8 Arizona hotels earn spots on list of world’s 500 best
Dec 27, 2014, 8:26 AM | Updated: 8:26 am
Eight hotels in Arizona, including five located near the Valley, made Travel + Leisure magazine’s list of The World’s 500 Best Hotels this year.
Of the eight, Sanctuary on Camelback Mountain Resort & Spa in Paradise Valley received the highest praise. Celebrities such as Dean Martin and Elton John used to frequent the hotel, which has been featured in Travel + Leisure‘s top 500 list every year since 2007.
Its complete refurbishment in 2001 only made it swankier; today, the 105 casitas are sleek and modern, with original paintings, oversized soaking tubs with votive candles and signature bath salts, and enormous windows framing panoramic mountain views. The resort still has five championship tennis courts, but there are plenty of quieter pursuits, too, like sunrise yoga and lime-blossom spa massages.
Sanctuary on Camelback was followed closely in overall ranking by Enchantment Resort and Mii Amo Spa in Sedona, which has also been featured in the top 500 since 2007. The magazine lauded the Southwest-style resort for blending in to Sedona’s red-rock cliffs.
Within Enchantment’s grounds, but separate from the main complex — also home to several pools, five tennis courts, pitch-and-putt golf, and hiking trails — is the transformative Mii Amo, a 24,000-square-foot destination spa with 16 casitas as well as a dedicated pool and regionally inspired restaurant.
The other Arizona hotels to make the list were Hyatt Regency Scottsdale Resort and Spa at Gainey Ranch in Phoenix; Royal Palms Resort & Spa in Scottsdale; the Phoenician, a Luxury Collection Resort in Scottsdale; The Boulders, A Waldorf Astoria Resort in Carefree; L’Auberge de Sedona in Sedona; and Ritz-Carlton, Dove Mountain in Marana.
Each hotel’s ranking was determined by readers. Click here for the complete list.
