Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/19029
AREA GUIDES ARIZONA SPECTACULAR DESERT MEETINGS BY RUFUS MCKINNEY If you’ve never met in Arizona, you don’t know what you’ve been missing. From palm trees to pine trees,Arizona’s landscape is brimming with diversity. And their variety of award winning resorts and meeting venues make the state a top choice for astute planners. PHOENIX Things are different in the desert. The sky is bigger. The stars are brighter.The sunsets stop you in your tracks. It’s a feeling that can’t be conjured, landscaped or kindled with twinkling bulbs. Come to Greater Phoenix and you’ll understand. Anchoring Phoenix’s meetings infrastructure is the Phoenix Convention Center, fresh off a $600 million expansion that has trans- formed it into one of the largest facil- ities of its kind in the U.S. The Center boasts nearly 900,000 sq. ft. of meeting and exhibit space, and hous- es three ballrooms (including the largest one in Arizona), 11 exhibit halls, and more than 100 meeting rooms. Greater Phoenix is known for its resorts, with eye-catching pools, restaurants, spas and golf courses. Many area resorts have astounding mountain views, especially around Camelback Mountain in the middle of the city. Check out the 293-room Montelucia, 583-room Phoenician or Camelback Inn with 453 rooms for their mountainside locations, or the 739-room Arizona Biltmore which overlooks Piestawa Peak. If you’re looking for a hip hotel in the Phoenix area, you have options all over the city. The W Hotel in Scottsdale defines modern cool, while Hotel Valley Ho brings back Phoenix Convention Center the retro charm of the original hotel, made popular by celebrities like Humphrey Bogart and Tony Curtis. The Hermosa Inn combines the rustic west with sophisticated luxury at the base of Phoenix Mountain Preserve, while the Sheraton Phoenix Down- town is a sophisticated, contempo- Photo Credit: Visit Phoenix rary spot for business travelers or families. Phoenix offers a full itinerary of recreational and cultural activities, from exquisite museums like the Phoenix Art Museum and the Heard Museum, to an array of world-class golf courses, hiking, biking and other NEW WEST where meets old west welcome to the west Glendale, Arizona and the West Valley are ready to host your next big event # # $ $ # ! $% " $ # ! # # $! # " % $# $ ! # $# " $$ ! # " ! ! # % ! " $ ! # $ # " ! # " # ! $ " $! % Visitglendale.com , Black Meetings & Tourism September/October 2010: www.blackmeetingsandtourism.com & Showcasing the West Valley 59