For the fifth year in a row, Mobil Travel Guides snubbed Scottsdale resorts. Mobil doled out its sought-after stars this week, handing five each to a combined 61 hotels, restaurants and spas in the United States and Canada. None are in Arizona.
Four Arizona hotels and three restaurants earned four sparklers each. So did six spas. All of the hotels, two of the restaurants and five of the spas are in the East Valley.
But while Kai at the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort on the Gila River Indian Community jumped to a four-star rank, eateries at the posh Hyatt and Four Seasons properties fell off the list.
Both have recently closed.
Vu at the Hyatt Regency Scottsdale at Gainey Ranch is being renovated. At the Four Seasons Scottsdale, former four-star restaurant Acacia closed and was replaced by Talavera, which opened this week.
Three of the East Valley's most elegant spa destinations - The Golden Door Spa at The Boulders in Carefree, Revive Spa at the JW Marriott Resort at Desert Ridge in Phoenix, and The Spa at Camelback Inn in Paradise Valley - also disappeared from the four-star list for 2008.
Mobil bestowed four stars on 125 hotels, 149 restaurants and 84 spas in the U.S. and Canada.
But while Mobil raters were less impressed with the Valley's offerings, visitors love the place, said Rachel Sacco, president of the Scottsdale Convention & Visitors Bureau.
"I am fielding calls left and right from people in our town for the Super Bowl," Sacco said.
Mobil four-star lodgings
• The Boulders Resort, Carefree
• Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale at Troon North
• The Phoenician, Phoenix
• The Ritz-Carlton, Phoenix
Mobil four-star restaurants
• Kai, Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort, Gila River Indian Community
• Mary Elaine’s, The Phoenician, Phoenix
• Ventana Room, Tucson
Mobil Four-Star Spas
• Alvadora Spa at Royal Palms Resort & Casitas, Phoenix
• The Centre for Well-Being at The Phoenician, Phoenix
• The Sanctuary Spa, Sanctuary Camelback Mountain, Paradise Valley
• The Spa at Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale at Troon North
• The Spa at the Omni Tucson National
• Willow Stream, The Spa at The Fairmont Scottsdale Princess Resort
