Royal Palms Resort and Spa

Royal Palms began in 1929 as the winter house of a New York family, a Spanish Colonial Revival mansion at the foot of Camelback Mountain, between Scottsdale and Phoenix. An avenue of tall palms leads to the door. Within the grounds, paths wind past courtyards, fountains and fireplaces, and past objects the first owners brought back from their travels, while deep colours and old rugs make it feel closer to a private house than to a resort. The 119 rooms, casitas, suites and villas run from Estate rooms with balconies and deep tubs to six freestanding villas with stone floors, fireplaces and private furnished patios set among the gardens. T. Cook's serves a Mediterranean menu that changes with the season, from breakfast through dinner, with private dining for up to 60, and a poolside café serves the cabanas. Alvadora Spa offers a full menu of treatments. The resort's nine acres also host weddings and meetings, and for all its calm it sits only about 20 minutes by car from Phoenix Sky Harbor, with downtown Scottsdale close by.