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.

Tennis Features

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. Ed Jacques heads up the tennis operation. He played No. 1 for Xavier University in Cincinnati before moving south and building his reputation as a specialist in junior development, including his son Eddie, who ranked No. 3 in the nation in the Boys 18s. He brings 30 years of experience to his position as tennis director at the Athletic Club.
Tennis Programs. As at any active club there is a lengthy roster of weekly activities, including drop-in doubles, social round robins, clinics, and an on-going junior program that can accommodate guests' children. With a local membership numbering around 1,000, it has a solid stable of players to draw on for guests looking for opponents. There is also an after-school program for local juniors that can accommodate the children of guests. And it also hosts the Fiesta Bowl Scottsdale Senior Open in December and the USTA National Men's 35 Hard Court Championships in April.
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.

Your Call

This is your opportunity to rate and review the resorts and camps you've visited. As material comes in I'll post it here, so you can read what others think.
So far, I haven't received any written feedback on Scottsdale Resort & Athletic Club. If you've taken a tennis vacation there, I'd like to hear your reactions.

Other Recreation

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.

Lodging

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.

Restaurants

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 new restaurant features family comfort food like honey short ribs, baked three-cheese "Mac", and peach and apple brown Betty cobbler and the option of al fresco dining on the outdoor terrace.

See Also

The other small hotel in greater Phoenix worth looking at for comparison's sake is:

• Copperwynd Resort & Spa, Arizona

If you're looking for condominium-style hotels attached to an active tennis club, also check out:

• The Bridges Family Resort & Tennis Club, Vermont
• Hidden Dunes Beach & Tennis Resort, Florida
• Northstar-at-Tahoe, California
• Sea Colony Resort, Delaware
• TOPS'L Beach & Racquet Resort, Florida

Travel Essentials

Scottsdale Resort & Athletic Club
8235 E. Indian Bend Rd.
Scottsdale, AZ 85250
480-344-0600
Toll-free: 877-385-8429
Web Link: Scottsdale Resort & Athletic Club

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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 Scottsdale Convention & Visitors Bureau web site or contact them at 7343 Scottsdale Mall, Scottsdale, AZ 85251; phone (480) 945-8481 or (800) 877-1117.

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