A stay to remember...

Pre-arrival
I cannot enough shower praises and admiration at the W Scottsdale. Mrs. Sleepdoc and I had an almost perfect stay at this swank new hotel. Prior to my arrival I received one of those automated emails from the GM. I replied that we would like massages and to rent one of the cabanas on the weekend. Alyssa, a concierge, emailed me back indicating she would be happy to assist. Unfortunately we were already enroute to Phoenix before I got the email so I didn't use her services. Incidentally the same day at the airport in Milwaukee I received a PM on Flyertalk from the revenue manager of the W who noticed my posting on FT about my upcoming visit there and said she would be pleased to help me with anything. Called her and gave her my information. I noticed prior to our arrival that we were just upgraded to a Spectacular room from a Wonderful room.

Arrival
Ok I must say in comparison to the Midwest and even Dallas, Phoenix is hot! Dry heat!PHX needs a little updating though as it seemed a little outdated. Even MKE beats it as far as overall comfort and newness. I rechecked my reservation at the W upon landing and noticed we were now upgraded to a Studio Suite.Got our rental car from National... initially picked a sporty little convertible only to realize hey the trunk is not going to work for us, then a Eclipse and finally saw a Dodge Challenger pull up. Kind of a muscle looking car though old school. Picked that and up and let me tell you it was the worse rental car I received ever in my life! It smelled like someone had smoked in this thing until they were passed out but what made it worse was someone sprayed all kinds of the anti-smoke spray in this vehicle. This resulted in terrible headaches from the fumes even with short trips. Ended up returning that car the following day for a Mazda 6 as most of the good cars were rented out to ASU grad parents.

Arrived at the W, valets efficient and friendly, valet is $26D as others have noted but I saw there were various public parking spots around the hotel though many had 3-hour limitations. Sushi Roku entrance to the right entering directly into the sushi bar area. Straight ahead thru the glass doors that were always opened by the valet/bellhop guys you hardly had to open it yourselves except in the wee hours of the morning. A large W dog water bowl to the right of the glass entrance. Didn't see any dogs during our stay there but it is a dog friendly hotel if you have Fido with you. Up above facing out from the hotel you will see the large see through portholes to the pool above.

Pool portholes from the entrance


Inside to the right were stairs up to the pool area. The stairs are roped off during the busy periods of Thurs-Sun and only hotel guests and people with rooftop reservations can get in I believe. Also in this area is the Scottsdale version of the Living Room and the hotel entrance into Sushi Roku.

Living Room and just to left Stairs to Heaven!


Met at the front desk by Karen who already knew my name and called me the appropriate Dr. Sleepdoc. I was introduced to Gladys who is one of the managers along with a couple of other hotel workers. All very nice. There is a decanter of fruit infused iced cold water to the side of the desk as well as a big bowl of green apples during the day. A small amount of coffee is also available at the desk in the morning before Sushi Roku opens for breakfast service. Karen noted my Platinum status and asked about my chosen amenity, which I opted for points and then informed me I was upgraded to a Studio Suite, as I had already known.Went up to our suite with luggage in tow by one of the bellhops.

W Desk



Studio Suite
Arrived at 258. Essentially, a large 600 square foot corner suite. Bathroom that can be closed off with Shoji doors otherwise an open sink area with the toilet to the left and shower to the right of the sink. In the corner closet to the bathroom there is a small sitting area. Large closets to the far left when you walk in, desk and living room to the far right. There's a flat screen TV that has a handy swivel that can turn to face the bed or the couches. From what I was told, the only difference between a Studio and a Corner Suite was that the Studios were facing the neighborhoods and the Corners facing the pool otherwise they are the same.

Studio Suite


Neighborhood/Mtn view from suite



Our bellhop got our bags situated and retrieved some ice as well as turning down the temp in the room, as it was hot! He said that the temps were automatically dialed to keep the room to 68, which I found a little hard to believe. Essentially one of the Inncom motion sensor thermostats that will turn off automatically but this can be bypassed using the VIP mode.

Bathroom with single center sink


The desk has a large flat screen computer. I was not charged for use of the computer. Not sure if it was just included in the suite and charged elsewhere. To large purple couches, actually quite comfy for 4 people. One of them pops open into a full-size bed. Table in the center with the usual munchies box. In the two large closets there are safe as well as large area to hang clothes. We had to call to get some more hangars from W/W. No problem. Only problem there was a bare minimum of drawer space. Only two drawers were by the sink. I would and will suggest that they put a small set of drawers in one unused wall to the left of the bathroom. By the bed there was the usual Ipod hookup. There was a Bose system, which unfortunately does not hook up to the Ipod and only to the DVD/CD system with a bunch of small speakers, scattered thru the room.

Karen our FDA called up and asked how we liked the room. Loved it of course! Shortly after Room Service showed with a plate of cheese, crackers, and a decent bottle of red and letter from the GM. Much appreciated!

A short time a later I placed a call and talked to Garrett another concierge. He made some great suggestions throughout our stay at the hotel and also made arrangements for restaurant reservations, Acura car service (now driven by W hotel employees), directions to Camelback Mtn for hiking, as well as making cabana reservations for us on a very busy Saturday.

Additional Welcome Amenity


Sushi Roku
We subsequently went down to the Sushi Roku for happy hour and sushi. Restaurant space itself seemed trendy and comfortable enough. Sushi bar to the front of the restaurant. Maybe it was an off night but I found the sushi very dull and perhaps past it's prime. Much of it tasted beyond room temperature. Service was good but I cannot suggest it for food quality from our perspective. I've had far better sushi elsewhere IMO.

Couple of B/W's Sushi Roku



After dinner Gladys the manager stopped us and inquired about our stay so far. She noted that suite 258 got a little noisy on weekends and offered to move us to an identical suite on the 6th floor which we extremely grateful for the unsolicited offer! Suite 658 was identical to 258 and as promised was quiet even on the weekends.

Pool
As I said above the pool is relatively quiet during the week and no reservations are required to rent the seats. An outside company runs it, but bookings of the cabanas and charges can be still made back to your room. For someone on leisure wanting a nice relaxing place to stay then this pool and hotel is great for you during the week.

Starting on Thursday it definitely picks up however on Friday and especially Saturday the place is an absolutely zoo! Reservations are suggested for covered seating areas staring on Thursday, which does not require a minimum fee I believe. Cabanas can be rented with either plain iced Voss bottled water and fruit bowl or for an additional minimum amount bottle or cocktail service with personal service can be made. The cabanas have a flat screen TV as well as ceiling fans with seating for 4-8 people. In addition two cabanas have uncovered attached sunny areas that one can use to soak up the sun in private. My wife and I had a couple of friends over and we had a blast using the cabana on Saturday. We were fortunate to get one of the large cabanas with attached sunny corner and made full use of it and the pool. There were people absolutely everywhere on Saturday in the pool, every seat occupied, and parts of sand occupied by beautiful women and men alike. My point is if you want a happening place than this is the place to come on the weekends. I would highly recommend renting one of the cabanas as it well worth avoiding the crowds and having a sheltered place of your own plus having personalized service too. Our waitress was great as well as the manager of the pool Casey.

A calmer side of the pool


Corner Cabanaapologize the fact of the lack of overall view of the cabana.


I forgot to mention that the gym is located on the 2nd floor next to the pool pass the suites or rooms with outdoor showers and patios. In the mornings they open up the gyms sliding glass doors allowing some fresh air and subsequently close them as the heat index rises. There are 3 treadmills, a few ellipticals, standard weight machines, and a small assortment of free weights. Kind of a small gym, I expected bigger but nevertheless quite useful and with new equipment.

Foreclosure
So I was curious on the status of the foreclosure proceedings on the W Scottsdale. I haven’t looked up any recent articles but I can tell you the hotel seemed full during our 5-day stay there. Every morning at least on the 6th floor all the doors had papers or do not disturb signs. In addition the pool, Living Room, and hotel seemed to thrive throughout the week but as mentioned more so on the weekends. I asked a couple of employees what they thought was going. And we told that this would always be a W hotel and that Starwood was now running the show there now. Made me wonder if this could become a successful corporate owned hotel?

Conclusion
My wife and I had an absolutely great time at this hotel. Service was top notch from the valets to the managers. I was kind of surprised I was contact via PM on this website but who knows maybe it made my stay even nicer? I would highly recommend this hotel to anyone that wants the W experience without the attitude. We were quite sad when we left this past Sunday but hopefully will return soon. Phoenix may possible end up on the job hunt. Who knows! It would be a darn shame if this property closed. Starwood needs to keep this in their portfolio! If there are any questions be free to ask!