Phoenix, Arizona · Resort Five-Star · ★★★★★
The Phoenician
Two hundred and fifty acres on the slope of Camelback. Nine pools, twenty-seven holes, and a Forbes Five-Star spa carved into the mountain.
Two hundred and fifty acres on the slope of Camelback. Nine pools, twenty-seven holes, and a Forbes Five-Star spa carved into the mountain.
"Two hundred and fifty acres pinned against the side of Camelback Mountain. The most polished resort in Arizona, and after a $90 million renovation, the most quietly confident. Nine pools and you'll still find an empty chaise."
The Phoenician opened in 1988 as Charles Keating's most ambitious — and, in retrospect, most expensive — gesture: a 250-acre desert resort built into the southern slope of Camelback Mountain at a reported cost north of $300 million. The property survived the savings-and-loan scandal, several ownership transitions, and the steady evolution of Arizona luxury, and emerged on the other side as the most polished large-format resort in the Valley. The site itself is the argument: a private peninsula of mountain in the middle of Scottsdale, with the city laid out below and Camelback rising directly above.
A $90 million renovation completed in 2018 reset the property entirely. Rooms were stripped back to a softer Sonoran palette — bleached oak, travertine, linen, and brass — that finally lets the desert outside set the tone rather than competing with it. The lobby was rebuilt, the pool deck re-engineered into the stepped, multi-tier configuration that now defines the resort, and the spa elevated into a three-storey Centre for Well-Being that takes the property from "very good" to legitimately Forbes Five-Star. The renovation is the reason the Phoenician deserves its current rank rather than its old one.
There are 645 rooms and suites — a number that sounds large until you see the campus they sit inside. Casita-style buildings step down the hillside, suites occupy the upper floors of the main building with views straight across the Valley, and the new villas at the southern edge offer privacy approaching residential. The Canyon Suites — a 60-room boutique enclave within the larger property — function as a hotel-within-a-hotel for guests who want Phoenician scale with private check-in, a separate pool, and a smaller staff-to-guest ratio. For honeymoons and significant anniversaries, request a Mountain View Suite or a Canyon Suites king.
The amenities are the headline. Nine pools terrace down the hillside — including a mother-of-pearl-tiled signature pool that has been photographed roughly as often as Camelback itself. The 27-hole golf course winds through the lower campus and against the mountain edge. The Centre for Well-Being, three storeys of treatment rooms, hydrotherapy circuits, a meditation atrium, and outdoor relaxation gardens, is the most complete resort spa in Arizona. There is also a tennis garden, a kids' club, and enough space that even at full occupancy the property never reads as crowded.
Dining anchors the resort properly. J&G Steakhouse — Jean-Georges Vongerichten's longest-running American outpost — remains the resort's defining restaurant: a glassed-in dining room with a Camelback view, a wine list deeper than its surroundings suggest, and dry-aged steaks that justify the bill. Mowry & Cotton handles the casual end with a wood-fired room oriented to the pool deck, and The Center pulls double duty as breakfast spot and afternoon coffee bar. The property has hosted Super Bowl events, WWE Hall of Fame ceremonies, and the kind of corporate retreats that close half the resort — and somehow still feels like a private club to a couple staying for the weekend.
For a tenth or twenty-fifth anniversary, the Phoenician earns its rank through scale and finish. Book a Canyon Suites king for the private pool and quieter campus, dinner at J&G with a sunset window table, and a couples' suite at the Centre for Well-Being on the morning after. Returning guests are remembered properly — the front desk team carries an institutional memory that holds room preferences, dining choices, and previous arrival dates. Camelback at golden hour from a private terrace answers the question of how to mark the milestone.
A Phoenician honeymoon trades European drama for desert privacy, and the trade is generous. Request a Mountain View Suite, reserve the cabana at the signature pool for one of the afternoons, and let the concierge arrange a sunrise hike up Echo Canyon followed by breakfast at The Center. J&G handles the first-night dinner; Mowry & Cotton handles every other evening. The 250-acre property is large enough that a honeymooning couple can disappear into it for four days without ever encountering the conference crowd at the other end.
The Centre for Well-Being is the reason wellness travellers pick the Phoenician over the Biltmore. Three storeys, twenty-four treatment rooms, a hydrotherapy circuit, salt scrub showers, and a meditation atrium that opens onto a private courtyard. Build the stay around it: morning circuit class on the lawn, hydrotherapy mid-morning, a 90-minute desert-stone treatment in the afternoon, and a quiet dinner at J&G to close. For longer wellness stays, the spa builds bespoke multi-day programmes that integrate nutrition, movement, and treatment — booked through the Centre directly, not the standard concierge.
Rates checked May 2026. Price may vary by date.
The Phoenician is the most polished large-format resort in Arizona. Start with the right hotel, then let Camelback handle the rest.
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