“Near Old Town” is the most stretched phrase in Scottsdale hotel marketing. A resort on Lincoln Drive will tell you it’s minutes from Old Town, and it is, by car. We measured instead. For every hotel below we routed the walk on the city’s actual streets and paths to two anchors: the corner of Scottsdale Road and Main Street, the middle of the Western storefronts and the galleries, and the Soleri Bridge on the Waterfront, at the north end by Fashion Square and the bar district. Distances are walking routes, rounded; drive times are without traffic.
One more thing before you book: Old Town is about a mile from end to end, so a hotel that’s close to one anchor can be a twenty-minute walk from the other. Decide whether your trip is galleries and dinners (south) or the Waterfront, Fashion Square and the bars (north), and book the end you’ll use.
Walkable: ten minutes or less
You can walk home from dinner at all of these, in any month.
The resort-style picks
- Hotel Solaya: 0.2 miles, about four minutes, to Scottsdale and Main. The old Saguaro on the Civic Center park reopened in 2026 under Hyatt’s JdV flag, with Ella on the Park on the lawn and Scottsdale Stadium about a fifteen-minute walk south. The most central pool in the city. Book early for spring training.
- Canopy by Hilton Scottsdale Old Town: 0.2 miles to Scottsdale and Main, steps from the Main Street galleries. The seventh-floor Outrider rooftop faces Camelback and is one of the best sunset decks in town.
- W Scottsdale: 0.2 miles, about five minutes, to the Waterfront, and the bar district is its lobby. The WET Deck pool is the scene. Ask for the quiet side or embrace the noise.
- The REMI: 0.3 miles to the Waterfront. Twelve stories, opened in 2025 in the middle of the Entertainment District, with a rooftop pool billed as the city’s highest. For the trip that’s mostly nights.
- Senna House: about half a mile, ten minutes, to the Waterfront. A 2021 Curio hotel with the Sonora Swim Club pool and Beau MacMillan’s CALA, which is reason enough on its own.
- Bespoke Inn: 0.3 miles to Scottsdale and Main. About ten rooms on Marshall Way, a second-story lap pool, loaner bikes. The quiet, small option in the gallery district.
The practical ones
- Scottsdale Marriott Old Town: 0.3 miles to Main, half a mile to the Waterfront. Every room is a suite, which makes it the group and family pick.
- AC Hotel Old Town (0.4 miles to Main), Hyatt Place Old Town (0.4) and Hyatt House Old Town (0.5, with kitchens) sit in the blocks between the Civic Center and the bar district, roughly equidistant from both ends.
- Hilton Garden Inn Old Town: 0.25 miles to Main, on Indian School at the Civic Center edge.
- Best Western Plus Sundial (0.3 miles to the Waterfront), Aloft (0.5) and the furnished apartments at Sentral Old Town (0.45) are the north-end value plays.
- Extended Stay America Old Town on Marshall Way (half a mile to Main) and Motel 6 Old Town (half a mile to the Waterfront, behind Fashion Square) are the cheapest beds in walking range.
Almost walkable: ten to twenty minutes
A pleasant walk eight months of the year. In July, at four in the afternoon, it’s a ride.
- Hotel Valley Ho: 0.6 miles, about thirteen minutes, to Scottsdale and Main; 0.8 to the Waterfront. Technically “almost,” but it’s the best resort in Old Town and everyone makes the walk. The 1956 landmark, the OH Pool, ZuZu. If you only read one entry on this page, it’s this one.
- The Scott: half a mile, about twelve minutes, to the Waterfront and Fashion Square; 1.1 miles to Main Street. A real resort with two pools and a beach, at the quiet north edge of the action.
- Caesars Republic: attached to Fashion Square, 0.6 miles to the Waterfront and 1.2 to Main Street. The rooftop pool looks straight at Camelback, and in summer you can reach half the mall without going outside.
- Embassy Suites Scottsdale Resort (0.65 miles to the Waterfront) and Hotel Adeline (0.7) sit on Scottsdale Road north of Camelback. The Embassy’s two-room suites and free breakfast suit families; the Adeline’s pool and phone-booth speakeasy suit everyone else.
- Courtyard Old Town (0.55 miles to Main), Fairfield Inn Old Town (0.7), Home2 Suites Old Town (0.75) and the Rodeway Inn (0.9) line the south end, closest to the stadium and the galleries and farthest from the bars.
A short ride away: the resort corridor
These are the resorts that say “near Old Town” and mean five to twelve minutes by car. You trade the walk for a real resort: bigger pools, the spa, the mountain. Get a car, a rideshare or a Waymo in; none of these is a sensible walk.
Under three miles
- Scottsdale Camelback Resort: about 1.7 miles by road, five minutes. A villa resort on Camelback Road with kitchens and space.
- DoubleTree Resort Paradise Valley–Scottsdale: about two miles up Scottsdale Road. A 1984 garden resort in the middle of a renovation; read its guide for where that stands.
- The Phoenician: about 2.6 miles, six minutes. Our number one resort is the closest true luxury resort to Old Town. On foot it’s 2.2 miles to the Waterfront, which nobody does twice.
- Hilton Scottsdale Resort & Villas and Andaz Scottsdale: both about 2.7 miles up Scottsdale Road, six minutes. The Hilton’s two-bedroom villas are the value; the Andaz’s bungalows are the style. Hilton Village next door gives the Hilton a walkable dinner or two.
- Sonesta ES Suites Scottsdale Paradise Valley: about 2.4 miles. Suites with kitchens for a longer stay.
- South Scottsdale: Papago Scottsdale, SpringHill Suites, Element at SkySong and the Parkview are 2.1 to 2.7 miles south, four to six minutes, and price well below Old Town. The Papago, a turquoise midcentury motor inn with Nobuo Fukuda’s restaurant on site, is the one with personality.
Three to six miles
- Royal Palms: about 3.2 miles, seven minutes, in Phoenix. The 1929 estate for a romantic stay with Old Town as dinner.
- Kimpton Miralina: about 3.4 miles, seven minutes. The former Scottsdale Plaza, reopened as a Kimpton in January 2026 and still finishing its villas.
- The McCormick and The Scottsdale Resort at McCormick Ranch: four to five miles north, about ten minutes. Lakes, golf, and the Greenbelt bike path, which you can ride all the way to Old Town in the cool months.
- Sanctuary, Mountain Shadows, Camelback Inn and Montelucia: 4.2 to 5.4 miles along Lincoln Drive, ten to twelve minutes. The Paradise Valley classics, and the right answer for a resort trip with two nights out in town.
- The Hermosa Inn: about six miles, twelve minutes.
- Talking Stick Resort and Great Wolf Lodge: about six miles east across the 101, twelve minutes. Different trips entirely, but close enough to come into town for dinner.
Getting in and out without a car
- Walk is the plan for everything in the first two groups from October to May. Our Old Town on foot route connects the galleries, the canal and the Waterfront.
- Waymo covers Old Town and the resort corridor, and it’s the easiest ride between a Lincoln Drive resort and the bar blocks. Getting around has the details and the limits.
- The trolley no longer runs an Old Town loop; the city suspended that route in 2020 and it hasn’t returned. The trolley guide has the routes that do run.
- Summer changes the math. Between June and September, “almost walkable” means a rideshare after 10 a.m., and a resort with a big pool beats a short walk.
Questions people ask
What are the best resorts near Old Town Scottsdale? Inside Old Town, Hotel Valley Ho, The Scott, Hotel Solaya and Caesars Republic are the full-resort options you can walk from. For a bigger resort a short ride away, The Phoenician is about six minutes by car, and the Paradise Valley resorts on Lincoln Drive are ten to twelve.
Which Old Town Scottsdale hotel is closest to everything? Hotel Solaya and the Canopy are both about a four-minute walk from Scottsdale Road and Main Street. For the Waterfront, Fashion Square and the bars, the W is about five minutes from the Soleri Bridge.
Can you walk from the Phoenician to Old Town? Technically: it’s about 2.2 miles on foot to the Waterfront, around 45 minutes. Practically, take the six-minute ride.
Do you need a car if you stay in Old Town? Not for Old Town itself. You’ll want one, or a ride, for the trailheads, Taliesin West and anything north of Shea.
Is Old Town the same as downtown Scottsdale? Mostly; the names overlap, and our lexicon entry explains where the lines fall.