Scottsdale is thirty-one miles long, and the neighborhood you sleep in decides how much of the trip you spend in a car. Our where to stay piece boils the choice down to three zones. This is the long version: every district we cover, ranked by how good it is as a base for a visit, not as a place to live (that’s a different ranking). A few of the best-loved neighborhoods in the city land near the bottom here, because there’s nowhere to sleep in them.
We judged each one on four things: whether you can walk to dinner, the quality of the places to stay, how central it is to what visitors actually do, and what it costs.
The top tier: book here first
1. Old Town
Old Town is the only part of Scottsdale you can do on foot: the 1920s storefronts on Main and Brown, the galleries, the Waterfront on the canal, the bar district, Fashion Square and the stadium, all within about a mile. It has the most hotels in the city, from the Valley Ho and The Scott to a dozen practical select-service options. We mapped every one by walking distance in resorts and hotels near Old Town.
Stay here if it’s your first trip, you don’t want to rent a car, or the trip is restaurants and nights out. Skip it if you want quiet, a big pool or a view of anything but other buildings; on peak weekends the north end is loud until 2 a.m.
2. The Camelback Corridor and the Paradise Valley border
The Camelback Corridor is where the Scottsdale resort was invented, and it still holds the grandest ones: The Phoenician, Camelback Inn, Sanctuary, Montelucia, Mountain Shadows and the Hermosa Inn. Most are in Paradise Valley or Phoenix on paper; all of them are five to twelve minutes from Old Town by car.
Stay here if the trip is a resort trip: spa, pool, a Camelback hike at dawn, a sunset dinner. Skip it if you want to walk anywhere; the resorts are islands and Lincoln Drive has no sidewalk culture.
3. Fifth Avenue and downtown
Fifth Avenue and the Civic Center are the grown-up end of downtown: the 1950s shopping lane, the Marshall Way and Main Street galleries, the best small restaurants, and the Civic Center lawn that hosts half the city’s festivals. It shares Old Town’s walkability without the bar noise. The Valley Ho sits at its west edge, the Canopy and Bespoke Inn are on Marshall Way, and Hotel Solaya faces the Civic Center park.
Stay here if you want Old Town for the galleries, the dinners and the Thursday ArtWalk, and you’d like to sleep. This is our pick for couples.
4. Pinnacle Peak and Troon
Pinnacle Peak and Troon is where the city turns into boulder fields and saguaro forest. There’s essentially one place to stay, the Four Seasons, and it’s one of the best resorts in Arizona, with Troon North’s courses and the Pinnacle Peak trail at the door.
Stay here if the trip is golf, hiking, stars and quiet. Skip it if you plan to go into Old Town every night: it’s 30 to 40 minutes each way.
5. Kierland and Scottsdale Quarter
Kierland is the best walkable base outside Old Town. Two open-air centers face each other across Scottsdale Road, Kierland Commons and Scottsdale Quarter, and the Westin Kierland sits behind them with its lazy river and 27 holes. You can stay at a resort and walk to a dozen good dinners.
Stay here if you’re a family, or a group that wants a resort and a stroll after dinner. It’s also well placed for the Airpark, the Phoenix Open and the 101.
The strong second tier
6. McCormick Ranch
McCormick Ranch is the 1970s master plan of lakes, two golf courses and bike paths, ten minutes north of Old Town. The Scottsdale Resort and The McCormick sit on Camelback Lake and price well below the corridor, and the Railroad Park is around the corner.
Stay here if you want value, a family base, or to ride the Greenbelt into Old Town.
7. Gainey Ranch
Gainey Ranch is the polished 1980s gated golf enclave with the Grand Hyatt and its 2.5-acre water playground at the gate, and the Gainey Village restaurants on the corner. It’s in the geographic middle of the city, which makes it a smart compromise for a group that wants both ends.
Stay here if the pool is the trip. The neighborhood itself is walls and fairways; you’ll drive to dinner.
8. Princess, TPC and WestWorld
The event district is the Fairmont Princess, TPC Scottsdale and the WestWorld horse park. Most weeks it’s a quiet resort corner off the 101. For a few weeks a year it holds the biggest crowds in Arizona.
Stay here if you’re coming for the Phoenix Open, Barrett-Jackson or the Arabian show, and want to walk to it, or if you have kids and want the Princess’s pools. The timeshare-style villa resorts here are good value for families outside event weeks.
9. Central Scottsdale and the Greenbelt
Central Scottsdale is residential and green, built around the Indian Bend Wash and its lakes and paths. The Andaz’s bungalows sit at its edge on Scottsdale Road, and it’s five minutes from Old Town.
Stay here if you want a quiet base with a bike path, or you’re visiting family who live here.
10. Talking Stick and the Salt River reservation
Talking Stick is the entertainment district on the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community just east of the 101: Talking Stick Resort and its casino, Salt River Fields, Topgolf, the aquarium, and Great Wolf Lodge. A cluster of newer select-service hotels prices below the Scottsdale side.
Stay here if it’s spring training, a casino trip, or summer with kids. Skip it if you want a desert resort or a walk to dinner.
Good for one kind of trip
11. Carefree
Carefree is the little planned town at the top of Scottsdale Road, with the Boulders and CIVANA. Dark skies, granite boulders, nothing open after nine. Stay here if the trip is golf, a spa or a wellness week, and you’re happy to be 45 minutes from Old Town.
12. Cave Creek
Cave Creek is the genuinely Western town next door: saloons, rodeo, Harleys and Spur Cross. The Prickly Pear Inn and the four-suite Spur Cross Inn are the charming small beds. Stay here if you want the Old West for real and plan to hike in the morning and two-step at night.
13. Fountain Hills
Fountain Hills is fifteen minutes over the McDowells, a quiet town with the fountain, Four Peaks views and a Dark Sky designation. ADERO on its ridgeline is the stay; the Inn at Eagle Mountain is the quiet golf option. Stay here if you want stars and silence and don’t mind a drive into town.
14. South Scottsdale
South Scottsdale is the 1950s ranch-house grid between Old Town and Tempe, with the city’s best-value restaurants and the start of the Greenbelt. The Papago Scottsdale is the one hotel with personality; Element at SkySong and SpringHill Suites are the practical ones. Stay here if you’re on a budget, visiting ASU, or want Old Town five minutes away at a lower rate.
15. North Scottsdale and the Airpark
North Scottsdale is the city’s engine room: the Airpark’s office parks and a long row of business hotels along the 101 and Scottsdale Road. Stay here if you’re here for work, an event at WestWorld, or a cheap clean bed near the freeway. It’s nobody’s idea of a vacation neighborhood, and it doesn’t pretend to be.
16. Shea Corridor and Scottsdale Ranch
The Shea Corridor is where locals eat and visitors rarely go. Its hotels are suite properties near HonorHealth and the Mayo Clinic campus. Stay here if you’re in town for a medical visit or a long stay with a kitchen; the strip-mall restaurants are a genuine bonus.
Great to visit, hard to sleep in
These are some of the best neighborhoods in the city. They just don’t have hotels, or the hotels are behind a guardhouse.
17. DC Ranch and McDowell Mountain Ranch
DC Ranch and McDowell Mountain Ranch have the Gateway Trailhead and Market Street and no hotels of their own. Visitors who stay here rent a house; the city requires short-term rentals to be licensed, so check that the listing has one. Otherwise, stay in the Airpark or at Kierland and drive fifteen minutes to the trail.
18. Grayhawk
Grayhawk is a 1990s family suburb around a public 36-hole golf club, and the clubhouse patios are some of the best sunset tables in the city. There’s nowhere to stay but a rental. Come for dinner and a round.
19. Desert Mountain and Desert Highlands
Desert Mountain is the private golf frontier: gated clubs, member-only clubhouses and some of the most beautiful high desert in the city. Unless a member is hosting you, you’ll see it from Cave Creek Road. The drive at sunset is free and worth it.
20. Rio Verde Foothills
Rio Verde Foothills is unincorporated horse country past the city’s last water main: dirt roads, the quietest Preserve trailheads and the road to the Verde River. There are no hotels. It’s a morning ride or a hike, then back to town.
The short version
- First trip, no car: Old Town, or Fifth Avenue if you want to sleep.
- Resort trip: the Camelback Corridor.
- Golf and hiking: Pinnacle Peak and Troon, or Carefree.
- Families: Kierland, the Princess district or Gainey Ranch, and Talking Stick in summer.
- Budget: South Scottsdale, McCormick Ranch, or the Talking Stick hotels.
- Event weeks: the Princess and WestWorld district, booked months ahead. The 2027 events calendar tells you which weeks those are.
Questions people ask
What is the best neighborhood to stay in Scottsdale? Old Town, for most visitors: it’s the only part of the city you can do on foot, and it has the most hotels. For a resort trip, the Camelback Corridor on the Paradise Valley border is five to twelve minutes from Old Town and has the grandest resorts.
What part of Scottsdale is best for families? Kierland, for the Westin Kierland’s lazy river and the walkable dinners across the street; the Princess district for its pools; Gainey Ranch for the Grand Hyatt’s water playground.
Is North Scottsdale a good place to stay? For golf, hiking and quiet, yes, especially Pinnacle Peak and Troon. For nightlife, no: Old Town is 20 to 40 minutes away depending on how far north you are.
Where should I stay in Scottsdale for spring training? Old Town, a walk from the Giants at Scottsdale Stadium, or Talking Stick, next door to Salt River Fields.