The Spread:
Guests are accommodated in 732 rooms and casitas with Westin's famed Heavenly Bed (ten layers of comfort starting with a custom pillow-top mattress set) and Bath (separate tub and shower, plus Brazilian-combed cotton bath sheets). When you tear yourself away from your room, experience the resort's pools, tennis courts, 27 holes of golf (recognized by Audubon's Cooperative Sanctuary Program), three- and

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five-mile running/walking routes, and eight restaurants. This is no cookie-cutter resort; the Westin Kierland is distinctly Southwestern and proudly celebrates Arizona's rich history and culture through displayed artwork and descriptive plaques. Nowhere is this more evident than in Agave, the resort's luxurious spa with treatments that derive from the surrounding desert.

Why Families Love It:
Tumbleweed Kids Club for ages four to 12 runs year-round (9 a.m. to 4 p.m., summers until 5 p.m., reservations required; half- and full days, $35 to $70). Activities range from computers and music to desert walks, air hockey, and pool parties. There are even Spanish lessons. Pumpkinville playground (a nod to one of the early suggested names for Phoenix) gives kids a place to play in the shade with parents or counselors. There's also a Kids Night Out program during major holidays (6 p.m. to 10 p.m., $35).

The 8,000-square-foot Adventure Water Park draws the big raves. Among its features are a zero-entry sandy beach, a 110-foot water slide, and a lazy river in which you float on tubes through a recreated Arizona landscape. Of course, there's a quiet pool retreat near the spa just for adults, too. While the spa is primarily for adults, it offers some "family-focused" treatments, including a teen facial and a combination manicure/pedicure.

Special Activities & Events:
From Memorial Day to Labor Day, roast s'mores every weekend in Dreamweaver's Canyon courtyard, and catch a "dive-in" movie on Friday and Saturday nights at the water park.