What is the Residence Inn Scottsdale Salt River?
It’s the younger sibling on the corner. Seven years after the Courtyard Scottsdale Salt River made history as the first Marriott on U.S. tribal land, the same developer, Salt River Devco, opened this 111-suite Residence Inn next door on October 29, 2019. Both sit east of Pima Road, which means both are on the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, a sovereign nation, whatever the “Scottsdale, AZ” on the envelope says. Devco is the Community’s own commercial development enterprise, so this isn’t a chain hotel that leased reservation land. It’s the Community’s hotel with Marriott running the front desk.
The format is pure Residence Inn: studios, one-bedrooms and two-bedrooms, every suite with a full kitchen, free hot breakfast, a pool, a fitness room and a putting green. What sets it apart is inside. The art and décor, by local artists, take their cues from the Community’s land and Arizona’s Native American history rather than the brand’s usual beige abstracts. There’s an outdoor event space called the Eagle’s Nest Lawn, and a full bar, the Agave Cantina, that serves tacos and margaritas in the evenings.
The location is the quieter end of the Community’s frontage: about three miles from Old Town, a few minutes south of Salt River Fields and the Talking Stick casino district, and about ten miles from Sky Harbor. For a week of spring training, a month-long work assignment or a family visit, it’s a practical choice.
How to stay at the Residence Inn right
Buy groceries once, then save every day. The full kitchens are the reason to book. With free hot breakfast and a fridge full of your own food, a week here costs far less than a week of eating out on the resort corridor. The big-box stores at the Pavilions are a few minutes north for anything you forgot.
Ask about the shuttle. The hotel has offered complimentary rides within about three miles, which reaches Salt River Fields for spring training and most of the Talking Stick district. Self-parking carries a modest nightly fee, so leaving the car in the lot has double value.
Choose suite size honestly. Studios suit solo work trips. Families and two-couple groups should go straight to the two-bedrooms, which are the first to sell out in February and March.
Use the Cantina for an easy night. The Agave Cantina’s happy hour and patio make a good no-drive evening. For a bigger night out, go ten minutes west to Old Town or north to Orange Sky at Talking Stick Resort for the sunset.
Bring the dog. It’s a pet-friendly hotel, with a fee and size limits.
Courtyard or Residence Inn? For one or two nights with a work dinner, the Courtyard next door and its Bistro are fine. For anything longer, or with kids, the kitchens and free breakfast win.
The Community’s second Marriott
The two hotels on this corner come from the Community’s decision to develop its own land on its own terms. The reservation was set aside in 1879, and Pima Road has marked its western boundary with Scottsdale ever since. For most of the twentieth century the Community farmed and Scottsdale grew north instead of east. Then came the late-century projects: the Pavilions in 1989, the Loop 101 agreement in 1990, the gaming compact in 1998. In 2000 the Community created Salt River Devco as an asset-management and commercial-development enterprise, with a mission to grow the Community’s returns and self-sufficiency through real estate.
Devco’s first hotel, the Courtyard, opened in 2012 and set two Marriott records: the chain’s first property on U.S. tribal land and its first LEED-certified hotel. The Residence Inn, its second, arrived in late 2019, in the same year Great Wolf Lodge opened up the freeway and a few months before a Hilton dual-brand hotel opened at Pima Center. That was a busy stretch for hotel building on Community land, as the Talking Stick district filled in around Salt River Fields and Talking Stick Resort.
The extended-stay format suited the market. Spring training brings families who stay a week or more. Hospitals, corporate campuses and the Scottsdale Airpark bring long work assignments. And winter visitors staying a month or more want a kitchen. A Residence Inn meets all three, and its pairing with the Courtyard gave the corner both a short-stay hotel and a long-stay one.
What the Community added was itself. Marriott’s opening announcement highlighted art and décor focused on Scottsdale’s Native American history, and the Community describes the hotel’s custom design as showcasing its own land and culture. It’s a small thing in a 111-suite hotel, but it’s the difference between being on tribal land and being of it. The guest sees a comfortable suite near the ballpark. The Community gets another enterprise on its own land, earning for its members.