Southwest

The sunny Southwest truly has something for everyone.

By Marc Boisclair

Four states, four seasons and half-million square miles of every type of terrain imaginable — that’s the incredibly diverse and beautiful Southwest. While most regions mean well promising something for every attendee, the Southwest actually delivers. Need an urban gem with major hotels, cool event venues, rockin’ entertainment and a cutting-edge convention center? Try Phoenix, Dallas, Tulsa or San Antonio. Looking for second-tier value and first-rate activities? Book your group into Austin, Albuquerque, Scottsdale or Oklahoma City and take full advantage of their terrific museums, restaurants, great shopping and entertainment for the entire family.

Indeed, when Kathy Tinker describes why Tulsa proves such a good fit for faith-based groups, she’s also touching on selling points for the Southwest as a whole. “We’re centrally located and affordable and that’s really important for a lot of people, especially those groups with members from both coasts,” says Tinker, director of sales and marketing for the Tulsa Convention Center (TCC). “Our affordability applies to our hotels and the actual convention facilities, as you get good value for your money. And we’re easy to get to, whether you’re driving in or flying here.”

Few destinations rival the Southwest for group attractions as well, with recreation and team building opportunities seemingly around every adventurous corner. And given how faith-based attendees look forward to bringing their families along, that’s a huge plus. “There are more exciting things for groups to do here, from rock climbing and hiking to the Bondurant School of High Performance Driving,” says Kimberly Freer, director of travel industry sales for the Greater Phoenix CVB. “We can cater to those people who want a cowboy experience on a ranch or those who want to relax at a resort. We’ve got the desert but we also have museums, shops, the symphony, everything any city would have.”

There’s also much to be said for the sheer pleasure of packing up your attendees with a nice lunch and then heading out to enjoy some of the world’s most spectacular scenery. After all, when it comes to memorable photo ops and real group bonding, it’s hard to beat 100 smiling faces at the edge of the Grand Canyon.

NEW & NOTABLE IN NEW MEXICO

The historic former La Posada de Albuquerque has reopened as Hotel Anduluz after a $30 million renovation. The National Atomic Museum has moved into its new $13 million home and adopted a new moniker, the National Museum of Nuclear Science and History. Albuquerque’s former Memorial Hospital is being transformed into the new Hotel Parq Central, set to open sometime in 2010.

The city of Las Cruces is spending $26 million to build its first-ever convention center located at New Mexico State University. The new, 55,000-sq.-ft. center, set to open in late 2010, will feature just over 30,000 square feet of meeting space, including a 15,000-sq.-ft. exhibit hall, six breakout rooms and a 9,300-sq.-ft. ballroom. The Santa Fe Convention Center in northern New Mexico opened late last year with 40,000 square feet of flexible space and a 500-car
underground parking garage.

PHOENIX RISING

The new Phoenix Convention Center has opened following a $600 million, multi-phase expansion and renovation. Highlights of the revamped facility include more than 502,000 square feet of exhibit space, three ballrooms (119,000 square feet total), more than 150,000 square feet of meeting room space (100 rooms) and a 21,000-sq.-ft., IACC-accredited conference center. The first phase of METRO, Phoenix’s $1.4 billion, 20-mile light rail system, is up and running. The 31-story, 1,000-room Sheraton Phoenix Downtown Hotel has opened as well.

Across the valley, meanwhile, the W Scottsdale Hotel and Residences has opened its stylish doors with 224 guestrooms and a 21,000-sq.-ft. pool/recreation area adjacent to the Bliss Spa. The Hermosa Inn is wrapping up a $2 million renovation, while the Sanctuary on Camelback Mountain is completing a $3 million makeover of its elements restaurant and adding a private wine cellar dining room. The 54-room Best Western Sundial opened in April. Scottsdale Fashion Square opened its new 100,000-sq.-ft. expansion in October. Plans are underway to spend $30 million on the new 45,000-sq.-ft. Scottsdale Museum of the West with a 2013 opening date.

Need someplace special to house the executive board in Tucson? The new 250-room Ritz-Carlton Dove Mountain is set to open December 2009 with three ballrooms (9,000, 5,000 and 2,100 square feet respectively), five meeting rooms, three restaurants, two Jack Nicklaus-designed golf courses and a 17,000-sq.-ft. spa. Tucson’s Arizona Tour Company has also launched its new Historic Missions and Churches Tour, visiting seven places of worship built between 1866 and 1940 by noted Tucson architects (e.g., Josias Joesler, Roy Place, Henry Trost) including St. Augustine Cathedral, the Spanish Renaissance-style Benedictine Monastery, the impressive Scottish Rite Cathedral (with a working 1916 pipe organ) and the former Stone Avenue Temple, now the Jewish History Museum.

OKLAHOMA: QUITE OKAY

Tulsa has unveiled its new $165 million BOK Center, a Cesar Pelli-designed, multi-purpose event and entertainment facility. Meanwhile the Tulsa Convention Center’s new $50 million renovation and expansion, which will add 52,000 square feet of space and seven meeting rooms, is set to open in January 2010. “We’ll have the biggest ballroom in the state, and it’s not just a ballroom but additional meeting and pre-function space that we’re adding,” says the TCC’s Kathy Tinker. Tulsa’s 102-suite Mayo Hotel has just reopened after an extensive renovation and restoration, while the city’s downtown looks forward to a new Courtyard by Marriott and Holiday Inn in the coming year. The Muscogee (Creek) Nation is building a 285,000-sq.-ft., water-themed casino resort on the Arkansas River just south of Tulsa, while the Osage Nation has opened its Million Dollar Elm Casino in April near Bartlesville.

Oklahoma City, which has hosted such groups as the American Choral Directors Association and the Environmental Council of the States, now features 147 hotels (10,500 guestrooms) citywide, including seven within the city’s downtown and Bricktown core. Music lovers can enjoy strolling, if not strumming, their way through Oklahoma City’s newest attraction the $5 million American Banjo Museum, which showcases rare instruments and chronicles the fascinating history of a truly American musical instrument.

THE LONE STAR STATE SHINES

Leave it to Texans to not only think big but to continuously follow through on a number of major projects worthy of meeting professionals’ attention. Amarillo opened a new 90-room Hilton Garden Inn with meeting space in January, while Odessa recently unveiled several new value-minded hotels with event space, including a 102-room Holiday Inn Express, a 116-room Comfort Inn & Suites and a 108-unit, extended stay TownePlace Suites by Marriott. A new Best Western property in Odessa is currently under construction.

In Austin, the AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center has opened on the University of Texas campus. Highlights of the new facility include three restaurants, 297 guestrooms, 40,000 square feet of meeting space and a fitness center. Hotels continue to sprout across the Texas capital as well. Planned properties include a 1,000-room Marriott convention center hotel, $225 million Block 21/W Hotel, 340-room Westin at the Domain and a 300-room Warehouse District Westin, with a JW Marriott, Hyatt Place and 21C Museum Hotel also in the works. Among Austin’s newly opened and renovated venues: the Long Center for the Performing Arts the Bass Concert Hall/ University of Texas Performing Arts Center, with outdoor patio space that overlooks the Colorado River.

San Antonio’s McNay Art Museum has opened its new Stieren Center, part of a recent $50.8 million expansion and renovation. Work continues on a 1,000-room JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa (featuring two TPC golf courses, a 26,000-sq.-ft. spa and 140,000 square feet of meeting space), expected to debut some time in 2010. The Westin La Cantera Resort, adjacent to Six Flags Fiesta Texas, has completed a $12 million renovation of its meeting space, public space and guestrooms.

Construction plans call for a four-star, 1,000-room hotel connected to the Dallas Convention Center, to be completed in 2011. The $275 million AT&T Performing Arts Center (opera, musical theater, classical theater and ballet) has opened in Dallas, while the $65 million wing of the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History is set to open by early 2010. The Hyatt Regency Dallas has completed a $23 million renovation of its 50-story Reunion Tower. Cumberland Hall has wrapped up a $9 million makeover, while Union Station, also available for group functions, has completed a $23 million makeover. The Renaissance Dallas Hotel is planning a major restaurant upgrade, a rooftop garden and putting green, and a new 16,000-sq.-ft. Grand Ballroom. Work is underway on Phase One of a $90 million renovation project at the Sheraton Dallas that will include a redesign of its public spaces, guestrooms and conference center. The Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) system is scheduled to open the first three-mile leg of its 28-mile, $1.8 billion Green Line expansion this fall.

Plans call for a full-service, 262-room Embassy Suites to be built adjacent to the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, for a scheduled 2010 opening. Work continues on Asia House, a $30 million Asian arts and entertainment venue in Houston’s Museum District. The city’s new $200 million Houston Pavilions project includes a pair of new group venues: House of Blues, with three stages, two restaurants and the private Foundation Room; and Lucky Strikes Lanes, which includes a private lounge. The Showgrounds venue, which holds up to 9,000 for live music and entertainment events, has opened at Sam Houston Race Park.

In Bryan-College Station, the former Chimney Inn has completed a top-to-bottom renovation and has re-opened as the 98-room Econo Lodge. The 116-room Manor Inn College Station is undergoing a major renovation that will be completed by year’s end, while a 100-room Best Western opened this summer with 4,000 square feet of meeting space. The new $47 million Overton Hotel & Conference Center with 304 guestrooms and an 11,000-sq.-ft. ballroom has opened in Lubbock. And in Frisco, a half-hour from DFW International Airport, three new properties have opened: the 102-room Hilton Garden Inn, 109 all-suites Comfort Suites, and the 136-room boutique property aloft Frisco.