When the Sydell Group in New York announced last year that it had purchased a hotel property in Scottsdale, Manhattan could probably hear the squeals of delight coming from New Times' Phoenix office.
Sydell owns the New York and Palm Springs properties managed by the Ace Hotel chain -- the gold standard of boutique (read: funky, affordable, cool) hotels -- and we loved the thought of having our own Ace in Scottsdale. (Sydell's also behind the buildings Ace manages in Palm Springs and Manhattan, and Ace has two more locations in Portland and Seattle that operate in buildings not owned by Sydell.)
Alas, it was just an idea.
Sydell was horrified at the suggestion -- no, no, no, we were told, this property would not be an Ace. Last week we got a tour, and while the place has its charms (mostly thanks to Iron Chef Jose Garces, more on that in a minute) Sydell was right: The Saguaro is no Ace.
