Airport Coffee

Just a heads up starting last week the city has been closing trails at 11 am because of the heat. I hiked Piestewa Peak last week before work and it was pretty busy by 5:20 am. if you are doing Camelback the parking lot is a bit smaller than Piestewa Peak and fills up quick. Tom's Thumb in North Scottsdale is also a good hike and has a large parking area. Make sure to get there early as well because there is no shade there. It was about 84* at 5:00 AM when I went last week.

sfgiants13

Yeah we plan on going early. My wife has lived in the PNW her entire life and can’t handle heat like I can. She’d melt in the temperatures Phoenix had recently. We were actually planning on going to Saguro and maybe Sedona another day for a short hike or two before the heat sets in. Saturday might have some thunderstorms though so we’ll see.

Airport Coffee

Those two will be good options to get out of the heat for the day and great views.

sfgiants13

Just checked in here. I had to cancel My trip a month ago on the day of checkin due to a health issue which they were kind enough to do no charge. $199 rate which seems pretty good. Place is full. Had to wait a bit when I went to check in at 1. I got a Mountain View room which is better than the no upgrade last time. No standard suites available through the app so no big deal. He mentioned free parking for globalist and valet would be at the self parking rate. My rate had it anyway but that’s good for everyone else because I could’ve sworn last time they charged for parking. Free margarita from a pitcher at checkin. 4 waters in the room that they’ll replace daily with housekeeping and since the lounge is closed they had snacks and drinks behind the desk which is all free for globalist. No drink voucher like last time but I’m not drinking right now so no big deal.

Overall better than last time and for the price a pretty good deal. Still prefer the Biltmore and Boulders but not a bad backup option.

edit: I lied about the no drinks. They delivered a snack basket with two Perrier and some snacks like Doritos, granola bars, etc. The drink ticket was in that package

PWMTrav

Summer rates are usually pretty low here, but these days $199 is fantastic anywhere. I mean, there's a $45 resort fee, so the real nightly rate is $248, but that still isn't horrible even if it still sucks that hotels can get away with this ......... If it makes you feel even better, the standard suites here are basically just corner rooms. There's no bedroom. We used to stay here a lot (enough that when paid self parking became a thing here, it was on my profile to waive that for me without asking) and back when it was still called diamond, this was never the hotel to use a DSU at. I just checked and their summer promo rate includes parking. This place is not short on parking at all, and that's a total cash grab otherwise. The lounge here was pretty good for breakfast. I hear it's not coming back though, and I think someone here also posted the same thing, also showing that the outdoor part of the lounge had been removed entirely.

Did you eat on-site at all? How was it?

sfgiants13

Yeah $199 is solid. Hotel rates are through the roof everywhere this summer. I used to be able to get ~$150 at the Arizona Biltmore but it’s about double that now. Since I have no resort fee for globalist and parking is included it’s really not bad. No food on site for me. I typically don’t eat hotel food. I enjoy eating out wherever I’m at or if I’m lazy I’ll bring something back to the room. Or DoorDash it if I’ve been drinking.

Travel4Love

Which other Hyatt property in the area would you consider using a SUA at instead (if suites are available)?

PWMTrav

Don't take any of this without verifying it since I'm relying on info that I could be wrong about. The Royal Palms may be a decent option - I believe the junior suites are still considered standard, but IIRC they have separate living and sleeping areas and it's not just a studio. However, they're not much larger than a regular room so it depends on how you want to carve up the square footage. The Andaz Scottsdale is all suites and bungalows, so maybe an option, but I've never upgraded there - worth asking the hotel if/how a suite upgrade can be used and into what. Also, not specifically using a suite upgrade since I don't even know if you can at these properties (last time I was top tier, it was still called diamond) - the Mission Palms has suites that don't cost too much more than its best standard rooms, and they're pretty large. The reason I don't think it's worth it at the gainey ranch hotel is they're just slightly larger corner rooms, and they're still kinda tired looking - if they were at least renovated and had something besides a little more square footage, it wouldn't feel like a waste to me. FWIW I won't book a palm suite with cash, either.

I have a bias, though - when I had suite upgrades, I really wanted to save them for longer trips at nicer properties. Having a suite at a regency or something wasn't that interesting, so I have no idea of those options in the area. It's part of why I don't really do hotel loyalty anymore - if the availability didn't line up, I was kind of disappointed, but I also didn't want to pay cash for a suite because "I shouldn't have to." Now I just book one when I want it and value it, and it's more or less a wash because I don't feel the need to give any brand all of my stays and save some by not doing that. But mostly, we do a lot more Airbnbs now in the Scottsdale area!

bbbb

The Fountain Court Suite is now a standard suite here.

Travel4Love

Is that considered a good or a bad thing?

59Impala

I had booked 2 fountain court rooms with TSU, and we loved them. we were on the top floor, both around the corner on either side of the main court with the Saguaro cactus.

MSPeconomist

In the beginning, Andaz Scottsdale only had two suites, but then they made some modifications to combine some pairs of rooms into suites.

I don't understand the "all suites and bungalows" comment. All rooms and suites are located in about thirty small and low (on floor only) buildings scattered throughout the property. If you define a bungalow to be a single family or duplex house with a particular design, there aren't any bungalows here as there aren't any buildings that contain only one or two rooms/suites, nor are there any buildings that resemble a traditional bungalow with dormer rooms upstairs in a square building with a traditional porch. [I'm having a hard time defining a bungalow precisely, but I know one when I see it.] It's certainly not an all suite property either, even though suite upgrade availability improved after the renovations.

scubadu

Ummm... I think you are overthinking "bungalow" a bit.

For what it's worth, here is the Oxford Dictionary definition:

"bungalow
orig. Anglo-Indian.Orig., a one-storied house (or temporary building, e.g. a summer-house), lightly built, usually with a thatched roof. In modern use, any one-storied house." (emphasis added)

Regards

Kacee

Though there have been reports that highest upgrade at check-in at Andaz is now to the Saarinen, which is just a larger room, not a suite.

bbbb

A true two room suite as opposed to a large room being called a suite.