Arizona Biltmore has a long and storied history. Here's what to know about the resort

The Arizona Biltmore hotel and resort has hosted guests for nearly a century, opening its doors to Phoenix families, a string of presidents and icons of the big screen.

The storied resort debuted in 1929 with opening ceremonies that spanned three days. Following repeated renovations and a rotation of owners in the decades since, the resort complex near Missouri Avenue and 24th Street retains its ranking as a top hotel in the nation.

Presidential visits: Every American president since Herbert Hoover has stayed at the Arizona Biltmore Resort and Spa in Phoenix, except President Barack Obama.

Here's some history behind one of the Grand Canyon State's swankiest places to stay, from its architectural roots and secret rooms to its famous former guests.

New resort 'heralded' on opening day

Three days of ceremony marked the opening of the Arizona Biltmore, which Frank Lloyd Wright protégé Albert Chase McArthur designed. The hotel was built in textile-block slab construction developed by Wright, according to the hotel website.

The Arizona Republic, then called The Arizona Republican, declared in a headline: "Phoenix heralded around world as Biltmore opens today."

The keys to the hotel were dropped from an airplane and attached to a bouquet of roses. So many people planned to attend that the events were overbooked and about 200 refunds were given, the newspaper reported.

The original owners, the McArthur family, were replaced in 1930 by Chicago's Wrigley family, famous for chewing gum and the Cubs baseball team.

Years later, in 1941 and just after the Great Depression, the lure of the resort was still making headlines.

"Celebrities from the East come to escape snow-bound homes. Others prominent in the motion picture and entertainment world come from California to bask under constantly sunny skies in moderate temperatures," The Republic reported. "Industrialists, prominent political figures and social leaders have made the hotel their winter headquarters."

Arizona Biltmore draws high-profile guests

Celebrity guests included Irving Berlin, Fred Astaire, Bob Hope, Marilyn Monroe, Bing Crosby and others.

"Even a young John Fitzgerald Kennedy stayed there just after World War II, recovering from wartime injuries," the paper reported in 2004.

The hotel has drawn U.S. presidents, including every commander in chief from Herbert Hoover in 1932 to George W. Bush. Ronald and Nancy Reagan honeymooned there in 1952, long before he was elected president.

The ballrooms and restaurants are frequented by Arizona's political class, drawing recent visits from Vice President-elect JD Vance and failed gubernatorial and Senate candidate Kari Lake. In 2008, the late U.S. Sen. John McCain conceded the presidential race to Democrat Barack Obama there.

Early hotel was a popular winter destination

The resort's early years gave guests access to bridle trails, pools, tennis courts and rodeos as part of its winter programming. A speakeasy offered covert libations until the repeal of Prohibition made the secret room less necessary.

Once a winter-only destination for sunseekers, the hotel drew visitors year-round after the addition of air conditioning in the mid-1960s.

The hotel was nearly razed by a fire in 1973, leading to a rapid rebuilding effort. The owners at the time, the Talley family, sold the hotel in 1977, and it had five owners before 2004, according to the media reports.

Hotel purchased in 2024 for $705 million

The resort has more recently seen a cycle of corporate and foreign owners, who have made hundreds of millions of dollars of improvements. They added water slides, an adults-only pool and updated the guest rooms. They added a conference center and updated a gold-gilded room for hosting private events.

Henderson Park, a London-based private equity real estate management firm, purchased the hotel in January for $705 million, becoming at least the fifth owner in 25 years. It bought the resort from Blackstone Real Estate Group.

Blackstone Real Estate Group's BRE Hotels & Resorts purchased the Biltmore in 2018 for $403.4 million from the Singapore government's sovereign wealth fund GIC Private Limited. Blackstone is the world's largest private real estate equity firm. GIC acquired the hotel through bankruptcy proceedings.

The resort was previously owned by CNL Hospitality Properties, a real estate investment trust, according to the East Valley Tribune. Florida-based CNL acquired the hotel when it bought the property's former owner, KSL Resorts, in 2011 for over $2 billion in stock and debt assumption

KSL Resorts paid $335 million for the Biltmore in 2000, according to previous reporting by The Republic.

The resort's footprint today

The resort complex sits on 39 acres just south of the Phoenix Mountain Preserve. Its conference center and campus include over 70 potential meeting and event spaces, with the largest ballroom able to host thousands of people at one time. 

The hotel has 705 rooms, including dozens of cottages and villas. Its website says there are seven restaurants and bars on site, as well as seven swimming pools, two golf courses and a spa.  

To stay one night at the hotel can run over $1,000 in the winter season, not including fees, according to the hotel’s reservations website. In Arizona’s scalding summer months, rooms are roughly $250.  

Staff writers Michael Salerno and Catherine Reagor contributed reporting.

(This story has been updated to add photos.)

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona Biltmore has a long and storied history. Here's what to know about the resort