Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa
COST: $$$
<p>Phoenix's grande dame was built in the 1920's by disciples of Frank Lloyd Wright, and the place feels like someone transplanted it from, say, Pasadena. Unlike many <a href="/cityguides/phoenix">Phoenix</a> resorts, it's understated and elegant—a sophisticated gray stone carved with Wright's signature angles. Rooms are small and cozy and feature earth-tone furnishings. Choose afternoon tea in the lobby, or “high tini” (a martini tasting) in the lobby bar. Every Saturday, the chefs give a salsa demonstration (the dip, not the dance), complete with recipes and samples. And on some warm Friday and Saturday nights, the pool doubles as a movie theater, with a cinema-size screen behind the pool and inner-tube seats in the water. Explore eight pools and numerous nooks and crannies among the 39 acres, including the Catalina pool; Irving Berlin reportedly wrote “White Christmas” while afloat here.</p> <p><strong>Tip:</strong> The Biltmore Fashion Park, an outdoor mall with chains like Borders and Macy's, is minutes away by car (the hotel runs an hourly shuttle); but there's also on-site shopping, including the Pink Saguaro—one of two Lilly Pulitzer shops in town. Pink Paradise, the other, is at the Borgata of Scottsdale, a mall near downtown (<em>6166 N. Scottsdale Road; 480/368-7465</em>).</p> <p><strong>Room to Book:</strong> The resort revamped a series of cottages built in 1929 that were originally intended to house nannies and children. Ask for 5141 or 5142, which were once a combined suite where Ronald and Nancy Reagan honeymooned.</p>
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From Travel + Leisure , DEC 2008
Who doesn't like welcome gifts...MORE>>
From Travel + Leisure , APR 2003
The Arizona Biltmore was here before all the others, in 1929. Its distinction has always been that the great...MORE>>
Last updated December 2008
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