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By Marian Betancourt
YOUR OWN SMALL LUXURIOUS AREA, WITHIN THE LARGER RESORTS IN SCOTTSDALE
There are two wonderful places in Scottsdale, Arizona that provide “luxury within luxury.” It’s like having your own private little resort with all the amenities (and more) of a large, full service resort. You will find this at Fairmont’s Scottsdale Princess and the Canyon Suites at the Phoenician, both five-diamond resorts.
 The Fairmont’s terra cotta Spanish Colonial buildings blend in beautifully with the Sonoran desert landscape, with the McDowell Mountains as a backdrop. A conference center, large swimming pools, tennis courts, and golf course provide all the amenities anyone would want for a luxurious vacation. Fairmont hotels and resorts have their “Fairmont Gold” which provides that extra special attention.
 However, on one edge of the resort is a little storybook village of 14 small adobe buildings situated neatly among garden paths. Within these buildings, are 125 cozy casitas, apartments with fireplaces and patios, modern amenities and comfortable traditional furnishings. Within this enclave is a pool meant only for the casita dwellers and quite often you will have it all to yourself. To insure your privacy, a “security guard” in protective helmet and sunglasses silently glides through the area periodically on his Segue.
Yet you are hardly isolated. Along one side of the village is a lovely park with Palo Verde trees, cactus and dessert flowers, and a fishing lagoon, where you may spot a blue heron.
Just steps across La Hacienda Plaza is the Willow Springs Spa inspired by the  Grand Canyon’s Havasupai Falls and rated by Conde Nast Traveler as one of the top ten spas in the nation. The spa’s three levels are linked with a flowing waterfall that cascades from the roof-top swimming pool (with cabanas and fireplace) through the valley (the reception areas) to the canyon level where you can stand in the waterfall and begin a very special spa treatment known as the Havasupai Body Oasis Experience, or simply, the waterfall experience. The sensuality of standing in a waterfall brings to mind the Thomas Hardy poem, “Under the Waterfall” about a picnic with a lover and the fun of reaching through the falls for a wine glass. (“Whenever I plunge my arm, like this, in a basin of water, I never miss the sweet sharp sense of a fugitive day”) The waterfall experience, complete with eucalyptus bath, aromatherapy wrap, acupressure and soothing massage takes two hours and is worth every penny of the $319 price.
Also in the plaza is La Hacienda, a turn of the (last) century freestanding Mexican ranch house with an outdoor patio and strolling Mariachis who add just the right note to your dinner in this four diamond restaurant. The young chef, Forest Hamicker, travels often to Mexico for culinary inspiration and combines old school thought with new school presentation using local products. The signature Ensalada de la Hacienda of baby greens, jicama chips, mango, ancho-citrus vinaigrette, is a tasty reflection of this. (Farther away from the casita village is the brand new Bourbon Steak restaurant of celebrity Chef Michael Mina.) For breakfast, order room service and enjoy it in front of your casita fireplace, or sit out on your patio. If you are a tea drinker, this (as far as I know) is the only place in all of Arizona you can get a pot of real freshly brewed tea.
Be sure to visit the adopted desert tortoise, who has his own private little abode just steps from the Plaza. He is shy but sometimes comes out of his burrow to have a look around. The resort works in partnership with the Arizona Game and Fish Department to care for the tortoise.
Fairmont’s Scottsdale Princess is the kind of place that makes you feel good and where everybody really does know your name. When asked how they remember everybody’s name when there were hundreds of people at the resort at any one time, the concierge smiled and said, “It’s just something we do.” For information: www.fairmont.com/scottsdale.
 On the other side of Scottsdale, your luxurious hideaway is in a low-rise building located away from The Phoenician’s main resort buildings. When you enter the marble lobby with its two-story ceiling, floral arrangements and elegant furnishings and art, the sense of grandeur complements the view of Camelback Mountain and the beautiful desert gardens seen through the tall glass doors at the other end of the lobby.
The one and two bedroom Canyon Suites are decorated with contemporary furnishings of dark wood and desert shades of beige, greens, and light blue upholstery and carpeting. In addition to the living room and bedrooms, there is a dining room and a guest bath in the larger suites. Plasma TV screens are found in both living and bedrooms. Sliding glass doors line one wall overlooking a patio with wicker lounges and view of the garden and pool. (Some suites overlook the golf course.) If you are there fo r business, you’ll find an ample desk with printer, fax, wireless, scanner; all you need right in your suite. You can choose from 40 one- or two- bedroom suites or 20 standard rooms. Meeting facilities are also available in the building.
Here, too, you have a smaller, more private pool. Someone will mysteriously appear with a bottle of chilled water as you relax on a chaise or in a cabana. While you stay in your Canyon Suite, your personal concierge (called an ambassador here) will park your car, draw your bath, bring your morning newspaper, coffee or tea (alas, it will be only a tea bag here). A chauffeured  Mercedes awaits to take you to other parts of the resort, but try to resist this because it is fun to walk around this extensive and beautifully landscaped resort.
A terrific amenity at Canyon Suites is the afternoon wine tasting in the lobby. The Phoenician boasts a fabulous collection of 45,000 bottles of wine (the wine cellar is mind-boggling). Greg Tresner, one of the few master sommelier’s in the country oversees this collection and works with the wine steward to select the afternoon’s samplings, which are offered with some light canapés. You may be introduced to a lovely 1996 Kumeu River chardonnay from New Zealand, or a 2005 Emeritus Pinot Noir from the Russian River Valley. You can chat with the wine steward, relax by the fireplace, or take your wine back to your room.
Until recently, The Phoenician was home to the 5-star Mary Elaine’s restaurant, but this is being replaced by a yet unnamed high end restaurant. (Rumor has it that celebrity chef Jean Georges is involved). For information: www.canyonsuites.com
This kind of personal care and privacy you find within these two resorts is difficult to leave. And so is the perfect climate and many attractions of Scottsdale.
© June 2008 LuxuryWeb Magazine. All rights reserved.
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