Conference Travel DMC | Red Rock Reviews: news for group travel planners -- Sedona, Grand Canyon, Flagstaff, and the greater Arizona region

Unusual new "landscape hotel" coming to prime West Sedona parcel. Ambiente is located on a 3.1 acre parcel on highway 89A, on Cook's Hill, with a spectacular red rock view to the north. The project consists of 40 cube-shaped atriums, each with floor-to-ceiling windows, and designed to blend with the natural landscape. Completion is slated for late 2020.

New public venue coming to Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff. Our groups have thoroughly enjoyed viewing the night skies at Lowell, and now we have a new venue -- the Giovale Open Deck Observatory. This will be a circular outdoor deck with a rolloff building that reveals a suite of 6 public telescopes. The deck will be staffed by 4 to 6 Lowell educators on site to assist, and has a capacity of several hundred. Slated to open next Spring, the project is just one part of what eventually will be a 24,000-square-foot "Astronomy Discovery Center" on Mars Hill. Feel free to contact us to include Lowell on your next trip to Northern Arizona.

Historic Castle Hot Springs reopens. The 1896 resort was once cutting edge, attracting the rich and famous of its era, including names like Rockefeller, Kennedy, and Wrigley. It was also one of Territorial Arizona's first developments with electricity and telephone. Now a multi-million dollar renovation brings back 32 cottages and cabins to the public on seasonal basis. Three swimming pools, filled by the hot springs, are in addition to the several natural hot pools. The healing water is also piped into roughly half the cottages. The resort is open from about mid-September through mid-June.

Marriott Residence Inn coming to West Sedona. The 85-room hotel sits on a 3-acre site across from the high school, and adjoins the existing Courtyard by Marriott. The new project includes a mix of studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom units. Feel free to contact us for insight on all your excellent lodging options in Sedona.

Flagstaff adds nonstop flights to Denver in 2019. United Airlines will begin daily service in March. These new flights are in addition to the nonstops from Flagstaff to Dallas-Forth Worth and LAX started in 2018 by American Airlines.

Enigmatic Roden Crater may finally open to the public, after a management agreement is reached between Arizona State Univeristy and artist James Turrell. Mr. Turrell has been developing the extinct cinder cone volcano as a perception art experience for some 40 years. Located northeast of Flagstaff, the interior of the cinder cone has been shaped to manipulate light and space, challenging the viewer's real world perception in the process. For more information, feel free to contact us.

Sedona continues to rack up accolades from major travel publications, the latest coming from US News & World Reports, which ranks Sedona as one of the best "small towns to visit" in the USA. Other small towns receiving top rankings include Telluride, CO, Jackson Hole, WY, and Lake Tahoe, CA. The New York Times, Harper's Bazaar, and and Conde Naste Traveler have all recently ranked Sedona as a top destination to visit -- not surprising to our hundreds of group clients who've known about this little jewel for many years.