United States · top picks
Best hotels in Scottsdale
The highest-rated, best-reviewed places to stay in Scottsdale, United States. We surface Expedia properties scoring 8+ out of 10 from real travelers, sorted by review density.
- ✓Only properties scoring 8.0+ in real Scottsdale guest reviews
- ✓Sorted by review density — the more reviews, the more reliable the score
- ✓Refundable rates labelled per stay — book now, decide later
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What first-timers get wrong in Scottsdale
Hiking Camelback or the Preserve after nine in June is how visitors end up needing rescue, and Phoenix closes some trails outright on excessive heat warning days. There is no useful transit; the free Scottsdale Trolley covers Old Town and nothing else, so you are driving. Resort rates invert, cheapest in July. Rental cars sell out during spring training and Barrett-Jackson week.
What's actually worth your time in Scottsdale
Taliesin West on Frank Lloyd Wright Boulevard is the one unmissable building, a UNESCO World Heritage site Wright began in 1937 as a desert camp and kept rebuilding until he died; tours must be booked ahead and it closes Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter. The McDowell Sonoran Preserve is free and vast. Old Town's Fifth Avenue and Marshall Way are galleries and shopping rather than sights.
What to eat in Scottsdale
Sonoran is the regional register, and its emblem is the bacon-wrapped hot dog with pinto beans and mayonnaise that came up from Nogales, though most of the good ones are down in Phoenix. In Scottsdale itself, The Mission makes guacamole tableside in Old Town, Los Sombreros does interior Mexican, and prickly pear and mesquite turn up in everything from margaritas to flour.
When the weather turns in Scottsdale
Rain barely registers here; the indoor day is a heat day, roughly May to September. Scottsdale Fashion Square is the largest mall in Arizona and fully conditioned, the Musical Instrument Museum absorbs three hours, Western Spirit and SMoCA another two, and the resorts sell spa day passes to non-guests specifically for this purpose.
What things cost in Scottsdale
Taliesin West tours start near fifty dollars and rise with length and access. The Musical Instrument Museum runs around twenty-five, Western Spirit under twenty. The Trolley and the Preserve trailheads cost nothing. The real variable is lodging: the same resort room can be under two hundred in August and over six hundred in March.