Marriott Scottsdale Macdowell Mountains

Set expectations with reality and you will like the charm of this place. First off, yes its older and yes it must have been an absolute GEM when Frank Sinatra stayed here. Yes the rooms are smaller than typical resort rooms, and stuffing my wife and two 15 year old boys into a King Suite with sofa bed and one bathroom was a test of patience. Now the good. The place has a bit of old world sparkle to it. Every staff member we talked to was awesome (especially the Hochim in the restaurant). We were recognized for status and enjoyed the daily breakfast credit. The pool is great and from the hot tub you can watch players at TPC Scottsdale putt alongside private planes dropping into SDL. Gym has updated equipment and wifi worked great while we were there. Location for us was great as we did college tours at ASU and GCU while here. We also happened to be here during March Madness and rented a cabana with a TV and reserved couch and pool chairs for under $200 (which was the highlight of the whole trip). Overall I enjoyed the stay here and would come again. Troy (Lifetime Platinum Bonvoy)

We have stayed at this resort every year for 15 years. The staff are always so friendly and remember us year after year. We love that the resort is made up of guest suites which allows extra room to spread out. This year we noticed cabanas have been added to the pool area. Apparently these cabanas (and reserved lounge chairs in front of each cabana) are for Resort Pass customers. These cabanas eliminated an entire row of lounge chairs making it difficult to find a spot by the pool, especially in the afternoons.

The rooms really need to be updated. The first room we got smelled very musty. In the second room several lights had lightbulbs that needed to be replaced and the carpeting was stained. The bathroom door had paint peeling at the bottom of the door. No water in the room. Very disappointing for this price level.