AC Hotel Phoenix Downtown — the newest hotel in downtown Phoenix — features exceptional views and high-end features — and is now open for business despite the impact of the pandemic.
The AC Hotel Phoenix Downtown provides a compelling new option for travelers and expects to cater to a significant onrush of convention and event travel once the public health situation improves. But in the meantime, it is welcoming its first guests who are enjoying its modern, European-influenced feel as the first upscale, select-service and boutique hotel in the downtown market.
The 13-story, 199-room hotel blends contemporary, minimalistic European design with the latest high-tech amenities. In guestrooms, for example, “floating” furniture enables travelers to use space as suits their needs, while public areas feature dramatic locally commissioned artwork alongside finishes of wood and stone accented by chrome.
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Amenities include a lobby lounge offering tapas, crafted cocktails (a “porron” wine experience that uses a special Spanish glass pitcher so everyone can drink from the same container without touching it with their lips), a large outdoor patio with fireplaces and water features overlooking the Arizona Center interior park as well as a penthouse fitness center with multiple hydration stations.
Its location is walkable to all downtown amenities including meeting and event venues, and the hotel itself includes 5,000 square feet of flexible indoor/outdoor meeting space, including a ballroom, salon meeting space and a conference room.
The new hotel, within the Arizona Center development facing 5th Street, is a joint venture between Las Vegas-based LaPour Partners and Texas-based firm NewcrestImage. Layton Construction was the general contractor, Axis GFA Architecture & Design in Los Angeles were the architects and Design Duncan Miller Ullman in Dallas was the interior design firm.
This is the first joint venture between NewcrestImage and LaPour Partners, according to the companies. This is LaPour’s second AC Hotel in the Phoenix, joining the firms existing property, the 160-room AC Marriott Hotel on Camelback Road.
“We are very excited to open this new AC Marriott hotel downtown. There is demand for this refreshing new brand among all the other exciting things happening downtown. We look forward to it being a resource for meetings, conferences and events,” said Jeff LaPour, President and CEO of LaPour Partners. “While opening during a pandemic is not ideal timing, our hotel is brand new and we’re already seeing interest in the property and will be well positioned to serve travelers as the pandemic subsides.”
AC Hotels by Marriott celebrate classic modern design with European soul and Spanish roots, born from the entrepreneurial spirit of renowned hotelier Antonio Catalan. With nearly 130 hotels across Europe and North and Latin America, AC Hotels are designed for modern travelers with an entrepreneurial mindset — individuals who see travel as a way to collect knowledge and inspiration, as they value genuine connections to people, experiences, and ideas that excite them.
The AC Marriott Downtown Phoenix takes the AC Marriott concept to new heights in the Phoenix market, providing a new and iconic presence for guests to experience.
“We believe there is great market for travelers to enjoy this hotel,” LaPour said. “It’s an ideal location both for luxury and for meeting travel, and its combination of amenities and touches will appeal to a broad spectrum of guests as we are across the street from the Phoenix Biomedical Campus, next to the ASU downtown campus and walkable to all of the sports venues.”
The hotel is complying with all state and local Covid-19 regulations, including encouraging social distancing, requiring masks in public areas and adjustment of operations where required. And while business and personal travel, as well as conference and event business, is currently down significantly, LaPour is confident the hotel is well positioned for future success.
“The timing gives us an opportunity to hone our hospitality and operations in a way that will position us well as the pandemic eases,” he said. “While it creates some new challenges, we believe that as travel resumes this new AC Marriott will be an extremely inviting addition to downtown Phoenix.”
