Where to stay, Glendale/Scottsdale/Phoenix for Superbowl 2015
 

I like to plan way ahead. In another month or so hotel award space will open up for the Superbowl in Glendale in 2015. I like to go even if I don't go to the game and even if my team is not in it.

I have never been to Arizona so I have no idea which city to stay in. This is my impressions so far.

Glendale is close to the stadium but there is not much nightlife. There is the 1 mall from what I can tell.

Scottsdale and Phoenix have more to offer but not sure about the atmosphere. The NFL experience will be in Phoenix but I doubt I will go to it. How is the Scottsdale nightlife?

I would prefer a place with a good nightlife and where you do not need a car. Based on past availability I most likely will stay at a IHG property.

Any advice is appreciated.

Since the Montelucia is now an Omni, I would go with either the Indigo in old town Scottsdale or the HIX in old town Scottsdale.

Glendale does have the entertainment area immediately around the stadiums though.

You will need a car.

PHX is a large area. Hotels will have rooms blocked and entire hotels blocked for booking when this perios opens up and hotel will have inflate prices just because they know the super bowl.

Seeing that you are marriott customer there are a couple of marriotts right near the stadium within walking distance. Those are going to be blocked up for bookings over the super bowl. Those places are going to be held by the NFL for NFL officials, Press, corporate sponsers, teams , etc.


You will need a car to get around in PHX.

I have booked hotels for the last several superbowls on points and it seems that IHG hotels always have a few rooms. I got the Intercontinental in New Orleans last year 10 months in advance and it was used by CBS sports.

Yes many hotels have blocks and Marriotts seem to never have any rooms on points. IHG has been the opposite. It may be the IHG requirement to have a set # of rooms available for points, almost no matter what.

What about the light rail? If I stay in Scottsdale will I be able to be used at night to get to places? We would use the car during the day but prefer to not have to drive at night.

If staying in Scottsdale you would have to take a bus (route 72 most likely) to connect to a light rail stop in Tempe. From there you could take the light rail to the downtown PHX area but it doesn't run anywhere near Glendale.

I don't care about being close to the stadium. I most likly will not be going to the game. I prefer to be closer to a town with more nightlife, preferably one where you can walk from establishment to establishment or an easy cab ride to concentrations of places.

Glendale looked like it had one entertainment complex and that was in walking distance to multiple hotels. Is there a "downtown" Scottsdale or Phoenix that would have good nightlife?

Right now I am trying to get my location preference set. Then once rooms are released I can jump on what is available. From my past history of the last 3 years, there are award rooms to be had, if you act early.

Thanks

Old Town Scottsdale would probably fit your needs.

I agree with others - I visit Phoenix every month for a week and you definitely need a car - they have sprawl big time. I would agree that Old Town Scottsdale will work best for you or downtown Phoenix - I really like the Hotel Palomar in Phoenix.

From your requirements, I recommend that you look for a place in one of these locations, in descending order of likely interest.

Old Town Scottsdale
Kierland area of Scottsdale
Mill Avenue in Tempe

The light rail will be useless for your purposes - it doesn't go anywhere that will interest you.

You will need a rental car. Nobody Walks in L.A., and getting around the Valley of the Sun is an automotive activity.

Olde town Scottsdale would be good.

I would also guess the area around Arizona State would also be walkable as well.

I mostly agree with the locations, but would favor either Mill Ave in Tempe or downtown Phoenix, as either is workable with the light rail.

From what I remember, for the last couple of superbowls here, there was quite a bit of activity on/near Mill Ave in Tempe, Tempe Town Lake, and at Sun Devil Stadium (where ASU plays).

The light rail goes from the Mesa border (roughly Dobson/Main) all the way up past downtown Phoenix. There is a stop (Priest/Washington) for the zoo/botanical gardens, but it is either a healthy 15 min walk, or a transfer to bus (the bus is typically waiting there for the trains to stop).

If there is a Suns basketball game, the dowtown area could be lively. But it has really changed over the past few years, with more and more conventions that downtown does actually have some nightlife, at least during the week.
Chase Field, where the Diamondbacks play, has tours, and the AZ Science Center is also downtown. The Heard museum is a quick ride on the light rail north of downtown.

There are a few hotels within walking distance to the 44th St/Washington light rail station (I think most call this, "airport north,") which could also work in a pinch. There's a Crown Plaza right there, along with a handful nearby. From here you could walk to the Chinese Cultural Center, roughly at 44th St/Van Buren (or hop on the rail).


I live out in Chandler, near CHD, and even hotels out there sell out for the superbowl, so definitely book as soon as you can. It is about an hour drive from there to the stadium in Glendale.

Thanks everyone.

Considering your suggesions and looking at maps I think I will be targetting the Hotel Indigo in Old Town Scottsdale. It looks like I can get to a lot of places with a 5-15 minute walk.

I will have a car but at night prefer to walk/cab it in case I want to really enjoy myself with no worries.

That's an excellent plan. Cops are always on the lookout for drunk drivers here... even more so during holidays and special events. And nobody wants to spend their vacation in the slammer ;) There is plenty to see and do on foot in Old Town... they also have lots of pedicabs that are usually pretty cheap.

IIRC the chocolate festival in Glendale is also during Superbowl weekend. It's kinda cool if you like chocolate covered everything but its also kinda pricey.

I liked the Indigo Scottsdale ... except for when they turned on the pool side music (the pool was directly below my room) at 830 in the morning. So if you're not a morning person, ask for a room that doesnt face the pool :)

IIRC there is also a Hyatt Place and a W within walking distance of the Indigo.

Thanks for the input. I also have been looking at downtown Phoenix. There is a hyatt (no lounge) and a Sheraton (good lounge) and a HIX. From a points persepective, it may be a good use of points for the HIX and still get breakfast.

Phoenix looks like it has more bars (hard rock, hooters, sports bars) vs. Old Town which has more clubs. We are older and more relaxed so downtown may be better. We are not the clubbing type, plus I'd be in bed by the time they start rocking.

This is a misapprehension.

Old Town Scottsdale does have some hip clubs on the southeast quarter of the Scottsdale Road / Camelback Road intersection, but it has about seven times as many bars, restaurants, tapas places, sushi-yas, etc. in the Zona Turistika between Camelback and Indian School.

Downtown Phoenix is not comparable to this Old Town section of Scottsdale, it is more on par with the Scottsdale Road / Shea Blvd area of Scottsdale when it comes to sports bars, dance halls, etc. That is to say, Old Town has a much larger number of venues to eat, drink, stroll, look at art, etc. than anywhere else in the valley.

And if you want to use IHG points, the Doubletree on Scottsdale Road between Chaparral and McDonald is within easy walking / stumbling distance of Old Town.

IHG points at a Doubletree? :confused:

Whoops, my bad.

Old town Snobsdale is probably your best bet, if you're older. Tempe and Mill Ave more specifically is very "young". Scottsdale probably has the best concentration of things to do and see(and oontzy hotel properties).

Kierland is a nice area as well, I work over there. The Westin is a nice property and has a beautiful golf course, if that's your thing. Plenty of upscale restaurants in this area.

I'm surprised at the lack of support for downtown Phoenix. Based on everything I've read, downtown Phoenix will be the epicenter of Super Bowl activities in the days leading up to the game. I live downtown and I'll admit that the variety of nightlife here is nowhere near the level of Old Town Scottsdale or Mill Ave, but there are tons of amazing bars and local restaurants all within walking distance/light rail ride/cab ride. There is certainly no lack of hotel choices either. If you want to experience a Super Bowl atmosphere without actually going to the game, I think downtown Phoenix will be the place to be next year. :)

http://www.azcentral.com/community/p...wl-bounty.html
http://www.kpho.com/story/24614817/p...uper-bowl-xlix
http://www.thiscouldbephx.com/my-pho...e-ryan-tempest

Well, I made reservations. Things were tighter for this superbowl than in the past but kind of similair to Indianapolis. It makes sense when you look at the number of hotel rooms in the market.

This was the award availability:
Hyatt and Starwood had 0 award rooms.
Marriott had a room at the airport for Tues and Wed night, then rooms in Chandler
IHG had rooms in Goodyear and Peoria.

All award nights were refundable until 1 day before. This is similiar to NYC but NOLA and Indy had no cancellation policies.

I was planning on coming in on Wed night. But then I saw the HIX in PHX at the ballpark had availability for Tues and Wed nights. I agree with ryanmvc that downtown most likely will be near a lot of the action. This would get me downtown for Wed and Thurs.

So I ended up with:
Tues and Wed PM: HIX Phoenix ballpark (25K per night)
Thurs - Mon: RI Glendale (20k per night), backup HI Goodyear (15K per night)

I will keep monitoring rooms to see what frees up.

When the Glendale RI opened up I took it. As I read more about the Glendale entertainment distict I think it is OK - especially for only 4 nights.

They have the brewery, BWW, some entertainment establishments, the movie theatre, the outlets next door and some restaurants in Peoria a few miles away. There will certainly be a festive crowd in the area.

I think 3 nights there will be the max to have some fun without getting too board of the place. The 4th night will be SB Sunday so if I go to the game I can walk there if not I am sure I will have a blast at one of the restaurants/bars. The locals say there is nothing there and that is probably right from their viewpoint. As a tourist on vacation looking to have a good time it has some good aspects especially if you can walk to the places from your hotel. New Orleans it is not but it also is not a deserted island.

Just wondering if you did indeed get reservations for a hotel for super bowl 2015. I am in the midst of that quest right now and my efforts are not going well. Any advice?

I recall reading something in the Republic not too long ago that the NFL was unhappy with how much local hotels were charging for rooms around the SB. Apparently, they actively try to prevent price gouging.

The Ginger Hammer would like a lot of things, but forcing Scottsdale hotels to keep prices artificially steady is (probably) outside of his power.

If the Phoenix Open golf tourney or Barrett Jackson or Spring training is going on, the high rollers come to town, book up all the available rooms, and prices rise. If it is 110 degrees in the shade and everyone has left for San Diego, prices go down. The Super Bowl is not exempt from the laws of supply and demand.

Them's the breaks, so book now.

Rent a timeshare?
 

I was looking into this as well and one of the things I discovered was that Scottsdale has a lot of timeshares (Westin Kierland Villas, Sheraton Desert Oasis, Marriott Canyon Villas, Four Seasons Troon North, etc).

While you can rent these directly from hotel companies, and no doubt they will be very expensive for the Superbowl, you can actually rent these directly from an owner and probably pay much less for what you are getting. The advantage is that not only do you get more space (500 sq ft to 1000 sq ft+) you also get a kitchen so you can save on meals.

Some of the websites where you can rent timeshares (with Scottsdale locations) that I found are:

http://myresortnetwork.com
http://timesharerentalvacation.com
http://tug2.com/timesharemarketplace/
http://redweek.com (requires $25 annual subscription to see listings)

Sure, he can't force anyone to do anything. But he can punish those who don't play by his rules like he did with Glendale and moving all pre-SB events to Phoenix instead of keeping them in Glendale, which is the more logical choice and was the location of those same events back in 2008.

http://www.azcentral.com/community/g...wl-events.html

Since the last SB, however, there has been an outlet mall built on what used to be available parking space. The area around Univ. of Phoenix stadium just doesn't have enough hotel space available either. Not to mention the new security ring that will encompass the stadium.

I was making some tentative plans. You are not kidding. Nothing in Phoenix. And the 1 stars. What, 899 a night. Joke. I'll drive from Blythe thank you and fly in and out of LAX. Phak Phoenix. I don't drink if my team is playing so driving in and out is no issue for me.

Compared to NYC, parking will be plentiful in Phoneix. I can guarantee that. I mean, you could not get a pass for the parking lot around the stadium for less than 2000 last year. Now, maybe 200.

If someone is willing to pay it.... :rolleyes:

I would be looking in Tucson, Prescott, or Flagstaff. Much more reasonable rates for that weekend within a couple hour drive. Only issue in Flag and Prescott would be the possibility of snow.

Thats why every year i book a couple of rooms a year in advance using points that are refundable. Did it last year in NY, but blew it off last minute because of weather. But this year looks like it I'll be in Phoenix. Might have an extra room at the Aloft..

I have kept refining my reservations all of which been using points. I now have

• 3 nights Renaissance Phoenix which is in the middle of Super Bowl Central
• 3 nights HIX Glendale which is walking distance to stadium

So I will be downtown midweek and in Glendale for the weekend. It is a nice mix.

I also have 4 nights at RI Glendale (will probably cancel if friends do not use) and just cancelled 4 nights at HIX Scottsdale.

I was looking for Starwood to have a moments event at the Waste Managment open that week but they have not done it yet so it is doubtful. They did it last year.

Rooms have not been that hard to get if using Marriott or IHG points.

If anyone is still looking for a place to stay for the Super Bowl:

http://www.azcentral.com/story/sport...week/21515623/

Can I rent my garage out for $1000 a night? I've got an old cargo van in the driveway. I think it has a carpeted floor. $500 a night? ;)

Thanks. I have some friends to lean on but don't won't to unless the seahawks are playing.