Photo courtesy Aman Resorts

Breathtaking Views
Amangiri
1 Kayenta Road, Canyon Point Utah
435-675-3999, amanresorts.com

The address may be in Utah, but this spectacular, not-yet-two-year-old property is only a 25-minute drive to Page and Lake Powell. Yet it might as well be in another world, sequestered on a 600-acre expanse of desert wilderness that for centuries has been home only to the native Navajo and Hopi tribes.

As you descend the protected valley of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, you might not even see the resort at first. Its sleek box shape and sandy colors blend into the stratified rock, while even its shimmering turquoise pool (pictured) slips seamlessly into a massive boulder outcropping.

Most of the 34 secluded, ultra-luxury suites have floor-to-ceiling windows (even in the bathrooms) that look out on endless expanses of towering mesas and gaping canyons. Relax on the courtyards, which overlook the dunes of Studhorse Mesa, or retreat to private sky lounges for gazing at stars so brilliant they seem like crystals you could snatch with your hands.

Don’t want to make the scenic five-and-a-half hour drive from Phoenix? Commercial flight services out of Phoenix are operated by Great Lakes Aviation (greatlakesav.com), using Beechcraft 1900D turbo prop aircraft. Car service in a luxury Amangiri SUV (for a fee) is also available between the resort and Flagstaff or Phoenix.

Rates: Suites range from $950 to $3,500 per night (through June 14) and $1,000 to $3,600 (June 15 to December 31), but transfers from Page (Arizona) Municipal Airport are free.


Sunglow Ranch
14066 S. Sunglow Road, Pearce
520-824-3334, sunglowranch.com

Given second billing to the guidebook hotspots in the north, southeastern Arizona is content to be quietly spectacular, seen by the few adventurous souls who prefer to keep this corner undiscovered. Hikers come to ramble in remote canyons sentinelled by statuesque hoodoos, while horseback riders and mountain bikers set out through blond grasslands ringed by khaki mountains. 

In the midst of it all is Sunglow Ranch, set on 475 acres in the Chiricahua Mountains, with the 200,000-acre Coronado National Forest as its backyard. Remote yet inclusive, this ranch-meets-resort has everything you require for Sky Island stimulation: an on-site hiking trail, mountain bikes, canoes, fishing rods, bird books and binoculars, a bocce ball court, a telescope and a resident astronomer. (The resort also offers occasional Dinner & Stargazing nights; call for details.)

Thanks to newly installed A/C, this will be the first year Sunglow stays open through summer. Though, at 5,500 feet in elevation, cooler nights mean the spanking-new, solar-heated pool and hot tub will come in handy for swimsuited stargazing.

Rates: For July and August, there is a stay-one-night, get-the-second-half-price deal, including the amenities of Sunglow’s usual package: casita, three-course dinner for two and hearty breakfast for two daily. Rates range from $270 for single casitas to $320 for double occupancy in suites with three queen beds ($75 for each additional person).


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