Old Town Scottsdale

Hotel Valley Ho

★★★★★

Hotel Valley Ho is the hotel that best captures Scottsdale's personality: stylish, sociable and a little bit Hollywood. It opened on December 20, 1956, designed by architect Edward L. Varney in the clean-lined midcentury modern style, and quickly became a winter playground for stars of the era — Bette Davis, Bing Crosby, Humphrey Bogart, Marilyn Monroe, Cary Grant and Tony Curtis among them, while Robert Wagner and Natalie Wood held their wedding reception here. Decline followed: the hotel became a Ramada in the 1970s, slid into disrepair and closed in 2001, and only a campaign to list it on the Scottsdale Historic Register saved it from demolition. New owners restored and expanded it, reopening exactly 49 years after the original debut, on December 20, 2005, and it is now a member of Historic Hotels of America and one of the best-loved hotels in Arizona. The 241 rooms and suites, in the original low-rise wings and a newer tower, mix retro color and furniture with up-to-date comfort, and many have balconies or patios facing the pool or the mountains. The pool is the social center, with cabanas, music and a lively crowd on weekends; ZuZu, the hotel's restaurant and lounge, serves updated American classics in a retro setting; and the hotel spa offers a calm counterpoint. The location is the trump card: on the western edge of Old Town, a short walk from Main Street galleries, Fifth Avenue shops, the canal waterfront and dozens of restaurants and bars.

Stay here if you want a hotel with personality and the freedom to walk to dinner. The design is a genuine pleasure — the angled roofs, breeze-block walls, and bold colors photograph beautifully — and the restoration was done with real care, so the retro touches feel authentic rather than themed. Rooms vary between the historic wings and the tower; the tower suites and upper floors offer views toward Camelback Mountain and the city lights, while the original-wing rooms close to the pool suit those who want to be in the middle of things.

Know the vibe before you book. On warm-weather weekends and during big events such as spring training and the Phoenix Open, the pool fills with a party crowd and music, which is exactly what some guests come for and exactly what others want to avoid. Midweek and in the cooler months the atmosphere is more relaxed. Families are welcome and children enjoy the pool, but the hotel's heart is adult and social; couples and friend groups are its sweet spot. Expect resort-style fees and peak-season pricing from January to April.

As a base, it covers most of a first Scottsdale trip on foot: ArtWalk on Thursday evenings, the Western Spirit museum, the canal waterfront and Fashion Square are all walkable, and Taliesin West, Camelback and the Arizona Boardwalk attractions are short drives away. If you want one hotel that feels unmistakably like Scottsdale, this is it.