Room Service: Fairmont Scottsdale Princess, Arizona

We were in Casita 5106. At the Fairmont, it isn't a case of "upstairs, turn left and your room's along the corridor madam". This is a "load up the golf buggy, hang on tight and off we go at a high-pitched screech through the resort" sort of place. Along with the key, and the running commentary, came a map.

The Fairmont Scottsdale Princess is an oasis in the desert; an almost-too-perfect village of terracotta adobe houses interspersed with huge pots of rich red geraniums, perfectly trimmed lawns and palm trees soaring out of stone-slabbed patios. The hotel soundtrack, music to the ears of desert-dwellers, is the tinkling and rushing of water; the percussion birdsong. The well-behaved and well-heeled guests, dressed in tennis whites and sun visors, seem to waft noiselessly down the paths through the grounds.

The Fairmont is, loosely speaking, in Scottsdale; a splodge in Arizona's Sonoran Desert or satellite of Phoenix's urban sprawl, depending on your viewpoint. There's so much space in Arizona that they don't build up, they build out.

The Fairmont is also, however, a destination in itself. Set in 450 irrigated acres, there are two Tournament Players Club golf courses (home of The Phoenix Open), four heated outdoor pools, seven tennis courts, six bars, four restaurants and a handful of boutiques. And a spa.

The recently opened Willow Stream Spa adds to the sense of piped well-being. Inspired by Arizona's Havasu Falls in the Grand Canyon, it's built on three levels, linked by waterfalls. The exterior is Spanish colonial, the interior a recreation of the desert landscape. On the Canyon level you can sit in a waterfall therapy pool as the water cascades over you. Surrounding the roof top, or Mesa, pool are private cabanas and a fireplace from where you can watch the sun set over the burnt red mountains beyond.

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION

The Fairmont Scottsdale Princess is at 7575 East Princess Drive, Scottsdale Arizona 85255 (001 480 585 4848, www.fairmont.com).

Time to international airport: it's 25 minutes by cab from Phoenix Sky Harbor airport.

ARE YOU LYING COMFORTABLY?

There are 650 guestrooms and suites. Our dusky pink casita was at one end of the property, overlooking the TPC golf course. We ate breakfast on the patio beneath the shredding eucalyptus, birds hopping onto the table. The suite was decorated in earthy tones, with a grey stone slab fireplace in the sitting room, wrought iron chandelier and carved wooden sideboard. The rustic, yet luxurious, bathroom had a cream tiled floor, walk-in open curved shower, large bath, separate toilet and dressing room.

Freebies: the usual toiletries, but you do get conditioner and body lotion too. Complimentary next day shoe shine and morning papers.

Keeping in touch: direct dial phones in every room (international calls cost a bomb). The business centre has internet access for $15 (£10) per half hour.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Standard rooms start at $159 (£109) a night while a Casita Suite costs from $319 (£219) per night.

I'm not paying that: The Days Inn Resort at 4710 North Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale (001 480 947 5411, www.daysinnscottsdale.com) has rooms from $69 (£47).