ARIZONA TO A TEE
Arizona To A Tee - Luxury Travel Magazine
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Arizona To A Tee | |||||
| By: Jenny Caspersonn, Issue 17 – Summer 2004 | |||||
| (The Four Seasons Scottsdale, Arizona, Sonoran Desert, Troon North Golf Club) | |||||
| IF GOLF IS YOUR BAG, THE DESERT-FRINGED COURSES OF THE FOUR SEASONS SCOTTSDALE AND PHOENICIAN WILL PUT YOU ON A FAIRWAY TO HEAVEN. | |||||
| Like a reptile basking in the winter sunshine, The Four Seasons Scottsdale lies low and unassuming in Arizona’s Sonoran Desert. Sleek and serene, elegant and understated, this low-rise, earthen-coloured adobe oasis is a secluded, exclusive retreat. The resort nestles below Pinnacle Peak, which movie buffs may recall as the location for the Coen Brothers’ early film Raising Arizona. The Four Seasons Scottsdale is a firm favourite of the world’s golf elite and America’s wealthy east-coasters seeking respite from the freezing and humid extremes in the dry warmth of Arizona. Bill Clinton, Colin Powell and one Middle Eastern diplomat, with his small army of swarthy, black-suited security guards speaking sideways to cacti, are among the many who have come here to relax, hide away and play golf at the legendary Troon North Golf Club. Troon North is made up of the Pinnacle Course, Tom Weiskopf’s 1995 sequel to the Monument Course, his previous desert jewel that was rated number one in Arizona by Golf Magazine. The two courses form part of the worldwide Troon Golf stable and mere mention of a round here raises an impressed eyebrow. Just a dusty boulder’s toss from the resort, Troon North is challenging, the setting breathtaking. The lush fairways and carpet-like greens resemble bright green paint spilled from a tin against the barren desert. Towering, pock-marked saguaro cacti bear the scars of balls smacked at high speed into their spiny flesh. The course is encircled by exclusive ranch-style homes, where a recent sale had a price tag of US$4.8 million. With membership costing a cool US$75,000, it’s not surprising there are only 150 members. As well as the exceptional golf experience, the resort’s vast Spa and Fitness Centre boasts 14 treatment rooms but golf is even a theme here with the heavenly 80-minute golf specialty massage (think warm golf balls rolled along the muscles of the spine and neck) and golf Pilates classes on offer. There are steam and sauna facilities, complimentary spa fitness classes, and a wide variety of muscle-soothing treatments and massages after a day on the fairways. Don’t miss the knockout panoramic desert sunsets from the fully equipped exercise room; impressive tennis facilities with floodlit championship courts and an enormous cascading lagoon-style pool complete the total resort package. The ever-obliging staff is only a glance away to provide chilled towels, Evian spritzes, and frozen fruit for that cooling touch. The 210 guest rooms or ‘casitas’ all have gas-burning fireplaces and some feature private plunge pools and outside showers. The décor is south-west USA – white-washed walls and a proliferation of timber and stone. Resort dining includes the Mexican-inspired Saguaro Blossom poolside restaurant and Crescent Moon Terrace with its Italian specialties. Acacia steakhouse, however, is the signature dining experience. As steakhouses go, this is definitely the glam end of town. Here, desert meets dollars with its rich stone colours, broad timber beams and Native American carpets. The feel is earthy and inviting – Acacia is famous for its rib-eye steak and does not disappoint. While Australians can be justifiably choosy when it comes to steak, the 28-day, dry-aged Angus beef is to-die-for. For a complete change of pace, wander down the road to Greasewood Flat, an old timber shack with authentic horse-hitching posts, loads of atmosphere, a jukebox with a ‘no rap’ sign, that serves great burgers and beer. The allure of Four Seasons Scottsdale is its remoteness. Come here to stay, play and get away. With a 20-minute drive to downtown Scottsdale and 40 minutes to Phoenix Airport, adventures beyond the resort will require a rental car but a little effort is well rewarded, such as a day trip to nearby Sedona where scores of Hollywood Westerns were filmed, including Jimmy Stewart’s famous Broken Arrow. Bouncing around in a jeep tour of the breathtaking canyon terrain, you can almost hear the thundering hooves and war cries as the Injuns come riding through the pass. Sedona is two hours’ drive from Scottsdale, passing by signs to Little Squaw Creek, Dry Beaver and Black Canyon City. Once you sort through the initial barricade of tourist merchandise, the delightful Sedona reveals a thriving cultural heart awash with Native American artefacts and a Byron Bay-like lure of alternative lifestyles. Sunrise at The Phoenician Scottsdale and a big day is dawning: 7am heralds the complimentary ‘nature’s gym class’ outdoor fitness program; 8:30am an 80-minute Botanical Radiance and Esthebuste facial at the Centre for Well-Being; 11am brings a meditation session; 2pm is tee time for 18 holes of the Oasis/Canyon Courses; 8pm is dinner at Mary Elaine’s. In fact, just about everything about The Phoenician is big. This imposing, iconic Arizona resort occupies a lush stretch of land at the base of Camelback Mountain, about 13km from Phoenix Airport. Alongside 645 super-spacious guest rooms and suites, there are nine restaurants, nine swimming pools, a massive spa complex, magnificent 12-court championship tennis centre, a 27-hole championship golf course, and US$8 million worth of fine artworks and antiques. There’s even a cactus garden for that extra touch of desert dreaming. The Phoenician opened in 1988, its rocky road to completion causing some corporate casualties as its original owners spent big to create the world’s most opulent resort-hotel. Now safely part of Starwood’s exclusive Luxury Collection, The Phoenician is borderline glitz with twinkling chandeliers, travertine and tinkling pianos. It has the cheery confidence of having the biggest and the best on offer and its upbeat feel will win over the most critical of stylemeisters. At the extraordinary Centre for Well-Being, my Estebuste treatment soothed away any aches with ingredients from the fruit of a sacred West African tree. Here at the spa, with its Mediterranean-themed décor, the 24 treatment rooms, sauna and steam rooms are built around an airy central atrium where windows frame the boulders of Camelback Mountain. Meditation sessions take place around a palm-fringed, Moroccan-tiled fountain. Phoenician golf offers three courses: Canyon, Desert and Oasis. Water abounds to challenge and ensure accuracy or suffer very damp consequences. Each course is immaculately groomed with the greens true and lightning-fast, ‘like putting on linoleum’ as one local observed. Searching for a wayward ball is not for the faint-hearted; the unique desert rule affords a one-shot penalty for a fairway drop to avoid rattlesnake confrontations. Needless to say, desert rule compliance is high. Mary Elaine’s, The Phoenician’s fine dining restaurant, and one of only a handful of US restaurants to earn 5 Diamond status, is renowned for its European elegance, inspired modern French menus, razor-sharp staff, and an astonishing cellar boasting 44,000 bottles of wine. The Phoenician’s central location enables a quick cab ride to Old Town Scottsdale and the impressive fashion shopping precincts. Frank Lloyd Wright’s desert masterpiece, Taliesin West, which still operates as an architectural educational facility, is a must-see. If too much golf is not enough, The Phoenician is close to a multitude of courses in and around Scottsdale. Notwithstanding the grandness of The Phoenician and its vast facilities, the staff ensure that long-lost-relative feel. Whether taking traditional afternoon tea in the lobby bar or the popular Sunday brunch in the breakfast room, genuine warmth and hospitality at The Phoenician come in big desert doses. | |||||
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