The resort at 7200 N Scottsdale Road went up in 1976. For nearly five decades it was the Scottsdale Plaza, a 404-room property on almost 40 acres of gardens with five pools, tennis courts and more than 50,000 square feet of event space, according to the 2024 sale announcement from Rockpoint and Highgate. If you've lived in Paradise Valley for a while, you have probably driven past it hundreds of times.
The property has had a new name since January 7, 2026, when Kimpton Miralina Resort & Villas Paradise Valley opened after what the opening announcement on PR Newswire called a $42 million reimagining by Trinity Investments and Partners Group. The resort isn't finished. The order of the work matters to anyone who lives nearby: the restaurant, the café, the main pools and the spa circuit opened first, and a neighbor can reach all of them without booking a room. The private wing is the part still under construction.
Two phases, and what each one built
The project is being done in two stages, which together make up what the resort calls a $70 million transformation, as KTAR reported in June. The $42 million figure covers the first phase only.
- Phase One, open since January 2026. This phase brought 224 redesigned guest rooms and 36 casitas, the signature restaurant Hecho Libre, Spa Miralina, six pools, a new glass-enclosed event space called the Horizon Pavilion, and a set of art installations across the grounds called the Desert Reveries.
- Phase Two, unveiling scheduled to begin in Q4 2026 with completion targeted for Q1 2027. This phase covers 134 renovated Valley Villas, The Enclave, a hotel-within-a-hotel with 10 private residences, refreshed meeting space, and Arizona's first Katsuya. At completion, the plan calls for 404 renovated keys and 22 indoor and outdoor event venues.
In September, the resort's press room announced that Dimitrios Bessis had been appointed to lead the final phase.
Most of the first phase serves anyone who walks in. Most of the second phase is rooms and residences.
Hecho Libre runs from morning coffee to Friday music
The restaurant comes from Chef Wes Avila, a James Beard Award finalist, in partnership with the hospitality group sbe. The opening release describes the menu as inspired by coastal Baja flavors and Sonoran ingredients, with wood-fired meats and seafood. ABC15 covered the opening in December 2025, a few weeks before the full resort debut.
Hecho Libre is set up to cover a whole day:
- Cafe Libre serves local Mexican pastries and a horchata cold-foam latte. The ResortPass listing shows its hours as 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily.
- The dining room serves breakfast, lunch and dinner every day and takes reservations through the Hecho Libre page.
- The bar focuses on agave spirits from small-batch Mexican producers, wines from Baja and Querétaro, and Arizona beers.
- Friday nights bring live music from 6 to 8 p.m.
Executive Chef Stephen Jones, a James Beard semifinalist with a long Arizona résumé, runs day-to-day food across the property, including Cima, the poolside bar.
The room has a local design story too. Saguez & Dash led the redesign, and a large textile installation called The Loom, by artist Mariella Motilla, runs through the lobby, the bar and the restaurant. Her design draws on the region's colors and contours. You'll see it on the way to your table.
The Canyon Pools are open by the day
The old Plaza had five pools, and the new resort has six. They are not all open to day visitors. The resort's pools and cabanas page makes the multi-tier Canyon Pools the central pool area and reserves the others for certain room categories. It sends day visitors to ResortPass for pool access and cabana bookings.
As of early November 2026, the ResortPass listing shows these starting prices:
- Day Pass, from $45. Access to three pools and a hot tub with Camelback Mountain views.
- Spa Pass, from $95. Adds Spa Miralina's outdoor dry sauna, hot tub and cold plunge circuit.
- Daybed, from $175. A shaded daybed for two with dedicated service.
- Standard Cabana, from $250. Seats four, with welcome refreshments.
- Family Cabana, from $350.
These are starting prices, and they can change by date.
For comparison, rooms started at $359 a night when the resort opened in January. That makes the $45 day pass a much cheaper way to use the property you've been driving past.
The spa adds another option. The Spa Miralina hydrotherapy page says the circuit can be booked as a standalone day pass, without a treatment. It runs two hours, includes Canyon Pool access, and is open to visitors 18 and older. If you want a treatment, the spa menu lists a Remineralizing Moor Mud Wrap at $379 for 80 minutes and a Dermaflash facial at $229 for 50 minutes. The spa has five treatment rooms. The opening release describes its signature scent as evoking petrichor, the smell of the desert after rain.
Some events are for guests only
Not everything on the calendar is open to the public. The November sound baths, called Miralina After Dark, are listed for November 18 and 19 at 5 p.m. and are marked exclusive to resort guests. The events calendar also lists Thursday yoga, Friday and Saturday group fitness, and the Friday music at Hecho Libre. The fall page promotes a painting workshop, stargazing with storytelling, and a mahjong lesson.
December is planned mostly around overnight guests. The "Desert Holiday Together" package on the holiday page requires a two-night stay and includes cocoa, children's stockings, an in-villa movie night, and family photos on select December weekends.
The Phase Two buildings follow the same pattern. In the June announcement covered by KTAR, Arash Azarbarzin, principal of the management company Highgate, described The Enclave as "a new luxury residential experience for guests who want privacy and service in equal measure." The villas and residences are being built for overnight guests.
Katsuya is the one Phase Two addition aimed at diners
The exception is Katsuya, a modern Japanese concept from sbe with sushi, sashimi, robata-grilled dishes and premium cuts. It will be the first Katsuya in Arizona. The restaurant's page on the resort site says "Opening Early 2027." KTAR wrote that the addition would make Miralina one of the only resorts in Paradise Valley with two distinct chef-driven restaurants.
When Katsuya opens, it will give the town another resort kitchen with a new team behind it. Omni Scottsdale Resort & Spa at Montelucia also has a new chef. The resort announced Richard Hinojosa as executive chef of its four-outlet culinary program in February 2026. In a March interview with PHOENIX magazine, he described overseeing four restaurants, including Prado, and planning gradual menu changes along with tasting and wine dinners.
Right now, Hecho Libre is the only one of Miralina's two planned restaurants that is open. It serves from 6 a.m. coffee to Friday evening music, and the Canyon Pools beside it are open to day visitors from $45.
Thinking about what a resort like this means for the homes nearby? Talk with Chad & Cara Dankberg. We're Arizona natives who follow Paradise Valley closely, and we can explain how changes like this one fit into the town, whether you're buying in Paradise Valley or getting ready to sell. Request a Selling Consultation and we'll go over it with you.
