During my recent holidays I also had the chance to try out the Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale. I was particularly interested in this property as it seemed to get highly mixed reviews with more, IIRC, negative reviews on this board. Please find my report below.

Vitals
I booked our stay at the Preferred Partner rate for a Premium Casita room. This included the following Preferred Partner amenities: daily breakfast credit of $66 per room; an upgrade upon arrival subject to availability; a welcome note and amenity; and a $85 USD lunch credit redeemable at Crescent Moon. In addition, as a Virtuoso we received 50% off Valet parking bringing a nightly $27 charge down to $13.50. I was also able to negotiate with the hotel for complimentary internet access.

Premium Casita: http://www.fourseasons.com/scottsdal...r_casita_room/

Prior to our stay I checked online to see if the Reata Pass 1 BR suite, and the Desert Garden suites, the next two room categories, were sold out for my dates so I was not hopeful for an upgrade.

Arrival
We drove from the Phoenician to the Resort and did not realize how far removed this resort was from the Phoenician and Old Town Scottsdale area. I also did not realize how much farther we seemed to have gone up in elevation either!!

The entry to the Resort is very discreet and blends in very well to its surroundings -- so much so we drove right past it the first time as our GPS started chirping "recalculating" a few times.

The driveway takes you to a circular entrance way and we were greeted (read: not welcomed) to the resort. The formalities of unloading luggage were promptly handled and the check-in was quite easy. Again, it was perfunctory but not necessarily warm and fawning at other Four Seasons. Some prefer this style of service; others may not. Our room was not ready yet so we went off to Crescent Moon for lunch to use our lunch credit up.

Our Room
To our surprise (and delight!!) we were upgraded to a 1 BR Oasis Suite which is a ground floor unit with a large terrace and small plunge pool.

The specifics of the suite can be found here:
http://www.fourseasons.com/scottsdal...bedroom_suite/

Our suite had a view of the Crescent Butte mountain and the pool area which had adequate privacy for us (though it may be too exposed for others) and was located near to the main building, fitness center and spa.

Our suite was equipped with two twin beds in the bedroom and the living room featured a pull out sofa. The living room also had a lovely gas fireplace and the terrace a sitting area in front of a wood burning fire oven and a large table with chairs closer to the pool. Surrounding the pool were a couple of loungers. Engineering also cranked up the heat in the pool so that it was almost like a large hot tub. This was most definitely the highlight of the suite and to be able to soak in the pool at your convenience was absolutely fantastic. If there were only a clear sky to gaze at the stars, soaking in the pool and sitting in front of a roaring fire in the cool evening would have been absolutely perfect.

The outdoor shower is accessed from the large main shower in the Master bath. It was too cold to use the outdoor shower as the air cooled down the outer spray of hot water making the shower rather luke warm -- the shower must be lovely in the Spring and the Fall!!

We received a carafe of hibiscus fresca and salsa and chips as our welcome amenity courtesy of the Travel Network and Four Seasons and a bottle of Spanish Cava and some petit fours from the hotel.

The Resort
The rooms and suites at the resort are clustered in two story adobe style casitas with, on the whole, the better rooms (Premier) on the upper floors and the better suites on the ground floors. There are stairs and the resort is built into a hill so there are elevation changes throughout the resort. Even ground floor casitas. This is of importance for those who are of limited mobility.

The resort was very beautiful and its isolated location felt like we were in the middle of the desert in an oasis. The grounds are tended for and landscaped very well and the resort is very indigenous to its surroundings without becoming Disney-esque when overdone. There is golf cart service throughout the resort as some of the casitas are quite far away from the main building