Kacee

Good luck with that.

I was just here on a paid rate and got exactly the room I booked (Saarinen, which is I believe the highest non-suite), despite what appeared lots of suite availability. As far as I can tell, there are no Explorist benefits here (apart from late check-out which was not offered to me but I didn't need it so didn't ask).

My room was nice enough but I didn't much care for the overall design of the property. Would much rather see Sonoran desert landscaping than a bunch of lawns, which are a terrible waste of resources in Arizona.

Overall, it wasn't as awful as I expected. But given the choice, there are a number of other properties in the area that I would choose ahead of this one.

bcosinteno

Just got back from the Andaz Scottsdale. Got upgraded to one of the new cattle track suites. We really enjoyed the room. Two bathrooms, a separate bedroom and completely separate living room. Plenty of space. Talking to some of the management, it sounds like the resort will be making several more improvements over the next year or two.

Single_Flyer

I thought Andaz were supposed to all have free mini-bars?

Kacee

There were several free items when I stayed in November.

Single_Flyer

Staying here now.

Free items include:

• Bag of chips
• Bag of pretzels
• 3 small chocolate squares
• 1 small can of Pepsi
• 1 small can of Sierra Mist
• 2 waters
• 1 Orange Juice

Kacee

I have several stays here recently. They give Discoverists a coupon good for $25 off food and beverage or 25% off spa, which is a nice gift.

Some of the funkiness here (landscaping, bunker like casitas) traces back to the original Cottonwoods resort which Andaz replaced.

A good value on points ( >2 cpp) anytime the rate is over $325 or so. IMO the Saarinen room is nicer than the Cattletrack suite.

JohnnyP

Any recent experiences here? With the new suites, what have people been getting upgraded to with TSUs?

Kacee

I stay here all the time, but currently as an Explorist.

I paid for a Cattletrack suite (that's the TSU suite) once and didn't like it. Prefer the Saarinen room.

Colin

Harper House is TSU, Cattletrack is a premium suite 50% larger and with 2 bathrooms

Kacee

Huh. Didn't know that. They don't have many of the Harper House, I almost never see it for sale. Cattletrack is an awkward design IMO. Lots of wasted space.

Kacee

Just completed my sixth stay in the past four months. Some very mixed feelings:

1. They don't seem to keep a guest profile, I've never been recognized as a repeat guest. Which is most annoying in terms of room assignment, as I like to be away from the conference center/pool area, which is where they pretty much always put me by default.
2. Free snacks/beverages have become a sad joke. It's dwindled to a bag of potato chips. They don't even stock the sierra mist/diet pepsi anymore, not that I'd drink either one if they did.
3. Now skimping on basics, including towels (2 bath towels for two of us) and toiletries (1 bar of soap to move between sink and shower, not replenished on day 2).
4. Seem to have discontinued the free morning coffee service in the lobby.

I'm actually wondering how they're performing. This was one of the busiest weekends of the year in the valley, with the Phoenix Open at TPC. Yet property was at best half full on Saturday night, and even emptier Sunday. I think they may have misjudged the market, with rates in the $400+ range.

Staff remain extremely cheerful and helpful, and I really like the Paradise Valley location and free bungalow-adjacent parking.

JohnnyP

What kind of room upgrade did you get Kacee?

Kacee

I was on points, booked into an Eames with 2 beds. At check-in, I asked for 1 bed, and they put me in a Knoll. It was right next to the conference center, so I asked for a room at one of the back corners of the property. They moved me to a Saarinen (which is what they should have upgraded me to in the first place as an Explorist).

IME they are not at all careful about initial room assignment. But if you ask for something else, they are quite accommodating.

The best upgrade I've had here was to one of the Saarinen Cabanas (although the noise from the pool could be an issue if they're really crowded).

JohnnyP

In short: Great stay, on-spot Globalist recognition and benefits, welcome upgrade and beautiful property. Would stay again in a heartbeat.










Pros:

• Awesome cabana/bungalow concept spread across 23 acres
• Free self parking near your room (love!)
• Beautiful grounds, well kept, great vibe at the pool and restaurant
• Staff at front desk, valet, bell, and housekeeping all superb
• Upgrade to 1 bedroom Cattle Track Suite, with a great family-friendly layout
• Midsize and nicely equipped modern gym
• Delicious and creative breakfast options (albeit some smaller portions)
• Tasteful live music at the bar/restaurant in the evenings
• Great location near restaurants, high end mall, Shake Shack, etc.

Cons:

• Literally only 1 standard TSU suite on the entire property � and it�s not even a real suite
• Insulting �free� snacks in the room: just 1 bag of chips. (Either embrace the Andaz standard or don�t even bother!)
• Grumpy front of house restaurant team

​​​​​​​
Location: The Andaz is located on the Paradise Valley (north/East) side of Camelback Mountain. It�s about 25 min to the airport in no traffic. There are ample restaurants nearby. Our favorite for a date night was the Fat Ox for modern Italian food.

Arrival: We checked in for a 2 night stay with kids. Arrival team was laid back and friendly. They informed me of my benefits and offered us a welcome glass of wine or beer. Valet Steve let us follow him in his golf cart to our bungalow on the backside of the property. There was ample self parking (yay!). I much prefer the convenience to drive and park my own car instead of relying on someone else to do it / fetch it.) We parked just a few steps from our room.

Property: The hotel is made up of low slung bungalows spread across 23 manicured acres. Fireplaces, fountains, water features, hammocks, and a couple pools are there to explore on the winding paved walking paths. I appreciated the attention to detail like the raked rocks, and beautiful landscaping. Even though the resort is in a relatively busy area of Scottsdale you would never know it as it is so peaceful.

Upgrade: I was not able to use a TSU. The only standard �suite� is a junior suite (without a door, so not a real suite) called Harper House. And yes, there is only one on the entire property. Gratefully, My Hyatt Concierge was able to work her magic to get us into a Cattle Track 1 bedroom suite. It was perfect for our family.

Room: Prior to the renovation, the Andaz had only 3 suites � a junior suite (Harper House) and 2 two bedroom premium suites (Girard House, right by the main pool and restaurant, and Anders House, at the edge of the property past the spa). They combined a few single rooms to create a handful of Cattle Track Suites. Given their former lives as two individual rooms, these new suites are great: 2 full bathrooms, two patios, two entrances, sizable living space and bedroom with a door. With three tiny kids, we were able to put pack n plays in the bathrooms, a tent in the living room and still have some space for the grown ups � with our own entrance and patio to boot. The living area also had a pull out couch sectional, which we did not use. Definitely one of the better set ups for families that we�ve enjoyed in our global travels. I did enquire about an upgrade to a 2 bedroom, and even though it was empty during our entire stay, there was no openness to upgrade this Globalist (without me forking over $500/night). That would have definitely put the stay over the top!

In our suite, the furniture was eclectic vintage modern and had a great vibe. There are no tubs, only showers. The bathrooms both have skylights, so during afternoon nap time, I stuffed some pillows in there for darkness. At night, the lighting in the rooms was relatively dim. There was a Nespresso machine and cream/sugar, an empty fridge too in the living room for stuff, and the minibar was in the bedroom. Speaking of minibar, this Andaz has got to be the stingiest I�ve ever seen with free snacks. What was once a brand standard is now a �do the bare minimum� unfortunately: the only complimentary snack was a very unappetizing small bag of BBQ chips and a couple of sodas. Seriously?

Our AC unit didn�t work great, so when the temps dropped we were freezing all night. To their credit, the engineering team was all over this ... twice. Super nice guys. We were out when they came the first night, and they left a little card providing a status report. I LOVED this and wish other hotels did the same. The engineer the second night got it working and all was good.

F&B: We enjoyed the Globalist �anything off the menu� breakfast. Like the best Andaz properties, this one had a creative breakfast menu like blue corn pancakes, energy bowls, and Nutella French toast. I pasted a picture of the menu below.

The staff at the restaurant varied from minimally friendly to grumpy. There seemed to be some disharmony along the waitstaff, which was a bit off-putting. I loved the open kitchen concept, and all the chefs would wave and smile if you looked in. There�s a high top �chefs table� too which would be a fun dinner for a small group.

We didn�t get the chance to circle back for any other meals or drinks, but it looked popular. In the evening they had a band outdoors (be warned if you have a bungalow near the pool and restaurant).

Pool: They had two pools and one at the spa. Really great heated pools with interesting things to float on! Neither were terribly deep. Service at the pool was ok but not terribly proactive.



Service: Overall, service was super strong at the Andaz. Generally the team was friendly and responsive. Despite the few small service misses during our stay, we were incredibly grateful for the team there. The Operations Manager texted me on the second day we were there to check-in and was very helpful over text.



Gym: Great little fitness center, although small for a resort this size. It had almost all that you could want (except a flat bench press). I really liked the garage door windows that you could open up on a warm day! At 6-7:30am I was generally the only one there. A few people trickled in around 7-7:30.



Overall: We really enjoyed our stay. The room upgrade �made� the stay, without a doubt, and the beautiful grounds, delicious breakfast, self-parking and friendly staff definitely make this a 4.3-4.5/5 stay. The gap to a 5/5 was just the kind of stuff that would put it right at the top like other Hyatts � more thoughtful snacks, the most generous Globalist room upgrades, and consistently proactive service in every area.

MSPeconomist

Do they still provide treats twice daily at the (main) pool bar, either a small drink or a food item like ice cream? That was a fun feature when I stayed. Also, IIRC breakfast was available until very late, about 2-3 pm. Is that still a feature of the property? [I liked to walk to the lobby early for newspapers and coffee to enjoy on my terrace, and then shower and ease into the day, getting breakfast very late.]