What is Sonesta ES Suites Scottsdale Paradise Valley?
Scottsdale Road between McDonald and Lincoln drives is the resort corridor’s front porch. The Hilton and its bell tower are here, and so are the bungalows of the Andaz, the restaurant row and Camelback on the horizon. Tucked in among them is an extended-stay hotel that most people drive past: the Sonesta ES Suites Scottsdale Paradise Valley, which spent its earlier life as the Residence Inn by Marriott Scottsdale Paradise Valley.
The formula hasn’t changed much since the Marriott days. These are apartment-style suites, each with a full kitchen (stovetop, microwave, dishwasher, real refrigerator), a sofa and a work area. There’s a free hot breakfast, an outdoor pool, a 24-hour fitness center, guest laundry and a lobby lounge. Pets are welcome, up to two per suite, with no breed or weight limits, which is rare.
Despite the name and the 85253 ZIP code, this isn’t Paradise Valley. The hotel sits inside the City of Scottsdale, which counts it on its official hotel list. The name points to the resort town a few blocks west, a common move on this stretch.
Who’s it for? Relocating families, traveling nurses, long-stay business travelers, spring-training regulars and anyone who wants a resort-corridor address without paying resort prices. Who should look elsewhere? Anyone who wants a resort experience. The pool is a hotel pool, the lobby is a lobby, and the scenery is at the Andaz next door.
How to do the Sonesta ES Suites right
Cook breakfast, walk to dinner. The free breakfast covers mornings, from the pancake machine to the breakfast-taco station. For dinner you’re on one of the better restaurant blocks in town: Hillstone and Veneto Trattoria are just across Scottsdale Road, Weft & Warp is at the Andaz, and Blanco holds down the old Borgata site up the road.
Stay a week, not a night. The brand discounts stays of five nights or more and cuts the rate again past seven. The kitchen and laundry are what make a month here livable rather than just bearable.
Bring the big dog. With no weight or breed limits and a flat fee, this is one of the easier places in central Scottsdale to travel with a large pet. Ask the front desk for the nearest walking route; the resort grounds around you are private.
Budget a few dollars for parking. It isn’t free, but it’s a small nightly charge, and spaces are guaranteed.
Set expectations on the pool. It’s a hotel pool, fine for a swim after work, not a place to spend the day. If you want a resort pool day, many corridor resorts sell day passes; the Sonesta is where you sleep afterward for less.
Use the location. Fashion Square is about a mile south. Old Town is about ten minutes down Scottsdale Road, and the Camelback trailheads and El Chorro on Lincoln are just as close. In spring, the hotel markets itself to teams and fans; Scottsdale Stadium is a short drive south.
An extended-stay hotel on the resort corridor’s crossroads
The block around 6040 N Scottsdale Road has seen most of Scottsdale’s hotel history. In 1973 Bob Karatz opened the Scottsdale Hilton at the Lincoln Drive junction, betting that the crossroads itself was the attraction. In 1980 the Alamos Resort, soon renamed the Cottonwoods, opened next door on 23 acres of casitas. In 1981 the Borgata’s imitation Tuscan hill town rose up the road. Up the road, the Plaza (now Kimpton Miralina) and Smoke Tree on Lincoln rounded out the scene.
The building now home to the Sonesta went up around 1991, according to county property records, in a different era with a different customer. By then the corridor’s resorts were set, and the growth was in travelers who needed a week or a month: consultants, relocating families, snowbirds testing the waters. Marriott’s Residence Inn had popularized the suite-with-a-kitchen format, and a Residence Inn with a “Paradise Valley” name on Scottsdale Road offered those travelers the same address as the resorts at a fraction of the price.
The neighbors kept changing. The Cottonwoods closed in 2014, and in 2016 Hyatt opened the Andaz on its land, keeping the old single-story bungalow layout and filling it with art from the Cattle Track compound down the road. The Borgata went through owners and redevelopment. The extended-stay hotel stayed what it was.
Its last big change was a flag swap. In 2020 and 2021, Service Properties Trust, which owns a stake in Sonesta, moved more than 200 of its hotels from Marriott and IHG to Sonesta brands. Many former Residence Inns landed in Sonesta ES Suites, the extended-stay brand, and this one now flies that flag too. Some longtime guests still call it the Residence Inn, and older listings still use the name. The suites, the kitchens and the free breakfast came through the change, and so did the location, which is still the reason to stay. Either way, it’s a reminder that much of the corridor’s real day-to-day lodging happens in places like this, not in the resorts on the postcards.