Keystone or Scottsdale?

Neither place has a beach, so in both the pool is where you swim. Keystone's Dillon Reservoir is snowmelt-cold and mostly closed to swimmers, so hotel pools and hot tubs are the only option.

Scottsdale gives you a little more. Its resort pools are a large part of any stay, Saguaro and Canyon Lakes have small sandy coves within an hour's drive, and in summer you can float down the Salt River on an inner tube.

Keystone's food is resort food: grills at the lift bases, après-ski burgers and craft beer, with elk, trout and Colorado lamb on the better menus. Many visitors cook in their condo or drive to Frisco or Breckenridge for more choice.

Scottsdale has much more range. There are steakhouses, sushi, smart brunches and patio kitchens across Old Town, plus Sonoran Mexican food with real local roots. Phoenix next door adds the more characterful tables.

In Keystone you have to go looking for history. It is a 1970s ski resort, and the past survives in mining-era cabins up the Snake River valley and in the Victorian towns down the road.

Scottsdale has a real sight in Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West, part of a UNESCO listing of his work. It also has a museum of the American West, a small contemporary art museum and many galleries of Native American art. The Heard Museum and the Musical Instrument Museum are a short drive away.

Keystone's evenings peak at après-ski, when skiers still in their boots fill the decks at River Run. The resort is quiet soon after dinner. For anything later, people head to Breckenridge's Main Street.

Scottsdale has a genuine night out, though it is concentrated in a few blocks of Old Town. Expect patio bars, dance clubs and rooftop lounges with dress codes and bottle service, at their busiest on weekends and in spring.

Nature is the reason to choose Keystone. You get groomed runs, tree skiing and bowls above 3,600m, Arapahoe Basin a few minutes away, and Vail and Copper Mountain within an hour. In summer the same slopes turn to hiking and biking, with Grays and Torreys Peaks close by.

Scottsdale's desert has real appeal too: saguaro trails in the McDowell Sonoran Preserve, short scrambles up Camelback, and the Superstition Mountains further out. But the summer heat confines it to dawn for several months, while Keystone's mountains work all year.

Both make good bases for days out, with different themes. From Keystone the outings are old mining towns: Breckenridge, Georgetown with its loop railway, and Leadville and its opera house. Denver is about an hour and a half away when I-70 is clear.

From Scottsdale the drives are longer and the scenery more varied. Sedona's red rock, the Montezuma Castle cliff dwelling, hillside Jerome and the San Xavier mission near Tucson are each about two hours away. The Grand Canyon is better with a night away.

Keystone is slightly easier with children in winter. It has a big ski school, gentle lower slopes, tubing, a snow fort on the mountain and a huge frozen lake for skating, and condos are a short walk from the lifts. Altitude and cold are the things to plan for.

Scottsdale's resorts have lazy rivers and kids' clubs, and the city adds a miniature railway park, an aquarium, a butterfly house and spring training baseball. Everything needs a drive, though, and summer afternoons keep children indoors.

Keystone is easier without a car once you are there. Free shuttles link its bases, and free county buses run to Frisco, Dillon and Breckenridge. The hard part is arriving, by shuttle or by driving over I-70 from Denver in winter weather.

Scottsdale is long, spread out and built for driving, and the regional light rail does not reach it. A free trolley covers Old Town and the shopping areas. For trailheads, the airport and Phoenix you need a hire car or ride-hailing, though the roads are simple.

Keystone's shops sell ski gear and rentals, with a few gift stores in River Run. The outlet centre in Silverthorne, ten minutes away, is the only real shopping trip.

Scottsdale is a destination for shoppers. A large luxury mall holds the big fashion houses, and the galleries along Main Street and Marshall Way sell southwestern art. Dealers nearby stock Navajo and Hopi silver, Pueblo pottery and cowboy boots of real quality.

Keystone is the dearer of the two, and never a budget choice. In ski season, lift access, slopeside condos, equipment rental, ski school and resort meals all add up, and the Christmas, New Year and spring-break weeks cost the most. A summer stay is a real saving, and free buses and condo kitchens stocked from the supermarkets in Dillon and Silverthorne help year-round. Even then the mountain stays expensive.

Scottsdale is pricey in winter and spring, but a careful budget can work there. Resort rates drop sharply in the hot months, there are business hotels and motels along the main roads, and casual Mexican food is easy to find across the metro area. The desert trails cost nothing.

In Keystone, live performance is mostly a summer thing. There are festival stages in the village, concerts at Dillon's amphitheatre by the reservoir and Breckenridge's classical festival. Through the year, Silverthorne's professional theatre company is the main thing to see.

Scottsdale can fill more evenings. Its Old Town arts centre puts on jazz, dance and chamber music, the Musical Instrument Museum's theatre hosts world music, and Phoenix's symphony, opera and ballet are about half an hour away.

In Keystone, wellness means recovering from skiing. You get a massage at a resort spa and sit in an outdoor hot tub while the snow falls. For natural hot springs you have to drive to Idaho Springs or further.

In Scottsdale, rest is a main reason to come. It has a dense cluster of large resort spas with desert-themed treatments, steam rooms and palm-lined pools, plenty of yoga and retreats, and a pace that encourages a slow day.