My $1200 stay at the Andaz Scottsdale Resort

Overall: Beautiful resort, good value for points – but I couldn’t get past the security issues

Pros: Amenities on the property; amazing bathroom and shower in the room

Cons: Want someone peering into your bathroom window?

We paid: $1,182 for 3 nights including a $39 daily “resort fee”

Could have paid: 20,000 Hyatt points per night (~1.97 cents per point)

How to stay here without paying full price:

Get the Hyatt credit card and link it to your account. You can also get a card that earns Chase Ultimate Rewards points such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card and set it up to link to your Hyatt account.
Hit the minimum spend required to reach your bonus – as of this writing:
- $3K spend on the Hyatt credit card in the first 3 months gives you 25,000 Hyatt points; AND
- $6K spend in 6 months (total) gives you another 25,000 Hyatt points;
- $4K for the Chase Sapphire Preferred card gives you 60,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points.
Wait for your bonus points to land in your Hyatt account. Transfer points from Chase Ultimate Rewards to your Hyatt account as necessary.
Once your bonus points/nights hit your Hyatt account, search the app or website for award availability. Standard Nights at the Andaz Scottsdale Resort are 20,000 points per night. This is a Category 5 hotel, so “free night” awards cannot be applied.
Book online through the Hyatt app or website.
- For a full guide, see my 5-step Guide to Booking Hyatt Hotels for Free.

Full review – Andaz Scottsdale Resort

I stayed at the Andaz Scottsdale Resort for 3 nights on a work trip, and the property is absolutely stunning. It’s a spread-out resort, with “bungalow” style rooms that are standalone buildings. It was actually hard to figure out where to tell the Uber to drop me off.

Andaz Scottsdale front desk building at dusk, with a car and an Andaz vehicle outside — *This is the “front desk” building*
*Image courtesy of the hotel*

View of a mountain in the background of some one-story cement bungalows, plus a patio with pillows and lawn chairs, at the Andaz Scottsdale property — *These are some of the “bungalow” buildings throughout the property*
*Image courtesy of the hotel*

Upon check-in, I was handed a “welcome cocktail” similar to a Moscow Mule. Very tasty. They also offered me to choose some free snacks, which was a nice touch. I chose the “nut sack,” which led to some predictable comments from colleagues.

Brown paper bag of salted cashews titled "nut sack" — *I took the free “nut sack” provided at check-in.*

My room at the Andaz Scottsdale Resort

I got an upgrade due to my Discoverist status. I received a “Saarinen King Studio” bungalow, which was very spacious, especially the shower. Note: I took these pictures at night with the shades drawn, since these are stand-alone bungalow buildings!

Dark living room with modern furniture, showing a three-legged small table next to a purple armchair underneath a bright lamp.

Dark living room at the Andaz Scottsdale; includes a bench-like couch, a marble coffee table, and a large overhead lamp.

Large flat-screen TV mounted directly on a wood-plank wall at the Andaz Scottsdale. — *This flat-screen TV is either 55 or 60 inches – impressive.*

The bed was very comfortable with plenty of fluffy pillows, with salt-water taffy next to the bed:

Bed with fluffy pillows next to a painting — *The pillows were very thick.*

Bedside table with Andaz-branded water bottle and salt water taffy — *Salt-water taffy and water next to the bed, all ready for me when I checked in*

That’s one neat thing about Andaz hotels: They provide free snacks in the minibar! Or at least, some of the items are typically free. I made a beeline to the minibar area to check them out of course:

Buffet area with shelves for cocktails and glasses, plus snacks and coffee, in my room at the Andaz Scottsdale

Close-up of a snack tray at the Andaz Scottsdale

Close-up of shelf of pre-mixed cocktails in different colors — *Close-up of the cocktail options in the room*

Minibar menu with prices at the Andaz Scottsdale. It says that water, chocolate bars, orange juice, and pretzel bites are free; pretty much everything else is $5-$8 apiece. — *A bit hard to read, but the non-complimentary snacks are $4-$7 each and the cocktail bottles are $12*

Of course I broke into the complimentary snacks right away. And here’s a downside to this hotel: Some of the snacks are free, but they won’t get replaced each day if you eat them. I was there for 3 days and ate my free chocolate bars and water on the first day. After that, they never replaced the items again!

The bathroom was enormous. The shower had dual shower-heads, but it should be noted: No bathtub.

Large bathroom with big sink and mirror at the Andaz Scottsdale — *Large bathroom looking out to a back door….sans window covering*

Huge shower with two shower heads, a bench, and a window — *Wonderful shower, again with a window with no shades*

Dual shower-heads in shower with window at the Andaz Scottsdale — *Close-up of the dual showerheads and sprayer. Notice the open window.*

Wow, that shower. Yes, the water pressure was great. But what immediately struck me was how bright it was inside, and how dark it was outside….and how there were NO shades whatsoever anywhere. Which brings me to….

Security issues at the Andaz Scottsdale Resort

As soon as I walked through the bathroom, I jumped back as I realized people could probably see in through the back door.

ALSO, the back door wasn’t even locked when I checked in. It has a tiny button lock, not a deadbolt, it’s clear glass, and it was NOT LOCKED.

Wooden back door with clear reflective glass and a button lock — *That little button lock was NOT locked when I checked in. And yes, you can see in from outside.*

I opened the back door and was greeted by an otherwise lovely patio:

Patio with two lounge chairs at night at the Andaz Scottsdale — *That wall is about five feet tall.*

Back of the patio with two porch lights, a tree, and a building nearby — *That building in the background is another guest bungalow that can totally see in.*

This really freaked me out, guys. Now it’s true, in order to see into my bathroom, you’d have to walk straight up to that wall. But see that building right behind that wall? Yeah, it’s another guest bungalow, like 15 feet away. And that wall is only about five feet tall, so it’s not hard to peer over.

I thought I was the only one worried about this. But then I talked to a colleague who got the same room upgrade I did, and she mentioned this issue straight off the bat.

Anyone can wander on the property without checking in at the “front desk” building first. These are spread-out bungalows. To break in, just:

Walk up to five-foot patio wall and see if anyone looks like they’re inside. If yes, then pretend you’re a guest at the next bungalow over.
If no one appears to be inside, scale the five-foot wall. You can even use one of the many provided pieces of patio furniture to give yourself a boost.
Open the unlocked bathroom door. Or if it’s locked, pick the tiny button lock. Or quietly break the flimsy glass and turn the door handle.

K, I know I’m probably being paranoid here. I also know that hackers can get into hotel rooms. But do we really want to worry about keycards getting hacked, AND fail the very basics of physical security?

Amenities on the Property

The Andaz Scottsdale Resort is, well, a resort property. They charge $39 plus tax for a “resort fee.” I took pictures of all that it includes here:

Andaz Scottsdale's provided list of activities covered by the "resort fee." Includes wifi, valet parking service, turndown service, mixology classes, welcome beverages, among a few other things.

Many of these amenities are already included in your typical stay. However, the “Complimentary Tesla house car” was cool. We tried to use it to go to a nearby restaurant. Too bad it was in use – probably by another group of my colleagues – and they drove us in a regular car instead. Some colleagues used the “exclusive yoga classes,” but that’s not really for me.

The hotel provided info about the upcoming classes and events too:

Description of yoga and other Andaz Scottsdale Resort-offered activities on the property

Activities during the holidays at the Andaz Scottsdale Resort

The Andaz Scottsdale Resort’s own restaurant, Weft & Warp, was pretty good. I thought the patio with the fire pit was a highlight for the property:

Patio at the restaurant at the Andaz Scottsdale Resort, with a fire pit outside — *Image courtesy of the hotel*

I really didn’t have time to use the fitness center on this work trip. But, I heard it was very nice and boasted a good pool too. Here’s a hotel-provided pic:

Andaz Scottsdale fitness center, a standalone building — *Image courtesy of the hotel*

Value per point

Including the resort fee, this stay provided a value of about 1.97 cents per Hyatt point. TPG currently values Hyatt points at 1.7 cents and Chase Ultimate Rewards at 2.0 cents, so you’re getting a good or reasonable value for your points here.

Bottom Line

This is a lovely property and I really hate to say this but…. I just can’t feel safe here. I’m glad I was here with a bunch of colleagues I know. We basically took over the whole Andaz Scottsdale Resort. Thankfully, we all had a laugh over how easy it would be to break into each other’s rooms, and yet we all managed to respect each other’s privacy and property.

Am I being too sensitive about all of this? Probably. Seriously though, I felt uncomfortable showering here. There’s no way I’d be comfortable staying with my spouse.

Do YOU think I’m overreacting about the security issues?!