FIRESKY WARMS TO EARTH, FIRE AND WATER RESORT EMBRACES THE DESERT.

Byline: -- Eric Noland

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Many of the resorts in Arizona's Valley of the Sun have attempted to deny the harsh environment in which they're situated -- or at least to tame it. So they've created broad expanses of lawn and thick plantings of petunias.

The FireSky Resort, which opened in April on the site of the former Caleo Resort in Scottsdale, opted instead to coexist with the desert world around it. For a theme, it chose the basic elements of earth, fire and water, and created the sense of a desert retreat on Scottsdale Road.

Fountains gurgle in the massive lobby, and waterfalls tumble from stone pillars into the pool, reminding you of how vital this resource is in a land of triple-digit summer temperatures. At night, fire leaps from caldrons atop those pillars, as if to stave off the winter chill of nighttime in the desert. Candles flicker in lanterns, gently holding back the darkness. And just outside the bar, living room furniture has been set up in an area of bare, packed dirt -- see, not every square inch of a Scottsdale resort needs to be artificially landscaped.

The 204-room FireSky is part of the "anti-chain" of Kimpton Hotels. The objective of the late Bill Kimpton was for guests not to find any semblance of continuity from one hotel to the next. And, true enough, you'll find little in common among Nine Zero in Boston, the Burnham in Chicago, Solamar in San Diego or the FireSky.

In executing a $5 million makeover early this year, Kimpton Hotels had to work with the kind of gargantuan building that sprang up around this area in the 1970s -- before casitas came into vogue (Sanctuary on Camelback Mountain, Four Seasons Scottsdale at Troon North). It's a two-story rectangle wrapped around the courtyard and pool. But the transformation is nonetheless impressive.

The FireSky's greatest asset is its lobby, a sprawling space whose big-beamed ceiling soars to 30 feet. Kimpton hotels are eccentric as a general rule, and, accordingly, this one has seating areas of mismatched furniture, with traditional pieces such as wingback chairs (though in faux alligator skin) mixed in with bright-colored day beds, settees and pillows. Right in the middle of it all is a startling zebra-striped ottoman. And you can't miss those glass deer heads on the wall, lit internally.

Guests congregate here for morning coffee (a long, tall table with bar chairs is a magnet for laptops), a complimentary afternoon wine social and evening cocktails -- the bar anchors the lobby wall that opens onto the pool.

But people are also drawn outside by several conversation nooks, the chairs arranged around mesquite-burning fire pits and under mature pepper trees.

The FireSky's restaurant, Taggia, serves coastal Italian cuisine made with fresh ingredients and featuring house-made pastas. We had breakfast and lunch in here, and were impressed with the frittatas, burrata antipasti and pizza parma, the latter heaped high with shavings of lean prosciutto and Parmesan and big fresh leaves of arugula.

The FireSky's rooms are comfortably appointed, including leopard-print robes (there's that funky Kimpton touch again), Frette linens and elegant L'Occitane en Provence toiletries. One TV channel offers a continuous yoga session.

The hotel's Jurlique spa features products from that company's organic and biodynamic farms in Mount Barker, Australia.

FireSky Resort & Spa, 4925 N. Scottsdale Road. Room rates from $239. www.fireskyresort.com; [phone].

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(1 -- 3) Top left, candles, subdued lighting and flower petals on the massage table await a visitor to the spa at the FireSky Resort in Scottsdale. Above, lobby furniture includes a zebra-striped ottoman and lounging beds amid leather wingback chairs. Below, water pours from tall rock pillars in the pool. At night, the caldrons atop those pillars hold dancing torch flames.

Eric Noland/Travel Editor