October 7, 2008 – 9:39 pm
On Wednesday morning, Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon, accompanied by city officials joined executives of Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide to celebrate the grand opening of the mammoth, 1000-key hotel. Starwood, one of the largest hotel owners and operators in the world, runs the Sheraton brand, as well as the new W Hotel in Scottsdale, and the nearly complete Aloft Hotel in Tempe.
Mayor Gordon was very enthusiastic about the completion of the 31-story tower and its addition to the constantly growing skyline. If you weren’t aware, the City of Phoenix actually owns the hotel, as it was part of a tandem deal with the Phoenix Convention Center Renovation.
The hotel will compliment the 2+ million square feet in the convention center with its 1000 rooms for the high volume events and trade shows. Rooms are starting in the low $200’s per night and there wont be any residential condominiums in this hotel. The hotel + for-sale penthouses trend does not appear yet in this tower, as it continues elsewhere in the valley at the W in Scottsdale and originally at the Le Meridien in Tempe, both run by Starwood. Starwood backed out of plans for the Tempe Town Lake site, but Hyatt recently jumped on board with Suncor at Hayden Ferry Lakeside. The Hyatt could potentially have residential units overlooking the lake, but it is not set in stone yet, especially in this credit crisis.
September 30, 2008 – 10:12 am
Earlier this week, Tempe Mayor Hugh Hallman announced that a Hyatt hotel will replace the Le Meridian planned for Hayden Ferry Lakeside. This coming just a few weeks after the public learned of Starwood’s departure from Tempe. While it has been nearly a year since employees of Starwood and Suncor were aware of the change it only became public knowledge a month ago. It would have been nice to have a Le Meredian hotel, which would really put Tempe on an international scale. Fortunately, the $100+ million project will still be a high-end hotelier, Hyatt Regency.
The Hyatt, which will offer 240 hotel rooms, will also come equipped with 24 residential condominiums, a 4,000 SF spa and 13,000 SF of meeting space. Studies conducted over the last couple years revealed that Downtown Tempe has a shortage of hotel rooms. While several hotels are slowly sprouting around Mill Avenue, the Hyatt will be the second hotel to come to Tempe Town Lake after another Starwood hotel called Aloft opens in January.
Aloft is a new concept from the international hotel giant, which features a modern design and innovative technology throughout. Upon entering the hotel, guests will sign in using similar systems that airports have, where you can pick your own room and the computer gives you your room key. Aloft is highly visible from the Loop 202 highway, but tucked behind Grigio and Northshore from Tempe Town Lake. Tempe has been waiting nearly a decade for a new hotel and will warmly welcome the tax revenue both hotels will produce for the city.
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