|
|
If you don't want to go all the way to Venice for your wedding, you can still have it in (or by) a small gondola. No, I'm not talking about going to Las Vegas and having a faux Elvis serenade you, but going to the last place you'd expect to find a re-creation of Venice: Arizona.
There, you'll find the Hyatt Regency Scottsdale at Gainey Ranch, which is one of the best resorts in Scottsdale - quite an accomplishment considering the terrific hotels you'll find in this area. But the Hyatt went one step further by bringing over a few sandolos or small gondolas from Venice at the cost of $25,000 apiece.
Then, to add to the authenticity of the Venice experience in Scottsdale, they hired singers classically trained in Italian, who, for a small fee, will take you on a ride throughout the stunning 6-acre lagoon that encircles almost the entire hotel. Imagine the excitement of being on a real gondola (OK, sandolo) on a real canal (OK, it's a man made lagoon ) with real Italian singers (OK, so they're Russian). But it's still great.
Right next to the sandolo is something else that's quite unusual: a small but real sand beach with sand shipped in from Monterey. That's just one of the features of this spectacular 2 l/2 acre water playland, which has 10 pools, a water slide, and most of the resort's 28 fountains and 47 waterfalls. With its unusual lighting and striking statuary, you can imagine how beautiful the pools are when all lit up at night.
My favorite: surrounding all the pools on the manicured lawns are a number of large blue chaises, big enough for four people to sit in or two people to lie down in. They've got comfortable foam rubber seating, pillows, and a top you can put up for a bit of privacy.
Best of all: one of the pools is set slightly apart, and children aren't permitted. When I checked this place out over a Thanksgiving weekend, I was grateful for this adults-only pool, because this resort tends to entice a lot of families who are attracted to all their specialized family programming and children's camp.
The Arizona setting is certainly also an attraction. Set against the McDowell Mountains, this 27-acre 500-room flagship resort among the Hyatt properties certainly gives you the feeling of being in Arizona. Not only does it have that expensive ranch look, but also a native American Learning Center and Sculpture Garden, and International art collection with a heavy Southwestern flair.
The only place that doesn't seem to have a heavily Southwestern feel are the rooms, which are surprisingly under decorated. This led my husband to say: "The rooms are under decorated and the public spaces are over decorated." I didn't mind the latter, in fact I liked it because there was always something new and colorful (and Western) to see, but put up some colorful framed Southwest prints in the room, OK Hyatt?
At least in the rooms you can look outward, since they all have private balconies with outdoor seating overlooking one of the five lushly landscaped courtyards, the Gainey Ranch Golf Club, and the McDowell Mountains.
It's worth getting a room that's on their concierge level, which they call the Regency Club, because the private lounge serves a superb European style breakfast and tasty tapas at cocktail hour for free. (Drinks cost money)
Several evenings a week there's lively entertainment at the Lobby bar, such as the Native American Dancing with hoop dancing, or Journey of the Gypsies, serenading you with soulful Flamenco music from Spain.
HYATT REGENCY SCOTTSDALE RESORT AT GAINEY RANCH
Return to USA | Return to Home Page |
