Why wealthy visitors cant get enough of Arizonas red-hot hotel scene

Sam Fox was five when his family moved from Chicago to Tucson in search of sunshine.At the time, the sleepy college town set against a picturesque mountain backdrop didn’t have much going for it.But in 1992, at age 20, Fox ditched school to follow in his restaurateur parents’ footsteps, opening Gilligan’s Bar and Grill, an island-themed restaurant with money raised from friends and family, previously earmarked for school tuition.

It was a decision that might have seemed foolish at the time, in the sleepy Arizona of yore — but not today.Over the next three decades, Fox grew his little grill into a restaurant empire.In 2019, he sold his company to the Cheesecake Factory for $440 million.

It was clear that Arizona was becoming a polestar destination, not just for sun-seekers, but for refugees from traffic- and crime-choked cities across the country.Today, the Grand Canyon State is a byword for approachable luxury living.“It’s just easy to live here,” said Fox.“You can afford a house.

You don’t have to have a 2-hour commute.The schools are decent.

It’s a major metropolitan city without the stress of LA.A lot of things are moving in the right direction.”Recently, the tragic Los Angeles wildfires, as well as sky-high housing prices and a rising crime rate, have driven an unprecedented number of Californians to cross the state line.That influx of new blood — 1 million people had already moved to the state between 2010 and 2023 — is supporting a hospitality boom.In late 2023, Fox opened his first hotel, the Global Ambassador (from $600 per night) in Phoenix — now, arguably Arizona’s finest hotel.Designed to resemble a Parisian apartment building, it weighs in with 141 rooms, five restaurants, a 9,000-square-foot fitness center and an 18,000-square-foot rooftop lounge (the largest in the state).For all of 2024, its members-only Global Ambassador Club, which requires a one-time initiation fee of $90,000 and monthly dues of $1,000, was the st...