Scottsdale Road is a busy six-lane thoroughfare that cuts through miles of shopping malls, resorts and housing developments between Tempe and the northern parts of Scottsdale. Yet within the perimeter of the resort, it’s easy to imagine that you’re in a remote, lushly landscaped desert oasis, far away from the suburban sprawl that characterizes the greater Phoenix area. This is an attractive and nicely self contained property that has lots of amenities and makes for a relaxing getaway.

WHAT WAS GOOD: The grounds here are absolutely beautiful. The property is arranged around two large courtyards, each with its own pool and Jacuzzi. Connecting the courtyards is a long central court, centered by a fountain, that’s beautifully landscaped with flowering shrubs, tall palm trees, and several types of cacti. Every stretch of the grounds is meticulously maintained. Interior facing rooms look out upon this pleasant space.

There’s lots to do on site: there’s a fitness center, tennis and basketball courts, a full service restaurant, a bar, coffee shop, putting green (really nice) and the aforementioned pools and Jacuzzis. Bubbling fountains and gorgeous plantings make the pool areas particularly appealing....Rooms are fairly standard in terms of layout but they’re spacious and nicely decorated; the balconies and patios add space and are a nice touch....The cookies offered by front desk personnel are as good as other reviewers on this site have suggested.

WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER: Our only experience with En Fuego was for lunch following our arrival. Service was horrendous, although the quality of the food was a slightly mitigating factor....There was an issue with our shower drain (it didn’t) that was resolved effectively upon our request, but why should that even happen in the first place if the housekeeping crew is on their toes?....We, too, had a dysfunctional patio screen door, although that never seemed to warrant a complaint....Sadly, the temperature control for the Jacuzzi at our pool wasn’t working throughout our stay, resulting in plenty of whirlpool action but disappointingly cool water temperatures.

THINGS TO KNOW: Our second floor room was at the far end of the property, offering plenty of privacy, a nice view of the pool and courtyard, and easy parking and access. Access to some of the rooms nearer to the main building was through some fairly dark outdoor corridors, and ground floor room patios would offer very little privacy in some cases. Rooms facing the exterior might have some mountain views but the principal sight would be the parking lot or busy Scottsdale Road....En Fuego’s prices are outrageous, especially if the type of service we encountered is the norm....Confirming other reviewers’ comments, concierge service did seem to be rare or non-existent....Downtown Scottsdale is just a few blocks to the south; the location of the resort is very convenient.

BOTTOM LINE: Despite a couple minor misses, this is a really nice property and it’s hard to imagine some of the poor treatment described in some of the other reviews. We found it to be an exceptionally nice place to relax and unwind for a couple days. In comparison with similar properties in the area, prices here seemed reasonable. And little touches, like those awesome cookies, made up for some of the minor flaws.

Have stayed at this location a couple times over the years for a conference. This time I only rated it average. I try to make my ratings based on what I would consider a peer group for the hotel. The DoubleTree bills itself as a resort spa. That was more accurate several years ago.
It still is a rather pleasant stay. The grounds are beautiful and the whole atmosphere is pretty relaxing. The check-in was easy and efficient, but it was impossible to get a king bed. Seems to be limited at this location now (used to be easier). The room was clean and well furnished. The biggest issue with this hotel -- they might as well have no walls between the rooms. You can hear everything in the next room. You can tell that people are just talking in a normal tone of voice, but it is as if they are standing in your room. There are remediation techniques for this (blown in insulation) and the facility should consider this or something else.
Gym area was pretty small for a place this size. Spa resort with 5 treadmills?
They have really cut back on the pool side service. Employees that are there have less than pleasant attitudes. Example: years ago, bar at back area was open, manned with two bartenders at almost all times, running food and drink like crazy while engaging guests to make sure everything was ok. This time back bar was closed whole time, was hard to get anything and you were charged a room service fee. The front pool bar was also scaled back.
Used to love the DoubleTree, but given the alternatives in this area, it would be very unlikely for us to stay here again. It wasn't a bad, horrible or unsafe place (other than the time the maid left our door open -- had to have maintenance come and make sure it would close properly and automatically) It's just that there are so many better choices in this area and the annoyances at this location really start to add up when you consider what you are paying.

We have stayed at this Resort several times in the past four years when visiting friends. It has gone downhill over that time and needs significant room rehab and better staffing. We reserved a non-smoking room but were given a smoking room. There were cigarette burns in the rugs and on the furniture. Our clothing smelled after an hour. They said they could move us after a day, but didn't. They said they would ozone our room to remove the smell, but didn't. I requested a razor that never came. Since there was no caffeinated coffee in the room. We requested some. It never came after two requests. On checkout we were told that there was no caffeinated coffee in the entire resort and they were waiting for a shipment. We asked the desk manager for a suggestion about walking locally for exercise. All she had was a map of the Camelback Mountain trails several miles from the resort. There was trash on the property as we walked around. What a dump for more than $225 a night!
The desk manager was unresponsive to requests for room rate reduction given all the problems we had brought up and the fact that none of them were resolved during a three day stay.
Stay elsewhere!

Great room, great pool, great breakfast, great price! The best part was that the breakfast was included as part of the price from the website "dream deal" Teens and parents loved this hotel and hated to leave! Will definitely return.