SOUTHERAN & WESTERN ARIZONA
AjoChamber.com—In tiny Ajo—a couple of hours southeast of Yuma and two hours southwest of Phoenix—the Sonoran Desert Inn and Conference Center offers a unique experience “for smaller groups that want to really go somewhere different,” says Marjorie Magnusson, media relations manager for the Arizona Office of Tourism.
A former bustling copper mining town, Ajo’s Spanish Colonial architecture has been preserved, and the town plaza today hosts many festivals and markets year-round, according to SonoranCC.com. A portion of the town’s historic Curley School campus, which dates to 1919, has been restored into the Sonoran Desert Inn and Conference Center, which can accommodate 60 overnight guests and 250 meeting guests. Event spaces at the conference center include classrooms, performance spaces, and an auditorium.