But inside the lobby a fire crackles, glasses clink and a piano tinkles. In the dining room Swiss chefs turn out crunchy Dungeness crab cakes and Black Angus New York steaks in carmelized onions and beer sauce. Downstairs, couples are churning away on bikes in the exercise room and guests are getting soothing massages featuring eucalyptus oil and caresses of warm, smooth rocks. Yes, rocks, and they produce relaxation like you've never felt. In the morning, you hear the thwack of tennis balls in the sunny courts, the splash of kids in the pool, and far down the valley, the faint snick of a golf ball being hit off the tee.
Mountain bikes stand ready.
Couples stroll down the road for an easy hike into the desert. No, this isn't Old Arizona. It's the new. For the old, there's the Hermosa Inn, on a quiet road between Scottsdale and Phoenix. Lon Megargee was a cowboy artist and by all accounts, a fun-loving fellow who loved to party.