The Royal Palms Resort and Spa, located in Phoenix, is part of Hyatt’s Unbound Collection. The property is a mansion built in 1926 and has served as a hotel since the 1940’s. The hotel has a total of 119 rooms spread across the property with a large number of the rooms in a wing added in the 1990s.
I stayed for four nights over Thanksgiving in November, 2024. I paid an average of $272 per night including tax for the base level King Bed room. There is an additional $50 per night resort fee if you are not a Hyatt Globalist. I used a Guest of Honor certificate which covers the resort fee, gets an upgrade (as available) and free breakfast.
Location
Royal Palms is located at the base of Camelback Mountain. It is 7 miles north of Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport and just 2.5 miles west of Old Town Scottsdale.
While the property is sprawling, compared to other Scottsdale resorts it is not a huge property. It is just off of the busy E Camelback Road in a generic residential area, but once on property you forget about that.
There isn’t anything to walk to from the property so if you decide to leave you would want to take an Uber or their house car. Parking at the hotel is $40 per night.
Check In
I arrived around 1:30am after an evening flight. The employee that helped me noted that I was using a Guest of Honor certificate and went over the benefits with me. He also offered me a glass of champagne or a bottle of water.
I was upgraded to a King Bed with Camelback View and Terrace. The front desk staff then walked me to my room. It seems to be standard practice for an employee to walk you to your room as it is a sprawling property and challenging to navigate.
I was assigned room 325 on the second floor of the two-story Montavista annex. Montavista is the more traditional hotel part of the property with room entrances along an inside hallway. The rest of the rooms around the property are casita style with clusters of rooms each with outside entrances.
Room
As you enter the room the bathroom is on the left and the rest of the room is straight ahead. There is an opening from the bedroom portion into the soaking tub and bathroom that can be closed off for privacy.
The bedroom portion is a pretty standard hotel room.
The bed faces a cabinet with TV on top.
Under the TV is the coffee set up and mini bar. A liter bottle of Icelandic water is provided daily for World of Hyatt members. All guests also get two smaller bottles of water located near the coffee set up.
There is a desk with desk chair next to the TV. In the other corner near the balcony door is an arm chair.
The lamps on each side of the bed have both a standard power outlet and a USB-A power outlet.
The bed is comfortable with a true duvet and duvet cover. One of my hotel pet peeves is when they just use two flat sheets as a comforter sandwich. I did find the bed to be too warm for me personally but others would likely enjoy the down comforter.
Outside is a balcony that has two chairs and a table.
My room overlooked the courtyard and fountains and Camelback Mountain in the background. The ground floor rooms have larger terraces but lack the view.
Bathroom
The bathrooms are large and well appointed. Under the window to the bedroom area is a square deep soaking tub. It isn’t large enough to recline in but is very deep so you could be sitting and the water would come up to your neck. It is set up more like a hot tub (but without jets).
A separate walk in shower is just to left of the tub. It has a single wall mounted shower head that provides good water pressure. The bath products are all branded to the property and come in large refillable bottles. Two soap bars are also provided.
The single sink sits under a large mirror.
The toilet is in a water closet with solid door for privacy. Opposite of the tub is a small walk in closet. There are no drawers in the closet but there are some in the bedside tables for folded clothing.
Pool and Fitness Center
There is one swimming pool on property located in the same area as the hot tub and fitness center.
There are cabanas that are available to rent for an additional fee.
At the back of the pool is a two story fitness center (to the left in the photo below). The other two story building behind the pool is the spa.
The fitness center has standard equipment while the second floor also offers a space for fitness classes.
The pool area has a small restaurant/snack bar open until 5pm. The pool itself is open 24 hours a day.
Breakfast & Restaurants
Breakfast is served each morning in T. Cook’s, the main onsite restaurant named after the original owner that had the property built. The food is ordered a la cart (no buffet).
I was never told that there was a limit on what you could order as a Globalist/Guest of Honor and all charges for both me and my mom were taken off my bill.
The breakfast was fantastic each day. Baked good are made on site. A lot of the dishes had a Southwestern theme including the chilaquiles (above).
Attached to T. Cook’s is Mix Up Bar + Lounge. It has both indoor seating and service outside in the main courtyard.
In addition to drinks they have a more casual food menu for lunch and dinner along with a great happy hour that includes 50% off salads and bites.
We also had our Thanksgiving dinner at Mix Up. I got the traditional turkey dinner which at $65 was expensive but less than the $175 prix fixe meal being served at T. Cook’s.
Overall
All the service and food was excellent throughout the property. Royal Palms is managed by Hyatt and it shows.
Daily history tours of the property are offered by guide Barbara. Daily mixology classes are offered in Mix Up. Both of these activities are complimentary for guests.
The rooms are clean and well maintained. This isn’t a modern property but given the history modern upgrades would be out of place.
The grounds are beautiful with well maintained gardens, fountains, and fireplaces in every corner of the property. They have done a good job of keeping the historical aspects of the property intact.
