CENTRAL ARIZONA
VisitPhoenix.com; @VisitPhoenix—The fifth-largest city in the United States, Phoenix boasts a multi-cultural population teeming with hospitality and growth, says Sarah Doyle, director of communications for Visit Phoenix. “Phoenix is a vast city with clean-cut and centric neighborhoods, with downtown as an anchor,” she says. “There are four scenic mountain ranges within 30 minutes and six lakes within 45 minutes. The 1-million-square-foot Phoenix Convention Center is in the center of a downtown with vibrant murals, internationally recognized museums and art galleries, and local retail and dining with many acclaimed restaurants.”
Greater Phoenix continues to expand and refresh its hospitality portfolio, Doyle notes. The AAA Four Diamond Arizona Grand Resort & Spa has recently completed a $10 million renovation. It features 744 suites and villas, an 18-hole championship golf course, and more than 120,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor meeting and event space. Set to open in 2026, a new Meritage Collection hotel will have 236 guest rooms and 23,000 square feet of flexible meeting space. “This will be the first hotel in downtown to offer a full-service spa,” Doyle says.
Major convention hotels include the 1,003-room Sheraton Phoenix Downtown, with more than 110,000 square feet of recently renovated event space; Renaissance Phoenix Downtown Hotel, with more than 51,000 square feet of function space; and 693-room Hyatt Regency Phoenix, with a newly redesigned revolving restaurant and 50,000 square feet of event space, including the 200-person-capacity Skyview Terrace. Set on 316 acres, JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge Resort & Spa has 950 guest rooms and 240,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor event venues, plus the championship Wildfire Golf Club, five pools, a lazy river, and 17 pickleball courts. Arizona Biltmore has 705 recently refreshed guest rooms and 200,000 square feet of meeting and event space, plus two championship golf courses and a new spa. There are more than 69,000 guest rooms in the greater Phoenix area.
The Phoenix Convention Center & Venues comprises nearly one million square feet of meeting and expo space, including multiple exhibit halls, three ballrooms, nearly 100 meeting rooms, and 80,000 square feet of outdoor event space. Venues include Symphony Hall Phoenix, Orpheum Theatre Phoenix, and nine parking facilities. The LEED Silver-certified center is convenient to hotels, restaurants, shopping, theatres, pro sports facilities, live music venues, and the METRO Light Rail system. The convention center is just four miles from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX), which serves 24 airlines with nonstop flights to 120 domestic and 24 international destinations.
