Great Pet Friendly Hotel

Great stay for an April 2025 week at Hilton's Home2Suites North Scottsdale and it was a perfect home base for our week long intake at the nearby Mayo Clinic North Phoenix (10 min drive from the hotel).
From check-in to check-out we were happy to stay at this hotel: helpful front desk staff, huge one-bedroom suite upgrade, dog friendly, daily free breakfast buffet, abundant outdoor parking including electric plug-in stations (ChargePoint and Blink), decent pool, BBQ grill, fitness room, launderette, and a great North Scottsdale Road location close to the 101 Highway, restaurants and community shopping. The area was safe with lots of new residential development. There was a Panera Bread adjacent to the hotel.

There are only a few one bedroom suites. The bedroom is separate from the sitting room/kitchenette, both areas connected into the spacious bathroom, and each area had its own window mounted AC/Heat unit, both worked fine. Mattress was comfortable, though my spouse preferred a firmer mattress. And plenty of lighting and USB ports. If your neighbors are noisy, you will unfortunately hear them talking, loud TV volume, or stomping around above you. Having a non-connecting room might help.

The kitchenette had a refrigerator/freezer, dishwasher, sink, microwave, toaster, coffee brewer, and ceramic plates and cups, stainless flatware, and utensils for an extended comfortable stay. Our suite had a square table for 3, and there was an oval desk with wheels that could be moved as an eating table as well. Both rooms had large flat screen TVs and free WiFi was sufficient for our mobile devices.

Daily breakfast buffet was fresh and varied slightly each day, though standard to many other chains: fresh coffee and juices, cereal, oatmeal, fresh fruit, make your own waffles, breakfast sandwich fixings (eggs, sausage or ham), French toast, baked goods. Staff replenished the food and did a great job of keeping the buffet clean. We will definitely book the same one bedroom suite category because of the added space. And we highly recommend this hotel if you need to be in the North Scottsdale area.

Apr. 14, 2025

Great Experience Love Seafood

Dinner at Buck & Rider North Scottsdale was a great experience especially because they have a popular outdoor patio that was perfectly suited to allow us to bring our dog. Reservations anytime you come are necessary. Wait staff super helpful, seafood is fresh and tasty, and save room for dessert! Highly recommend based on our April 2025 visit

Apr. 10, 2025

Jalapeño Inferno North Scottsdale patio

Visited Jalapeño Inferno's North Scottsdale location April 2025 and sat in their large outdoor covered patio. Even though it's located in a neighborhood retail complex, there was a small creek and pond built adjacent to the patio. Chicken Mole enchiladas were amazing. Very dog friendly and accommodating.

Apr. 09, 2025

Deep dish pizza and Dog Friendly

The Lou Malnati's Pizzeria in North Scottsdale is a very dog friendly restaurant with a clean and large covered outdoor patio, with comfortable cushioned seats. Ordered the "Lou" specialty pizza deep dish and also a thin crust version... both delicious and worth the wait.

Apr. 09, 2025

Italian Home Cooking & Dog Friendly

Bring your dog to Piazza 1909's covered and heated patios in La Jolla! Tonight was our first try at Piazza 1909 since it was an easy walk from our hotel and so glad we dined at this friendly family-run Italian restaurant in the heart of La Jolla. Piazza 1909 is housed in one of La Jolla's oldest beach houses purported to have been constructed in 1909. The covered and heated patios that now surround the original house could definitely host large and small gatherings.

Loved the Pizza Gorgonzola, Zucca & Speck (D.O.P. Gorgonzola, Ricotta, Speck, Roasted Butternut Squash), and our mains were the Cotoletta alla Milanese (two huge Breaded and Fried Chicken Cutlets) and the chef's special Scallopini Pollo (cooked with lemon). Dessert was a hefty slice of the homemade and very creamy Ricotta Cheesecake.

Piazza 1909 is a dog friendly restaurant we highly recommend and would definitely return to. They offer a dog menu of meatballs and I wish I knew that before we brought our Dog her dinner.

Feb. 12, 2025

It was okay

Our 3-night Nov 2024 midweek stay at the Hilton La Jolla Torrey Pines was only a 3-star stay at best: beautiful golf and ocean side locale, friendly staff that really try hard, despite the aging facilities, and dog friendly. However, this is a convention hotel that needs a major refurbishment to the guest rooms, interior public areas, and exterior landscaping of the grounds. Apart from one small group attending a meeting, the resort was deserted (midweek in November so I can understand it is off season).

For our 3 nights we paid a $1,200 total price tag (3 nights in a dog friendly ground floor but regular guest room, with no view), which included their $45/night self parking fee in the dungeon-like concrete garage, the exorbitant $36/night resort fee (daily bottled waters, happy hour drink per person, access to the so-so Shiley fitness next door, and access to resort "toys", none of which we used), and a litany of local taxes.

The fitness room is nothing special (use the next door Shiley Fitness instead). The pool was heated but the single spa tub was small. The outside grounds were nice, but the landscaping needs a thorough refresh as many of the trees and shrubbery are overgrown.

This stay was definitely not worth the price paid, but we needed a dog friendly place to stay while my spouse went to appointments at the adjacent Scripps clinic transplant center. Front desk staff didn't even budge on waiving the $45 parking fees even though we had an ADA parking placard. We didn't even want to bother trying to advocate on that.

First night check-in at the front desk was pleasant (maybe the Hilton hired new staff who were nicer after the negative reviews from earlier 2024), but our in-room HVAC heater unit didn't work and the hair dryer didn't blow heat. Two separate calls to the front desk were fairly responsive, with the tech saying the room HVACs are really old and temperamental.

Our bed was comfortable, the bathroom clean, but the overall room was dark and the standard issue furniture came out of the 70's and 80's, like the hotel carpets, lobby, restaurant and bar. Lesson learned: For the price we were charged here, we will stay at the Lodge at Torrey Pines next time, until the long-hoped for major renovation occurs to the Hilton La Jolla, which staff hopes will happen in 2025.

Nov. 21, 2024

Taco Tuesdays A Great Deal

We had dinner at Puesto La Jolla for Taco Tuesday (tacos are 50% off!) and pre-5 PM Happy Hour. Sat outside on their heated curbside patio with our Dog.

Our Happy Hour starters (also 50% off before 5 PM) were Chips & Salsa and Chicharrones (crunchy and very good). Taco Tuesday tacos: carnitas and Baja fish (both delicious), and pollo asado and short rib quesabirilla (both not so great IMHO).

Our server was great! Taco Tuesday a great deal. Dog friendly.

Nov. 19, 2024

Super Patio for Dogs

We had a great dinner meal at Bernini's Bistro. Friendly and knowledgeable wait staff and a menu much much larger than what their website listed.

We arrived with our dog and we were seated in the patio. Great table. Since it was Happy Hour, appetizers were $3 less so we ordered their amazing garlic bread (more like a pizza) and it was delicious. Our dinner was the chicken piccata and a plain pasta with olive oil and tomato. Both prepared deliciously.

Nov. 18, 2024

Great Prime Ribeye

Great dinner visit to Nine-Ten. We needed a La Jolla restaurant that allowed our dog to join with us and Nine-Ten fit our need. We were seated on the heated patio with our dog.

Five stars for our knowledgeable and helpful server Chris, as well as the delicious Grilled Prime Ribeye (amazing topping mix). We started with the house made Parker Rolls and Roasted Pear Salad (small but complex and flavorful).

Nov. 18, 2024

SF Chinatown doggy friendly

San Francisco Chinatown restaurants generally are not pet friendly, but China Alive has a lighted covered sidewalk covering along their frontage on Broadway that is perfect for dogs and their families. The welcoming wait staff seated us and took our lunch orders without any issues.

Unlike most Chinese restaurants in SF Chinatown, China Live strives hard to break the "old school" model followed by many 1st generation Chinese restaurants in SF by providing staff who are very friendly to tourists (not rude), offering an extensive yet very authentic Chinese menu from various provinces of China that is clear to understand, the dining room/gift shop is beautifully furnished, creatively designed, and clean, making the whole dining experience a positive one. It is not inexpensive, but comparable to any other high end restaurant you would visit elsewhere in the Bay Area.

China Live is worth a SF Chinatown visit (it borders the North Beach neighborhood of Little Italy) and the nearby North Beach parking structures make it easy to visit.

Sep. 24, 2024

Sessions in the Presidio is a hidden gem

Sessions is located just inside San Francisco's Presidio area and it has the great combination of easy parking (underneath), high quality creative and seasonal menu, beautiful ambiance overlooking the Presidio park, and a lighted and covered outdoor patio that is very dog friendly.

The meal was worth the reasonable price and we would highly recommend a visit.

Sep. 24, 2024

Peaceful French Bistro doggy friendly

We dined at Cote Ouest Bistro because reviews said there was sidewalk dining that could accommodate our dog, making this little bistro quite dog friendly and close to the Presidio. Small cafe ambiance and quite busy once they opened for dinner at 5:30 pm (we wanted to eat early and be seated first since we had a dog).

The host and the wait Staff were quite welcoming and the French menu was extensive. Midweek offered a special prix fixe dinner option for $40. We had the escargot, the sole, and the scallops... all very delicious and reasonably priced.

This place is tucked away in a residential area of the Marina district just off busy Lombard Street, but in an area so quiet you would not know. Highly recommend and supportive of this small business.

Sep. 25, 2024

Harry's Hofbrau for Dogs

Harry's Hofbrau is a Bay Area chain and we went to the Redwood City location for dinner with our dog. They have a very nice covered patio to the rear of the building with easy access to the cafeteria style main carving counter where one orders. Meats are roasted fresh, cut to order, reasonably priced and very old school "American" food that is a couple steps better than most.

Sep. 21, 2024

Dog Friendly

The Courtyard by Marriott Redwood City is clean, comfortable and very big dog friendly ($150 one time fee). Nice recently redone lobby and bistro dining area, self parking garage, swimming pool in courtyard, fitness room, adjacent walking trail very dog friendly along the Bair Island Wildlife Refuge. But no nearby dining or shopping walking distance. Highly recommend if you need a place in the nearby area.

Sep. 22, 2024