Phoenix ยท Arcadia / Camelback corridor

Royal Palms Resort and Spa

Delos and Florence Cooke's 1929 Spanish Revival estate, an inn since 1948; ask for a historic casita, as later buildings date from 1981 and 1997.

Royal Palms Resort and Spa
Dale Cruse from San Francisco, CA, USA / CC BY 2.0
Built
1929Built 1926-1929 as El Vernadero, the winter estate of Delos and Florence Cooke; converted to an inn that opened February 1, 1948. Casitas were added in the 1950s; a two-story room building in 1981 and the Plaza building in 1997.
Style
Spanish Colonial Revival
Type
Resort
Rooms
119
Area
Arcadia / Camelback corridor
Credentials
Historic Hotels of America member

The story

New York financier Delos Willard Cooke and his wife Florence built El Vernadero, a 15-room Spanish Revival villa around a courtyard, on a former citrus grove; it was completed in 1929. After later owners (Wesley Travis of Pacific Greyhound, then John J. Ross), investors converted it to guest casitas and opened the Royal Palms Inn on February 1, 1948. Casitas were added through the 1950s, and celebrities appearing at the nearby Sombrero Playhouse stayed there. The Ungers restored it in 1996-97 and reopened it with the restaurant T. Cook’s; Hyatt acquired it in 2016 for The Unbound Collection.

Good to know

  • Address: 5200 E. Camelback Rd., Phoenix, AZ 85018
Sources (3)

Last verified October 2026. Details change; confirm with the inn before you book.