Founded 1957 (1957) | Website www.sanctuaryaz.com | |
Headquarters 5700 East McDonald Dr. Paradise Valley, AZ 85253 Key people Allen + Philp Architects,
(architects)
Judith Testani,
(interior design) | ||
Sanctuary on Camelback Mountain is a privately owned resort and spa located in Paradise Valley, Arizona. The resort, which opened its doors in 2001, is located on 53 acres on the north face of Camelback Mountain. It has 105 mountain and spa casitas as well as a collection of private homes.
Contents
Sanctuary includes an Asian-inspired spa, the restaurant elements, and jade bar. Elements Executive Chef Beau MacMillan has been featured on several Food Network Channel shows including Iron Chef, Worst Cooks in America, and The Next Iron Chef. Jade Bar underwent a $2 million renovation in the summer of 2013, reopening in October 2013.
In 2015, the resort renovated a group of its guestrooms and re-introduced them as a new room category called the Camelback Casitas and Suites. Outdoor dining is available year-round on the elements dining deck, and a private dining room, XII, is open to the kitchen.
Spa
The Sanctuary Spa features 12 indoor and outdoor treatment rooms, a salon, a meditation garden, reflecting pond, vitality pools, Watsu pool, and a 25-yard lap pool. Its fitness center and movement studio hosts complimentary classes including Pilates, meditation, yoga, and fitness and nutrition consultations. The spa also offers a three- or four-day Satori Wellness Retreat, a destination spa program designed to jumpstart a healthier lifestyle.
Tennis
Originally a tennis ranch, the resort has five Deco-Turf championship tennis courts and offers daily tennis clinics.
Meeting space
More than 9,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor meeting and banquet space is available for groups of up to 200 guests. The largest, at 3,200 square feet, is The Views, a stand-alone building with a reception area that can serve as a ballroom or five smaller breakout rooms. The Vista Boardroom provides a location for smaller meetings or private dinner functions and accommodates up to 18 people. Two lawns and a garden terrace, totaling 5,500 square feet, accommodate outdoor events.
Awards
Sanctuary was named the number one resort in Arizona in Travel + Leisure's "500 Best Hotels in the World" in 2015 and the number one resort in the Southwest in Condé Nast Traveler's 2013 "Readers' Choice Awards". It has been a Condé Nast Traveler "Reader's Choice" winner since opening in 2001.
History
The property originally opened in 1957 as Paradise Valley Racquet Club, before its owners, actor John Ireland, actress Joanne Dru, Sydney Chaplin, and tennis legend Don Budge, sold the property to Russell Jackson and William O’Brien. Russell Jackson’s son, Vick Jackson, recruited tennis star John Gardiner as a consultant in 1967.
The Paradise Valley Racquet Club was renovated and renamed John Gardiner’s Tennis Ranch in 1970. Now both a resort and membership club, the property featured 41 casitas, 12 casas, and 21 tennis courts. John Gardiner’s Tennis Ranch started an annual Senator’s Cup, which included matches between Democratic and Republican senators with all the proceeds going to Hospice of the Valley. Gardiner sold his share in the resort in 1993. The resort went through several names before opening as Sanctuary on Camelback Mountain in 2001.