Meeting in a city with first-class rooms, high-quality dining, and top-notch entertainment need not cost a fortune. Boise offers all of these "perks" and more for a significantly lower price. Room rates in the city average in the mid $90s, and the city's roster of hotels continues to grow. A Residence Inn by Marriott property with 104 suites and a Springhill Suites property with 119 suites have opened, as has an Oxford Suites property with 133 suites. A 123-room Candlewood Suites and Hampton Inn & Suites will open this fall. Although Boise features the amenities of a large urban area and is home to several Fortune 500 companies, it has a clean, open, "small-town" atmosphere. Diverse cultural venues, numerous shopping options, and one-of-a-kind attractions are easy to find. The city's 8th Street Marketplace shopping area has taken on a new look and a new name: "BoDo" (short for Boise Downtown) boasts an abundance of pedestrianfriendly avenues, sidewalk cafes and bistros, patios, decks, and ground-level retail space, including a P.F. Chang's China Bistro; JoS. A. Bank Clothiers and an Ann Taylor Loft; a nine-screen theater showing first-run movies, and a parking garage with 372 spaces. A Hampton Inn Suites property with 180 suites opens this fall.

At a Glance

Boise Convention & Visitors Bureau
P.O. Box 2106
Boise, ID 83701
Phone: (208) 344-7777 or (800) 635-5240
Fax: (208) 344-6236
Web site: www.boise.org

CONVENTION FACILITIES

Boise Centre on the Grove

Total Square Footage: 85,000 sq. ft.

Exhibit Space: 25,000 sq. ft.

Largest Contiguous Space: 25,000 sq. ft.

Ballroom: 25,000 sq. ft.

Total Meeting Space: 50,000 sq. ft.

Maximum Number of Breakout Rooms: 20

Auditorium: 349 seats

ADDITIONAL MEETING FACILITIES

• Boise State University Student Union
• Qwest Arena

HOTELS

Number of Properties:

53

Number of Rooms:

Nearly 5,000; 600 within walking distance of convention center and 2,500 committable for meetings

Largest:

• Doubletree Hotel Boise Riverside (304 rooms)
• Holiday Inn Boise (265 rooms)
• The Grove Hotel & Qwest Arena (250 rooms)
• Springhill Suites by Marriott - ParkCenter (237 suites)
• Red Lion Hotel Boise Downtown (182 rooms)

ATTRACTIONS

• Basque Museum and Cultural Center
• Boise Art Museum
• Boise Tour Train
• Idaho Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial
• Idaho Botanical Garden
• Discovery Center of Idaho
• M.K. Nature Center
• Old Idaho Penitentiary
• World Center for Birds of Prey
• daho wineries
• Whitewater rafting

AIR TRANSPORTATION

Boise Airport is served by Delta, Frontier, Alaska, Horizon, United, Northwest, Southwest, America West, and Big Sky. Continental Airlines has introduced non-stop service between Boise and Houston, while Delta has added non-stop service between Boise and Atlanta. In May of this year, United added two daily flights between Boise Airport and Los Angeles

Irving, Texas

First-tier accessibility, accommodations, and amenities - without the big-city hassles and distractions - make Irving, Texas a highly desirable meeting venue. Centrally located between Dallas and Fort Worth, and with a hotel selection that's far above other cities its size, Irving is where groups will find an "at-yourservice attitude" and VIP treatment, no matter what their size. Featuring more than 75 hotels and 11,000 rooms - ranging from AAA Five Diamond resorts, to allsuite extended stay properties, to economy hotels, the city has room options to fit the needs of many meetings and conferences. Thousands of meetings, numbering up to 500 delegates, are held each year in Irving. The city's 12 full-service hotels provide more than 200,000 square feet of meeting space, with an additional 100,000 square feet of space in off-site venues. Irving is home to the Dallas Cowboys and Texas Stadium, and the PGA Tour's EDS Byron Nelson Championship. The city also boasts the National Scouting Museum, the Irving Arts Center, the Las Colinas Equestrian Center and Polo Club, and gondola excursions on the European-styled Mandalay Canal. In addition to providing an exciting ambiance to the city, these events and attractions are easily adapted as unique venues for meetings and special functions. And with Dallas 15 minutes east and Fort Worth a mere 20 minutes west, live music, world-class art museums, diverse restaurants, and a wide variety of sports are waiting to be discovered. The Irving Convention and Visitors Bureau (ICVB) offers a full menu of services. Information, including a "Hot Deals" section, is available on the bureau's Web site at www.irvingtexas.com.

At a Glance

Irving Convention and Visitors Bureau
222 W. Las Colinas Blvd., Suite 1550
Irving, TX 75039
Phone: (972) 252-7476 or (800) 2-IRVING
Fax: (972) 257-3153
Web site: www.irvingtexas.com
E-mail: icvb@airmail.net

MEETING FACILITIES

Number of hotels: 75-plus

Number of committable rooms: 11,000

Number of full-service meeting properties: 12

Total hotel event space: 200,000 sq. ft.

Total off-site event space: 100,000 sq. ft.

Number of golf courses: 5

Year-round temperature average: 72 degrees

HOTELS

• Clarion Hotel - DFW Airport South (409 rooms)
• Dallas/Fort Worth Airport Marriott (491 rooms)
• Dallas Marriott - Las Colinas (361 rooms)
• Embassy Suites - DFW Airport South (305 rooms)
• Four Seasons Resort and Club (357 rooms)
• Hilton Garden Inn - DFW Airport South (151 rooms)
• Holiday Inn Select - DFW Airport North (282 rooms)
• Omni Mandalay Hotel at Las Colinas (421 rooms)
• Radisson Hotel - DFW South (200 rooms)
• Sheraton Grand Hotel - DFW Airport (303 rooms)
• Westin Hotel Dallas Fort Worth Airport (506 rooms)
• Wyndham Hotel - Las Colinas (168 rooms)

ATTRACTIONS/OFF-SITE VENUES

• Gondola Adventures
• Irving Arts Center
• Las Colinas Equestrian Center and Polo Club
• Mandalay Canal and Lake Carolyn
• Mustangs of Las Colinas Sculpture and Exhibit
• National Scouting Museum
• Texas Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys

TRANSPORTATION

Irving is under a three-and-a-half-hour flight from any airport in the continental United States; is situated between - and just minutes from - Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and Love Field; and is intersected by five major interstates. Service aboard the Trinity Railway Express makes getting around the area simple with two rail stops in Irving connecting into downtown Dallas and downtown Fort Worth.

Pasadena, California

Is it London? Is it Paris? No, it's Pasadena!

Historical meeting venues, chic boutiques, fine dining, resort hotels, and priceless art. Don't get the passport ready just yet. All this and more can be found stateside in Pasadena, Calif.

Like the great cities of Europe, Pasadena is pedestrian friendly. Convention delegates can walk from nearby hotels to the Pasadena Conference Center and two major shopping/entertainment areas. Spanning 22 blocks, Old Pasadena is one of Southern California's most popular open-air entertainment districts, with 200 trendy boutiques, shops, galleries, bistros, outdoor cafes, and clubs.

Three of the city's five major hotels have just completed multimillion-dollar renovations, including the turn-of-thecentury, Five Diamond AAA-rated Ritz-Carlton Huntington Hotel & Spa. The Westin Pasadena's new look redefines modern luxury, while the Hilton Pasadena has been transformed into a distinctive ultramodern hotel with a retro flair.

As the birthplace of legendary chef Julia Child, it is fitting that Pasadena is home to 500 fine restaurants. Museumgoers can catch a glimpse of masterpieces by Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Picasso, and more. An original Gutenberg Bible, and rare works from Shakespeare are a few of the other treasures found here. Sports enthusiasts can play a round of golf or enjoy an event at the world-famous Rose Bowl Stadium. Antique collectors flock to the massive Rose Bowl Flea Market.

For meeting planners, the Pasadena Convention & Visitors Bureau's destination experts offer free site-selection assistance and a complimentary housing service, as well as help with transportation, spousal tours, promotional materials, and much more.

At a Glance

Pasadena Convention & Visitors Bureau
171 S. Los Robles Ave.
Pasadena, CA 91101
Phone: (800) 307-7977
Fax: (626) 795-9656
E-mail: cvb@pasadenacal.com
Web site: www.PasadenaCal.com

MEETING FACILITIES

Pasadena Conference Center

Total Square Footage: 75,000 sq. ft.

Exhibit Space: 32,000 sq. ft.

Largest Contiguous Space: 32,000 sq. ft.

Total Meeting Space: 28,000 sq. ft.

Maximum Number of Breakout Rooms: 20

Theater: 283 seats

Auditorium: 3,000 seats

HOTELS

Number of Properties: 5 hotels and 10 motels

Total Number of Rooms: 2,500

Number of Rooms Within Walking Distance of Pasadena Conference Center: 1,277

Largest:

• The Ritz-Carlton, Huntington Hotel & Spa (392 rooms)
• The Westin Pasadena (350 rooms)
• Hilton Pasadena (296 rooms)
• Sheraton Pasadena Hotel (317 rooms)
• Old Pasadena Courtyard by Marriott (314 rooms)

ATTRACTIONS

• Old Pasadena (22-block shopping/ entertainment district)
• Brookside Golf Course
• Norton Simon Museum
• The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens
• Rose Bowl
• The Gamble House
• Wrigley Mansion & Gardens
• Pasadena Museum of California Art

AIR TRANSPORTATION

Los Angeles International Airport is located 30 minutes from Pasadena and offers non-stop and direct flights daily from every major national and international airline carrier, including United, American, Southwest, Delta, Northwest, Alaska, Continental, America West and US Airways. Burbank Airport, which is just 15 minutes away, is serviced by Alaska, Aloha, American, America West, JetBlue, Southwest, and United Airlines. The airport offers an average of 75 flights daily.