Canadians overcome the red tape in Scottsdale, AZ

Allan Henderson (left) runs the Best Western Sundial Scottsdale with partner Jude Nau

SCOTTSDALE, AZ—“You’d think that building a hotel in Banff National Park would involve lots of regulations, but they were nothing compared to Scottsdale.”  So says Allan Henderson, a third-generation hotelier who has Best Western properties in both places, as well as Calgary airport. 

Allan’s father, Bob and brother Lance run the 200-unit full-service Best Western Port of Call, which has banquet, bar and restaurant facilities. The 56-room Best Western Siding 29 Lodge in Banff is the last hotel Allan Henderson built before venturing into the U.S. market.

Henderson’s family has a history with the Scottsdale property.  His grandparents, Nelson and Audrey Busse, owned the hotel, sold it but took back the mortgage, and ended up holding it when the buyer went under. Left with a property in disrepair, they were very happy to have their grandson take over.

The Best Western Sundial Scottsdale is located on Camelback Road within walking distance of the Scottsdale Fashion Mall, perhaps the most upscale all in the U.S., and across the street from the W Hotel.

Shopping is important, Henderson said.  “Even in Banff with all its natural beauty, the first question people ask is, ‘where is the shopping?’”

Henderson has a vision of the area as “walkable urban”. A block away from the hotel, a one-mile straight stretch of The Arizona Canal crosses Camelback Road. “This could be one of the most desirable pedestrian walkways in the country,” he says.  Other nearby attractions include Camelback Mountain hiking, Old Town and the entertainment district.

But building in Scottsdale was not easy.  When the building process began several years ago, “We were the first redevelopment project in Scottsdale.  Our zoning number was 001.  We were naïve enough that we made the application ourselves – we probably should have hired a lawyer,” Henderson says.

Rezoning the property took two years. Traffic, soil and engineering studies took up another year before they could break ground. They had to take the plans for the envelope of the building to city council three or four times.

The hassles didn’t let up once the construction started.  They fired the first builder because he was trying to use substandard materials. After they hired the second builder, the bank went broke.  By then, the recession was well under way.  “We got another bank so that we could finish the hotel – I think we got the last bit of venture capital in the whole country,” Henderson says.

The original hotel was a one-storey, 22-room resort whose clientele were Canadian snowbirds seeking the Phoenix area’s mild winters and sunshine.  Henderson built the five-storey, 54-room Sundial on the exact footprint of the original building. The recently-opened building is Phase I of a two-phase project, with plans for underground parking and as many as eight floors on what is now the parking lot.

Metal manikin in the Best Western Sundial Scottsdale lobby was part of a promotion sponsored by Barneys New York.

The hotel features a pool and spa, breakfast room, board room and business centre.  The lunar sundial theme carries over into twelve rooms surrounding the sundial on the hotel driveway.  Each of these rooms is decorated to represent one sign of the Zodiac.

“We got a disk from the Getty Center [in Los Angeles]. We’ve reproduced the signs, and we’re printing horoscopes for each day,” Henderson says. “It’s starting to catch on.  People are calling in for birthdays, wanting to book their sign.  Several local people celebrating anniversaries have booked the rooms – it’s always a good sign when the locals will stay with you.”

But Canadians are still a very important part of the hotel’s business.  Albertans tend to head due south to Los Angeles, San Diego and Phoenix in the winter. Henderson cross promotes the Arizona hotel in his Canadian hotels.  “It works out well.  When Banff slows down, Scottsdale picks up.  We work the circuit as much as we can.”

And these days Canadians are in town buying second homes. “Our lobby recently looked like a closing centre for real estate deals – we had three different deals going on there.”

One interesting feature is the metal manikin in the lobby.  As part of a promotion, Barneys New York delivered 200 manikins to nearby businesses to celebrate its opening in the Scottsdale Fashion Mall.  They held a competition, asking the businesses to create their interpretation of fashion.  The manikins were all on display the day of the opening, and Best Western Sundial’s manikin came in 8th out of 200.  “We were quite happy, since we were competing against the likes of Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus,” Henderson says.