Should i visit scottsdale

A new exhibition at the hotel, Erika Lynne Hanson: Future Ecologies , examines climate and ecology through a variety of formats. An alfresco garden shower is a must. Hit up acclaimed restaurant FnB , another local favorite with outdoor seating that focuses on locally grown vegetables. Sign up for the Daily Wander newsletter for expert travel inspiration and tips.

Read our privacy policy. AFAR Advisor. Beaches International Beaches Islands U. Beaches Water Sports. Cities We Love. Holiday Travel. Eat Like a Local. Seek Adventure. Stay Awhile. Play After Dark. Find Your Muse. Like Tweet. By local contributor JoAnne Zeterberg. When I visited recently, a number of young architecture students were busy drafting; none of them were using electric light.

Those windows also offer almost endless views of the desert—but you have to be sitting, working, to see those views and benefit from that inspiration.

Taliesin West attracted hundreds of aspiring architects to Scottsdale, and its status as a hub for mid-century modern devotees resulted in other great local examples of the style.

Varney and opened in Hotel Valley Ho has classic Wright elements: its dramatic lobby, meant to create an impact on those entering the building, the flowing segue to a restaurant and nightclub, the sense of gravitating away from the street and the automobile. In its original inception, the hotel was an epicenter of Hollywood and celebrity glamour; Marilyn Monroe, Cary Grant and Tony Curtis, among others, stayed there.

Robert Wagner and Natalie Wood hosted their wedding reception at the hotel. Substantially renovated in the early s, Hotel Valley Ho now is, simply, exquisite. It combines the intelligence and stratagems of mid-century modern architecture with the amenities of a four-star hotel.

Deserving of special mention is Arcosanti , a futuristic town designed by Italian architect and thinker Paolo Soleri, who spent a year and a half studying with Wright at Taliesin West and Taliesin East in Wisconsin. Soleri designed Arcosanti, which was commenced in and has evolved ever since, to maximize human interaction and minimize human impact on nature. But over the past decades, Scottsdale has taken some dramatic long-term steps toward sustainability.

One came when, in the early s, city leaders pushed to create the McDowell Sonoran Conservancy , a land trust that began acquiring land in the Sonoran Desert, which occupies some , square miles of Arizona, California and Mexico.

Voters supported a tax increase to help buy and preserve the land, and the McDowell Sonoran Preserve now occupies about 30, acres, making it the largest nature preserve in the country. A second major step came in the late s with the creation of the Scottsdale Water Campus, which is essentially a sewage treatment plant.

The Water Campus began as a reclamation plant to capture wastewater that previously had been sent to Phoenix for treatment; Scottsdale wanted to find a sustainable way to water its many golf courses. But the Water Campus soon reached a point where it could further treat already filtered water, bringing it to a level of cleanliness where it could be—and was—restored into aquifers hundreds of feet below the ground.

Scottsdale is home to Scottsdale Fashion Square, the largest shopping center in the Southwest. Downtown, the Fifth Avenue Shops feature a collection of eclectic, cowgirl-chic boutiques, jewelry design, apparel, and unique Southwestern gifts. Scottsdale would not be a first-class destination without the natural splendor of the Sonoran Desert. Scottsdale offers nearly miles of hiking, horseback-riding trails, and biking. Popular spots include Pinnacle Peak Park, Camelback Mountain, and the expansive McDowell Sonoran Preserve, which offers almost 20, acres of pristine desert readymade for your next outdoor adventure.

Follow 10Best Like 10Best. Patricia Escarcega: Scottsdale Local Expert Patricia says, Don't leave Phoenix without taking a scenic drive through South Mountain Park, a desert mountain preserve with panoramic views of the city. More About Patricia.

Old Town. Things to do in Scottsdale, AZ. Get Your Bearings in Scottsdale. Things to See Scottsdale's thriving art scene supports numerous highly rated museums.