Scottsdale Guide

Kierland & Scottsdale Quarter: Shop and Eat First

Twelve minutes from the house, Kierland Commons and Scottsdale Quarter face each other across Scottsdale Road and together make the Valley’s best open-air shopping — Anthropologie to Apple, plus splash fountains the kids will find immediately.

The restaurant cluster here is the reason we send first-night guests: North Italia for handmade pasta (the short rib radiatori is the order), Mastro’s Ocean Club for a celebration dinner — get the warm butter cake even if you think you are full — and Dominick’s Steakhouse, one of the Valley’s top-rated steakhouses, for a rooftop-pool-deck dinner that feels like a movie scene. All three sit comfortably in the 4.5–4.7 star range on Google, and they earn it.

Old Town: Galleries by Day, Patios by Night

Old Town Scottsdale (~20 minutes) packs art galleries, the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, Western storefronts, and a hundred-plus bars and restaurants into a walkable square mile. Thursday night ArtWalk has been running for almost 50 years and is free.

Our dinner short-list: Citizen Public House (order the Original Chopped Salad — it has a cult following for a reason), The Mission for modern Latin and tableside guacamole, and FnB, whose vegetable-forward menu wins national attention. All three are consistently rated 4.5 stars or better. Make reservations on weekends — Old Town fills up fast in season.

Golf: The Main Event

TPC Scottsdale is 15 minutes away — yes, that TPC, home of the WM Phoenix Open and the rowdiest hole in golf, the par-3 16th. Both the Stadium and Champions courses are public; book the Stadium course 60–90 days out in peak season.

Grayhawk’s Raptor and Talon courses (~15 min) host NCAA championships, Troon North (~25 min) is the benchmark for high-desert target golf, and We-Ko-Pa’s Saguaro and Cholla courses (~30 min) play through pristine desert with no houses in sight. Closest of all: Wildfire Golf Club at the JW Marriott, five minutes from your door. Summer twilight rates across all of these are the Valley’s best-kept golf secret.

Spas and Resort Days

You do not need to stay at a resort to spend a day at one. The Boulders, the Phoenician, and the Fairmont Princess all sell spa day passes that include pool access — call ahead, especially March–May. Closer to the house, the JW Marriott Desert Ridge’s Revive Spa (5 minutes) does excellent massages and lets you spend the day at their lagoon pools with a treatment booking. It pairs dangerously well with a no-plans Sunday.

With Kids in Tow

OdySea Aquarium (~15 minutes) is the Southwest’s largest aquarium and shares a campus with Butterfly Wonderland — do both in one outing. McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park (~18 minutes) is a Scottsdale institution: rideable miniature trains, a carousel, and shaded playgrounds, all for pocket change.

In spring, catch a Cactus League game at Salt River Fields (~20 minutes), the prettiest spring-training ballpark in baseball — lawn tickets are cheap and kids can sprawl. And the splash pad at Desert Ridge Marketplace (5 minutes) has rescued many a 110-degree afternoon.

Mark Your Calendar

January: Barrett-Jackson, the world’s biggest collector-car auction, at WestWorld (~15 min). Late January–early February: the WM Phoenix Open — the biggest-attended golf tournament on earth — essentially next door; book the house early for this one. February–March: Cactus League spring training across the Valley. April: Scottsdale Culinary Festival. November: Canal Convergence light-art installations along the Scottsdale waterfront. December: holiday lights at the Princess resort’s Christmas at the Princess, a guest favorite.

Western Scottsdale, the Real Thing

Beneath the polish, Scottsdale still earns its “West’s Most Western Town” nickname. Western Spirit: Scottsdale’s Museum of the West (Old Town) is a Smithsonian affiliate with a stunning collection of cowboy and Native American art. MacDonald’s Ranch in north Scottsdale runs year-round trail rides through the saguaro forest — our guests’ favorite way to see the desert at a horse’s pace.

Go further: Cave Creek, twenty-five minutes north, keeps the frontier feel with saloons, barbecue and turquoise shops. The Horny Toad and Harold’s Cave Creek Corral have been feeding ranch hands and tourists side by side for fifty years.

Practical Notes From Your Hosts

Scottsdale Road is the spine — almost everything in this guide sits on or near it, so navigation is simple. Parking is free and easy at Kierland and Scottsdale Quarter; Old Town has free public garages (the Wells Fargo and Civic Center structures rarely fill before 8 PM). Rideshare from the house to Old Town runs a reasonable flat-ish fare and beats parking on a night out.

Reservations matter January through April: book dinner tables a week ahead and marquee tee times 60–90 days out. Summer flips the script — walk into almost anywhere, and the resort pools and spas sell day passes at their friendliest prices.