Here's what others have had to say about Scottsdale Resort & Athletic Club.
"My tennis team went to work on improving our strategy and strokes. The instruction was well organized, informative and the courts were in great condition. We had a lot of fun together especially since the rooms were so large and the food was delicious and healthy. The focus of this place is relaxation, fitness and tennis (and it also has a great spa). If you want glitz, glamour, drinks, a scene and pretty people, head somewhere else."—J.L., Int., March 2010
""—C.D., Adv., March 2010
"I had so much fun and can't wait to go back! The club is known for developing top-ranked juniors but they would tailor the retreat program for your level. The pros were knowledgeable and encouraging and fun. After tennis, I was pampered by hot tub (the best feeling:), the spa, beautiful room, friendly and helpful staff and yummy food. I highly recommend this place!"—Y.I., Adv. Int., February 2010
"Went on the Tennis Retreat being offered- great value! Tennis and accommodation package with breakfast and lunch. Lunch was a la carte and really fresh. As well as the great group and individual coaching on offer, there's free court time incl lights in the evening, free classes like yoga and spinning but I didn't have any energy left for them. I used the pool and outdoor hot tub a lot though after a full day of tennis. Great vacation- a tennis resort run by tennis players, it was awesome and would go back again."—S.M., Adv. Int., February 2010
Rate Scottsdale Resort & Athletic Club
In 1971, Robert Ong Hing, a lawyer and avid tennis player, built the Scottsdale Racquet Club 
using as its nucleus his and his wife's tennis-playing friends and acquaintances. Almost thirty years later, he replaced it with a spiffy two-story Scottsdale Athletic Club, incorporating not only a restaurant and bar but also a handsome fitness center, swimming pool, and a few treatment rooms. For a time it remained essentially a private facility, open only to members and their guests and competitors who showed up for the annual Fiesta Bowl Scottsdale Senior Open in December and the USTA National Men's 35 Hard Court Championships in April, both of which are held at the Athletic Club. That changed in May 2003 when Hing opened a boutique hotel dubbed the Scottsdale Resort Club adjacent to the courts and conferred full privileges on all its guests.
At 11 courts, the SRC is among the larger resort tennis complexes in the greater Phoenix area, but its hotel, at 85 rooms, is among the smallest. A stable of some 1,000+ local members, ranging from 3.0s to north of 5.0s, support an active calendar of weekly activities and if my experience is typical welcome the new blood represented by guests of the hotel. It's an exciting addition to the local tennis landscape.
Pro Shop: 480-991-1571
The hand of an avid tennis player shows in the generous layout and superb lighting of the 11 tennis courts, one of which is a sunken clubhouse court with terraced seating, and in a policy of no court fees. Use of the fitness center is free too and so are its Pilates, spinning, and aerobics classes. The friendly staff at the full-service pro shop has 1,000 members to draw on if you're looking for opponents, including Hing's son Greg, who was captain of the Stanford University team and in now a partner in Hing's law firm.
Tennis Staff. In the summer of 2009, former ATP touring pro David Critchley took over as tennis director, bringing in his own stable of pros with an eye to re-energizing 
the programs and greatly increasing activity, both for members and guests. He brings an impressive resume to the task. Growing up at a tennis club where his mother was the teaching professional and his father ran the shop, he went on to play for West Virginia University and Arizona State University and to compete in ITF Futures and ATP Challengers events. He also played in the Pan American Games for Canada. After retiring from the tour in 2000, he founded a high-performance junior academy—which has now moved to the Athletic Club—and became head tennis coach at Scottsdale Community College, interspersing all of that with stints at several Scottsdale resorts.
Tennis Programs. The weekly calendar
at the club has a lengthy roster of activities. The problems
had been low turnout for many of those events, something Critchley
hopes to rectify now that there is a beefed up staff to ensure
that everything runs well. The Cardio tennis he added to the
mix has been getting a good turnout as has "College Doubles
Drills," a high-energy session has been filling up. He's
sensitive to dividing players by level, even when that means
using an additional pro. He has also added Quickstart for young
children, and that in conjunction with his high-performance
academy means that they can accommodate juniors at any level.
Game arranging has always been a strong point of the resort,
but now Critchley can draft some of his college players if
very strong juniors or adults need comparable competition.
He's also added a custom adult retreat program for small groups
and teams. "Our goal is to make this a high-profile tennis
resort," he told me.
Courts & Fees. Immediately behind the Scottsdale Athletic Club there is a broad patio accented by white oleander and magenta bougainvillea overlooking a sunken clubhouse court. The other 10, all with high-quality lighting, fan out from there. Most have courtside viewing areas furnished with plastic chairs or metal bleachers with shade provided by tented awnings or circular metal umbrellas. There is a fully equipped pro shop inside the entrance to the Athletic Club. Court fees: None.
Caveat: The club's location right along busy Indian Bend Road means you'll have some road noise on the northernmost bank courts.
Golf Courses. The resort has no golf course of its own but Hing did develop the adjacent Silverado Golf Course and thus guests get preferred tee times there.
Spa & Fitness Center. The large and well thought out fitness center spans both stories on one side of the Athletic Club. The locker rooms are upstairs, a location that allows them to have skylights, and contains saunas and steam showers. The cardiovascular machines and workout stations—Cybex, LifeFitness, Magnum—are arrayed to face the windows the the first and second floors, which gives you views of the swimming pool or Camelback Mountain. There are also studios for Pilates, spinning, yoga, and a variety of other classes, all offered free to guests of the Scottsdale Resort Club. Water aerobics are available outside in one of the two swimming pools. Also worth noting is that one of the USTA's physical therapists Todd Ellenbecker has an office at the Scottsdale Athletic Club, gives occasional seminars with the tennis teaching staff about preventing injury, and is available for private therapy sessions.
In 2006, the Hings opened the Eurasia Spa. It offers European- and Asian-themed body and facial treatments among other amenities.
The hotel itself consists of 85 guest rooms, suites, and one-to-three bedroom condos (which they call "villas") with full kitchens, fireplaces, and washer dryers and 28 rooms with kitchenettes. Connecting doors make it possible to combine one with the other to create a three-bedroom, three-bath unit with a den. All of them have high-speed Internet access, TV/DVD players (villas have them in both the living room and bedroom), and contemporary furnishings. Room service is available until 9 p.m.
Dining is as close the OC SEVEN located in the Athletic Club just off an indoor patio called the Courtyard Café (where breakfast is available). This restaurant features family comfort food like Asian short ribs, hazelnut halibut, baked three-cheese "Mac", and peach and apple brown Betty cobbler. Al fresco dining on the outdoor terrace is also an option.
The other small hotel in greater Phoenix worth looking at for comparison's sake is:
If you're looking for condominium-style hotels attached to an active tennis club, also check out:
Rates on request.
Jan. 1-Apr. 15, 2010
Room, $149. Suite: $179. 1-bdrm villa, $219-$239. 2/3-bdrm villa, $299-$599
Travel Instructions. The Scottsdale Resort Club is a little over 16 miles from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and can be easily reached via 202 East and 101 North.
General Tourist Information. Visit the Greater Phoenix Convention & Visitors Bureau web site or contact them toll-free at 877-CALLPHX or email visitors@visitphoenix.com.