For President’s Weekend 2022 my family and I escaped the winter cold and headed to sunny Scottsdale, Arizona. I have had my eye on the Hyatt Regency Scottsdale Resort & Spa at Gainey Ranch for awhile. I reached out to the hotel to see if they would be open to hosting my family. They agreed to host us for two nights and then I used points for our third. In this post I’ll go over what you can expect when staying at the Hyatt Regency Scottsdale for a family vacation.
 

Getting the Points

The Hyatt Regency Scottsdale is a category 5 hotel which means it will cost you 17,000 points a night off-peak, 20,000 points a night at standard pricing, and 23,000 points a night at peak pricing. To get the points to stay here I recommend opening a Chase Sapphire Preferred and then transferring those points to Hyatt. If you visit during standard pricing this card could get you three free nights. Other great options would be a World of Hyatt card or other Chase Ultimate Rewards cards.

Want our guide on how to get a more Hyatt points? Visit this link and drop your email to get the guide sent to your inbox.

The Hotel

When pulling into the hotel it definitely had a resort feel to it. There is valet parking but after unloading the car we just parked in the parking lot close by. There is plenty of parking and it worked out great for us.

The hotel is located right next to Gainey Ranch Gold Club which is open to members of the Club and hotel guests.

 

The grounds at the resort are very well maintained and I was impressed by how pretty it was.

 

The Room

We had a 2 queen courtyard view room. When we walked into the room I was surprised by how big it was. The toilet and shower are separate from the sink and vanity. This area was nice and spacious and also included a closet. We easily could fit the baby’s pack play in the vanity area. There was also a nice large tv. One of our favorite parts of the room was the balcony. It was so nice to sit outside and relax, listen to the live band play, and watch the Native American dancers that perform on Friday nights. There was a small table and two chairs on the balcony.

The one downside of the location of our room was the live music at night could be loud. Thankfully we had our sound machine but if not it probably would have driven me a little crazy.

 

 

 

Activities

The Hyatt Regency Scottsdale shines as a family vacation destination with its activities and most especially the pool! The pool area is so so fun! First of all, there is a 30-foot, 3-story waterslide and my kids absolutely loved that. There is also a sandy beach which the kids and especially the baby loved. Out in the middle of the pool is a platform and that was really fun for the kids to jump off of. We pretty much spent our whole vacation out here by the pool.

The one complaint was that the water was a little cold but I’m assuming on those 100+ degree summer days it is just perfect!

There is also an adults-only pool but I didn’t spend any time there.

 

 

Right next to the pool there is a putting green (my oldest loved this!), ping pong, life-size checkers, connect four, a playground, and a climbing wall. You do have to pay for the climbing wall but the rest is included.

 

Friday evenings are fun at the resort because they have a bird show called “Arizona Birds of Prey Take Flight”. The highlight was seeing a Bald Eagle. After that, Native American dancers put on a show and play music.

 

 

There is are also tennis courts at the resort, a spa, a fitness center, and the golf course.

 

Dining Options

It always feels like you are at a resort when you can order poolside food! We had lunch at the pool one day. Typical poolside food- burgers, nachos, wraps, chicken strips, pizza etc. The kids loved ordering drinks. One day everyone got piña coladas and the following day the kids all tried different flavors (mango, peach, and strawberry).

 

There are also a few restaurants on the property. We ate at SWB one night and we really enjoyed it. The appetizer was just okay (shrimp) but the entrees and dessert were great! The kids had the option of ordering from the kid’s menu or there is also a kid’s buffet. They did the buffet and enjoyed all the kid’s favorites like pizza, mac n cheese, chicken strips, tater tots, fruit, and then less popular kid’s items like veggies 😉 there were also brownies. Mitch and I ordered the steak and salmon which we loved. We also got a chocolate cake for dessert and I could have had another one. So good.

We also had breakfast at SWB one morning. The kids got pancakes, fruit cups, and juice, and I had a bagel. We ordered to go and then brought the food back to the room to eat.

Overall Thoughts

There are parts of the hotel that could use an update. The hallways I noticed had some carpet pulling in areas and it felt a little dated in that regard. I was very impressed with the grounds and how well they were kept up. The staff was also wonderful- especially Mia who ran the climbing wall and water slide at times. She was so cute with my kids! At 20,000 points a night I felt like this was a nice way to use Hyatt points. Especially considering that cash prices for the dates I was there were around $650! I would totally bring my kids to the Hyatt Regency Scottsdale for another family vacation.