Phoenix Tourism Guide

Where to Stay in Phoenix: Best Areas and Hotels

Where to Stay in Phoenix: Best Areas and Hotels

Sky Harbor sits a few miles east of downtown Phoenix, close enough that the high-rises fill the view from the runways. From Terminal 4 it is about 15 minutes by car to downtown, 15 to Mill Avenue in Tempe and 22 to Old Town Scottsdale, off-peak. That tight cluster in the middle of the Valley is the first thing to understand about where to stay in Phoenix, because most of what visitors come for sits farther out. The Musical Instrument Museum is 27 minutes north of downtown, Taliesin West 42 minutes northeast and the entrance to South Mountain Park 19 minutes south. Pick a base by what you plan to do each day, not by a pool photo, and the whole trip gets shorter.

Short answer: For a first visit, stay in Old Town Scottsdale if you want to walk to dinner, bars and galleries and don’t mind Scottsdale prices, or in downtown Phoenix if you want light rail, museums, games and the shortest airport ride. Tempe’s Mill Avenue district is the walkable alternative on the same rail line as the airport, and it usually costs less than Old Town. From June to September every base gets cheaper, and none of them is pleasant to walk around after mid-morning.

Taxes, fares, rules and drive times in this guide were last checked on September 24, 2026. Drive times are off-peak estimates; allow a third longer at rush hour. Room rates change daily, so this guide gives you the patterns and the math instead of a nightly price that would be wrong by next week.

Where to stay in Phoenix at a glance

Ten bases cover almost every kind of trip. The table sorts them by side of the Valley, distance from the airport, whether you can walk to dinner and what pushes their prices up. The sections further down give each area’s drive times and its honest drawbacks.

Area Where, and drive from Sky Harbor (checked Sept 2026) Walk to dinner? What pushes rates up Best for
Downtown Phoenix Central Phoenix; 13-15 min Yes, in a compact core Big conventions, concerts, Suns and Diamondbacks home dates Light rail, museums, games, a first trip without a car
Midtown and Uptown Central Avenue, 2-5 miles north of downtown; about 19 min In pockets along Central Downtown events that spill over The Heard Museum, Phoenix Art Museum, light rail, quieter nights
Camelback corridor and Biltmore Northeast Phoenix; 17-20 min Short stretches only The January-April season A central base for Camelback and Piestewa hikes
Old Town Scottsdale Scottsdale, 20 min east of downtown Phoenix; 16-22 min Yes, the Valley’s best Peak season, spring training, golf and auction weeks, weekends Restaurants, bars, galleries, Scottsdale Stadium
North Scottsdale and Kierland North end of the Valley; 33-35 min Kierland Commons only Golf season, WM Phoenix Open week Golf, Taliesin West, the Musical Instrument Museum
Tempe Mill Avenue and Tempe Town Lake; 9-16 min Yes, around Mill Avenue ASU football, graduation and move-in weekends Rail to the airport, the lake, a cheaper walkable base
Mesa, Chandler and Gilbert East Valley; 22-34 min (20-28 from Mesa Gateway) In small historic downtowns Cubs and Athletics spring training Mesa Gateway flights, the Salt River, the Superstitions
Glendale and the West Valley Westgate area; 30-34 min At Westgate only Cardinals games, concerts, bowl games, spring training Events at State Farm Stadium, West Valley ballparks
Beside Sky Harbor Airport edges; 5-10 min No Weekday business travel One night before an early flight
Desert Ridge and far north Phoenix Along Loop 101; 29-32 min No The resort season The MIM, north Valley trails, a pool-centered trip

How do you choose a base in the Valley?

Four questions settle it faster than any hotel ranking. Answer them in this order, because each one narrows the next.

What will you do on most days?

Count the days you expect to spend on each kind of thing. Museums, concerts and games point to downtown Phoenix or the Central Avenue corridor, where the Heard Museum, the Phoenix Art Museum, Chase Field and Mortgage Matchup Center sit within a few minutes of each other. Restaurants, bars and galleries point to Old Town Scottsdale. Sunrise hikes on Camelback Mountain and Piestewa Peak point to the Camelback corridor, 8 to 10 minutes from both trailheads. Golf, Taliesin West and the Musical Instrument Museum point north, to Kierland or Desert Ridge. Spring training points wherever your team plays, and the Valley’s ten ballparks are spread across a lot of desert.

If your list splits evenly, split the trip. Two nights downtown and two in Scottsdale costs you one extra checkout and saves a surprising amount of freeway time. It also lets you see how different the two cities feel, which a single base hides.

Will you have a car?

Most visitors rent one, and most of the Valley assumes you have. The exceptions are the light-rail corridor and the area served by Waymo’s driverless cars. Valley Metro’s light rail runs from downtown Phoenix east through Tempe to Mesa and north along Central Avenue, and the free PHX Sky Train connects Sky Harbor’s terminals to it at the 44th Street station. A ride costs $2, and tap-to-pay caps what you spend at $4 a day (checked September 2026). Stay on the line in downtown Phoenix, Midtown or Tempe and you can do a museum-and-ballgame trip without a car. Stay in Scottsdale and you will need a car, a rideshare or a Waymo for almost everything beyond Old Town.

If you do rent, the Rental Car Center is a Sky Train ride from the terminals. Downtown hotels sit among paid garages and often charge for overnight parking, while suburban hotels are more likely to include it. Ask before you book, because a nightly parking charge can erase the difference between two room rates.

When are you coming?

The calendar moves prices more than the neighborhood does. January through April is peak season across the Valley: Scottsdale collected about 43.6% of its 2024 hotel sales tax in those four months, according to the city’s own lodging report. Big events stack on top of the season. In 2027 the WM Phoenix Open runs February 8-14 at TPC Scottsdale, the Cactus League opens February 19 and plays through March 23, and the NBA All-Star Game is February 21 at Mortgage Matchup Center downtown. From June through September the pattern flips. Normal highs at Sky Harbor run from 100.4°F in September to 106.5°F in July, and rates fall to match.

How much walking will the weather allow?

“Walkable” means something different here in July. Phoenix averages 111 days a year at 100°F or hotter, based on the 1991-2020 normals, and on days when the National Weather Service issues an Extreme Heat Warning, the city restricts its busiest summit trails from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. A ten-minute walk to dinner is a pleasure from November to March and a real effort at 4 p.m. in July. In summer, pick a base where the things you want are a five-minute drive or a rail ride away, and save the strolling for after dark.

Which base fits your trip?

If you already know what kind of trip this is, start here. The runner-up is the base to check when the first choice is sold out or overpriced for your dates.

Trip Stay in Why Runner-up
First visit, with a car Old Town Scottsdale Walkable evenings; 10-25 min to most daytime sights Camelback corridor
First visit, no car Downtown Phoenix Rail to the airport, museums and games Tempe
Museums and pro sports Downtown Phoenix Chase Field 3 min, Heard Museum 6 min Midtown on Central
Nightlife Old Town Scottsdale The Valley’s densest bar district Tempe’s Mill Avenue
Sunrise hiking Camelback corridor 8-10 min to Piestewa Peak and Echo Canyon Old Town Scottsdale
Golf and Taliesin West Kierland, north Scottsdale 17 min to Taliesin, 12 to the MIM Desert Ridge
Families Old Town or south Scottsdale Close to the zoo, garden, aquarium and water parks Tempe
Spring training, several teams Tempe Averages 26 min to all ten parks Downtown Phoenix
Flying into Mesa Gateway Gilbert or Chandler 20-21 min from that terminal Downtown Mesa
Tight budget Tempe or Mesa Chain hotels on the rail line Near Sky Harbor
Summer trip A resort, or downtown near indoor venues Pools and air-conditioned days Desert Ridge

How long is the drive from each base?

These are off-peak drive times from each base to the places visitors go most, measured in September 2026. The pattern is simple. The central bases are within about 20 minutes of most of the list, and the edge bases are close to one or two things and far from the rest.

Base (minutes, checked Sept 2026) Heard Museum Desert Botanical Garden Musical Instrument Museum Taliesin West Echo Canyon (Camelback) Chase Field Sky Harbor T4
Downtown Phoenix 6 17 27 42 22 3 15
Uptown (Central and Camelback) 7 21 21 36 16 11 19
Camelback corridor (24th Street) 12 19 19 34 10 14 17
Old Town Scottsdale 20 10 25 24 12 22 15
Kierland, north Scottsdale 29 26 12 17 21 32 32
Tempe, Mill Avenue 17 8 32 32 20 17 10
Downtown Mesa 27 22 35 34 30 26 21
Downtown Chandler 33 29 41 40 37 31 27
Westgate, Glendale 26 36 32 50 39 27 34
Desert Ridge 28 34 3 22 23 30 33

Three things stand out. Tempe is closer to the Desert Botanical Garden, at 8 minutes, than Old Town Scottsdale is. Kierland is the only base within 20 minutes of both Taliesin West and the Musical Instrument Museum. And the far East Valley and West Valley bases are at least 21 minutes from everything on the list, which is fine if your trip is ballgames on that side and expensive in hours if it isn’t.

The best areas to stay in Phoenix, one by one

Each area below gets the same treatment: where it is, what it is close to, whether you can walk anywhere, a few hotels that were operating in September 2026, and the reasons not to stay there.

Downtown Phoenix: light rail, games and the shortest airport ride

Central Phoenix. 13 to 15 minutes from Sky Harbor by car, or a Sky Train and light-rail ride. Downtown is where the convention hotels are, and it is the only part of the Valley where a ballpark, an arena, a science center and several blocks of restaurants sit within a short walk of each other. Chase Field, home of the Diamondbacks, is 3 minutes by car from City Hall and not much longer on foot. Mortgage Matchup Center, where the Suns and the WNBA’s Mercury play, is a few blocks from the convention center. The Heard Museum is 6 minutes up Central Avenue, Roosevelt Row’s galleries and First Friday art walk are 3 minutes north, and the light rail ties all of it together.

The hotels are mostly big and familiar. The Sheraton Phoenix Downtown is the largest, with 1,003 rooms. The 24-story Hyatt Regency Phoenix faces the convention center, and the Renaissance, the Westin, a Hilton Garden Inn, an AC Hotel, a Hampton Inn & Suites and a Residence Inn fill in the middle. Kimpton’s Hotel Palomar is the boutique choice, with a rooftop pool bar and a nightly wine hour. All of them appeared on Visit Phoenix’s downtown hotel list in September 2026.

Downtown prices follow the convention calendar as much as the weather. A week with a large convention in town can price like peak season, and a quiet weekend with no game can be the best-value good-hotel night in the central Valley. If your dates are flexible, look at the convention center’s event calendar before you book, and check whether the Suns, Mercury or Diamondbacks are home.

The drawbacks are real. Downtown can feel quiet on a weeknight with nothing booked. It is 42 minutes from Taliesin West and 27 from the MIM, and every hike starts with an 18- to 22-minute drive to Piestewa Peak or Camelback. And in summer the walk to dinner, however short, happens on concrete that holds the day’s heat long after sunset.

Downtown Phoenix high-rises lit up at night above a wide street with light-rail tracks and streaks of car headlights
Downtown Phoenix after dark. The convention hotels are a short walk from the arena, Chase Field and the light rail.

Midtown and Uptown: museums and rail without the crowds

Central Avenue, 2 to 5 miles north of downtown. About 19 minutes from Sky Harbor. North of downtown, Central Avenue turns into the Valley’s museum row and then a string of older neighborhoods. The Heard Museum and the Phoenix Art Museum are both on it, the light rail runs down the middle of the street, and Uptown, around Central and Camelback Road, has a cluster of restaurants, coffee shops and bars. It is quieter than downtown and closer to the mountains: Piestewa Peak’s trailhead is 12 minutes from Central and Camelback, and Echo Canyon on Camelback Mountain is 16.

Hotels are fewer and smaller here. Uptown has a handful of boutique properties, Rise Uptown among them, and midtown’s hotels sit close to the rail stations along Central. This is the base for travelers who want the museums and the rail line without downtown’s convention crowds, and who don’t need a bar district outside the front door.

Its weakness is the same as downtown’s. Scottsdale, Taliesin West and the far-north attractions are a drive, and Uptown’s restaurants are spread along a couple of miles of Central Avenue rather than packed into a few blocks. You will walk to some dinners and drive to others.

The Camelback corridor, Biltmore and Arcadia: the most central base

Northeast Phoenix, along Camelback Road east of 24th Street. 17 to 20 minutes from Sky Harbor. This is the geographic middle of the part of the Valley visitors use, and the drive times show it: 8 minutes to Piestewa Peak’s trailhead, 10 to Echo Canyon, 14 to Old Town Scottsdale, 12 to the Heard Museum and 19 to both the Desert Botanical Garden and the MIM. No other base is that balanced. If you plan to hike at sunrise and drive somewhere different every afternoon, start here.

The corridor is mostly offices, shopping centers and resorts, with the Arizona Biltmore at its west end and a run of Arcadia and Paradise Valley resorts to the east. Those are covered, fees and day passes included, in our guide to the best Phoenix resorts. Between them are business hotels aimed at the office towers along Camelback Road, which tend to be better value on weekends than on weekdays.

Walkability is limited to short stretches around the shopping centers, and crossing Camelback Road on foot is not a pleasant way to reach dinner. Treat the corridor as a driving base with good restaurants a few minutes away, not as a neighborhood to wander. Arcadia, the leafy district of citrus trees and ranch houses south of Camelback Mountain, has some of the best neighborhood restaurants in Phoenix but very few places to sleep.

Old Town Scottsdale: the best place to walk to dinner

Scottsdale, about 20 minutes east of downtown Phoenix. 16 to 22 minutes from Sky Harbor. Old Town is the closest thing the Valley has to a resort town’s main street, and it sits in a separate city from Phoenix, with its own taxes and its own prices. Experience Scottsdale counts more than 100 restaurants, cocktail bars, lounges and nightclubs in its walkable districts, and the galleries, western-wear shops and Scottsdale Stadium, the Giants’ spring-training park, are all within walking distance. You can leave the car parked for a whole evening, which is rare in this metro area.

It is also a good base for the east side. From Old Town it is 10 minutes to the Desert Botanical Garden, 12 to Echo Canyon, 24 to Taliesin West and a minute to Scottsdale Stadium. It is 20 minutes from the Heard Museum and 22 from Chase Field, so a museum-heavy trip works better from Phoenix. For the sights once you are there, see our rundown of what to do in Scottsdale.

Hotels run from resorts to boutique and chain properties. W Scottsdale, whose WET Deck pool has DJs, anchors the nightlife end. Hotel Adeline and Caesars Republic Scottsdale are two more of the non-resort hotels in the Scottsdale core, and Extended Stay America’s Old Town property on Marshall Way suits longer, plainer stays. Hotel Valley Ho, 3 minutes away, is really a resort and is covered with them.

Scottsdale-area hotels averaged $271.17 a night across 2024, according to the city’s lodging statistics report, and that average includes the resorts that pull it up. What you give up for the walkability is rail. Old Town is not on the light rail, so the airport, downtown Phoenix and Tempe are drives, rideshares or Waymo rides. The bar district’s weekend nights are also loud, so ask for a room facing away from the entertainment district if you plan to sleep before 2 a.m.

Western-style storefronts with a covered wooden walkway and parking spaces on a sunny street in Old Town Scottsdale
Old Town Scottsdale’s western-style storefronts, photographed in 2016. The covered walkways help; summer afternoons still send everyone indoors.

North Scottsdale and Kierland: golf, Taliesin West and quiet

The north end of the Valley along Scottsdale Road and Loop 101. 33 to 35 minutes from Sky Harbor. This is where many of the golf courses and big resorts are. Kierland Commons, an outdoor shopping street with restaurants, is the one walkable pocket, and a hotel near it puts you 17 minutes from Taliesin West and 12 from the Musical Instrument Museum. The Westin Kierland, with 735 rooms, is the big resort here, and the resort guide covers it.

A geography note that surprises people: Scottsdale’s own lodging report files the Westin Kierland under Phoenix, because the Kierland area sits inside Phoenix city limits even though its addresses say Scottsdale. That means Phoenix’s hotel tax, not Scottsdale’s, applies there. Chain hotels along Shea Boulevard and Scottsdale Road, including a Hampton Inn & Suites and a La Quinta listed in that 2025 report, are the cheaper way to sleep in this part of the Valley.

The trade-off is distance from everything else: 29 minutes to the Heard Museum, 32 to Chase Field and 45 to South Mountain. Stay here if golf, Taliesin West or a resort pool is the point of the trip. Don’t stay here to see downtown Phoenix.

Palm trees along a street of three-story shops and offices at Kierland Commons in north Scottsdale
Kierland Commons in 2008. The shops have changed since; it is still the only stretch up north built for walking.

Tempe: the value base on the rail line

Downtown Tempe, on Mill Avenue and Tempe Town Lake. 9 to 16 minutes from Sky Harbor. Tempe is the third walkable district: a college downtown built around Arizona State University’s main campus, with Mill Avenue’s bars and restaurants running north to the lake. It sits on the light rail between the airport and downtown Phoenix, it is 8 minutes from the Desert Botanical Garden and 11 from Old Town Scottsdale, and it averages 26 minutes to the ten Cactus League ballparks, tied with downtown Phoenix for the shortest average of any base we measured. The Cubs’ Sloan Park is 8 minutes away.

Hotels include the Tempe Mission Palms, a Mission-style hotel in the middle of downtown Tempe; the Omni Tempe Hotel at ASU, with 319 rooms and 11 suites near Mill Avenue; and the Canopy by Hilton Tempe, which has a rooftop pool. Chain hotels spread out from the center along the freeways toward the airport, which is where Tempe’s lower rates usually live.

The catch is the university calendar. Home football weekends, graduation in May and December and move-in week in August fill Tempe’s rooms with families, and Mill Avenue on a Friday night is loud and young. Outside those dates, Tempe is often the best-value walkable base in the central Valley, and the easiest one to reach from the airport without a car.

Aerial view of Tempe Town Lake with downtown Tempe and Arizona State University buildings beyond and a freeway in the foreground
Tempe Town Lake with downtown Tempe and the ASU campus behind it. Mill Avenue’s hotels are a short walk from the water.

Mesa, Chandler and Gilbert: the East Valley and Mesa Gateway

The East Valley. 22 to 34 minutes from Sky Harbor; 20 to 28 from Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport. The three cities south and east of Tempe are mostly suburban, but each has a small historic downtown with restaurants: Main Street in Mesa, the blocks around Arizona Avenue in Chandler and Gilbert’s Heritage District. If you are flying into Mesa Gateway, this is the logical side of the Valley to stay on. Gilbert’s Heritage District is 20 minutes from that terminal and downtown Chandler 21, while downtown Phoenix is 46.

Mesa is also the spring-training home of the Cubs and the Athletics: Sloan Park and Hohokam Stadium are 10 and 5 minutes from downtown Mesa. In the warmer months, the East Valley is the closer side for the Salt River. Downtown Mesa is 34 minutes from Salt River Tubing and 41 from the Saguaro Lake marina, against 47 and 55 from downtown Phoenix. It is also the gateway to the Superstition Mountains and Lost Dutchman State Park, about 40 miles east of Phoenix.

It works poorly for everything on the Phoenix side. Downtown Chandler is 40 minutes from Taliesin West, 41 from the MIM and 33 from the Heard Museum. Mesa’s downtown is on the light rail, which helps; Chandler and Gilbert are not. Rates here tend to run below the central Valley’s, except in March, when fans from out of state fill the hotels near the ballparks. The Cactus League says about six in ten of its fans come from outside Arizona.

Glendale and the West Valley: State Farm Stadium and four ballparks

Westgate and the West Valley. 30 to 34 minutes from Sky Harbor. Glendale’s Westgate district, beside State Farm Stadium, is the West Valley’s main walkable entertainment area, and its hotels are there for event nights: Cardinals games, concerts, the Fiesta Bowl at the turn of the year and whatever else is booked into the stadium. Spring training is close too. Camelback Ranch, home of the Dodgers and White Sox, is 6 minutes from Westgate; the Peoria Sports Complex, home of the Mariners and Padres, is 14; American Family Fields and Goodyear Ballpark are 17 and 22.

For anything else it is a long way out: 50 minutes to Taliesin West, 39 to Old Town Scottsdale and Echo Canyon, 36 to the Desert Botanical Garden. Stay out west for a game, a concert or a week of West Valley spring training, not for a general sightseeing trip. Lake Pleasant, 54 minutes north of Westgate, is the big outdoor draw on this side of the Valley.

Beside Sky Harbor: one night before an early flight

Around the airport’s edges. 5 to 10 minutes from the terminals. The hotels around Sky Harbor are practical, and that is all they are: freeways, rental-car traffic and office parks, with little to walk to. They make sense for a midnight arrival or a 6 a.m. departure. For anything longer, downtown Phoenix and Tempe are 10 to 15 minutes from the terminals and give you somewhere to eat without driving. The one airport-area exception is the Arizona Grand, a resort beside South Mountain 19 minutes from Terminal 4, which the resort guide covers.

Desert Ridge and far north Phoenix: a pool-centered trip

North Phoenix along Loop 101. 29 to 32 minutes from Sky Harbor. Desert Ridge is 3 minutes from the Musical Instrument Museum and 22 from Taliesin West, and the JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge, with 950 rooms, is the main reason people stay here. It is a resort-first area surrounded by shopping centers, which makes it a sensible base for a golf-and-pool trip or a family that plans to spend most of its time at the hotel. For downtown, the Heard Museum or South Mountain, it is 28 to 44 minutes each way.

Paradise Valley: resorts only

Paradise Valley, the small town wrapped around Camelback Mountain between Phoenix and Scottsdale, is almost entirely homes and resorts. It has no downtown and no ordinary hotels to speak of. If a resort is the trip, the resort guide sorts them out. If you only need a bed, you will pay less a few minutes away in Phoenix or Scottsdale and still be 10 minutes from the same trailheads.

Phoenix or Scottsdale: what does the difference cost?

Less than the reputation suggests on taxes, and more than you might expect on the room rate itself. Here is the arithmetic.

How much is the hotel tax in Phoenix and Scottsdale?

Every hotel room in the Valley pays three layers of tax: Arizona’s 5.5% on transient lodging, Maricopa County’s 1.77% and the city’s own rate. In Phoenix the city’s share is 5.8%, for a total of 13.07% on stays of 29 nights or less, according to the city’s combined tax rate chart effective January 1, 2026. It was 12.57% until Phoenix raised its city sales tax from 2.3% to 2.8% in July 2025. Scottsdale charges a 1.7% city sales tax plus a 5% bed tax, which puts its total at about 13.97% (checked September 2026). Tempe, Mesa and the other cities set their own rates, so check the tax line on any quote.

That 0.9-point gap sounds bigger than it is. Here is what it adds on sample room rates, before any resort fee or parking charge. The rates are round examples for the math, not quotes.

Sample room rate per night Phoenix tax at 13.07% (2026) Scottsdale tax at 13.97% (2026) Difference per night
$150 $19.61 $20.96 $1.35
$250 $32.68 $34.93 $2.25
$400 $52.28 $55.88 $3.60

On a $250 room for a week, the tax gap comes to $15.75. It should never decide where you stay. The room rate, the parking charge and any resort fee will.

Why does Scottsdale often cost more for the same kind of hotel?

Scottsdale sells leisure. Its hotels fill with golfers, spring-training fans, bachelorette parties and resort guests, so demand peaks on weekends and in the January-to-April season. The swing is huge: the city’s 2024 bed-tax receipts ranged from $1.37 million in the leanest month to $6.58 million in the busiest, nearly five to one. Downtown Phoenix sells conventions, so its busiest nights follow the meeting calendar and the big events rather than the weekend.

The result is that the same brand at the same tier can cost more in Old Town on a March Saturday and less in Old Town on a July Tuesday than its downtown Phoenix sibling. There is no fixed Scottsdale premium to plan around. Price the same dates in both cities, and in Tempe, before you assume any of them is the cheap one.

Two other costs move the total more than tax does. Many resorts and some hotels add a daily resort or amenity fee, and since May 2025 a federal rule has required hotels and vacation-rental sites to show the total price, mandatory fees included, whenever they display a price, so compare totals rather than headline rates. And ask what overnight parking costs, especially downtown, where a garage charge is common.

When are Phoenix hotels cheapest, and when do they sell out?

Rates in the Valley follow the thermometer first and the event calendar second. The table lays out the year. Event dates are for the 2026-27 season and were checked in September 2026; normal highs are the 1991-2020 averages at Sky Harbor.

Period Normal high What’s happening What it means for rates
October-November 89.2°F, then 76.5°F Hiking weather returns; the season opens Rising; early October is the value window
December 66.2°F Holidays; the Fiesta Bowl at the turn of the year Mixed, with spikes around New Year’s
January 67.6°F Barrett-Jackson’s collector-car auction in late January Peak season begins; Scottsdale climbs first
February 70.8°F WM Phoenix Open Feb 8-14, 2027; Cactus League from Feb 19; NBA All-Star Feb 19-21 The hardest month to find a room
March 78.1°F Cactus League through March 23; wildflowers; spring break Peak, with families added
April-May 85.5°F, then 94.5°F Warm days; ASU graduation in May Easing through April, falling in May
June-September 104.2°F to 106.5°F, 100.4°F in September Monsoon June 15-September 30; trail restrictions on Extreme Heat Warning days Lowest of the year; resort bargains

Two practical notes. First, February 2027 stacks the WM Phoenix Open, the start of spring training and NBA All-Star weekend into about two weeks, so if you are coming then, book early and expect the central Valley to fill. Second, the summer discount is real but conditional. A resort that costs a fortune in March can be affordable in July, and the reason is waiting outside: normal highs above 104°F from June through August and monsoon storms between June 15 and September 30 that can bring dust, lightning and flash flooding. In 2024 the city restricted its busiest summit trails for most of the day on 45 days. A summer stay works if you plan to be in the pool, in a museum or at a Diamondbacks game under Chase Field’s roof, and outside only at dawn.

Hotel, vacation rental, resort or campground?

Most visitors book a hotel, but the Valley has more ways to sleep than that, and each comes with its own tax and rules.

Hotels

Chains dominate, from convention towers downtown to suite hotels along the freeways. Suite and extended-stay brands, such as the Residence Inn downtown and Extended Stay America in Old Town Scottsdale, make sense for a week or longer, since a kitchen pays for itself quickly in a Valley where every restaurant meal involves a drive. Boutique hotels cluster in downtown Phoenix, Uptown and Old Town Scottsdale, which are also the three places where you can walk out of the lobby to dinner.

Resorts

A resort is a different decision. You are choosing the pools, spa and grounds more than the location, and most of the big ones sit in Paradise Valley, north Scottsdale, north Phoenix or on tribal land at the Valley’s edges. Resort fees, day passes and the real differences between them are in our Phoenix and Scottsdale resort guide. The one location rule worth knowing here: a resort 45 minutes from anything is a fine vacation and a poor base.

Vacation rentals

Short-term rentals are everywhere in the Valley, especially in Scottsdale, and they are taxed like hotels. Scottsdale’s 5% bed tax applies to any hotel, apartment or individual charging for lodging for 29 days or less, and Phoenix’s 13.07% applies to transient stays of the same length. Phoenix also runs a short-term rental registry under a 2022 state law that let cities license rentals, and since April 4, 2026, an owner applying to rent out a property with a backyard unit completed on or after September 14, 2024 must attest that they will live on the property.

Before booking, check that the listing’s total includes cleaning and service fees, read the house rules on noise and guest counts, and in summer ask whether the pool gets afternoon shade, because an unshaded pool runs warm by July. A rental beats a hotel for groups, families who want a kitchen and trips of a week or more. For one or two nights, the flat cleaning fee usually wipes out any saving.

Month-long stays

Stay longer than 29 consecutive nights and the tax picture changes. Phoenix taxes non-transient lodging at its 2.8% city rate alone, and Scottsdale’s 5% bed tax applies only to stays of 29 days or less. Winter visitors who come for one to three months take advantage of that, mostly in furnished rentals, RV resorts and 55-plus communities spread across the East and West Valley. For a month or more, the location questions above still apply, but the budget math looks nothing like a hotel’s.

Camping and RV sites

Camping is a cool-season choice only. Maricopa County runs campgrounds in its regional parks; at Lake Pleasant, 61 minutes northwest of downtown, a primitive site costs $20 a night, a semi-developed site $25, a developed site $40 and a shaded RV site $65, on top of a $10 vehicle entry fee (county fees effective January 1, 2026, checked September 2026). From May to September, sleeping outside in the low desert ranges from uncomfortable to dangerous, so look to the high country instead.

Can you stay in Phoenix without a car?

Yes, in a narrow band. Valley Metro’s light rail has run as two lines since June 2025: the A Line east-west from downtown Phoenix past the airport’s 44th Street station and through Tempe to Mesa, and the B Line north-south along Central Avenue, with a transfer downtown. Trains run from early morning until around midnight, so plan late concerts and games with the last train in mind.

Base Light rail nearby? Rail to Sky Harbor Walk to dinner Car-free verdict (checked Sept 2026)
Downtown Phoenix Yes Yes, with the free Sky Train Yes Works for museums, games and concerts
Midtown and Uptown Yes, along Central Yes, with a downtown transfer Partly Works for a quieter, museum-focused trip
Tempe, Mill Avenue Yes Yes, with the free Sky Train Yes Works well
Downtown Mesa Yes, on the A Line Yes, with the free Sky Train A few blocks Works for Mesa, Tempe and downtown Phoenix
Old Town Scottsdale No No Yes Works for an Old Town-only trip plus Waymo or rideshare
Camelback corridor No, 3 to 5 miles east of the line No Short stretches Needs a car
Kierland, Desert Ridge, Chandler, Gilbert, West Valley No No Limited Needs a car

Waymo’s driverless cars fill a lot of the gaps. Its Phoenix service area covers downtown Phoenix, Scottsdale and parts of Tempe, Mesa and Chandler, and it picks up at Sky Harbor’s Terminals 3 and 4. Conventional rideshare pickups run around the clock at both terminals and at the 24th Street and 44th Street Sky Train stations. What no car-free plan reaches easily is the edge of the Valley: Taliesin West, the MIM, the Salt River and most trailheads. Budget a one-day rental or a few rideshares for those, and you can skip the car for the rest of the trip.

A silver Valley Metro light-rail train on East Washington Street, the line that shapes where to stay in Phoenix without a car
A light-rail train on East Washington Street in 2021. The line links downtown Phoenix, the airport’s Sky Train and Tempe.

What to skip when you choose where to stay

  • Skip a far-north resort for a two-night city trip. The Four Seasons at Troon North is 48 minutes from downtown Phoenix and 35 from Old Town, and The Boulders is 47 from downtown. Wonderful if the resort is the trip; a waste of your mornings if it isn’t.
  • Skip the “it’s cheaper out there” logic at the edges. A West Valley or far East Valley hotel that saves money costs you 35 to 50 minutes each way to Taliesin West, Echo Canyon or Old Town. Two long drives a day eat the savings in gas and in hours.
  • Skip an airport hotel for more than one night. Downtown Phoenix and Tempe are 10 to 15 minutes from the terminals and have somewhere to eat outside the door.
  • Skip a car-free plan outside the rail corridor. Old Town Scottsdale works without a car for dinner. It does not work for the rest of the Valley unless you budget for Waymo and rideshares.
  • Skip choosing by “walkable” in July. From June through September, walkability is an after-dark feature. Choose by drive time and pool shade instead.
  • Skip a vacation rental for one or two nights. The cleaning fee spread over two nights usually costs more than the hotel it replaced.
  • Skip assuming Scottsdale is always the expensive one. In a big convention week, downtown Phoenix can cost more. Price both for your exact dates.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best area to stay in Phoenix for first-time visitors?

Old Town Scottsdale or downtown Phoenix. Old Town is better for walking to restaurants, bars and galleries, and it usually costs more. Downtown Phoenix is better for light rail, museums, concerts and games, and it is 13 to 15 minutes from Sky Harbor. The two are about 20 minutes apart by car, so either one works as a base for visiting the other.

Is it better to stay in Phoenix or Scottsdale?

It depends on the trip. Scottsdale wins for dining, nightlife, golf and resorts, and Old Town is the Valley’s most walkable district. Phoenix wins for museums, pro sports and light rail. Hotel taxes barely differ: 13.07% in Phoenix and about 13.97% in Scottsdale for stays under 30 nights (checked September 2026). Compare the room rates for your dates instead.

Can you visit Phoenix without renting a car?

Yes, if you stay on the light-rail line in downtown Phoenix, Midtown or Tempe. The free PHX Sky Train links the terminals to the rail, rides cost $2 and tap-to-pay caps at $4 a day (checked September 2026). You will still need a rental, a rideshare or a Waymo for Scottsdale, the trailheads, Taliesin West and the Musical Instrument Museum.

How much is the hotel tax in Phoenix?

It is 13.07% for stays of 29 nights or less, effective January 1, 2026: 5.5% state, 1.77% Maricopa County and 5.8% city. It rose from 12.57% when Phoenix raised its city sales tax in July 2025. Stays longer than 29 consecutive nights pay only the 2.8% city rate. Scottsdale, Tempe and the other cities set their own rates.

When are hotels cheapest in Phoenix?

From June through September, when normal highs run from 100°F to 106.5°F and resorts cut rates hardest. The catch is that outdoor plans end by mid-morning, and the city restricts its busiest summit trails from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Extreme Heat Warning days. May and late September are the compromise: lower rates and mornings you can still use.

Where should I stay in Phoenix for spring training?

Stay on your team’s side of the Valley. Tempe averages 26 minutes to all ten Cactus League parks and is 8 minutes from the Cubs’ Sloan Park. Old Town Scottsdale is a minute from Scottsdale Stadium. For the Dodgers, White Sox, Mariners or Padres, Westgate in Glendale is 6 to 14 minutes from Camelback Ranch and Peoria. The 2027 games start February 19, so book early.

How far is Scottsdale from Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport?

Old Town Scottsdale is about 16 to 22 minutes from the terminals off-peak, and Kierland in north Scottsdale is 33 to 35 minutes (checked September 2026). Allow a third longer at rush hour. Waymo’s driverless cars serve both Sky Harbor and Scottsdale, and rideshare pickups run around the clock at Terminals 3 and 4.

Related Phoenix Guides

Sources and verification

This guide is built from research, not hosted stays or visits. Taxes, fares, rules, hotel listings and event dates were checked on September 24, 2026, against the agencies and operators below. Drive times are off-peak estimates from OSRM routing on OpenStreetMap data, measured on September 23 and 24, 2026.

Photo Credits

Phoenix Tourism Guide