The Clarendon Hotel Halloween Party 2010‏

Greetings from The Clarendon Hotel - Phoenix's Urban Retreat! We're proud to mention that we were just awarded "Best Boutique Hotel" and "Best Rooftop View" in the "2010 Phoenix New Times Best of Phoenix Awards"

It's Halloween Party Time! This is a special October - the first October in 823 years with 5 Fridays, 5 Saturdays, and 5 Sundays!

You're Invited to Ben's 20th Annual Halloween Bash - yes you heard that right, 20th! I originally started this party out of my house on the campus of the University of Arizona, and ever since people always tell me they're looking forward to the next party. In 2004 I had 375 people at my house so it was finally time to move to a bigger space - The Clarendon Hotel of course! Below are the details, RSVP if you can, get a room NOW as we always sell out and right now rooms come with free wristbands, but as more rooms sell the prices go up!

When: Saturday, Oct 30, 2010, 6p-1a... this means you can still be home on October 31st to pass candy out to trick-or-treaters!

Where: The Clarendon Hotel - Phoenix's Urban Retreat

Begins at 6pm (dress-up hours w/make-up artists available until 8pm!) and ends at 1am.

You can view images of previous Halloween parties at http://picasaweb.google.com/benbethel

Midnight Costume Contest on The Clarendon Catwalk - $5,000 in Prizes!!!

Judged by Grand Canyon Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, who only "judge" individuals once a year! SIX prizes this year of stays at The Clarendon Hotel in Phoenix, Shady Dell Trailer Park in Bisbee, The Inn at 410 in Flagstaff, Sedona Rouge Hotel & Spa in Sedona, Park Manor Suites in San Diego, and The Mosser Hotel in San Francisco

$20 pre-purchase, $25 at door. $5 of every wristband sold goes to charity.

Standard Rooms $129 - includes 2 wristbands ($50 value)

Junior Suites $129 - includes 2 wristbands ($50 value)

One Bedroom Pool View Suites $169 - includes 4 wristbands ($100 value)

The above rates are good until Friday October 15th, 2010

Book at

http://www.goclarendon.com/ using Promo Code BOO - or call 602-252-7363 and dial 0 for more info - or email Ben@GoClarendon.com

Again book rooms NOW, we will sell out, rates go up as occupancy increases!

Source: The Clarendon Hotel

News from The Clarendon Hotel‏

Hello Everyone, and Happy September!

Phoenix has been blessed with some pretty amazing weather this year, and it's nice to see that with the heat index factored in, Phoenix has been much, much cooler than New York City, Chicago, Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, Orlando, and Washington DC on many days this summer. If the heat has deterred you from visiting Phoenix in summers, perhaps now is a great time to re-consider your locations for future summer conventions.

Now that we're entering the last 3 weeks of summer, fall is upon us, and with it we're excited to announce some great promos and specials.

Contest Winners!
We had thousands of people respond for the contest last month.... so many in fact, that we decided to give away TWO 2-night stays in a one-bedroom pool view suite. The winners are Norma Cervera of El Paso Texas and Matthew McCarthy of New York NY. Congratulations! Email me to claim your prize!

First Friday & Labor Day Weekend Special
This month is a great combo - First Friday and Labor Day weekend on the same dates! Book ANY room, including suites, for $69/night! We are filling up and expect to be sold out, so book as soon as you can. To take advantage of this offer, you must call The Clarendon directly at 602-252-7363 and mention the Labor Day $69 special rate, pre-paid, non-refundable deposit, which are valid from now until September 10th. If you haven't been to First Friday, it's now the nation's largest art walk and is only a few Metro stops away from The Clarendon.

Halloween Pre-Sale
Once again, we'll be hosting "Ben's Halloween Bash" - this year it'll be on Saturday October 30th, which will mean a great turnout since you can still be at home to hand out candy to trick-or-treaters on Sunday. We're having a pre-sale, with rates valid until September 10th. Rates are currently $99, for ANY room type, with a pre-paid, non-refundable deposit. As bookings come in, rates will start to creep up to last year's levels where rooms were selling at the last minute for $299. I highly recommend that you take advantage of this sale ASAP, as this is considered by many to be the best Halloween Party in Arizona. It's also enjoyable, fun, attitude-free, and has a great mixed, multi-generational crowd - every year more and more people tell me that it's the best Halloween party they've ever been to, so make sure you're part of it!

New Years Pre-Sale
Another great party - another great special. All rooms, including suites, are available right now for $129 with a pre-paid, non-refundable deposit. This rate is valid until we book 25 rooms, then the rate will go up, up, up... last year on New Years Eve, rooms finally reached $499 for the last available suites, so take our advice and BOOK NOW and save a lot of cash! We're thinking of theming this year's New Years Eve party... and we're open to suggestions for themes. In fact, send me an email to BenBethel@GoClarendon.com and whomever comes up with the best theme idea will get a free room for New Years!

Follow Us!
You can follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/clarendonhotel and on Facebook - just look for The Clarendon Hotel. Every week I send out insanely crazy last-minute room specials... it's worth following us!

If you could, I just need 10 more seconds of your time... click on the link below and just check the boxes that apply to you, and then I'll make sure you get stuff that's relevant to you, and not bother you with stuff that doesn't interest you. In return, I'm going to randomly select someone to receive two free nights in one of our awesome pool view suites at The Clarendon. We don't have that many people on these lists (yet!) so your chances are pretty good!

Please click here to fill out the ten-second survey, and you'll have a chance at that free weekend!

Click here to take me to the survey

Sincerely,

Ben Bethel - Owner & GM

The Clarendon Hotel, Phoenix's Urban Retreat - a member of Genre Hotels

Ben Bethel's Plan to turn Phoenix Summers from Bust to Boom!‏

As anyone who's been through a Phoenix summer knows, it's not the best time for anyone except air conditioning companies and window tint shops. Snowbirds migrate, visitors don't visit, and the new $600M taxpayer-funded Phoenix Convention Center - capable of hosting over 10,000 visitors a day - sits completely empty for almost 4 months.

However, that's about to change if Ben Bethel has his way. Bethel, owner of The Clarendon Hotel in Midtown Phoenix, has an idea that could keep the Phoenix Convention Center full through the entire summer - give the space away for free from June 1st to September 30th to anyone who books a convention from that brings visitors from out of town. "While this might sound a little crazy, taxpayers need to realize that they're already paying for this enormous space to sit empty every day," Bethel says, "so why not fill it up with people who will come to town and spend money?"

He has a point, "By giving away the space, people will book flights, rent cars, stay in hotels, eat at restaurants, shop in local shops, visit museums, and take trips to Arizona's many natural wonders also supporting small-town economies," Bethel said, "and while they're doing this, they'll be paying airport taxes, rental car taxes, hotel taxes, and sales taxes - while keeping people employed who pay employment and income taxes - it's a no-brainer."If giving away convention space during the slow summer months sounds like a great idea, it's an idea that's currently not allowed at City Hall. Pricing is set by city ordinance, as the convention center is a city owned and managed property, and currently summer rates are only discounted 33%.

That's not good enough, according to Bethel. "If we want to create jobs, keep people employed, and keep businesses open, we need to create year-round visitation to Phoenix, and a discount isn't going to cut it. I don't think anyone wants to see the new $400M taxpayer funded Sheraton and $900M taxpayer funded CityScape have the same fate as the Mercado, Arizona Center, and Collier Center - and we've seen what 4 months of dead summer months every year did to the fate of every one of those projects."

What about the heat? Even with free convention space, would people want to come to Phoenix? "When you take the heat index into consideration, Phoenix is actually cooler than most cities during the summer months these days - visit Orlando, Dallas, Atlanta, Chicago, or New York in the summer and I think you'd agree," says Bethel. He has a point. This summer Phoenix has been fortunate - on August 1st, the high in Phoenix was 87 degrees, while many cities in the Southeastern US have been facing temperatures of 125 degrees once the heat-index is figured in.

"Once you factor in the humidity, I believe Phoenix is about as comfortable as Orlando throughout the entire summer, and we have almost no rain - and no major tropical storms or hurricanes to worry about." Adds Bethel, "It still amazes me that Phoenix has over two times the population of Orlando and not a single major theme park, while Orlando has 30 major theme parks and water parks. We could be doing a lot more to support the local economy throughout the entire year, and I think a few simple actions would have a significant impact."

Contact information: Ben Bethel, Owner/GM, The Clarendon Hotel, BenBethel@GoClarendon.com, mobile 602-252-9349.

Phoenix City Councilman Tom Simplot's District 4 News

Join Councilman Simplot at the 2010 Phoenix Pride festivities this weekend. Phoenix Pride celebrates the history, diversity and future prosperity of the metropolitan Phoenix lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. The parade will take place on Saturday, April 17th at 11:00am on 3rd Street from Thomas to Indian School. The festival will be on Saturday and Sunday from Noon - 9pm at Steele Indian School Park.

For more information about the 2010 Phoenix Pride Parade or Festival, please visit http://www.phoenixpride.org/.

Source: Councilman Tom Simplot