The Arizona Biltmore, LXR Hotels & Resorts, is having a big 2024.

This year, the hotel is celebrating its 95th year in business. London-based private equity real estate manager Henderson Park recently bought the resort for $705 million.

The 705-room resort in Phoenix, Arizona, opened Feb. 23, 1923, and has changed hands several times through its history and grown beyond its original design. Its location, amenities and architectural history have made it a highly desired destination for celebrities, U.S. presidents and people looking to escape winter weather.

The Arizona Biltmore is a large resort with nine different buildings, but its design makes sure guests never feel as though they're in a big hotel, General Manager Michael Hoffmann said. There's more of a neighborhood feel to the resort.

"You know that you're in the Paradise neighborhood or you're in the Cottage neighborhood," he said. "Every area in the hotel is almost like a little independent subdivision. It has its own little personality."

Depending on the purpose of their stay, guests can explore the resort and find the right spot, he said.

"All these little nuggets really help us cater to a very diverse customer base and provide people with what they're looking for," he said.

The Arizona Biltmore is an amazing architectural landmark in the hospitality industry, Hoffmann said. In 1910, brothers Warren and Charles McArthur moved from Chicago to Phoenix and fell in love with the area. Their initial business was taking people on tours of landmarks, including the Grand Canyon, in a truck followed by a supply car known as the Wonderbus.

“They fell in love with the landscape,” Hoffmann said. “They fell in love with the Grand Canyon, and they said, ‘You know what, we're going to build a place for all these Midwesterners to come out in the winter and experience the desert. We're going to build this resort and it's going to be a landmark.'”

By the 1920s, Warren and Charles called on their older brother, Albert Chase McArthur, to design the hotel. Albert Chase McArthur had worked with architect Frank Lloyd Wright earlier in his career, so Wright had a strong influence in the design of the Arizona Biltmore.

This is where the textile blocks come into place, Hoffmann said. There are 38 different designs of blocks, and they are used throughout the property. Some of the blocks have cutouts, and the angles in the designs help with the heating and cooling of the hotel depending on the time of year.

“Most of these blocks that are cut out are on the lower level on one side of the building and on the higher level on the other, so you get the natural air conditioning that kind of goes through,” he said.

Another architectural influence can be found in the design principal of contract and release, Hoffmann said. The entry areas of the hotel have lower ceilings so that when guests move into the buildings, particularly the lobby, everything opens up and they feel they have arrived.

There’s a significant number of people who come to stay at the hotel because of its Frank Lloyd Wright-influenced architecture, he said. They make it clear that while Wright consulted on the hotel’s design, it was Albert Chase McArthur who designed it, and the two had some different ideas on how to build it.

Construction of the Arizona Biltmore started in 1928, and it was finished in less than a year for just under $1 million, Hoffmann said. The hotel opened Feb. 23, 1929, with a three-day-long celebration.

The Arizona Biltmore was originally a destination for people from the Midwest, Hoffmann said. It would later become a popular stay for movie stars and other celebrities. The hotel has hosted every U.S. president since it opened until former President Barack Obama, who chose the Royal Palms Resort and Spa in Phoenix because the Arizona Biltmore was the favorite of presidential rival Sen. John McCain, and they could not stay at the same property.

The hotel is 18 miles from downtown Phoenix, giving hotel staff enough time during Prohibition to give warning when the police were headed toward the property, he said. It had a manned spotlight that shined toward the city, which they used to help people find the hotel. The person in charge of the spotlight would watch for headlights headed toward the hotel, and if there were more than two pairs of headlights coming, it was likely the police coming to do a raid.

On the backside of the interior courtyard of the hotel, there’s a room with a glass roof, so the person running the spotlight would swing it around and flash it at the roof to warn those inside the police were coming, he said. There was a door that was camouflaged, allowing people to exit secretly into the gardens.

“Nobody ever got caught at the Biltmore with an alcoholic beverage,” he said.

To celebrate the hotel’s 95th anniversary, the Arizona Biltmore hosted a big party in February, Hoffmann said. It also reissued its history book, titled "Jewel of the Desert” after the hotel’s nickname, as well as embellished the property’s own history tours. All history tours end with a tequila sunrise, the drink created by Arizona Biltmore bartender Gene Sulit in the late 1930s.

The hotel held a competition that sought stories from past guests to win a stay valued at $1,929, he said. There’s also a 1929 package in celebration of the anniversary that includes a history tour and signature tequila sunrise.

“It gives you access to all the areas in the hotel, and it’s become a best seller this year,” he said.

The Arizona Biltmore has more than 100,000 square feet of indoor meeting space with another 50,000 of outdoor space, Hoffmann said. It’s a destination resort with a strong incentive group component. With its recent renovations, which included a new waterslide, new swimming pools and outdoor bar, the Spire Bar, there’s been an increase in transient demand. The mix has evolved from 65% group and 35% transient to 45% group and 55% transient.

As the leisure component strengthened, it’s become a real focus for how the hotel operates, he said. There’s typical group business Sunday through Thursday with heavy leisure on the weekends, particularly in the summer months. The property is also a big staycation destination for families with kids.

Previously, the hotel’s Citrus Club was a normal executive lounge that required being in the lounge building to have access, he said.

“We’ve changed the concept, so all our suites have access to the Citrus Club,” he said, adding that cottages have access as well.

The cottages were originally built for the guests’ nannies, who stayed with the kids, along with their cooks and drivers while their employers stayed in the main building, Hoffmann said.

“That’s where the action was,” he said. “That’s where dinner was served. That’s where the parties happened.”

The cottages have been completely renovated to have more upscale accommodations with outdoor seating areas and fire pits, he said. They have spacious living and bedroom accommodations as well.

The recent renovation also added the Tierra Luna Spa & Sol Garden, Hoffmann said. Guests can have bespoke mud combinations using mud from different areas around the state. They can use a loofah from a homegrown loofah bush to scrub off the dried mud and exfoliate their skin.

The spa also offers halotherapy in a room lined with Himalayan salt that blows ground salt crystals into the air, he said. In about 25 minutes, the salt dust gives guests four days-worth of salty air they’d breathe in at a beach.

Along with the physical renovation, the Arizona Biltmore revamped its food-and-beverage offerings, Hoffmann said. The resort used to serve formal dinners with tuxedo-clad staff serving French-inspired cuisine.

“During the renovation, we completely flipped the concept, and it’s all about fire and smoke,” he said.

At 3 a.m. each day, two cooks fire up the smoker and the chefs throw on slabs of beef, fish, chicken and peppers to serve at one of the hotel’s restaurants, he said. The tequila drinks have lava salt on the rim of the glass, and smoke comes out as they open the glass cover over the drink.

“It’s become very popular with the locals,” he said. “It’s just different. We call it the South/Middle American-inspired fire and smoke cuisine.”

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