In one of the odder news stories about new hotels, the Hayden Ferry Lakeside development in Tempe, Ariz., which was to include condos, a hotel, retail and office space, has told Starwood's Le Meridien to take a hike.

The Valhalla Development Group, the developers of the project, are ready to have a groundbreaking in December, but Le Meridien isn't ready to commit to the project yet - so the developers decided to go with another 4-star hotel brand which has not yet been announced.
]]> AndrewC 2008-08-28T16:00:18-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2006/8/9/2409/49528 <![CDATA[<p><img align="right" src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/admin/tempe_lemerid.jpg">Tempe, Ariz. doesn't quite have a European feel but <a href="http://www.starwoodhotels.com/lemeridien/index.html"><b>Le Meridien</b></a> is determined to bring it to the city in November 2008. <p> The <a href="http://www.azcentral.com">Arizona Republic</a> reports that the Starwood brand is extremely excited to have their hands on such a virgin project, even though the European "mind set" isn't there. <p> For now, all we know is that it will be 14 stories tall, have 183 rooms plus 44 condos and a restaurant. The article did spill one more fun detail however:<p> <blockquote><p>They hotel also will stake out a niche for athletes, with 12 sports suites with extra-large beds and high-tech gadgets.</blockquote></p><p><p> Ah-ha, so Le Meridien goes Jock...this seems to be a new trend, albeit Courtney 2006-08-09T12:38:12-05:00 Search HotelChatter string http://www.hotelchatter.com/search/