Nearly any type of hotel preference can be accommodated in the Scottsdale area, which boasts a range of property styles rivaled by few destinations.
For remote ultra-luxe just north of Scottsdale in Carefree, The Boulders has fit the bill for nearly 30 years, and could be one of the first properties designed to truly meld into the nature that surrounds it, a rarity when it opened.
Offering 160 casitas nestled on a 1,300-acre expanse, staying at The Boulders is like an extended visit to a desert botanical garden that stretches out under towering rock formations that could serve as a set for The Flintstones.
The Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts property also offers 12,000 square feet of meeting space in its Tohono Conference Center; 61 one-, two- and three-bedroom villas; seven restaurants; eight tennis courts; an award-winning Waldorf Astoria Spa; two championship Jay Morrish-designed golf courses; and the open-air el Pedregal marketplace, which features shopping, dining, the 2,000-square-foot Sonoran Ballroom and an amphitheater.
Two triumphantly retro options located in downtown Scottsdale are the Hotel Valley Ho, a Mid-Century modern showpiece built in 1956 that recently wrapped a massive renovation, and the 33-unit El Dorado hotel, tucked away in a residential neighborhood and festooned with design flourishes harkening back to 1960, when it was built as a vacation rental property.
