Tempe

"...in character, ambiance and attractions, Arizona State University’s hometown stands on its own." AAA Living, 2007

Once regarded as primarily a university town, Tempe has evolved into a “total package” city, with a wide range of lifestyles from student housing to luxury living, an array of championship golf courses, acclaimed resorts, an eclectic mix of shopping options and an impressive array of dining choices. Tempe has a vibrant, diverse cultural climate bustling with innovation and progressive thinking.

The city borders Phoenix on the west, Scottsdale on the north, and Mesa to the east with ten-minute access to Sky Harbor International Airport. Tempe is the seventh-largest city in Arizona with a population over 160,000. ASU is a dominate force in the city employing some 12,218 people to serve a student population of 63,000 which ranks the University as the second-largest in the U.S.

Rated as an All-American City, Tempe offers over 5,500 guest rooms and an abundance of meeting space. A mix of performing arts, sports and recreation venues and numerous restaurants provides options certain to complement any meeting agenda. Energy flows from tree-lined Mill Avenue in the center of downtown where some 250 businesses, from charming coffee shops to quaint stores and nightclubs, offering both locals and visitors entertainment galore. Sidewalk artists and entertainers frequent the area giving the scene a lively and spontaneous sense of fun and excitement. Also in this area is a state-of-the-art, 1,000-seat (theater-style) concert hall which presents classic, country and jazz performances.

The origins of Tempe trace back to the end of the Civil War in 1865 when the Army established a post at Ft. McDowell. Settlers followed shortly and town founder Charles Trumbull Hayden built a flour mill and established a Salt River ferry service. First known as Hayden’s Ferry, the town was re-named Tempe (pronounced as Tem-PEE) when an English traveler compared the area to the Vale of Tempe in Greece. In 1886, the forerunner of ASU opened as the Arizona Territorial Normal School and the farming community quietly expanded as a college town. The post-World War II era created a spurt of growth which pushed Tempe’s city limits in every direction and today the community blends seamlessly with neighboring cities.

The expansive campus of ASU is a focal point for the city, and Gammage auditorium, designed by legendary Frank Lloyd Wright, is one of the university’s most notable landmarks. Gammage annually hosts numerous touring Broadway productions and is considered one of the most acoustically perfect facilities in the world. Likewise, the Karsten Golf Course at ASU is widely acclaimed in the golf world and supports the University’s highly successful golf program.

Situated at the north end of Mill Avenue, Tempe Town Lake is a two-mile-long riverbed offering an urban oasis for boating, kayaking, rowing and special events. Rental canoes, kayaks and electric boats are available, and groups of up to 35 can charter tours on excursion boats or smaller groups can arrange for catered cruises. Also under development around the lake’s shores are a resort hotel complex and office buildings which will provide significant additional meeting facilities during the next few years.

The new Tempe Marketplace’s 1.3 million square feet of retail space is uniquely positioned as an open-air, pedestrian-oriented environment, creating an eclectic atmosphere for a memorable experience.

Tempe offers professional meeting planners an excellent destination – with options from mountaintop views to a dynamic downtown – there’s a unique meeting venue for every taste and budget. From the younger crowd to the young at heart, Tempe has just what you seek for an interesting, fun and highly successful meeting location.

Mesa & Chandler

“Whether your group wants shopping, educational experiences, entertainment, culture, museums, dining, or outdoor adventures, Mesa is the place.” – Travelmole.com

Mesa and Chandler are located in the southeastern quadrant of the Valley of the Sun, just 15 miles east of Phoenix. Both cities evolved from rural agricultural communities to become big players in the high-tech industry. The overall desirable weather of the Valley and availability of large tracts of land for development made this part of the metroplex a very desirable location for corporations such as Motorola and Intel. Easy access to international travel at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport ensures a constant stream of business visitors flowing in and out of the cities. As a result, professional meeting planners benefit from an abundance of affordable accommodations, dining and shopping options, and easy access to a variety of entertainment in the area.

The Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport (formerly Williams Gateway Airport) is the third-busiest airport in Arizona and has become one of the region’s foremost centers for aviation training and education. The airport’s longest runway at 10,400 feet allows the world’s largest aircraft to operate here. With a new state-of-the-art passenger terminal and multi-tenant office buildings, hangars, and warehouse space the airport is home to 33 companies and a recognized U.S. Customs point of entry 

The Mesa Convention Center is a full service meeting and event facility located in downtown Mesa. It features 15,000 square feet of exhibit area and an additional 25,000 square feet of meeting space, comprised of 15 rooms of varying sizes. On-site catering and a state-of-the-art theater-style conference center are also available.

The Mesa Amphitheatre offers festival seating for 4,200 on curved grass terraces and is part of the Convention Center complex. No seat is further than 175 feet from the stage in this lovely setting. The Amphitheatre consistently ranks at the top of the best outdoor concert venues in the Valley with national touring acts, community programs, arts and cultural events, and theatrical performances.

Mesa takes great pride in its heritage as it dates back two thousand years to the Hohokam Indians. The city itself was founded in 1883 and five museums are dedicated to preserving the history of the city and culture of the area. The Mesa Historical Museum’s 30,000 square feet of exhibit rooms showcase artifacts from Mesa’s pioneer days. The Arizona Museum of Natural History presents history back to the dinosaurs, including a 10,000-year-old mammoth, Indian petroglyphs, Spanish conquistadors and frontier history. The Mesa Arts Center is a downtown landmark and destination with a seven-acre campus that includes four theaters, five exhibition galleries and 14 visual and performing arts studios and classrooms.

Those planning spring meetings in the Valley will want to consider taking the group to one of the Cactus League Spring Training games. Mesa is home of the ever popular Chicago Cubs at Hohokam Stadium. The stadium, which holds 12,500 people, also hosts concerts, Arizona Fall League, Golden Baseball League and other sports events.

Both Mesa and Chandler offer a variety of hotel accommodations, including Arizona’s original golf resort, the Crowne Plaza San Marcos Golf Resort that first opened in 1912. With its Spanish colonnades, old-world charm and probably the shadiest 18 holes of championship golf west of the Mississippi, it’s been a favorite for over 90 years. In Mesa, the Arizona Golf Resort also offers one of the Valley’s original golf courses right on property set in an atmosphere of lush vegetation and mature trees.

Mesa and Chandler are activity-oriented cities offering a wide range of recreational and entertainment options. In addition to the numerous golf courses, an abundance of recreational choices are nearby in the Superstition Mountains, Apache Trail and the lakes of the Salt River. Choices range from horseback riding to river rafting to desert Jeep tours to steamboat rides or even moonlit hayrides.

Tortilla Flat is an old stagecoach stop on the Apache Trail which boasts all of six residents and a movie backdrop ambiance. Goldfield Ghost Town offers an authentic 1890s mining town where visitors can pan for gold, ride a train, take the underground mine tour, enjoy a horseback ride or discover desert dwellers in the reptile exhibit.

The Superstition Mountains are home of the legendary Lost Dutchman Gold Mine and its hidden fortune still sought by treasure seekers. For those preferring to seek scenic beauty and exercise, the wilderness of the Superstitions offers a vast network of hiking and equestrian trails. The spring wildflower display on the western end attracts photographers from all over the world each year. Jeep tour excursions on the Apache Trail or off-road desert Jeep tours are available.

If you are looking for unusual meeting venues or outdoor adventures, consider the Dolly Steamboat, a 100-foot-long replica of an early American riverboat sternwheeler, which is at home on Canyon Lake. Groups of up to 135 can take a lunch or dinner cruise on this 10-mile-long lake, the first of three desert lakes along the Apache Trail. Speedboats, Jet-skis and fishing boats take over the waters of Apache and Roosevelt Lakes, as well as Canyon Lake, for the majority of the year.

For those to whom activity means shopping, Mesa has a factory outlet mall and two major malls, including the Village at Dana Park. Dana Park’s charming main street setting features marble columns, date palm-lined sidewalks and soothing courtyard fountains. Antique aficionados can spend hours in downtown Mesa where more than a dozen antique shops display everything to tempt the collector. Historic Downtown Chandler offers many local boutique shops, eclectic art galleries, museums and a world class Center for the Arts that draw entertainers from all over the globe. The Chandler Fashion Center and Casa Paloma both feature high-end retail experiences.

Special events and festivals are plentiful with the annual Ostrich Festival (Chandler was home to ostrich farms back in the day and now they race them at the event), and Cinco de Mayo Celebration featuring, you guessed it, racing Chihuahuas! Free outdoor concerts are held nearly year-round.

Rawhide Wild West Town is now located at a larger venue next to the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort in Chandler. Celebrating over 30 years as a favorite visitor destination for 1880’s-style family entertainment, Rawhide added a replica of a Native American village with the move. The unique appeal of gunfights, stuntmen, main street and theater-style entertainment, stagecoach rides, a petting zoo, bull riding (mechanical and the real thing), gold panning, games, rides, attractions and shopping remains an entertainment staple for Arizona visitors.

From usual to unusual, Mesa and Chandler offer an eclectic mix of community, history, indoor and outdoor recreation and relaxation, and a variety of accommodations to meet nearly every need.