Hey,

My partner & I are ending up in Phoenix midway through a MemDayWknd run on May 25 (Saturday).

Anything going on? What about good clubs/ bars/ late night dining? Best hotels near the airport?

Looking for a local's point of view here, or someone who knows the area well.

Thanks in advance.
Cheers

While I can't offer GLBT-specific advice, I can offer the local perspective.

Best airport-area hotel (resort style):
Wyndham Buttes

Best airport-area hotel (traditional airport hotel):
Marriott Phoenix Airport

Nearest hotel to airport with complimentary shuttle, in the heart of area w/ lots of nightlife:
Tempe Mission Palms Hotel
Courtyard by Marriott Tempe Downtown

Cheapest airport area hotels:
Use priceline.com, Hilton & Radisson often come up in the $30-40 range

Good clubs/bars:
For GLBT specific, I can offer no personal advice. A friend suggests Crowbar for a mostly gay dance club. Also, please see this article (http://www.qtmagazine.com/storydetail.cfm?Section=220&ID=9940). My favorite bar is the Four Peaks Brewery (http://www.fourpeaks.com). There are several clubs/bars up and down Mill Avenue.

Dining:
Hamburger Mary's (http://www.azgays.com/marys/) is the only restaurant I know catering to the GLBT community. It's open late. My very favorite restaurant is Trick's (http://houseoftricks.com/). Fabulous atmosphere, great service, inspired cuisine, a nice wine list, and locally owned. For great fine dining, I highly suggest Tarbell's Restaurant (http://www.tarbells.com/). It is chef-owned/operated and very well regarded.

Well, while the gay scene in PHX is nowhere near that of NYC, there are still a few places to hang your hat. http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/smile.gif

Amsterdam is a cute martini bar on Central Ave just north of Filmore. Depending on what scene you are looking for, as far as dancing goes, last time I went home to visit the folks, my friends took me out to a place called La Boom, or maybe it was just called Boom. Anyway, it was over on McDowell Road. It was pretty fun.

There is another place in Scottsdale called AZ88 which is also another martini bar, that supposedly is fairly mixed on weekends.

The local gay rag in town is called Echo magazine, and should give you a fairly good indication of what's going on. I believe the Borders at Biltmore carries it.

There is another dance club/bar called BS West I think that is also fairly popular with the boys. Charlies is a C&W bar, and there are a few other bars on Camelback Rd btwn 7th Ave & 7th St, but I've never set foot in any of them, so I can't give my opinion.

I used to go to Crowbar, and it was fairly fun, but as fickle as we are, I think that Crowbar has seen its heyday already.

At any rate, it all depends on what you want to do. If you like to play golf, tennis, or do the spa thing, you picked a great place to go. The restuarant scene in Phoenix is also starting to gain sophistication, but your hotel concierge would probably be more connected than I am, as I now only go home a few times per year.

Hope this helps.