Tucson

Tequila Tasting in Springtime

There's something about springtime -- maybe it's all the allergens in the air -- that puts me in the mood for tequila.

It has nothing to do with any memories of a raucous margarita-filled spring break, for as regular Luxist readers well know, this blue-agave spirit is a lot more refined than that. When you drink a premium tequila, you don't need salt or a lime, just a contemplative mindset while you sip.

One great place to do a compare-and-contrast of over 100 tequilas is Salud, the lobby bar at the JW Marriott Star Pass in low-allergen Tucson, pictured above. "Lobby bar" sounds a bit dreary, this bar actually leads onto a wide deck, with fire pits and a view of the Sonoran desert. Get a snifter from $9 to $26, and perhaps kick it off with a tequila toast every night at 5:30, which is complimentary to hotel guests.

(My trip to Tucson was sponsored by Visit Tucson, and my opinions, as always, are 100% my own.)

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Tags: jw marriott, jw marriott star pass, salud, tequila, Tucson, Tucson Arizona

The Villas at Miraval

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates

Yesterday my colleague Alison Stein Wellner mentioned Miraval as a great place to follow through on those possibly forgotten New Year's resolutions but you can also make your destressing a bit more permanent. Four of 16 two- and three-bedroom villas remain up for sale at the Villas at Miraval, a half hour from Tucson, Arizona. The Villas at Miraval are modern homes with beautiful mountain views but the main selling point is access to the world-renowned Miraval Spa and other world-class amenities and programs. There were 16 villas total but now just four remain available for sale. The first 12 were sold the first year.

Currently for sale are two, two-bedroom villas with 2,729 square feet of interior and 2,281 square feet of outdoor living space and two, three-bedroom villas, spanning 3,095 square feet of interior living and 3,187 square feet of outdoor living space. Prices range from $2.25 million to $3.4 million. Each villa is LEED Silver-certified by the U.S. Green Building Council. The villas use naturally gorgeous materials like stone, cedar and hickory wood. Each villa has a water-featured private courtyard, fireplace, hot tub, Viking 41 grill, single-family-sized spa pool and steam shower. Interiors have floor-to-ceiling windows, gourmet kitchens with Sub Zero under-counter wine storage, Thermador Freedom refrigerators and dishwashers, and master bathrooms with steam showers. The villas are meant to be turnkey second homes and are furnished including local artwork, special window treatments, facades, appliances and fixtures selected by New York-based award-winning spa designer Clodagh Design.

Each villa owner pays an annual fee for unlimited access to all resort programs and amenities, common area maintenance and property management, housekeeping service, roundtrip transportation to and from Tucson International Airport and a 20 percent discount on spa services, meals and retail purchases. A dedicated villas manager and concierge staff are available to assist homeowners with all their needs and requests for a total no-stress experience.

Gallery: The Villas at Miraval

Tags: arizona, real estate, RealEstate, tucson, villas at miraval, VillasAtMiraval

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Five-Diamond Restaurant Closes Down In Arizona

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

The lack of interest in fine dining has doomed the fancy fare in Tucson. The Arizona Daily Star reports that Tucson's only five-diamond restaurant, the upscale Ventana Room at Loews Ventana Canyon Resort, has closed. The restaurant had closed for the summer as it usually does but now won't reopen. The resort's public relations director said that people prefer the gourmet comfort food to dress-up dining. The elegant restaurant was on the top floor of the hotel. Earlier this year prices were reduced and the requirement that gentlemen wear coats was dropped but it was not enough to stop diners from migrating to the more casual dining experiences available at the resort.

The Ventana Room served entrees including seared New England diver scallops with salsify and artichoke barigoule, Alaskan black cod with caramelized green apple, parsnip puree and currant balsamic reduction and Australian Wagyu beef tenderloin with Tohono O'odham white tepary beans and pomegranate port reduction. The Ventana room space will be converted to high-end meeting and banquet space for parties and special events. There is now only one five-diamond restaurant open in Arizona, Kai, at the Wild Horse Pass in Chandler, Arizona.

Gallery: Restaurant Woes

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Tags: arizona, fine dining, FineDining, gourmet fare, GourmetFare, restaurants, tucson, ventana room, VentanaRoom

The New Ritz-Carlton, Dove Mountain in Arizona

by Paul Rogers (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Sports, Real Estate Developments

Tiger Woods, just back from knee surgery, and Rory McIlroy, a teenage phenom from Northern Ireland, weren't the only ones making a high-profile return or debut on the PGA Tour this week at the Accenture Match Play Championship. The cactus-studded course on which the tournament is being played, Ritz-Carlton Golf Club, Dove Mountain, is brand new. It's the centerpiece of a Ritz-Carlton resort and residential community in the Tucson suburb of Marana, Ariz., that's scheduled to open in the fall. The desert setting -- a saguaro forest shadowed by the Tortolita Mountains -- is picturesque. The pros may be grumbling about the slow putting surfaces on the Jack Nicklaus-designed layout (above) but certainly not the scenery.

The Ritz-Carlton, Dove Mountain is to include a 250-room resort and 450 home sites spread across 850 acres (roughly the size of New York's Central Park). It will be the largest Ritz-Carlton project in the country. Guests will have access to 20 miles of hiking trails plus routes for mountain biking and Jeep tours. A limited number of golf vacation packages can be reserved now at www.ritzcarlton.com/dovemountain.

In terms of real estate, charter memberships bestowing special discounts on property and services are being offered to the first 25 buyers. The benefits include, among other things, up to $175,000 off the price of a pre-designed custom home; 20 percent off the cost of a custom estate home site; free membership at the golf club ($125,000 value); and tens of thousands of dollars in credits that can be applied to costs such as home upgrades, hotel and spa charges and the purchase of a "neighborhood electric vehicle." For full details, see www.theresidencesdovemountain.com.

Gallery: The New Ritz-Carlton, Dove Mountain in Arizona

Rendering of Ritz-Carlton, Dove Mountain

Tags: Arizona, Dove Mountain, Jack Nicklaus, Marana, Ritz-Carlton, Tucson

Tucson Home For Auction, Estate of the Day

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Estates

Another high-end home is being auctioned off in Arizona. This 5,100-square-foot home was built by Chicago architect Jack Moses and was the market at $2 million but is now being auctioned off by Sheldon Good. The home has two master suites, mahogany floors and a rooftop observatory. The home is located in the gated community of Mountain Cove Estates in Tucson and is on 1.13 acres. The home is 5,370 square feet of living space with five bedrooms plus study and four and a half baths and a natural wood burning with gas connection fireplace is located in the living room. To buy this home show up at on June 19th at the Hilton Tucson El Conquistador at 6pm with a certified or cashier's check for $85,000. The minimum bid is $1.399 million.

Gallery: Tuscon Auction

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Tags: arizona, auction, estate of the day, EstateOfTheDay, real estate, tucson

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Stogie & Vine

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Cigars, Wine

A new wine and cigar bar has opened in the growing town of Tucson, Arizona. Stogie & Vine offers a 1,000-bottle wine cellar, a large selection of scotch and a retail humidor as well as a 2,000 square foot lounge. Private lockers are also available to store cigars. Because the store is also expected to be a place to do business there will be a copier, a fax machine and wireless internet. The club's modern and bright decor is meant to appeal to both men and women and they plan to offer a wide variety of wine, whisky and cigar tasting events.

[via Arizona Daily Star]

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Tags: arizona, cigar bar, cigars, tucson