The Arizona chapter of the American Food & Lodging Association held its annual luncheon this month, and honored the Arizona Biltmore Resort and Spa with two awards: one for being green and the other for hosting John McCain's election night party.
The green thing tends to get lost on us around here at New Times -- really, now, are organic products at the Biltmore spa going to stop global warming? We devoted an issue this spring to the topic of "Green Fatigue".
But we do have to say that the McCain election night party, which garnered the Biltmore the "special events award" from its trade group, was a tour de force -- and we were there to witness it.
No history was made (at least, not on McCain's behalf, or Arizona's) but if you have to be a loser, the Biltmore is one sweet spot at which to commiserate.
After all, the Reagans honeymooned in a casita you can still visit on the grounds. Morning in America was in the air as dusk fell at the Biltmore, election night. Well, sort of.
The cocktails weren't cheap ($14 for a glass of wine!) but the lines moved quickly and we weren't surprised to hear that 70,000 of the Biltmore's 100,000 square feet of meeting space were filled with McCain and associates (and press and Secret Service, etc).
From the patio to the ballroom back out to the grass for McCain's amazingly gracious conession speech, both the weather and the staff were all too accomodating. If anyone had a bad time that night, it wasn't the Arizona Biltmore's fault.
-- Amy Silverman
