diamond prices.

Thoreau said luxury hinders the elevation of mankind. Clearly, they didn’t serve mojitos like these at Walden Pond. Rum, mint, sugar, lime, and ice — that’s all it was. Yet sipping a midday mojito in my private poolside cabana at Phoenix’s Royal Palms Resort and Spa was an important first step for me, a rite of passage. I surveyed my surroundings: antique Tuscan fountains, colonnaded courtyards, wall-to-wall Spanish tile, fragrant citrus groves, and stone walkways that led to terra- cotta villas like the one the president stays in when he comes to town. Here I was, a Two Diamond guy reveling in the playground of the elite — and doing it within my budget. I could actually afford this. I’d never felt more elevated in my life.

But all that pampering can take some getting used to. For starters, I was addressed as “Mr. Padova” so many times in five days that I began to feel like a wildly popular fourth-grade teacher. And your luggage — don’t touch it. At one resort I made the mistake of reaching for my suitcase before the valet stopped me in my tracks. “Mr. Padova, please step away from the bags.” Lastly, never ask what time the pool closes. When you’re paying $600 a night (or in my case, $200), it never closes.

Good thing, too. Because the moment you leave the cool conditioned air of your 1,200-square-foot suite, you’ll be slapped in the face with 100-plus degrees of Sonoran desert sizzle that will send you cannonballing into the nearest glass of Evian. Make no mistake about it, submerging your body in water is the most popular activity for summer resort-goers.

“This time of year, it’s all about the pool,” says Joe Miller, a man with one of the coolest job titles in hospitality. As director of water features at the Hyatt Regency Scottsdale Resort and Spa, Miller oversees a two-acre water playground that includes 10 inter-connected pools, more than three dozen waterfalls, a sandy beach, two aqua volleyball courts, and a three-story corkscrew waterslide.

“When it’s this hot, the pool’s not just an activity center but the focal point of the resort,” Miller says. “I’ve seen families eat all three meals out here. There’s no reason to leave.” On Saturdays during the summer, the beach pool hosts dive-in movie night. Resort guests recline on rafts and loll beneath a jumbo movie screen that plays family-friendly flicks.

The martini glass–shaped Oh pool in downtown Scottsdale’s Hotel Valley Ho stirs up a different kind of movie magic. The mid-century motor lodge has been revamped (to the tune of $80 million) in an effort to return it to its Hollywood heyday when Bing Crosby, Janet Leigh, Cary Grant, and Natalie Wood stayed here. (It must be working: Apparently Jamie Foxx is known to drop by.) Even in 107-degree heat, everyone looks cool, calm, and composed.

In fact, you can learn a lot about a hotel by dipping your toes into its pool. The Mondrian’s Play Pool, with its underwater sound system, smacks of new urban chic: sleek, sophisticated, yet not afraid to take the party from the nightclub to the hot tub. The infinity pool at the Sanctuary on Camelback Mountain Resort and Spa is contemporary and discreet, a place where people speak in whispers and anyone hidden underneath those oversize hats and sunglasses could be a celebrity. The pool at the Four Seasons Resort in North Scottsdale regales guests with fruit kebabs, chilled mint-scented towels, and the services of a sunglass butler whose sole task is to remove smudges from your Ray-Bans.

Then there’s the Phoenician. It has nine pools, but that’s just the beginning. Spread out over 250 acres at the southeastern base of Camelback Mountain, the Scottsdale mega-resort oozes with an unsubtle opulence that would make Thoreau flip over in his grave: 650 rooms, 12 restaurants, a $25 million art collection, a two-acre cactus garden, a koi-stocked lagoon, a world-class spa, a dozen tennis courts, three golf courses, an ice cream parlor, a bakery, 45,000 bottles of wine, 11 Steinway grand pianos, Egyptian cotton towels and choice Italian linens in every room, and enough polished Carrara marble to fill two quarries the size of Camelback Mountain.

But it’s the service that floored me. I got a taste of it when I checked into the Phoenician’s new 60-room Canyon Suites for 48 hours of supreme pampering.

The fawning begins days before you arrive when your personal “ambassador” contacts you. Tee times, dinner reservations, spa appointments, chauffeur service, a hot air balloon ride — whatever you could possibly want — your ambassador will arrange it. Then you get there. Your wake-up call? A gentle knock at the door and a cup of coffee poured from a sterling silver pot. Turndown service? Belgian chocolates and a bath drawn with eucalyptus-and-grapefruit- infused salts. Directions to the museum? Printed on heavy stock paper and placed on your driver’s seat, along with two bottles of spring water. One night I asked my ambassador where I could find a sewing kit. Minutes later a seamstress appeared at the door.

Pick any weekend in February or March and this royal treatment comes with a price tag of $850 a night. I paid a fraction of that. Which isn’t pocket change, I realize, but when you’re on your balcony watching the last flashes of daylight cling to crimson canyon walls and the desert sky come alive with more stars than you’ve ever seen — it feels like a bargain.

Until my last day in Arizona I hadn’t paid much attention to the “Spa” portion of “Resort and Spa.” I noticed it tacked onto the names of Phoenix-Scottsdale’s glitziest properties but thought, “I’m already relaxed to the point of anesthesia. Wouldn’t having a stranger douse me in tangerine oil and roll warm river stones over my back to a sound track of trickling water be — I don’t know — overkill? “

I pondered this as I floated in the Watsu pool at the Sanctuary Spa, a wellness center tucked away on the northern slope of Camelback Mountain. “Weightlessness,” the receptionist had said. “There’s nothing like it.” She was right.

The terry cloth robe and matching slippers I changed into made me look like one of those people in the travel brochures, the ones with smiles seared to their bronzed, ageless faces. The ones who, up until a few days ago, I thought didn’t really exist. I remembered something else Thoreau said: “The finest qualities of our nature, like the bloom on fruits, can be preserved only by the most delicate handling.”
Then a door opened. “Mr. Padova, we’re ready for you now.”

Top: Photo by Barbara Kaft, courtesy of Four Seasons

Bottom: Photo courtesy of the Phoenician in Scottsdale

if you go
For more information, contact the Scottsdale Convention & Visitors Bureau: 800-782-1117, scottsdalecvb.com, and the Greater Phoenix Convention & Visitors Bureau: 877-225-5749, visitphoenix.com.

The Price is Right*

Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale at Troon North
888-207-9696

High season: $565
Hot season: $149

Royal Palms Resort and Spa
800-672-6011
High season: $459
Hot season: $169

Hyatt Regency Spa and Resort at Gainey Ranch
480-444-1234

High season: $539
Hot season: $175

The Phoenician
800-888-8234
High season: $759
Hot season: $219

Sanctuary on Camelback Mountain Resort and Spa
800-245-2051

High season: $520
Hot season: $235

The Canyon Suites at the Phoenician
800-888-8234
High season: $850
Hot season: $349

Made in the Shade: A Local Guide to Luxury Pool Cabanas

By Tiffany Owens

With the summer in full swing, are you in need of a lazy day mini-vacation or a cool idea to celebrate a special occasion? With comfy chaise lounges by the water and frosty beverages, gourmet fare and relaxing massages on speed dial, these luxury resorts offer a wide range of lavish amenities to ensure that cabana dwellers are by far the coolest at the pool. While most cabanas are maintained exclusively for resort guests, the following six also allow non-guests to rent cabanas. But be warned: Competition for these choice seats around the pool is fierce, so make your reservations early.

Hotel Valley Ho

Up to six guests can relax in one of eight private cabanas that surround the martini-shaped Oh Pool from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sun.-Thurs., or 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Fridays, when the hotel also offers special dive-in movies, plus food and drink specials. Each cabana features hip pool furniture, a fire pit and water feature, spa Jacuzzis, plus a curtain for privacy. Guests can also order massage and nail services en suite. Each guest receives a choice of three of the following: Fiji bottled water, fresh fruit plate, HVH playing cards, chips and salsa, Kids Pool Pack (water toys), two fruit smoothies, or handmade potato chips. Private bars can also be rented, stocked with various domestic beers, large water bottles, battery-operated mister fans and complimentary hand-rolled cool towels. Daily cabana rentals are $149, Mon.-Thurs. and $249, Fri. and Sun., through September 1st. 6850 E. Main St., Scottsdale; hotelvalleyho.com; 480-248-2000.

Fairmont Scottsdale Princess

Six brand-new cabanas inhabit the Fairmont’s main South Pool, with three each on the east and west sides of the pool respectively. For larger groups, either bank can be opened up to make one large “party cabana,” suitable for 12 or more people. Amenities include 27-inch plasma TVs, ceiling fans, chaise lounges and a sound system for iPods and CDs. Also included are a small refrigerator stocked with non-alcoholic beverages, plus a fresh fruit plate. Kids will love the two giant waterslides and mini-bulldozers in a sandy area near the pool. Cabana rentals for up to four people are $100, Mon.-Thurs. and $125, Fri.-Sun., with an additional charge of $15 per person per day for each additional guest. Cabanas are available year-round from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., daily; in summer, hours may extend into evening. 7575 E. Princess Dr., Scottsdale; fairmont.com/scottsdale; 480-585-4848.

Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa

Fifteen cabanas surround the Biltmore’s Paradise Pool area, offering three pools of various sizes, a 92-foot waterslide, in-water bar and dining (with special children’s menu) and dive-in movies. These spacious, luxurious cabanas have full baths (with sink, shower and toilet), plus a telephone, ceiling fan, pay-per-view movies, board games, misters and a refrigerator, as well as a table for four and two reserved lounge chairs. Amenities include chilled, scented grapefruit facial towels, two bottles of Fiji water and frozen treats ranging from seedless grapes to sorbet. Summer hours, through Sept. 30, are 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., Sun.-Thurs. and 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., Fri.-Sat. Summer rental rates (July 16-Sept. 30th): Classic cabanas are $80/weekdays, $145/weekends; Premier Cabanas are $165/weekdays and $220/weekends – both for up to six guests. Fiesta Cabana Suites can accommodate eight people and are $275-330/weekdays, $355-410/weekends. Prices are significantly higher on holiday weekends, including Labor Day. 2400 E. Missouri Ave., Phoenix; arizonabiltmore.com; 602-955-6600.

Mondrian Scottsdale

Four private, poolside cabanas offer the utmost in luxury for up to six guests. Each open-sky cabana features a fireplace, plus lounge furniture inside and two outdoor chaise lounges, a flat-screen TV, ceiling fan, plus heavy canvas curtains for privacy. The two middle cabanas were designed with a “sexy open plan” to enjoy couples’ massages and other spa treatments. Other included amenities are Fiji bottled water, a fruit platter and “telephone service directly to the bar.” The BLUE pool and cabanas are open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The price for a full-day rental is $500, (does not include bottle service, 20 percent automatic gratuity or tax). 7353 E. Indian School Rd., Scottsdale; mondrianscottsdale.com; 480-308-1100.

Pointe Hilton Tapatio Cliffs

The Tapatio Cliffs offers your choice of 23 cabanas at two separate pool areas, with easy access to the Falls Water Village. The Geyser Pool features six cabanas near a large pool with two lap lanes, a hot plunge whirlpool, 130-foot enclosed waterslide, and poolside café. Conversely, the Grotto Pool offers family fun amidst waterfalls and unique rock formations, with 17 cabanas, a hot plunge whirlpool and shallow-entry pool, plus the large Palm Terrace patio overlooking the pool area. Each cabana comes with padded furniture, ceiling fan, TV with remote, telephone, data port, table and four chairs, playing cards, newspaper and a mini-fridge stocked with bottled water and fruit. Friday night themed pool parties and dive-in movies on Saturday nights are a big hit with the kids. Cabanas can be rented by non-guests on weekdays only (excluding holidays), from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., for up to six people. Summer cabana rental rates are $40 for the Grotto Pool and $60 for the Geyser Pool through Sept. 15. Half-day cabana rates are also available for $30 after 1 p.m., but cannot be reserved in advance. 11111 N. 7th St., Phoenix; pointehilton.com/indextc.cfm; 602-588-7965.