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Scottsdale, Arizona for Beginners

Scottsdale offers a Frank Lloyd Wright fix and some excellent bars and restaurants.
By Felicity Loughrey.

Where to Stay

Hyatt Regency Scottsdale Resort and Spa at Gainey Ranch

7500 East Doubletree Road Ranch, Scottsdale, Arizona

http://scottsdale.hyatt.com

With views of the McDowell Mountains and the Sonoran Desert, the Hyatt Regency plays up to its dramatic location. Gainey Ranch is stunning at dusk when the palm trees around the hotel’s six pools are lit up and the desert sky softens.

Where to Shop

Kierland Commons

15205 N. Kierland Boulevard, Scottsdale, Arizona

www.kierlandcommons.com

Designed to resemble a main street shopping district, this open-air mall has water misters above the footpaths to cool shoppers as they step in and out of high-end fashion chains like Anthropologie, Coach and Banana Republic.

Fashion Square

7014-590 East Camelback Road, Scottsdale, Arizona

www.fashionsquare.com

Get your fix of Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Burberry and Salvatore Ferragamo here. There are more, ahem, democratic shopping choices too with Macys and America’s largest Dillards.

Where to Eat

Bloom

8877 North Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale, Arizona

www.foxrc.com

Only a short walk from the Hyatt Regency at Gainey Ranch, this restaurant serves New American cuisine in a chic setting. There are two rows of half-moon banquettes and a dark wood wine bar where locals gather.

Olive & Ivy

7135 East Camelback Road, Scottsdale, Arizona

www.foxrc.com

Part of the same restaurant group as Bloom, this outpost in downtown Scottsdale rocks an industrial opulent interior. Olive & Ivy is big and noisy but it has a kind of urban cool.

 

What to See

Taliesin West

Frank Lloyd Wright Boulevard, Scottsdale, Arizona

www.franklloydwright.org

In the foothills of the McDowell Mountains is Taliesin West, Frank Lloyd Wright’s winter home. The organic-design building is the headquarters for the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation and the winter campus for the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture. Closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

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