What is the Rodeway Inn Old Town Scottsdale?
The Rodeway Inn Old Town Scottsdale is a small motor court on Scottsdale Road near Thomas, at the southern end of Old Town. Commercial property listings describe it as a 1963 motel of about two dozen units plus a manager’s apartment, renovated in 1994. Today it flies Rodeway Inn, the economy brand of Choice Hotels.
The pitch is simple: it’s one of the cheapest beds close to Old Town, and parking is free. Rooms come with a refrigerator, microwave, coffee maker and flat-screen TV, and there’s free Wi-Fi and morning coffee. Pets aren’t allowed (service animals only), and there’s no breakfast beyond the coffee.
The location is better than the price suggests. Scottsdale Stadium, the Giants’ spring-training home, is a short walk north, and Old Town’s restaurants and galleries are a bit beyond it. South Scottsdale’s strip-mall restaurants are close by too.
Reviews need to be read carefully. On Tripadvisor the motel sits at or near the bottom of the Scottsdale rankings, with complaints about deadbolts and safety chains, slow hot water, worn floors and dirty mattresses. On other review platforms it scores reasonably well, with guests describing clean rooms, friendly staff and good value. Both accounts are probably true, depending on the room and the week.
It suits budget travelers, ballpark visitors and anyone who needs a cheap night near Old Town and is willing to check the room carefully. It isn’t for anyone traveling with pets, anyone who wants a pool day, or anyone who would rather not take a chance on the room.
How to do the Rodeway Inn right
Inspect before you unpack. This is the most important advice for this motel. Lock and unlock the deadbolt, run the hot water, and check the sheets and mattress. If anything fails, go back to the desk immediately and ask for another room. Reviews describe big differences from room to room, so where you end up is partly up to you.
Book short and flexible. Choose a refundable rate and a single night if you can, then extend once you’ve seen the room.
Use it for spring training. In March, walking to Scottsdale Stadium instead of fighting for parking near Old Town is a real advantage, and rooms this close to the ballpark rarely cost this little. Book early, because cheap rooms near the stadium go first.
Feed yourself. There’s no breakfast, but there is a fridge and a microwave. Old Town’s breakfast spots are a short drive or a long walk north, and the city’s budget guide has more ways to stretch a dollar.
Know the walk. The ballpark and Old Town are walkable on a mild evening. In summer, the heat on Scottsdale Road makes even short walks hard, so drive (parking is free) or use the free Old Town trolley once you’re downtown.
Have a backup plan. If the room isn’t acceptable, the area around Old Town has other options at several price levels.
The motor courts of Scottsdale Road
When Scottsdale incorporated in 1951, the town was small and Scottsdale Road was its main approach. Winter visitors arrived by car, and through the 1950s and 1960s the road from the south filled with motor courts: low, single-story buildings around a parking lot, run by owners who lived on site. The manager’s apartment in this property’s listing is a sign of that era.
The ballpark explains part of why lodging clustered here. Scottsdale Stadium opened for the Baltimore Orioles’ spring training in 1956, a few blocks north. Big-league teams have trained there nearly every spring since, and the Giants have called it home since 1984. A motel built in 1963 between Thomas Road and the stadium was in the right place for decades of fans.
Over time, the motor-court strip thinned out. Much of the original roadside lodging along Scottsdale Road and in Old Town was torn down for condos and offices, converted to apartments, or rebuilt as boutique hotels. The few survivors mostly lasted by joining economy brands, and Rodeway Inn is one of the most common of those. The brand gives an independent motel a national reservation system and a recognizable name in exchange for meeting baseline standards, and it’s a common label on small older motels across the country.
That history explains the guest experience. A 60-year-old building with about two dozen units depends heavily on how much its current operator puts into upkeep, and the uneven reviews reflect that. The brand provides a booking channel, not a renovation budget.
Even so, the motel serves a purpose. Scottsdale’s tourism economy depends on housekeepers, cooks, contractors and seasonal workers, plus visitors on tight budgets, and they need somewhere affordable to stay near downtown. This motel is one of the last options of that kind on Scottsdale Road, left over from the era when the whole town was built for people arriving by car.