May 14 2009
Travelers today are searching for vacations that offer more than just sandy beaches and sunshine. They are looking for experiences where they can discover firsthand a region's customs, traditions, cuisine, and music. With more Tribal Nations than other state in the country, Arizona offers visitors the opportunity to explore Native American culture in the most intimate and authentic of ways.Hotels and Resorts with a Native American Touch
The Moenkopi Legacy Inn is the first hotel to be built on Hopi tribal land in 50 years. Scheduled to open in September 2009, the Legacy Inn will feature 100 guestrooms including five uniquely designed suites, a salt water swimming pool, conference center and an outdoor performance plaza.
This project will create long-term employment opportunity for tribal members and the framing crew that is currently working seven days a week to build the hotel is more than 90% Native American. The hotel will offer, through authorized tour guides, private guided tours to Hopi villages including Oraibi, Sipaulovi, and Walpi as well as Dawa Park – a site with more than 10,000 rock art petroglyphs.
Open this past December, The VIEW Hotel is the first hotel to open inside Monument Valley and is the first hotel ever built on Navajo Tribal Park land, in the very first Tribal Park ever established. The VIEW Hotel is 100% family owned and operated by Armanda Ortega of the Kiy`anníí (Towering House) Clan. Every guestroom in the 90-room hotel has a view directly facing the iconic Mittens and the exterior of the hotel is from a color palate of the red earth that surrounds the area.
The hotel is an environmentally friendly design with a low contour that conforms to the mesa overlooking the valley. The VIEW goes beyond what have become standard eco-friendly building practices using low-flow water devices, extra insulation, windows with energy efficient values, and fluorescent lighting.
The Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort & Spa is Arizona’s only Native American-owned, GEOGreen designated luxury resort. The resort boasts 500 culturally-themed rooms, 36-holes of Troon® Golf, the Aji spa, Koli, an onsite equestrian center and the resort’s signature restaurant Kai.
Conveniently located 11 miles from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport on the Gila River Indian Community, the resort offers a recreational and inspirational experience never before available in a resort setting.
Aji, meaning “Sanctuary” in the Pima language, is one of two Arizona Native American spas and one of only seven spas in the state to earn the Mobil Four-Star Award. Aji offers the only truly authentic Native American spa menu in existence. The Indigenous Collection features treatments and activities designed and practiced by Aji’s Pima and Maricopa Cultural Care Takers.
Each cultural offering is subjected to an extensive approval process by Tribal Elders to ensure authenticity and respect of sacred doctrines. The ancient Pima and Maricopa cultures are also showcased throughout the spa in design elements, artwork, architecture and shared legends.
Guests staying at the Radisson Fort McDowell Resort and Casino on the lands of the Yavapai Nation should expect to encounter many traces of the Yavapai people in everything from their rooms to the resort’s artwork and china. The resort obtained its concrete from the Yavapai’s very own sand and gravel operation, and Yavapai elementary school children even created glass windows that are part of a mural inside Ahnala, the resort’s restaurant. Many different areas of the resort contain the pattern of traditional Yavapai basket weaves, including the resort’s china, wallpaper and carpet in the guestrooms.
