Plan Your Meetings

Watch for:

• The W Scottsdale opens Aug. 1, 2008, with 224 rooms, a Bliss Spa and 10,000 square feet of space.
• The Camelback Inn, a JW Marriott Resort & Spa, unveiled a new 20,000-sq. ft. ballroom. The inn’s $45 million renovation is to be complete by fall 2008.
• The InterContinental Montelucia Resort & Spa is scheduled to open in September/October 2008.
• A $44 million renovation, to be complete by fall 2009, is underway at the Hermosa Inn.
• USA Hosts/Circa Arizona (formerly USA Hosts and Circa Arizona) is a new DMC covering the Phoenix/Scottsdale area.
• Scottsdale Waterfront and SouthBridge, which connect to Scottsdale Fashion Square and the Old Town Scottsdale gallery district respectively, are new shopping/dining/nightlife destinations.
• Starwood’s “1″ Hotel & residences, a green, luxury hotel was scheduled to open in fall 2009; construction has been delayed.
• Scottsdale Edition, a high-end boutique hotel brand developed in partnership between Marriott and Ian Schrager, is expected to open in 2010 with between 150 and 225 rooms.
• The Casino Arizona Resort & Spa is scheduled to open in early 2010 with 497 rooms, and more than 100,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor conference space, including a 24,000-sq. ft. grand ballroom. Other amenities include an open-air spa, a cigar and wine bar, a 240,000-sq. ft. casino, a 750-seat showroom with private seating, a VIP lounge and concert seating for more than 2,000 people.
• The InterContinental Montelucia Resort & Spa, scheduled to open Sept. 16, will offer 293 guest rooms, a 31,000-sq. ft. Joya Spa, five pools, seven restaurants and bars, and 27,000 square feet of indoor meeting space.
• The eco-luxury-themed Moss Wellness Spa opened. Amenities include all-natural and environmentally friendly products.
• The W Scottsdale Hotel & Residences will open by fall 2008 with 224 guestrooms, 18 residences, a Bliss spa and two bars.
• The Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts is undergoing a $14 million renovation to improve Virginia G. Piper Theater’s stage and lighting.

Want to meet green?

Hotels and resorts with eco-friendly initiatives (e.g. extensive recycling, environmentally sustainable practices, organic gardens and/or menus) include the Boulders Resort & Golden Door Spa, Radisson Fort McDowell Resort & Casino, Hyatt Regency Scottsdale Resort & Spa at Gainey Ranch, Fairmont Scottsdale Princess, Hotel Valley Ho, FireSky Resort & Spa, and the “1″ Hotel & Residences (opening in 2009). A hallmark of nearly all Scottsdale resorts is the use of indigenous local flora and fauna in landscaping to preserve the natural ecosystem and conserve water. Bio-diesel-fueled transportation is available from Scottsdale Trolley and Ollie the Trolley; both are available for private charters. Talk with the CVB about using recycled materials, donating food or creating a community service program.

Want eco-friendly adventures?

Horseback and hiking tours are alternatives to the traditional jeep or Hummer tour. Local golf courses use treated non-potable water for irrigation, and all new courses are constructed to comply with a 100-year water supply plan; old courses have been retro-fitted with drought-tolerant grasses. The McDowell Sonoran Preserve has 16,460 acres of protected lands groups can explore; plans are in the works to acquire an additional 20,000 acres and create a Desert Discovery Center within the next couple of years. Windwalker Expeditions and My Arizona Guide offer eco-tours. The Desert Botanical Garden has lectures, workshops, art and wellness classes as well as indoor and outdoor venues surrounded by more than 50,000 arid-land plants from around the world. Groups touring Cosanti or Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin West can learn about sustainable building practices, or meet in settings where the architecture is inspired by local ecology.

Want to break out of the boardroom?

Create a gambling tournament at the Radisson Fort McDowell Resort & Casino, which also has an on-site convention center. Some of the larger resorts have Western “towns” — outdoor event spaces decorated to look like old mining towns, with covered wagons, jails and saloons — that lend themselves to team building, creative meal functions and Western-themed evening events. Fort McDowell Adventures can put together private rodeos, team-building events at La Puesta Del Sol and The Ranch, or desert-based expeditions.

Want to create extraordinary memories?

If trail rides and cookouts aren’t doing it for your group, send them to Arizona Cowboy College, a working cowboy ranch where guests learn to ride, rope and shoe horses alongside real cowboys. Bella Palazzo has an extensive roster of private homes and villas with world-class art collections, including the Boulder House, which was built to incorporate 1.45-billion-year-old boulders covered with Native American petroglyphs. Use one of the homes for VIP accommodations, to host an afternoon art and tea party, as a spectacular locale for a product launch, or as an after-hours speakeasy featuring Prohibition-era whiskeys and pre-embargo Cuban cigars. Native Trails dancers, musicians and storytellers combine education with traditional Native American forms of entertainment.

Want spousal programs?

Spree: The Art of Shopping tours can be customized to participants’ interests; current tours include “Designer Discount Divas” and “Man About Town.” The city of Glendale is known for its antiques shops, Cerreta Candy Company, tea rooms, and February wine and chocolate festival. The Sonoran Desert landscape lends itself to photography, painting and Southwest cooking classes. Cave Creek is a small mining town nestled between Carefree, Scottsdale and Phoenix with old-time saloons, Western shops and theme restaurants. Day trips also may be arranged to the Grand Canyon (3 ½ hours’ drive) and Sedona (1 ½ hours away).

Want extreme team-building?

Adventure-based options include the Bondurant School of High Performance Driving and the all-day Top Gun challenge at Fighter Combat International, where attendees fly the aerobatic aircraft themselves.

Want group dining?

Scottsdale has three restaurant groups with excellent private dining facilities. Fox Restaurant Concepts operates Olive & Ivy at Scottsdale Waterfront (private Mediterranean dinners for small groups), Bloom (winemaker dinners and business meetings) and North (modern Italian with al fresco dining). Mastro’s specializes in high-end restaurants serving steaks and seafood: Mastro’s City Hall Steakhouse near Scottsdale Fashion Square has a nightclub vibe, Mastro’s Steakhouse has live piano music and dancing nightly, and the Ocean Club has nightly entertainment in its O Bar. Eddie V’s Restaurants (Roaring Fork, Eddie V’s and Wildfish) also specialize in steaks and seafood, and can provide custom florals and decorations for group functions.

Want to meet in a place with history?

The Heard Museum in Phoenix has Native American crafts from the 19th and 20th centuries; the Heard Museum North in Scottsdale displays Native American artwork. The Hoo-Hoogam Ki Museum exhibits artifacts of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian community. The Pueblo Grande Museum and Archaeological Park in Phoenix is on the site of a 1,500-year-old Hohokam village.

Want locally made items for gift baskets?

Kokopelli’s Kitchen has a line of Southwestern products and specialty foods. The Queen Creek Olive Mill bottles olives and olive products that are served in more than 50 local resorts. AZ Wine Company and the AZ Wine Outlet stock bottles of local vintages, including Callaghan Vineyards wines. Once in a Bloom Fragrances has a Desert Queen line of soaps, skin products, candles and perfumes based on the essence of the Queen of the Night cactus flower, which blooms only one night each year. Also, consider items that speak to the area’s heritage and attractions, such as dreamcatchers, kachina dolls, Frank Lloyd Wright-branded items, cacti, Bronze Soleri wind-bells, painted sandstone coasters, bandanas, cowboy hats, and golf balls and tees.

Want special products and services for golfers?

Jared Tendler, MS, leads a golf therapy program designed to boost a golfer’s ability by improving their mental game; a wide variety of individual, group and corporate programs are available. Wendy Hudler offers a three-day “Women to the Fore” program at the Boulders Resort. Hot Stix Golf supplies golfers with personalized wood, iron, putter, shaft and ball Tour-fittings compatible with every manufactured club label; inspired by each golfer’s swing, the customized equipment is designed to improve consistency and accuracy.

Want unusual entertainment?

Foot Klan Entertainment creates explosive STOMP-type theatrical shows integrating everyday objects, such as brooms and trash cans, into high-energy dance numbers. Native Trails’ award-winning Native American hoop dancers, storytellers and musicians are available for private functions. Mariachi bands or Spanish guitarists complement Spanish-themed meal functions and events. Arizona Johnson is a local storyteller and entertainer with a broad knowledge of Arizona’s history, cowboy mythology and Native American heritage.