Phoenix Travel Guide
Reader Reviews / Aloft Hotels / Phoenix Hotels / Airport Hotels / → All Tags
This Guest is High On Aloft Hotels
We rarely ever get such glowing reviews of a hotel (that aren't planted by a PR person) but this one from a business traveler lady is really, really, really enthusiastic. She writes about a recent stay at the Aloft Hotel by the Phoenix airport:
Omg I love this place! Had to zip in and out of Phoenix for a quick business trip and unfortunately no budget for a great hotel and had to stay close to the airport. What a pleasant surprise! A cool and comfortable hotel that far surpasses your choices in the same price range. Beautiful room layout, fluffy beds, a hip and trendy lobby bar, better than average bathrooms, not to mention wall mounted tvs...... I will definitely be checking out if there are other Alofts when I travel!
Agreed. Aloft is a nice surprise for an airport hotel especially with free WiFi and a lively social scene downstairs. It's not always in the same price range as other airport hotels (sometimes it can be higher) but we found room rates at this Aloft for $124 this weekend, which, FWIW, beats the Courtyard By Marriott by $15.
Love or hate Aloft? Sound off in comments below!
Hotel News / Hotel Smoking / Ben Bethel / Phoenix Hotels / Hotel Technology / Hotel Amenities / blucigs / → All Tags
As Promised, The Clarendon Hotel in Phoenix is Now Selling blucigs E-Cigarettes
A couple of weeks ago, Ben Bethel, the owner of the Clarendon Hotel in Phoenix let us know that he would be selling e-cigarettes to his smoking guests. He told us:
We're tired of charging guests $250 for smoking charges, tired of deep-cleaning guest rooms after they're smoked in, and tired of chasing after guests who are smoking in our pool area and rooftop bar. So, we're going to start encouraging guests to use E-Cigarettes, to the point that I'm even going to sell them at the front desk.
Not long after our story went up, Bethel had partnered up with blucigs to sell guests their brand of e-cigarettes for $10 each. Now we can report that the hotel is selling blucig's disposables product line with flavor options of Menthol and Classic Tobacco.
Hotel News / Hotel Smoking / Ben Bethel / Phoenix Hotels / Hotel Technology / Hotel Amenities / → All Tags
The Clarendon Hotel in Phoenix Will Sell E-Cigarettes to Guests Looking for a Fix
The Clarendon Hotel in Phoenix is taking a novel approach to dealing with rogue smokers in their non-smoking rooms by selling them electronic cigarettes to puff on.
Owner Ben Bethel tells HotelChatter doing this will not only make the guests feel comfortable but also save him the hassle of trying to recoup the smoking fines. He says:
We're tired of charging guests $250 for smoking charges, tired of deep-cleaning guest rooms after they're smoked in, and tired of chasing after guests who are smoking in our pool area and rooftop bar.
So, we're going to start encouraging guests to use E-Cigarettes, to the point that I'm even going to sell them at the front desk.
I think this is a big issue for hotels, and could save guests a lot of hassle/frustration. Now they can smoke in the pool, on the rooftop bar, or even in their bed in their guest room.
Celebrity Scoop / Hotel Pools / Phoenix Hotels / Naked Hotels / Heidi Klum / → All Tags
Which Hotel Wouldn't Let Heidi Klum Go Topless?
Maybe it's the long weekend talking, but we think everyone just needs to chill out over the whole Heidi Klum topless sunbathing incident. In case you haven't heard, the 5' 9" TV host and former model admitted to Jay Leno on Thursday night that she was almost kicked out of a Phoenix hotel for ignoring a security staff member's request for her to cover up.
"I'm surprised you have a photo of me wearing a [bikini] top. I don't really like to wear tops because I hate tan lines." She makes a valid point, but then again, she's one of the world's highest-paid models. We're guessing if everyone had bodies like hers, we'd be seeing more topless action in hotel pools. A lot more.
Hotel Openings / Hotel Opening Rates / Phoenix Hotels / Westin Hotels / College Hotels / Starwood Preferred Guests / → All Tags
Westin Phoenix Downtown Will Open March 10, Probably
If you're looking to celebrate can't-come-soon-enough spring, you could do it at the brand-spankin'-new Westin Phoenix Downtown, which will open next week, sort of.
Although the hotel's set for a March 10 opening, reservations are currently only being accepted starting March 17. When we called to ask whether that meant the hotel wasn't opening until then, we were told that no, they are pretty sure it'll open March 10 - but just to be certain, they aren't taking reservations yet. Although, the nice man said, within a couple of days, they should open up the 10th for booking. All being well. Let's hope they do, else someone's gonna have an empty hotel for the first week!
Anyways, rooms on March 17 officially start at $199 a night, but if you use the code "FMOPEN" when booking online, all of the rooms will cost $179, even those that originally cost more than $199 a night. Hotel loyalty points alert: If you stay there between March 25 and April 30, you'll earn double Starwood Preferred Guests Starpoints.
Westin Hotels / Hotel Openings / Phoenix Hotels / College Hotels / Hotel News / → All Tags
Sleeping in Phoenix Will Be 'Heavenly' in March
With only three more months left to go in 2010, we're already turning our thoughts to hotel openings for next year and it looks like early 2011 will be quite active. We've got 45 Park Lane, Trump Ocean Club Panama and now The Westin Phoenix which was just announced this morning as opening in March 2011.
The 242-room hotel will actually be located in the Phoenix Civic Plaza, adjacent to the Arizona State University Downtown campus, making it an ideal spot for college visitors. But it will also be across the street from a METRO stop where trains connect to the Sky Harbor International Airport and we're all about not having to fork over money for cabs from the airport.
You can also expect the Westin Heavenly bed, Heavenly toiletries, a Westin WORKOUT fitness center and the Province, restaurant which will serve Latin American and Spanish-inspired cuisine. Even better, this new Westin should get some of those fancy new room designs we talked about a few weeks ago. Reservations are not being taken yet but we will let you know when they open. Still, the new year is looking very bright indeed.
Summer Cocktails / Hotel Cocktails / Tequila / Waldorf-Astoria Collection / → All Tags
The Biltmore's Historical Tequila Sunrise
We've kicked off our Summer Cocktails series where we profile fun new summer drinks that hotels are making. Got one we should know about? Send us the recipe with a photo of the drink. Otherwise, enjoy and @reply us when you're wasted!
The last news we heard from the Arizona Biltmore was about the not-in-a-hurry renovations (dates like "sometime before 2020" were getting tossed around) so we're happy to have something more concrete to report: the Biltmore's got a special summer cocktail, and it's a classic.
Something we didn't know is that the Tequila Sunrise was apparently invented at the Biltmore, back in the 1940s when a frequent guest asked the bartender to make him up a refreshing drink to sip by the pool. So to help celebrate the Biltmore's 80th anniversary this year, they've brought their classic cocktail back to life for the summer. Of course, the price is a little more than that first guest paid back in the 1940s – these days you can get a Biltmore Original Tequila Sunrise for $14.
Hotel Renovations / Hotel News / Waldorf-Astoria Collection / Hilton Hotels / → All Tags
The Arizona Biltmore is Getting a $600 Million Facelift
Those $100-or-Less rooms at the Arizona Biltmore are going to be a thing of the past, we assume, since the very-much-in-need-of-renovation property has just gotten the go-ahead for a major makeover — to the tune of $600 million.
According to a press release:
The renovation calls for a new world-class spa with corresponding amenities, a fine-dining restaurant, neighborhood-friendly upgrades to trails, traffic enhancements, pool and landscaping redevelopment, a promenade along the Arizona Canal, a new resort entrance design and 300 new rooms. The renovation will take place in two phases with the first beginning immediately and the second starting sometime before 2030 and will be dependent on demand and market conditions.
But don't expect this stuff for a while. The first phase of the project will be a $120 million spa redesign, the planning of which will be starting right away — but groundbreaking probably won't happen until late 2010..."assuming economic conditions improve."
Seems like a whole lot of these Waldorf-Astoria Collection hotels have been getting quite a bit of work put into them lately; The Boca Raton Resort and Club just got a makeover, The Roosevelt New Orleans got a total restoration and renovation, and even the original Old Lady Waldorf herself is getting some work done.
100 or Less / Waldorf-Astoria Collections / Mother's Day Hotels / → All Tags
Hotels for $100 or Less: The Arizona Biltmore
Every now and then, we'll be profiling hotels for $100 or less. Yay! Know of any other bargains? Send 'em to us.
If you didn't know, The Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix is part of the Hilton family of Waldorf-Astoria Collection Hotels, so for this luxury property (and host to every president except Obama), to have rooms going for $80 a night is kind of insane. But it's for real.
As part of a Mother's Day celebration and the Biltmore's 80th anniversary, the hotel is offering rooms for $80 for 80 hours. The special rate is only bookable for 80 hours starting yesterday and ending Friday, May 1, 2009. The rate is also only available for the dates of Friday, May 8 to Monday, May 11, 2009.
When we plugged in the Mother's Day weekend rates we actually found rooms for the rate of $69. Crazy! However, the resort does charge a $28 resort fee, bringing your nightly total to $97 a night. That fee includes include high-speed Internet, access to the fitness center, local, 800 and credit card calls, and a newspaper. To book, go to the Biltmore's special offers page and enter code MOM in Group/Convention code field.
Spring Break Hotels / Family-Friendly Hotels / Nick Hotels / Marriott Hotels / → All Tags
Kids Get Slimed at the JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort
Sometimes we forget that Spring Break means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. It’s true, some Spring Breaks don’t involve girls with low self-esteem or the slimy guys who prey on them.
At the JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort, for instance, spring break is all about a different, infinitely more wholesome, slime. As in Nickelodeon’s “Slime Time” and “Slimo Bingo.” That’s right — through April 28, kids aged 4 to 12 can live out their spring break fantasies at the resort’s Nickelodeon Activity Zone with full and half-day sessions, which include an appearance by none other than SpongeBob SquarePants. Plus: arts and crafts (pottery painting, jewelry-making), stargazing, a Sonoran desert walk, and a “Nick After Dark” program with games, a Nickelodeon movie, and dinner (5 to 9 p.m.).
The older-than-12 crowd can live out their own fantasies (sans kiddies). The resort offers golf at the Wildfire Golf Club (with two championship courses by Nick Faldo and Arnold Palmer), the two-story Revive Spa, eight tennis courts, a Lazy River (pictured), and the Wii-equipped Vista Lounge.
The Nickelodeon NAZ Club Extravaganza Package starts at $189 per night and includes a deluxe room, daily breakfast with SpongeBob SquarePants, free meals for kids under 12 at Blue Sage Restaurant, and more Nickelodeon goodness.
Room Rate Drop Watch / Phoenix Hotels / Hotel Deals / → All Tags
It's Summer Right Now in Phoenix, Price-Wise
Turns out the W Scottsdale is not the only hotel in the Phoenix-area going through some rough times. The Arizona Republic reports that luxury hotels are offering their rooms at summer rates during the peak season--about 15 to 20 percent off their normal rates.
Hotels and resorts that routinely command $300 to $500 a night during the winter are on sale for 15 percent to 20 percent off, with some dangling rates of $199 a night and less on select dates, as well as previously unheard-of last-minute deals.
The fading Arizona Biltmore (recently snubbed by Prez Obama) has rooms open for $179 a night on Expedia. The new InterContinental Montelucia Resort and Spa in Paradise Valley (where Prez Obama stayed instead) has rates for $195 on Travelocity.
Political Hotels / Phoenix Hotels / John McCain / Barack Obama / → All Tags
Why Is Obama Snubbing the Arizona Biltmore?
The new InterContinental Montelucia
Fun fact: Every president since Herbert Hoover has stayed at the Arizona Biltmore Resort in Phoenix. It's also where former presidential hopeful John McCain married Cindy in 1980, and, of course, where the McCain/Palin camp watched Obama secure the presidency on election night back in November.
It's not really any surprise that John McCain chose to avoid the Biltmore when selecting an Arizona venue to hold a fundraiser to launch his campaign for a fifth Senate term (maybe some bad memories there?), but hearing the news that President Obama is skipping out on the Biltmore on his next trip to AZ is raising eyebrows 'round here.
In fact, John McCain chose the new Intercontinental Montelucia Resort in Paradise Valley to kick off his senatorial campaign instead — and, interestingly enough, The Arizona Republic is reporting that this is also where Obama is going to be staying when he hits up Arizona. And their visits might coincide. Whoops.
We get why McCain's avoiding the Biltmore, but why would Obama choose the three-month-old Montelucia? Was it the dirty glasses at the Biltmore? Or was he just doin' like he do and breaking out of the traditional presidential mold?
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