After spending a few nights at Miraval Arizona, we decided to spend a couple of nights at the 210-room Four Seasons Scottsdale prior to returning home.
Continue reading: Review: Four Seasons Scottsdale At Troon North (Southwest Luxury)
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Stayed here in 2021. As you mentioned, was never on the radar but international restrictions led us here. Perhaps the most comfortable pool chairs I’ve ever used in my life
Took the family there last November for a Grand Canyon getaway and some sun. Found the Four Seasons to be the least impressive of the three places we stayed in Scottsdale (Andaz and Canyon Suites at the Phoenician) with really outdated rooms and an isolated location. In my humble opinion, there is no comparison between the Canyon Suites and the Four Seasons. In Scottsdale, it's a Four Seasons in name only, although the staff is friendly.
Your comment about Four Seasons generally having exceptional gyms made me think: I'd love to see a list of the top hotel gyms from you. Park Hyatt Tokyo & Seoul spring to mind, with their skyscraper topping views.
Also, quick note: it's Saguaro, but you wrote Saguro 🙂
Currently at the WAP - Waldorf Astoria Pedregal, drinking coffee and listening to the waves crash, and even I’m a bit jealous about your stay! I’ll be back in AZ tonight though and hitting the trails - you should try trail running.
Arizona is hardly a diverse state. As a nonwhite person I’d not feel comfortable there. F*** white supremacists.
Scottsdale, and Arizona in general, has long been one of the top US destinations for luxury hotels / resorts. I never got it either, but having spent some time in the area you get the appeal. In general I think the US' Southwest and Mountain West destinations (even including stuff like Las Vegas, Palm Springs, Utah, etc) is very underrated in terms of terrain, weather, etc - perhaps because travelers don't see it as exotic or interesting enough.
My partner and I, his brother and sister-in-law stayed at this Four Season's property in November 2020; we thoroughly enjoyed our stay. Everything about this property, the staff, rooms, restaurants and location was worth every dime. The hiking (Tom's Thumb, Pinncale Peak) was awesome, we also found time to use the tennis courts.
Yes the white supremacists voted in two Democrat Senators and a Democrat Governor. Also there definitely isn't a huge Hispanic population. You're nuts.
We've come to a point where I'm not even sure anymore if this is a real or parody post
Star ratings compression in action.
This place, which you effectively universally praised, earns 5 stars.
The Miraval, which you had plenty of negatives for (mostly the room) still got 4.5 stars!
Not sure I agree with you in terms of those locations being "underrated". I guess they are in that people probably don't think of them first for a trip, but good luck getting a luxury hotel or villa booking (at a reasonable rate) - especially Palm Springs. Overall, I think they aren't the first thought because there isn't a whole lot there in terms of infrastructure, especially on the luxury side. Especially Utah, I can only think of a few and even they stretch the term luxury, such as Sorrel River, Cougar Ridge, etc.
As a native Arizonan, do not, DO NOT move to Arizona without spending a few weeks in Phoenix during the summer. The heat is punishing, isolating, and you basically have to own a pool and pay massive electricity bills to make it bearable. The experience of a luxury hotel in AZ is very different from living there. That isn't even getting into the politics of it. Even though they have had some blue wins lately, the state legislature is still very red and making terrible state laws. Living in AZ as a queer person wasn't a walk in the park, for sure.
Agreed. I moved to Phoenix in 2019 and my family joined me soon after the pandemic locked everything down. Due to an inability to travel much, we did A LOT of staycations around the area and stayed at just about every resort property in the Phoenix/Scottsdale area. Its disrespectful to mention the Four Seasons in the same breath as the Canyon Suites. We relocated to Texas summer of 2021, and when I offer my kids a vacation to anywhere in the world I find myself talking them out of the Phoenician (they are 8 and 6 so they think the Phoenician is the greatest hotel in the world). Andaz was pretty great also.
The FS Scottsdale is a nice place, but it's not $800/night nice. Not to mention, the room you stayed in is 3-4x that nightly - even in June, its $2300/night. Beyond the price, I'd suggest that if you're staying here, do it because you mostly want to be at the resort. It's a little out there. Good thing is, the whole Phoenix/Scottsdale area is very car-friendly, but the FS is about 30 minutes from the heart of downtown Scottsdale. If you want a similar golf course in a mountain setting resort, the Phoenician has a better location, and is comparable especially if you're looking at the Canyon Suites side.
I've spent a lot of time in the area, and if you don't care too much about hotel services, Scottsdale is an area where you can get a pretty spectacular Airbnb on a similar budget. That's what we've been doing lately.
"Upgrades are prioritized for Preferred Partner bookings, given that it’s Four Seasons’ own proprietary program (and the value of an upgrade can be significant)"
When you initially started writing about booking an agent, you said upgrades may be prioritized, now you write that they are. Did you get confirmation on this?
Mandarin Oriental Tokyo has a gym on the 30th floor thats good and the FS Kyoto has a great gym and a really cool indoor pool.
If you need more space at this property, you can rent a week from a timeshare owner for a lot less that the hotel rates. I own a two bedroom residence high season week there.
My husband and I have stayed here twice. While they have nice grounds, both times we were put in a room on the Renata Pass side, which is pretty far from the main amenities of the resort. The distance is amplified if you're staying in the summer, which can regularly hit 110F. Because there aren't any amenities on that side, it feels like you're staying at a motel instead of a resort.
And to Ben's comment that he can't imagine all those lounge chairs getting full... they indeed get really full. Service is good but when the resort is full of people it doesn't feel as attentive as other FS properties. We probably won't return.
I am a black native Californian, from Oakland. Married to a Hispanic native San Franciscan. We moved to the predominately red leaning, mostly white Maricopa County east valley. I have never felt safer and more welcome in my entire life. I lived in California for 33 years before moving and I have never had neighbors wave to me until I moved to Arizona (and now Texas). These white people here are a lot nicer, a lot more welcoming, and a lot more understanding than ANY people I dealt with before leaving California. I thought it would be different when I came to a predominately red city in North Texas and again, I couldn't have been further from wrong.
Ben. My wife and I in the Scottsdale area and we’ve done a couple of staycations at the FS. Love the property and the fact it’s off the beaten path.
I know you just reviewed the Miraval in Tucson but, if you haven’t already, check out the Ritz at Dove Mountain near Tucson. Off the beaten path like the FS with good hiking, nice gym, good food, and decent rooms. We found the pool small but worth checking out. I do like the FS a little better though.
Keep up the hotel reviews!
Great read! Following up on my criticism at the fish tank post: This here is real and unique travel content!
Great read! Following up on my criticism at the fish tank post: This here is real and unique travel content!!!
I echo Greg's astute comments. I have extended family from the Phoenix area and in past years attended many family reunions in the Scottsdale area, including a stay at the four seasons (which I agree with some other readers is a bit remote from downtown Scottsdale). Agreed summers in AZ are brutal. Also talking to good friends from the area there can be a surprising amount of anti gay sentiment which can be tough. One of my friends who would otherwise meet the typical requirements of Arizona gentry finally moved with his son to New York because of what he found a shockng lack of acceptance of gay parenting/families in many of the better schools in the metropolitan region. Here is hoping things improve a lot in the future.
Had a great stay here all around. Even in a pretty standard room (don’t recall the category, but was not a suite) with two kids, was spacious enough and loved the fireplace and patio. Scottsdale wasn’t on our radar as we had only been to Sedona a couple times, but now it is! We went in April, having switched our plans from NM as it was 35f in Santa Fe, and 90f (dry heat) in Scottsdale. Loved it.
They should change their name into Five Seasons, since each property gets a 5* review!
I live north of the Phoenix area at about 5500 feet. Between November 1 and April 1 it’s basically Antarctica at night and actually pretty pleasant in the day. The rest of the time it is heaven on a stick.
I have no idea how people live in the Valley from mid May to Oct. 1. It’s an inferno. When I accidentally find myself there in the summer I feel as if I’m fleeing something horrible as I drive home.
0,8% of US US households have an income of 500k or more. Before tax.
After tax this comes down to 250k. Thats 21k or so a month. With that you have to pay rent , mortgage, pension plan, living, kids.
5 days ate the resort with the parents in Luckys room and the kids in standard room would add up to 18:000 USD without any meal or extras for 5 nights. A family with an income of 0,5 million simply can not afford 5 days in that resort. Let alone the often featured four seasons in Mexico.
Something is really wrong in the US luxury hotel industry.