How ResortPass works
Current starting rates range from $20 per person at the Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina to $90 at the St. Regis Bal Harbour Resort in Miami Beach. Weekend passes, where available, are generally the most expensive. Many resorts offered discounted rates for children. Parking is included at some and extra at others.
Many of the resorts offer day guests options beyond the standard pool lounge chair, with cushier day beds and cabanas available at higher fees. Some resorts, including Omni Scottsdale Resort & Spa at Montelucia in Paradise Valley, only sell day passes for cabanas. At Montelucia, cabanas for six people start at $135 during the week and $195 on weekends and include bottled water, chips and salsa and valet parking.
ResortPass handles the online bookings in exchange for a commission, pitching it to hotels as a way to bring in extra revenue when they’re not fully booked or are booked with conventioneers too busy to hang out at the pool. Reservations may be made up to 10 weeks in advance.
“There’s so many nice resorts and hotels near where we live and I always wanted to just go use the pool, just relax, go in the hot tub, have a drink by the pool,” ResortPass founder Amanda Szabo said. “Why can’t I pay them to be there?”
6 Arizona resorts so far
Six Arizona resorts have signed up: Hyatt Regency Scottsdale Resort and Spa at Gainey Ranch, Andaz Scottsdale Resort & Spa, Westin Kierland Resort & Spa, Omni Montelucia, Arizona Grand and Royal Palms Resort & Spa. The Wigwam, a family favorite in Litchfield Park, will join the program later this year.
The Hyatt Regency Scottsdale joined first, in February. Its day passes start at $35 per adult and $25 per child.. Day beds for two start at $200 and cabanas for up to seven at $450. Parking is included. The resort blacks out summer holiday weekends and other busy periods and limits the number of passes sold each day.
Stacie Patterson, a Scottsdale mother of three, was thrilled to find out about