I visited Scottsdale for the first time in the spring. I made 3 mistakes that I'm still thinking about months later.

Tech Insider : Travel, Travel, Business
The author in a cowboy hat and sunglasses stands smiling in front of cacti and an adobe building in Scottsdale
Business Insider's reporter visited Scottsdale, Arizona, in the spring and made a few mistakes.

Joey Hadden/Business Insider

I stayed in 2 of Arizona's top hotels, and they couldn't have been more different. Take a look.

Tech Insider : Travel, Travel, Business
Left: A resort with pools and palm trees in front of a mountain with blue skies in the background Right: A pool lit up with palm trees around it and an adobe hotel behind it. Mountains in the background at dusk
The Phoenician (L) and the Hermosa Inn (R) are two of Arizona's top hotels.

Joey Hadden/Business Insider, Hermosa Inn

I visited 2 of America's wealth hubs: Scottsdale and Jackson Hole. One was ideal for vacation, while the other seemed better for living.

Tech Insider : Travel, Travel
Two images: Left: Mega mansions in the desert in Scottsdale with mountains in the background. Right: A wide view of a valley between two hills and a large mountains in the background
Scottsdale (L) and Jackson Hole (R) are wealthy enclaves in the American West.

Joey Hadden/Business Insider

I stayed in 2 of Arizona's top hotels. They explain why Scottsdale is a luxury travel hot spot.

Tech Insider : Travel, Travel
Left: Exterior of the Phoenician with a fountain in front. Right: A fountain in front of a casita at the Hermosa Inn
Business Insider's reporter stayed at the Phoenician in Scottsdale (L) and the Hermosa Inn in Paradise Valley, Arizona.

Joey Hadden/Business Insider

I'm a New Yorker who spent 2 days in Scottsdale and Paradise Valley. 8 things surprised me.

Tech Insider : Travel, Travel
The author in a cowboy hat and sunglasses stands smiling in front of cacti and an adobe building in Scottsdale
Business Insider's reporter encountered a few surprises during her trip to Scottsdale and Paradise Valley, Arizona.

Joey Hadden/Business Insider

Inside Arizona's wealthiest zip code, where the average resident is 54 and the median home is $3.3M property

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A vast desert expanse outside of Paradise Valley Arizona at sunset
Paradise Valley, Arizona, attracts millionaires to the desert hills northwest of Phoenix.

Samuel Frontino/Getty Images

Step inside Scottsdale, Arizona, where migrating millionaires have created one of the hottest housing markets in the country

Tech Insider : Travel, Travel
A large gray mansion on a hilltop with mountains in the background
Big-city millionaires around the US are flocking to Scottsdale, Arizona.

Joey Haden/Business Insider

Wealthy Californians are ditching the state for the 'Beverly Hills of Arizona'

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Paradise Valley property at foot of Camelback Mountain.
A property in Paradise Valley, Arizona, at the foot of Camelback Mountain.

David C Tomlinson/Getty Images

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