Recently in Tempe Category

The city of Tempe, just to the east of Phoenix, is generally thought of as a pretty arid place, but you can find plenty of aquatic action if you know where to look. One of the jewels of this trendy city is Tempe Town Lake, an artificial lake fed by the waters of the Rio Salado (Salt River). Visitors flock to Tempe Beach Park for all kinds of outdoor activities, including bike riding, picnicking, and splashing around in Splash Playground, but it would be a shame not to take advantage of the opportunity to go boating in central Arizona. I don't know what it is, but there's just something special about boating in the desert. The Rio Lago Cruise company offers rentals of all kinds of boats, from tiny pedal boats and kayaks to electric-powered runabouts and cruisers, so you can either get your daily exercise on the high seas, or kick back and chug along in silent, environmentally-advanced comfort. Normally I'm a kayak guy, but I might have to take a spin around the lake in an electric runabout, just to see what it's like. Starwood has properties throughout the Phoenix/Tempe area, including the Four Points by Sheraton Tempe, and will welcome its newest Tempe property, aloft Tempe, on April 1, 2009.

We're getting close to spring training time. Numerous Starwood hotels are located near spring training destinations—Anaheim Angels and Oakland A's fans can't do any better than the Sheraton Phoenix Airport Hotel Temple, the Four Points by Sheraton Tucson is perfect for White Sox and Colorado Rockies fans and Florida hotels like the Westin Tampa Harbour Island, Sheraton Suites Plantation and Sheraton PGA Vacation Resort are centrally located for fans of Grapefruit League teams. Baseball travel expert Chris Epting (Roadside Baseball) recently put together a list of spring training vacation tips for Budget Travel that are a must read for any baseball tourist.

Ah, the tricky world of working in hotel marketing. Focus groups, demographics and all of that jazz... It all comes down to finding the right customers for your hotel. When the Arizona Republic wrote about plans for a new Le Meridien in Tempe, they went behind the scenes to speak with Le Meridien marketing folks to discuss how the brand is retooling in order to attract a new demographic known as the "creative guest." Tempe will be one of the first Le Meridiens to offer new, "creative guest"-attracting amenities such as an Illy coffee cafe in the lobby that will soon be standard for most Le Meridien properties.