Phoenician Sunrise

Of all the hotels I've ever stayed at, The Phoenician, in Scottsdale, Arizona is my favorite. The first time I was in Phoenix, back in the mid 1990's, I had a drink on the deck of the hotel overlooking the pool. I fell in love with the place right there. But it wasn't until 2004 that I got to be a guest.

I was doing a workshop on co-dependency in Arizona and decided to end my trip with three nights at The Phoenician. My "problem" was that I couldn't decide if I wanted a mountain view room, a city view room, or a pool view room. A good problem to have, I admit. The first and only time I had been there, I had this image of what the lobby of the hotel looked out over, and that was the view I wanted from my room. For some reason, I had a hard time communicating that to the reservation specialists, probably because they didn't physically work at the hotel. The week or so before I arrived, I must have called back three or four times to change my room, because I had limited information and wasn't sure I was getting what I wanted.

The Friday I arrived at the hotel, it was late afternoon, my favorite time of day. I pulled into the hotel and headed to the front desk. After giving the front desk dude my name, I said, as I looked out through the gigantic wall of floor to ceiling windows in the lobby, "I've changed my room several times, but I know exactly what I want now. I want THIS view!", pointing out over the deck. He said, "Yes sir, that's a pool view". He then worked diligently to get me the room I wanted, on a high floor. I thanked him profusely.

From the moment I walked into The Phoenician, it's been a love affair. I hope to get back there and fool around with her again soon.