The Valley Ho Hotel in Scottsdale's old town arts area is listed on Scottsdale's Historic Register and is considered to be one of the best preserved mid-century hotels in America. If you've ever seen the old Hanna-Barbara animated TV show "The Jetsons", that will give you an idea of it's space-age charm.
Designed by Edward L. Varney, a student of Frank Lloyd Wright, it opened in 1956 and quickly drew movie stars and famous ball players as frequent guests. The Ramada hotel chain bought the property in 1973 and redecorated to cover up the old 1950's design which was seen at the time to be outdated. Ramada operated the hotel until 2001 but since it had lost it's popularity, they let the maintenance on the property slide downhill. It closed in 2001 and was headed for the wrecking ball until admirers of it's architecture rallied to save it.
In 2002 it was purchased by Westroc Hotels & Resorts and renovation continued until 2005. The hotel's original jet-age design was restored but with all the features that modern travelers expect. George Jetson would love the place.
Looks like an amazing place, a real step back in time... yet into the future too!
ReplyDeleteHow great that they restored it. My brother and I often lament the lack of respect that mid-century architecture gets. This is an unusually happy outcome!
ReplyDeletePhew! This hotel is like a cat with three lives Sharon :) had a look at the link, the rooms look fabulous.
ReplyDeleteIt certainly would be a bit dated today.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad it was saved. I remember seeing it. They did a nice job on the rooms. It looks like a nice place to stay.
ReplyDeleteI like the look of it.
ReplyDeleteI think I might actually remember the Jetsons. Had to Google of course and they look sort of familiar!
ReplyDeleteWent to the website, that's a rather cool hotel!
If George would love it, so would I! ;-)
ReplyDeleteI love it! I'm so glad it was saved. I also am a big fan of the Jetsons, which is why I named my Roomba after "Rosie".
ReplyDeleteGlad to see a once-famous place is making a comeback.
ReplyDeleteAnd it used to house the second coming of Trader Vic's. Last time I was there, SWMBO spotted Alice Cooper at a nearby table.
ReplyDeleteI love that place.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love it. It reminds me, not only of the Jetsons, but also of Howard Johnson's with the orange and turquoise.
ReplyDeleteSharon, I have been trying to post comments on your blog for about a year and haven't been able to. It looks like you have changed something and it just might work tonight!!!
Janis
GDP
So glad it is still up... My first experience with the United States happened here in 1981 while we stayed at the Valley Ho for a whole month! I still have the special smell in my memory of the palm trees outside the rooms a smell that I never experimented since or so slightly.
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