Best Western Papago Inn & Resort, Scottsdale, AZ

Aaahhh...another 10 days in heaven, ended too quickly.

I have stayed at "Papago" before...it was my home away from home during a long-term work assignment in the fall of '06. The prices were more than fair, it was next-door to Papago Brewing (where my friends hang out) and it was very close to my friends' home. That was my base criteria. My initial trip was planned for 3 weeks...it turned into 6 weeks. I needed a weekend room with a fridge and high-speed internet. The pool was a luxury. The on-site laundry facilities, another luxury.

At the time of my first stay, there was Wi-fi in the courtyard, lobby and lounge, but not all of the rooms. One wing was hard-wired with DSL. The hotel staff, after explaining my issues, always placed me in a hard-wired room. It was nice, though, to be able to sit in the courtyard under a beautiful Arizona sun to do my schedules and budgets.

The Best Western Papago Inn is a small property - less than 60 guestrooms, all overlooking a beautiful courtyard. For our most recent trip, I will admit, we looked at some of the large resorts in the area. But...Papago called us back for that exact reason: it is small. No large crowds - no thousands of people around the pool (think Vegas resorts), minimal late-night noise. It's a great day to wake up in the morning with your coffee and sit outside the room, listening to the birds in the aviary waking up. The arriving housekeeping staff is certain to say "Hello".

Any information requested from the front-desk staff is received courteously, quickly. If they don't know the answer, they will find it. We had the room for 10 days, but took a couple of overnight trips away. It was nice to have somewhere to leave the rental car and the bulk of our belongings while we rented a Dresser for a trip to the Canyon, or flew to Vegas for 36 hours.

This blog site is all about service - I can not find any lack of service in any aspect at Best Western Papago Inn & Resort. There are many snowbirds who return year after year, and are welcomed "home".

As for the property: yes, it is an older property. The owners are continually working on updates to the rooms, while maintaining the "external" features. Yes, it is on a busy street in the middle of many car dealerships. We're not talking used cars - we're talking Maserati, Lexus, Jaguar, etc. When sitting in the courtyard, you do not hear the street traffic. You will occasionally hear (and see) a helicopter out of the nearby Papago Park National Guard installation.

There are many nearby restaurants, some within walking distance. In the Papago Plaza, you have Mediterranean Grill, Papago Brewing and at the far end the British Open Pub. There is also a Chinese Buffet, but I went once and was not happy with the food. There is also a Hometown Buffet in the plaza lot. At the intersection of Scottsdale & McDowell, there is JB's - a great Sunday brunch buffet, and ordering off the menu is homestyle, great food.