Element Scottsdale at SkySong — Hotel in Scottsdale

I am an Marriott Bonvoy exclusive road warrior and I can’t tell you how disappointed I am in your hotel. Here are the reasons:

I have in my Bonvoy account that plainly states no feathers in the room. I even called your hotel in advance of my arrival to assure that the feathers were removed. We’re they? NO! When I asked the evening staff upon my arrival, the answer was “Ahhh, I think it’s been defeathered, I’m not sure, but I think so.” No offer to come to the room to defeather it, only the reason given above. Hotel has a strange and very unappealing pungent chemical odor. Lights burned out in room, apparently not repairable. Gave all kinds of excuses why it can’t be fixed! For example: “It’s a new hotel and that’s why it can’t be fixed, we’ve got a lot of bugs were trying to work out”! Hotel is cold, has very ugly decor and has a very sterile feeling with very cheap furniture. I guess you got a deal from the cheap furniture maker IKEA. Good luck with it lasting over a year. Decorations look like they were purchased from Walmart! Decorator must have been trained by a daycare center. Appalling and very uninviting. Evening front desk staff not familiar with hotel and appeared confused when asked questions. Not your typical Marriott Bonvoy front desk, warm and knowledgeable staff. How old are they anyway? Yikes, they look like they are barely 18! However, the Bar staff was excellent. No food available past 9:00 pm! Bar closes at 10:00 pm. Food selection in “store” very sparse and not palatable. Only good thing, your breakfast. HVAC doesn’t work correctly. Hotel room noise is ridiculous! Hotel location in a bad part of town. Strip bars and low income housing in same neighborhood. Scary!

BTW: My son and his wife were also there and they had the same complaints. They even looked for other hotels to stay in, no luck due to the golf tournament. They were stuck!

Additionally: I was with a large group of work mates and their comments were similar.

I can assure you that your hotel Element brand, as well as the Aloft hotel brand will not be on my list of Marriott Bonvoy hotels ever again. These 2 hotel brands are very cheap ways for the Marriott Bonvoy group of hotels to try and attract the younger crowd. Don’t think your cheap hotel idea is working, since I’ve heard the same complaints from the younger crowd!

Sorry, I’m an exclusive Bonvoy member but this type of cold and uninviting hotel idea...

Business traveler here. I’m a Hilton gal but frequent Marriott as well. I would not choose to stay at this property again. Parking is confusing. You have to pay to park, garage only, and the entrance to the garage is not on the same road as the hotel entrance. I ended up in the wrong lot and had to call for clarification on where to park. No signs posted. Mobile check in does not work. I checked in on the app as I typically do and received a confirmation that my room was ready. Mobile key not available so now I have to stop at the front desk. (Marriott in general can never seem to get this mobile key thing right like Hilton does) The front desk guy looks confused and starts looking for an available room in the system for about 5 mins. I ask if there is a problem because I checked in online and received confirmation that my room was ready. He says we don’t have your room ready and the only one available is “locked by maintenance.” Well sir it’s 4:30 and check in is at 3 and I prepaid so you should have a room for me. Also, why did I get a confirmation message that my room was ready? 10 mins of him clicking in the computer goes by and magically my room is ready. Then he hands me the dreaded parking slip that I have to bring all the way back out to the garage to put on my car dash. One of my biggest pet peeves about hotel parking. For someone that travels as much as I do, these are the things that make a difference. Take a lesson from Hilton on the check in process. Last week I checked into my Hilton hotel on the app when my flight hit the tarmac, parked right out front in the diamond spot and walked right past the front desk to my room and used my phone to get in. Easy peasy lemon squeezy. It’s the simple things in life that make the difference. This Element is a nice looking and well kept hotel in a town with very few nice option that don’t price gouge you. I prepaid $300/night for this hotel not including parking. The walls and floors are paper thin and as I type this I lay in bed with what sounds like a basketball game in the room above me. I can’t say that I would return. The only reason there are 3 stars is because the hotel is nice and updated. Everything else not so much. My advice to the GM- work on your parking and check in process. Don’t put families above...

Stayed here for 4 nights. I was not that impressed with my stay and will stay somewhere else when I return.

Was not recognized as a Marriott Gold at check in and don't think it made any difference in my stay. Did not learn of $12 parking per day until check in. Hotels need to be more up front about extra charges or just include them in room rate. You need a car to stay at this location.

Room: was comfortable for the most part. Bar stools are useless (wrong height) with the table provided in the room. Bedding of good quality and comfy. Kitchen nicely stocked. TV too far away from the bed.

Noise: all the even numbered rooms face the busy street (as well as a few odd ones on the front corners of the hotel, like 535). Lots of street noise! Too bad. That's a deal breaker for me. Had requested a quiet room but hotel was sold out. Saturday was the worst night as we heard loud cars and motorcycles until ~2:30am. Bring earplugs! Worst part of my stay.

Location: About 3 mi north of ASU and just south of Old Town Scottsdale. On a busy commercial stretch and not too far from strip clubs and used car dealerships. Skysong looks like a newer, under development complex and the hotel is on the southern edge.

Music is too loud in lobby and around lobby bar. They also use some kind of scent in the lobby that made my nose run.

Lobby bar was open and food was actually pretty good, but with only one staff member, if he was making food, there was no one to serve drinks for long stretches of time.

Good strong coffee in the lobby. Grab and go breakfast was up and down based on the one hot menu item that changed daily.

Pool was apparently heated, but too chilly for me. Fitness room was nice but TV didn't work.

Staff was good, not great. Little things like seeing me approaching front desk from across the lobby for coffee (like I did each morning multiple times) and then leaving to refill the coffee container moments after...