The newest thing to bloom in Arizona's Sonoran Desert is the brand-new Paradise Ballroom, which made its official debut last week at the JW Marriott Camelback Inn Resort & Spa in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Located on 125 acres in Scottsdale's Paradise Valley, JW Marriott Camelback Inn Resort & Spa boasts 453 guest rooms and suites, 36 holes of championship golf, six tennis courts, a 32,000-square-foot spa, two swimming pools, and seven restaurants and lounges. For meeting professionals, however, the resort's highlight has always been its meeting space, which now totals 127,000 square feet thanks to the addition of the Paradise Ballroom.
The new ballroom, according to the resort, is one of only six ballrooms in the United States to feature folding nano doors and windows -- accordion-style windows and doors that seamlessly blend indoor with outdoor spaces. It also features adjustable walls that create up to eight separate meeting rooms, the smallest of which is 818 square feet and can accommodate up to 80 guests. The largest, meanwhile, totals 4,280 square feet and can accommodate up to 480 guests. With all of the walls removed, the 15,000-square-foot ballroom can fit groups of up to 950 people for a sit-down dinner and up to 1,500 people for a standing reception.
The new, $16.5 million meeting space includes not only the ballroom, but also 16,500 square feet of outdoor terraces, bringing the new facility's total square footage to 31,500. Terraces include the newly expanded Sonoran Terrace, which can host up to 800 people for receptions, as well as the smaller Paradise and Outdoor Terraces for more intimate events.
One more highlight: The Paradise Ballroom is the first Marriott property to house artwork from the personal collection of Marriott Executive Chairman and Chairman of the Board J.W. "Bill" Marriott Jr., who has hand-picked approximately 40 pieces to showcase at the property -- a favorite destination for the Marriott family, who began vacationing there prior to Marriott purchasing the property in 1967. During the family's early visits, Bill Marriott Sr. made a habit of purchasing artwork from local art galleries; it is from those pieces that Bill Marriott Jr. made his selections.
"The artwork that Mr. Marriott has chosen represents a very special and personal selection of the family's memories from their many vacations here, and we are incredibly honored that he has chosen JW Marriott Camelback Inn Resort & Spa as the new home for these cherished pieces," said General Manager Jim Rose.
The JW Marriott Camelback Inn Resort & Spa isn't the only resort in Arizona boasting a new or improved ballroom. Head to NorthstarMeetingsGroup.com to see five other venues that have recently bloomed in the desert.