More about Renaissance Scottsdale Resort
Nice grounds/grass, hammocks and by Borgata
by jumpingnorman about Scottsdale Cottonwoods Resort
It’s July 4th 2009, and we decided to stay for two nights here at the Scottsdale Cottonwoods Resort, after seeing a good deal for a 750 square foot casita for only $90 a night ($100 with tax).
The resort is right along the major Scottsdale Road and just beside the upscale shopping complex, The Borgata. Two big wooden door arches lead to the hotel reception and the doorman was friendly, but the reception was not smiling at all – maybe because it was hot that day. But check-in was easy and the doorman asked us to follow his golf cart to lead us to our casita. All cars checking in are guided into the complex by the golf cart.
Our casita (“Phoenix” and the biggest in the complex) was a two-bedroom 750 square foot Southwestern style bungalow with a kitchenette and a backyard private patio Jacuzzi …good price for what we paid and normally this could easily be over $300-400 per night. We stayed in a nearby resort before a few years back and we paid $350 for a smaller room then…but then 2009 is economic recession time.
There is a little musky smell when you enter and as previous tippers have said, the rooms are a bit outdated. They are outdated, but very clean and very spacious. The ceiling is very southwestern style along with the décor and the tiled bathroom. I read a review mentioning a cockroach, but we did not see any except for a little fly…but this is the desert so expect such creatures to sometimes creep in.
Our casita came with free internet connection, plugged in --- there is no wireless…hmmmm….I guess because the casitas are so spread out. But with smaller rooms, you will have to pay $15 per day for internet use.
There are two pools and the main pool is huge with depth from 3 to 8 feet. The water was nice and warm, but the bar was closed at 7 PM and it was still bright and people were just coming in. I think they should keep the bar open later so we can taste that $7.50 melon ball…
The grounds are nice o walk in and the greatest feature of the hotel resort are the hammocks at several areas where you can just relax, enjoy the green lawns and the bright Arizona sky.
Air-conditioning was okay in the room. There is a hair dryer, microwave, flat iron….but Jacuzzi jets were weak.
For breakfast, they give you a coupon for “one free breakfast” at the Moriah Restaurant by the reception desk. We wanted to just take out some pancakes and use the coupon, and so I went there and noticed a line that Saturday morning. Service was painfully slow and when I finally asked for take out, I was told at least another 30 minutes for that. Forget it. We just prepared our food at our kitchenette. The night before we did have to ask for plates and utensils to be delivered to us – if after we leave it is not complete, they will just charge to our account. Also room service takes a long time to arrive.
So, over-all this resort has great grounds just beside the Borgata shopping complex where you just walk across the parking lot, beautiful gardens even with a cow-boy farm display and amazing cacti garden. The pool is nice looking but needs more reviving, pool bar needs to stay open later (although they have vending machine there), and maybe organize a big screen movie at nights for kids like what other nearby resorts do. Service is definitely something that they have to improve on and maybe wi-fi… several hammocks that are so nice to sleep on!
Classy Upscale Shopping with Salon/Spa
by jumpingnorman about Borgata of Scottsdale
We stayed at the Scottsdale Cottonwoods Resort for two nights on a weekend and this resort is just beside the Borgata – across the parking lot! It has several local and national specialty shops and restaurant.
The first one that greeted us from our parking lot was the Dolce Salon and Spa. Then, you look into this nice courtyard filled with very classy stores for women, jewelry, home furnishings and restaurants (Blue Wasabi for good sushi, The Good Egg for breakfast, Houstons, the classy Venetto Trattoria for Northern Italian Cuisine…and even Starbucks.
The design of this place, including the cobblestone and fountains, were patterned after the Tuscan village of San Gimignano – Renaissance Italy.
Oct-May Mon-Sat 1000-1900 Sun Noon-1700
Jun-Sep Mon-Sat 1000-1800 Sunday Noon-1700
6166 N Scottsdale Rd
6029536538
www.westcor.com Boutique wear for the women, jewelry $$$
OK, but prefer the JW Camelback Inn
by TripAdvisor Member 4happycampers
We stayed at the Renaissance Scottsdale for 3 nights in October. We booked the AAA Bed & Breakfast in a standard room for $149/night. Because we are Marriott reward members we were upgraded to the largest suite upon check in , the Phoenix Suite.
The Room: I will agree with everyone that these rooms definetly need an update, they should go over to the JW Camelback and duplicate the look. The colors here are severely faded and drab, the furnishings have seen better days too. The room was very large with a small kitchen with service for 4, and oven, coffee pot, and ice maker, but no fridge. The living room had a large sofa bed and chair, armoire with television, desk and fireplace. The bathroom was large, with double sinks and combo shower/tub. The website says they have a hairdryer, bring your own the one in the room looked like it was probably a prototype for the first hairdryer ever in existance. It took forever to get my hair dry! The bedroom had a large closet, 2 double beds, and another armoire with tv. The patio outside was small with an in-ground jaccuzi, a chaise and 2 chairs. The jaccuzi was boiling hot when we arrived, call the operator and they'll send someone to turn it down for you - it was perfect the next morning. I didn't find the jaccuzi to be dirty or in need of cleaning, it was fine. There was a net in the patio to fish out any leaves that may fall in. This room was a nice size for a family of 4.
THE FOOD: Our package included breakfast each morning in the hotel restaurant, my husband was also given a voucher for a complimentary meal because he is a rewards member. I called room service in the morning to ask if we could use our breakfast vouchers for room service, the answer, "no problem!". This was very nice, we a nice breakfast in our room each morning at no charge. This is wonderful when traveling with toddlers! We ordered room service for a few lunches and dinners too, the food was alway good and arrived within 20 minutes. There is a shopping center next to the hotel with an El Torito, Black Angus & Trader Joes in it for meals and snacks. The room service is very limited so we had to venture out.
THE POOL: It was still hot in October while we were staying at the hotel so we took the kids swimming one day, and only one day. My toddlers were the only kids at the resort, and we were the only couple under 65 too! Many of the people at the pool quickly vacated as soon as we got into the pool - apparently they wanted complete silence! We did meet some lovely ladies from New York who splashed and played with the kids, they had a blast!
Bottom line, if we had a choice in Scottsdale we'd chose the JW Camelback Inn, it's just so much nicer than the Renaissance. If the JW is booked than we'd probably come back to the Renaissance, it wasn't bad, it just wasn't a beautiful 5 star resort.
Great Resort, Great Service
by A TripAdvisor Member
After reading some of the recent negative reviews, my wife and I were a little concerned about staying at the Scottsdale Renaissance. We loved the hotel. Our two-room suite was clean and updated and we liked the southwestern style. Housekeeping quickly brought a porta-crib and refrigerator for our three month old immediately after check-in. The private jacuzzi on the patio was nice even though it was 105 degrees outside. The grounds were nicely landscaped and the pool was great. The only problem we encountered was on the next to last day when I discovered red ants were attracted to my backpack with food in it that was on the floor of the room near the door. Housekeeping fully cleaned the room and my backpack and took care of the problem. The manager also gave us free breakfast and 25,000 Marriott points to compensate us for the problem. Overall, the customer service in this hotel is better than I have ever seen before. We would definitely return to this resort again.
Great Hotel
by A TripAdvisor Member
Me and my husband stayed here for our honeymoon in Feb on the way to Las Vegas and really liked it, it was nice and private, with great staff and room service!
This is a great hotel, with good free bus links to local attractions, mini hot spas are great and the staff are very friendly.
I would recommend this as a couple/romantic or business stay.
The worst experience we've ever had
by A TripAdvisor Member
Recently, wanted to suprise my husband for our anniversary and saw many advertisements for this lavish resort. However, when we got there it was far from the pictures. Our outdoor hot tub was in no condition to be used. We had a cockroach in our bed. The front desk was of no help. We payed $129 to sleep in our own bed after we checked out and drove home that same night.
Oasis in the desert
by A TripAdvisor Member
I enjoyed my stay. The resort was close to the mall and Old Town Scottsdale. I did have a little trouble finding it and finding my room, but the staff was VERY friendly and helpful.
The room was nice and clean. I loved the privacy of the rooms. They had a bungalo feel to them. It was VERY quiet. I only saw other guests ones or twice.
It is not the most fancy place I have ever stayed, but for a nice relaxing weekend I think it is great.
We loved it!
by TripAdvisor Member WRV
We stayed during a recent quick weekend trip to go tubing on the Salt River. Arriving at 10pm after a 5 hour drive with our 2 young sons we were happy and grateful to find out the pool and room service is open 24 hours, which allowed the 4 of us to unwind and start our fun immediately. The staff was extremely friendly and efficient throughout the weekend, even assisting me when I was locked out of my room. There are different activities to enjoy throughout the property including ping pong and darts next to pool which also had a volleyball net up. There is a putting green, croquet, jogging trail and hammocks placed here and there. Our kids particularly enjoyed the pool area which had various pool toys available (rafts, noodles and balls) The room was clean and we had no problems with it. The staff arrived promptly upon our request of bedding for the fold out couch, and they even volunteered to make the bed up.
The only slight downfalls were: the jacuzzi at our room was entirely toooo hot to get into, even after having it turned down (make sure to ask them to turn it way down); it's a bit of a walk to get to the parking lot, however upon arrival a bellhop loaded us and our luggage onto a golf cart limo and took us to our bungalow; we weren't able to stay longer.
Our tubing trip is an annual one and we will definately stay at this resort again next year. After "roughing it" and tubing all day, it was great to come back to the beautifully landscaped property and enjoy it's luxeries.
P.S. we really, really recommend eating at the Paradise Bakery & Deli, which is right down the street. great breakfast and lunch sandwiches!
Nice suite okay price
by TripAdvisor Member boguk
The resort is centrally located in Scottsdale and close to major shopping areas. Our suite was very nice with two rooms but very small bathroom. The sink was actually in the bedroom. The private hot tub needed to be cleaned if we were going to use it which we weren't so we don't know how the staff would have handled this request. The on site resturant was nice with okay service. The best thing the resort had going for it from our point of view was that it was clean, quiet and right next to Trader Joe's! It met our needs for a one night stay but I wouldn't recommend for any longer than that.
Not 5*
by TripAdvisor Member Ann Mac
During a visit to Scottsdale in 2004 we noticed the Renaissance and decided that for our 2005 stay the Renaissance would be our location. We love Houstons and Flemings which are only a short walk away!
We searched the Marriott website for a good deal and were quoted $109 for 2 nights but $249 for the remaining 6 nights. We called the hotel and asked if they would do a deal since we were staying 8 nights and the answer was no. We had given up all hope of staying until we found a website offering a Tucson suite room in the hotel for a bargain $60 per night. We booked up with them and stayed for 8 nights. A bit annoyed that we couldn't be given the same deal direct though.
We were so glad that we'd paid $60 instead of $249 as the hotel was only worth a rate of $60. There was nothing wrong with it, but it's certainly not a 5* resort and if this is your expectation you will be sorely disappointed. It's more like 3*. We felt very sorry for our neighbours who had paid the $249 per night and more so when they discovered they could have been staying at the Phoenician for the same rate.
Our Tucson suite was comfortable, clean and adequately decorated but nothing great. Our exterior spa was dirty and set at 104 degrees, too hot to venture into. The pool was quiet which was ideal but service was non-existent. We tried the hotel restaurant for lunch but the service was absolutely dire, in fact as we sat at the bar the waitress spent most of her time questioning us whilst reading the newspaper.
We then went on to stay at the Four Seasons and Scottsdale Princess priced less than the Renaissance and they were certainly what we would class as 5*.
Photos
Scottsdale Cottonwoods Resort
Scottsdale Cottonwoods Resort
with wife by pool, Scottsdale Cottonwoods Resort
kids on hammock, Scottsdale Cottonwoods Resort
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