On-site access to Arizona's top-ranked public courses on Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation land. The most direct path from room to first tee.
We-Ko-Pa Casino Resort, rebranded from its earlier name, sits on Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation land northeast of Scottsdale with direct access to both the Saguaro and Cholla courses. The pairing of Arizona's top-ranked public course with on-site accommodation is the property's defining proposition. Guests walk from breakfast to the first tee without a car key, which is a luxury that the larger Scottsdale resorts, for all their amenities, cannot replicate for courses of this caliber.
The 246 rooms carry an AAA Four Diamond rating, and the property operates a casino, spa, pool, and multiple restaurants that provide enough evening activity to fill the hours between rounds. The nightly rate of $250 to $450 is lower than the Five Diamond properties closer to Old Town, and the combined savings on room rate and the absence of a daily drive to the courses makes We-Ko-Pa the most cost-efficient way to play the two best public courses in the state. The resort's location, roughly 35 minutes from central Scottsdale via the Beeline Highway, means that evenings in Old Town require a deliberate decision rather than a casual walk. For golfers whose priority is the golf itself, that trade-off is straightforward.