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In early January, I went to Scottsdale, AZ with some family to hang out and go to a football game. I’ve spent quite a bit of time in the Phoenix area over the last decade or so, but I haven’t had any experience with the various Hyatt properties in Scottsdale itself. Over the years, the Andaz has been highly recommended by other folks in the points and miles sphere, so this seemed like the perfect time to give it a try.
Andaz Scottsdale Bottom Line Review
Everyone in my party enjoyed the Andaz Scottsdale. The vast majority of the resort is in single-story buildings, spread out over 23 acres of beautifully-managed grounds. Because of this, the vibe is a bit more subtle and we never had that cheek-by-jowl, crowded resort feeling. The interior design of the room was fun and I appreciated that the the resort manages to integrate the surrounding desert landscape into the aesthetic of the property. There’s plenty of outdoor places to hang out at, a great restaurant and a generous amount of included activities/classes. It’s certainly not perfect and spending even a short time there on cash rates, while having to pay for parking and resort fees, would get very expensive. However, on points, it’s a winner. Thumbs Up
- Price: Hyatt category 6, with award prices ranging from 21,000-29,000 points per night. We booked well in advance and paid 21,000 points per night for our stay at the beginning of January. The cash price for the nights that we stayed was ~$650/night.
- Value: In season, it usually offers 2-3 cents per point in value, well above our reasonable redemption value for Hyatt points of 2.1 cents each. Additionally, booking this as a free night award with the destination fee waived (and parking if you’re a Globalist) adds some significant value.
- Location: Andaz Scottsdale has an excellent location, just off North Scottsdale Rd, a 6-8 minute drive to Camelback Mountain and around the same to Old Town Scottdale. Even though it’s on Scottdale’s busiest street, smack dab in the middle of a bunch of shopping centers, it’s tucked away several blocks off the road and feels surprisingly private.
- Room: I booked a standard king “Eames” room and applied a suite upgrade award at booking, which put us into a 750 ft, 1-bedroom Sonoran Suite. The room felt even bigger than the listed size, and had two large bathrooms, two outdoor patios, two lounging areas and a queen-size pull-out sofa. The design was nifty, combining hipster mid-century chic with more subtle Southwestern touches. My one gripe was an impossible to decipher thermostat that was completely non-intuitive (and I deal with a lot of hotel thermostats). The room got pretty chilly overnight and we had to call maintenance to come help us. They were very helpful, but told us that “everyone has this problem,” which made me feel like a laminated set of directions could work wonders.
- Parking: Valet parking is $35/night (waived for Globalists on award stays). Self-parking is available outdoors for $23/night.
- Resort/Destination Fee: $45 (waived on award stays). Includes:
- Tours and access to Cattle Track, a local artist community
- Free Admission to Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art
- Seasonal Welcome Beverage
- Welcome Cookies at check in
- Morning Coffee Service
- House Car Drop-off within a three mile radius, based upon availability
- Access to Fitness Classes
- Resort Bicycles
- Access to recreational equipment including croquet, corn hole, bocce ball
- S’mores Kits
- Daily Delighters at the Turquoise Pool
- Poolside Sunscreen
- Resort Programming and Activities (Current Activities and Live Music Calendars)
- Internet: Excellent throughout the property, indoor and out.
- Service: Very good overall. Requests for service via text and phone were fulfilled within minutes. Housekeeping was thorough and unobtrusive. With the exception of one grizzled restaurant server, the staff was friendly and eager to help.
- Turndown service: Nightly, with chocolates, salt water taffy and bottles of water.
- Dining:
- Weft Warp Art Bar & Kitchen: Unusually good hotel restaurant that’s located in the back of the main building with a terrific patio that overlooks the pool. This is where the excellent Globalist breakfast is served off the menu. Open for breakfast & brunch daily from 7:00am-1:30pm, happy hour from 5pm-6:30pm Monday-Friday and dinner from 5pm to 10pm daily. The bar is open daily from 5pm-12am and there’s live music Thursday – Saturday from 6pm-9pm.
- Turquoise Pool Bar: Standard pool bar located in the back corner of the main pool area. Open daily from 11am-7pm with an all-day menu.
- Spa: The Palo Verde Spa is an extensive, full service spa in the “Retreat” area of the resort. It has its own pool and cabanas, both of which can be accessed by those that are staying in the Retreat or in a suite.
- Fitness Room: There is a smallish fitness room located in the Retreat area of the resort, right next to the spa. For the size, it’s surprisingly well-equipped, with Pelotons, a Tonal mirror and a full TRX system.
- Hyatt Globalist Benefits:
- Room Upgrade: I booked a standard room and applied a suite night award in order to be upgraded to a one-bedroom Sonoran Suite.
- Free Breakfast: Served off the menu at Warp & Weft Restaurant. The breakfast was excellent with a wide-variety of Southwestern-inspired dishes. Each day we had small charges left over and, when I asked about them at checkout, they told me that the Globalist breakfast benefit was limited to $100 per day (which wasn’t communicated at check-in). That said, they took the rest of the charges off of the bill without me asking.
- Club Lounge: None.
- Late Checkout: I was given a 4pm checkout upon request.
- Welcome Amenity: Local saltwater taffy and other candy.
- Would I stay again? Yes. I really liked the laidback atmosphere and low-rise, desert aesthetic. The grounds are lovely, the suites are spacious and it has a terrific location in Scottsdale.
Andaz Scottsdale Pros
- Rooms are spacious, comfortable and bright
- I really liked the low-rise nature of the resort…most everything is one story and spread out
- Nice location right in Scottsdale, close to everything but tucked away
- Excellent food and beverage
- Overall, very good service
- Lovely grounds with outdoor firepits (+ free s’mores) and plenty of other hangout areas
- Small, but well-equipped fitness area
Andaz Scottsdale Cons
- Thermostats were laughably difficult to figure out…it amazes me that the issue isn’t pre-emptively dealt with
- The main pool area is nice enough, but the other two are small and not very attractive…especially the more “exclusive” one in the Retreat area
- Elite benefits could be better explained
- Included beverage/snack mini-bar isn’t restocked, unlike most Andaz properties
- Because the rooms are all on the ground level, I saw several where you’re looking into the bedroom from the walkways
Image Gallery
Andaz Scottsdale Sonoran Suite
Sonoran Suite Living Room
Sonoran Suite Bedroom
Weft Warp Art Bar & Kitchen
Andaz Scottdale Pools
Main Resort Pool
Spa and Spa Pool
“The Retreat” Pool
Andaz Scottsdale Grounds
Andaz Scottsdale Fitness Area
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The chef there makes the most amazing desserts. Even “just” the cookies are fantastic.
I had a massage at the spa – it made my top 5 list.
I had the complete opposite experience of the author. I’m not sure I would stay there again. I preface this with I’ve stayed there a half dozen times over the last 5 years. I am a real globalist ie more than 60 nights a year for last 5 years. They can see if you status matched and where you’ve stayed and hold back or give upgrades based on that.
Anyways, check in, Thanks for being a globalist, I asked for a 4pm checkout nope sorry we are too busy tomorrow. Uhh it’s guaranteed, well actually we can say no based on availability. Fine whatever. Side note I called in the morning and asked if I could pay for a late checkout, sure would you like that? No I’m good. I did record them. You aren’t allowed to hold back late checkouts for pay. So I’m off to a great start with them.
I check into my room same as author a Sonoran Suite, I used a suite upgrade award. My minibar was missing half its stuff. I call ask for it to be stocked, sure. Well they never did.
Breakfast rolls around, I have about 15 minutes before it closes. Sorry we can seat you, really? Fine whatever. I order room service. Burger was good.
I check out online. After a week I still haven’t received my folio. Call them up, oh sorry about that. I thought this stuff was automatic. Well now I know why they didn’t want to send the folio. They were adding all kinds of bs charges. A charge for the upgrade, some bs charges for the minibar that was half empty, and some extra charge for the restaurant I never went to for breakfast.
Call front desk manager, he removes all the fake charges, apologizes comps me 10k points. His email signature says front desk manager for Indian Wells Hyatt Regency, I tell him, oh I didn’t know. So I think they have completely untrained staff at the moment.
This Andaz in particular does not like globalists, I’ve stayed at quite a few others never an issue. In fact, most of the other Andazs are in highrises and marketed to a younger crowd. Most have a free happy hour sort of. Ie in the lobby either a keg hidden in a barrel or glasses of wine free for an hour. This Andaz is really not an Andaz. It was a Cottonwood Suites before Andaz that they remodeled hence the spread out resort feel. It also always charges more than its competition which would be the W brand.
I would recommend Hyatt Gainey over this any day of the week. I stayed here because it was my birthday and I had friends over. It is a large suite. I am staying at Gainey next weekend. My only caveat there is it is under renovation, so the pools are closed. The staff and grounds are much nicer. In fact, there is talk of it being rebranded a Park Hyatt so you may want to stay now before the price and point increases.
Royal Palms, amazing, a little older but great staff. And they give you a welcome gift as a globalist as does Gainey. I’d go there over Andaz. I’ve had a bottle of wine and a cheese and fruit plate waiting on check in at Royal Palms. Andaz nothing.
Also you can just say you don’t have a car at Andaz, they don’t give you a placard and parking is far from the front office. Free as a globalist, I’m surprised I wasn’t charged for that. Also I wouldn’t call Weft, the restaurant great. It’s a hotel resort restaurant nothing more.
Hyatt Gainey under renovation? It has been under renovation for years. From 2019 to 2021 I was living nearby and would take walks that would go through their grounds and facility and it was under renovation almost all that time as well.
I loved the open “wall” and the stage where they (well not sure if they still do) had live music. They annoyed me when they would charge parking for locals and to get it removed you had to have your ticket stamped by a server.
There are so many restaurants in the Scottsdale area, that I’m not sure why anyone would eat at a hotel.
Enjoy.
You certainly have one perspective. I live in Scottsdale as well. I visited a year ago, no construction. A simple Google pulls up many articles. Construction started summer 2023.
https://tophotel.news/hyatt-scottsdale-site-to-undergo-a-us110-million-rebranding/
My wife and I stayed here in mid-December for 3 nights and absolutely loved it. The restaurant was great for Happy Hour on our Thursday and Friday. Also, we decided not to rent a car when visiting and took full advantage of the House Car Drop-off within a three mile radius (while tipping of course). The drivers were super nice and worked out great to go to dinner or go golfing at the nearby Phoenician golf course.
I used to live 10 minutes from their in McCormick Ranch community (single family house) for about a decade.
$650 and still want to collect another $70-80 in fees? Hotels are a mess now.
When I wasn’t living here, or rented out my house while working back east I visited frequently. Often my choice of stays were at the 2 Hiltons on Scottsdale road (one is a Doubletree) because of the location and cost. Of course, now they have added some fees as well.
Lots of nice places around but many are over priced especially in the Jan-Mar high season with the golf, barrett jackson and spring training stuff going on, not to mention the nice weather.
Hi Tim,
Is it potentially a long walk from self parking to room ?
How much would you be willing to pay for cash stay ?
Ours wasn’t, only about 100 feet or so. But, I imagine it could be, depending on where your room is. More to the point, the resort is over 23 acres, so there’s a decent amount of walking involved as compared to a normal resort that has a smaller footprint and is more vertical.
I’m a terrible person to ask when it comes to cash rates, partially because I rarely pay cash, but also because I’m often aghast at what hotels charge these days. Spending $600+ per night here seems crazy to me – I wouldn’t do it or recommend it. Maybe $200?
We’re staying at the property in a couple of weeks but will be with our two children as well. Any idea if it’s still $100 breakfast credit for the 4 of us? Thanks!
Yes, it would…although, as I noted in the review, when I brought up the overages at check out, they took the charges off without asking. YMMV, though.
This property also has just-above $200 rates which pairs well with FHR during summer. It’s typically blazing hot during those times, but we are local and use it as a staycation and a way to burn those FHR credits. We got the Sonoran Suite as well with FHR and it was huge.
Thanks for the info! That’s a great value on an FHR stay.
We have the Royal Palms booked at the end of February. Have you been there? If so, which do you like better?
Same question here! Was deciding booking between the two… which ones better?
I think it really depends on why you are staying there and how much you want to spend.
You also have very high end places like the Phoenician and JW Marriott (a slight bit further north). Or you have nice but not fancy resorts like Sonesta at Gainey Village. Very nice location but nothing fancy on the property although rooms include a small kitchen.
Hyatt Gainey Ranch is another place I’m familiar with, with their own significant fees and golf course.
I haven’t. I do have a stay booked in April, though, so let us know what you think after your February visit!
Haven’t been to Andaz yet but I’ve stayed at the Royal Palms twice for single night stays as a local – my wedding night and an anniversary years later.
Loved the property both times. It’s Spanish style architecture and has a lot of greenery throughout, a different feel than most of the desert landscaping you’ll get at other area resorts. That was nice in the summer for some shade in the day and it didn’t seem quite as intensely hot at night. It’s a historic property and on the more compact side. I like the uniqueness of historic hotels but if you prefer modern design Andaz is going to be a better choice.
More recent stay was in a Valencia Casita, first stay was in a “Designer Casita” which you can’t find broken out as an option anymore. Both were very nice stays, the Designer Casita was the better of the two and had a big freestanding tub with a large bathroom – might be considered a Junior Suite or Spa Suite now. At that time it was very much the nicest hotel room my wife or I had ever stayed in (it still may be having not gone to any of the aspirational properties like the Maldives or Ventana). We had a recent stay at the JW Marriott Camelback Inn and I thought our Deluxe Casita there was not as nice as either room we had at Royal Palms.
I’ve only had breakfast on property but both times T. Cooks was amazing. Wife still talks fondly about breakfast there.
We didn’t need a lot service wise but the staff seemed good. Had nice welcome gifts in the rooms and were willing to waive parking fees.
These stays were before Hyatt purchased the property and I got into points, back then you could book very discounted cash rates on Black Friday and some other sale dates. Not sure if they still offer those sales.