What to expect: Ivy-entwined arbors, old-fashioned lawn swings, and shaded, meandering pathways create a blissfully relaxed setting. Birds call from the cottonwood and apple trees. Tiny lizards dart beneath flowering bushes. Ducks glide by on Oak Creek bordering the resort. Outside the Lodge, a waterfall splashes into a water-lily pond. Although it’s five minutes from busy Uptown Sedona, this romantic resort feels like a world apart.

Amenity highlights: L’Auberge Restaurant on Oak Creek showcases award-winning American cuisine with French influences. At the L'Auberge Restaurant Terrace (open seasonally), guests dine on a waterside patio as ducks glide by and dragonflies shimmer in the sunlight. The Spa at L'Auberge offers guests an intimate, tranquil environment to enjoy a variety of luxurious treatments (also available in the privacy of cottages).

Insider tip: Once known as the Wickedest Town in Arizona, tiny Jerome is a former mining settlement clinging to a mountainside. This popular daytrip destination is about 28 miles from the hotel. After exploring shops and saloons, visitors can take a short gravel road to a rustic mine. Highlights include original buildings, an operating sawmill from 1914, vintage trucks and mining equipment, amazing valley views, and friendly farm animals.

What to expect: An arched entryway with a mission-style bell opens to an enchanting courtyard with a sloped-entry pool set amid purple sage and desert wildflowers. Guests enter the lobby through a 9-foot waterfall door with embedded crystals created by the innkeepers’ son, Steve Berman. A curved leather couch faces the fireplace, which is fronted by a handcrafted screen and flanked by artworks. Art is everywhere—most of it created on the premises by Southwestern artists. Guests are primarily romance-minded couples.