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The Phoenician

Scottsdale, Arizona, United States · The Luxury Collection · High Luxury

The Phoenician: ExteriorThe Phoenician: ExteriorThe Phoenician: Grand Deluxe Room - Luxury Scottsdale Resort | The Phoenician

The Phoenician opened in 1988 on 250 acres at the western slopes of Camelback Mountain, one of the most extravagant resort debuts in Arizona history, and its mother-of-pearl-tiled pool became one of the most photographed hotel pools in America that year. A 165-foot cactus garden holds one of the world's largest private collections of the species, and a redesigned spa with a rooftop pool opened in 2018.

About The Phoenician

History

Before the Phoenician existed, the land at the base of Camelback Mountain had already hosted a century of Arizona hospitality in more intimate forms. In the early 1900s, a small frame house stood on the desert site, purchased by Jessie Benton Evans, a painter, who acquired forty surrounding acres and began renovating. Twelve of those acres passed to her son and daughter-in-law, who constructed a unique adobe house in 1926 and gradually expanded it to receive guests for tea, then for overnight stays. A young Hopi Indian boy gave the structure its name: Jokake, meaning "mud house." Jokake Inn became a cherished destination for visitors seeking the desert Southwest's particular brand of rustic elegance, and it still stands within the Phoenician's grounds today, a small landmark of the property's layered past.

In 1985, Charles Keating purchased the land with a vision of an entirely different scale and ambition: a multi-million dollar luxury resort that would display the elegance of Europe against the backdrop of one of the American Southwest's most dramatic landscapes. No expense was spared. The lobby floor was laid in white marble imported from Carrara, Italy. The ceilings were etched in twenty-four-karat gold. Eleven rare Steinway pianos were placed throughout the hallways, presidential suites, and lounges. Workers from the Island Kingdom of Tonga were brought in specifically to create the lush tropical landscape that would make Camelback Mountain's desert foothills bloom with manicured gardens, cascading pools, and flowering trees. The chosen site — 250 acres at what Keating identified as the most recognizable location in the Valley of the Sun — provided dramatic views of the Phoenix skyline against the Sonoran Desert.

The Phoenician opened in 1988 as one of the most extravagant resort debuts in Arizona history. Its arrival was not without controversy: Keating, whose Lincoln Savings and Loan would soon become the symbol of the S&L crisis of the late 1980s, was a polarizing figure, and after his financial empire collapsed, ITT Sheraton acquired the resort in 1994. The change in ownership marked the transition from a vanity project into a durable institution, and over the following decades the Phoenician established itself on merit — earning consistent Forbes Travel Guide recognition and building a reputation for service that outlasted the circumstances of its birth.

The resort's Canyon Suites building was completed in October 1996, occupying land that had previously been the Elizabeth Arden Maine Chance Day Spa. Following a $5.5 million renovation in 2007, Canyon Suites debuted as Arizona's only boutique resort within a resort — sixty rooms with a private infinity pool and chauffeur-driven luxury car service. In summer 2016, the Phoenician launched its largest renovation since opening: a three-year transformation of all 585 guestrooms and public areas. In 2018, the redesigned Phoenician Spa opened as a three-story facility with twenty-four treatment rooms and a rooftop pool, and Phil Smith reconfigured the golf course into eighteen holes of play. The result is a resort that has grown steadily more accomplished with each decade — the grand dame of desert luxury, still anchored by the long shadow of Camelback Mountain.

The setting

The Phoenician occupies 250 acres at 6000 East Camelback Road, where Camelback Mountain's western slopes meet Scottsdale's premier luxury corridor. The site has layered history: artist Jessie Benton Evans settled here in the early 1900s, and by 1926 an adobe guesthouse called Jokake Inn — named by a Hopi boy who called it "mud house" — welcomed high-society visitors. Financier Charles Keating later envisioned a world-class resort, importing Carrara marble and gilding the ceiling with 24-karat gold; the property opened in 1988 at over $300 million. Western Spirit: Scottsdale's Museum of the West is 28 minutes by transit and the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art 31 minutes away, placing guests at Arizona's luxury and cultural epicenter. 7.8 miles from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.

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