The Best Places to Stay and Do in Flagstaff

Each of the 40 rooms is a freestanding glass atrium on steel piers, so you wake up with red rock formations where the wall should be. Ambiente is an adults-only design hotel on three acres outside Sedona, built around the idea that the landscape is the amenity. A private rooftop fire pit comes with each room, which is the right call under these skies. The Velvet Spa and an on-site restaurant round things out. It holds two Michelin Keys.

Oak Creek runs right through the 11-acre property, which means the sound of moving water follows you nearly everywhere at this Forbes Four Star luxury resort in Sedona's Red Rock Country. Cottages, cliff-side suites, and lodge rooms all lean into the setting, with creek or red rock views depending on your luck. The rugged landscape does most of the decorating, which is a relief given how hard resort design usually tries.

The tape decks in the rooms come loaded with mix tapes, which tells you everything about how seriously this mid-century motor lodge on Route 66 takes its restoration. Swanky beds, good bathrooms, and a Nordic spa with a sauna and hot tub round out a motel stay that has shed all the original era's mass-produced feel. The on-site General Store doubles as a restaurant, turning out breakfast and Roman-style pizza.

Glamping tents pitched 25 minutes from the South Rim, close enough to feel the pull of one of the planet's great holes in the ground without actually sleeping in it. Under Canvas Grand Canyon is a luxury camping resort where the surroundings do most of the decorating. Hiking, biking, and rafting fill the days, and if the canyon floor is calling, guided mule rides go all the way down, which sounds romantic until you're on the mule.